Why did God take the Israelites the long way?

For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea” (Ex. At the beginning of the trip, God was leading the Israelites around danger. The direct route would have meant the journey would have taken only a few weeks.

How long should it have taken the Israelites to get to the Promised Land?

The Hebrews spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness before they finally did take the Promised Land. While they were in the desert, God gave them miraculuous provision: manna from heaven for food, and water from a rock.

How long did the Israelites stay in Egypt?

430 years
The Book of Exodus itself attempts to ground the event firmly in history, dating the exodus to the 2666th year after creation (Exodus 12:40-41), the construction of the tabernacle to year 2667 (Exodus 40:1-2, 17), stating that the Israelites dwelled in Egypt for 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41), and including place names …

How did God lead the Israelites out of Egypt?

God ordered Moses to stretch out his staff over the Red Sea, and the sea parted. This allowed the Israelites to escape across the sea, and away from Egypt unharmed. But Moses waved his staff, and the sea returned to its normal height, swallowing up the entire army of Pharaoh.

What did God provide for the Israelites in the desert?

Manna (Hebrew: מָן‎ mān, Greek: μάννα; Arabic: اَلْمَنُّ‎; sometimes or archaically spelled mana) is, according to the Bible, an edible substance which God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert during the 40-year period following the Exodus and prior to the conquest of Canaan.

Was the wilderness a desert?

Words translated as “wilderness” occur nearly 300 times in the Bible. Another word is arabah, steppe (Genesis 36:24), also translated as desert: “The land that was desolate [midbar] and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness [arabah] shall rejoice” (Isaiah 35:1). …

What did God want the Israelites to do?

As Yehezkel Kaufmann noted, Isaiah and Jeremiah viewed God’s loving choice of Israel as a means to teaching monotheism, combatting idolatry, curbing human arrogance, ending violence, lust, greed, extreme chauvinism and warfare, and ushering in a new society.

Why did God tell the Israelites to wander 40 years?

Because of their unbelief, God said they must wander 40 years—one year for every day the spies had spied out Canaan—during which time, those 20 and older (mainly the army) would die in the wilderness, and a whole new generation would arise, whom Joshua (one of the faithful spies) would lead in the successful taking of Canaan.

How long did the Israelites wander through the desert?

For 40 years the Israelites wandered through the desert until all their soldiers who left Egypt died. They died because they disobeyed the LORD. The LORD swore that he would not let them see this land flowing with milk and honey which he had sworn to give our ancestors.

Why did God delay the Israelites’ entry into the Promised Land?

All but Caleb and Joshua, two of the spies, try to dissuade the Israelites from going into the new land ( Numbers 32 ). Because of their obstinance and disobedience and forgetfulness of God’s promises, God delays their entry into the Promised Land by 40 years.

What did God give the Israelites in the desert?

God, seeing their need for food, provides them with a substance known as manna. A heavenly bread of sorts that means “what is it?” He also gives them protein via quail and provides these bread and birds from heaven daily until they enter the Promised Land. God understood that the desert was a temporary limbo for the Israelites.