Much of the wilderness journey, prior to Joshua's crossing of the Jordan River and the investment of the City of Jericho, had been spent in a place called Kadesh-barnea, in the desert of southern Canaan, mostly to keep out of reach of the Egyptians (Num.13:26; Dt.1:46). In so many ways their position was precarious and without the intervention of Yahweh in the surrounding territories in the 40 years of their purging, they most likely would have been detected and finally destroyed. In so many ways we have been, and are in, such a situation too, and we don't always appreciate just how vulnerable we are as wanderers in the world. Without Yahweh, the odds for surviving would be heavily stacked against us.

Timing is, as always, of the essence, a reason we are often forced to wait and exercise patience. We don't understand why we can't 'move forward' as Joshua finally did at the appointed time. On the one occasion that Israel did try to jump ahead of the gun, by attacking Kadesh-barnea presumptuopusly, she was roundly defeated. During the long wait, events had been making possible the invasion of Canaan. Many alien races, amongst them the pirates from the West known to us as the Philistines, had been sweeping down on Palestine. Ramses II, in a great expedition, reasserted the Egyptian power, but this was the last intervention of Egypt for some centuries. Egypt lost Syria, which now became the home of many independent city states, and the way was open for a resolute assault upon the Land of Promise.

The first campaigns were on the eastern side of the River Jordan, where an Amorite kingdom had been established, with its capital at Heshbon. It's king, Sihon, was defeated and slain, and his territory occupied (Num.21:21-25) [1]. Moses then died and was succeeded by Joshua who took the nation across the Jordan where, following the circumcision of the nation at Gilgal, they faced the imposing Canaanite fortress, the mightiest in the territory. A lot had had to happen before this could even begin - a long 40 year wandering, the death of the original generation, the raising of a new generation, and the clearing out of the Trans-Jordanian territory so that there would be no threats from the rear. So much had to be prepared beforehand, most of it done by Yahweh without the children of Israel even knowing what He was doing or what was going on. They, like us, not having eyes to see everything, simply had to live one day at a time by emunah (faith), trusting Yahweh to do all which they could not.

To us, reading our Bibles, it can all seem to be a short time because we can cover a generation's worth of history in just a few chapters. But to the people living out those days, especially the faithful ones like Moses, Joshua and Caleb, it must have seemed like an eternity. 40 years, especially when you are old, as Moses was, and having already had a 40 year spate in the Midianite wilderness, must have been hard going for one who had enjoyed a luxurious, aristocratic upbringing. Our lifespan is short but Yahweh's plans are not limited by single lifespans. They extend over many more often than not. Nevertheless, there are definitely sudden surges, rapid bursts of activity, and once the Jordan had been crossed, things moved apace. Once the siege of Jericho started, it occupied no more than a week, and for six of those it must have appeared to the investing army that nothing was really happening at all. Joshua must have appeared to them as a dreamer, perhaps some even thought he had been suffering from sunstroke. It is neither 'fun' nor easy to be at the head of one of Yahweh's projects because His ways aren't men's. Yet it was soon over and they were moving on to new goals.

Once things 'get going' here, the long wait beforehand will soon be forgotten, at least for those young and healthy. For those of us who had to oversee the Sinai and Trans-Jordanian phases, the scene will soon fade and we will move aside for the last generation. Please be faithful. Please don't gamble recklessly with the inheritance so painstakingly, and with great difficulty and much sacrifice, prepared for you beforehand. Don't recover the ground that we already went over and carefully and painstakingly cleared years beforehand, be it theological or whatever. Don't go back to Rome, Alexandria, Geneva, Worms, Westminster, Azuza Street or the old haunts. Trust that we did our job well and thoroughly, as commissioned. There isn't time and if you do, you will get detatched from the main Body and be picked off by modern-day Amalakite marauders. Sadly, some are doing just that even as I speak. They need to wake up and repent quickly because the nation will not stop for its doubting stragglers. The nation has an appointment with Yahweh which it dare not be late for. So keep your compass in hand and go north!

Endnotes

[1] These became the tribal allotments of East Manasseh, Reuben and Gad