The Great and Terrible Wilderness

The sound a camel makes when mounting it for the first time is unlike any other sound. The closest comparison I imagine is like a watery burp 10 times louder than any a human can make  and about twice as long. It can easily catch the novice rider off-guard because camels usually have such an austere appearance, their huge, knowing eyes with long eyelashes look like they see exactly what you’re thinking. But when they belch out their curious groan, I hardly know what to think.

Throughout the time we’ve been in Israel, we’ve gone on several multi-day trips in the Land. The first one of these was a 5-day trip to the southern land of Israel—the Negev.

The camel I rode takes a break after her walk. 
Her name was Rabab which is an Arabic name
 meaning white cloud.

The Negev is a land of rocks and sand. It is dry and hot and it’s quite surprising that people in Bible times could live without the modern conveniences we have today. On one of our nights, we stayed on a camel ranch near the old town of Mamshit. Although not a biblical site, this was the location of a Nabatean city active from the 3rd century BC to 106 AD. The Nabateans were a dominant people group in the south who ran the spice trade from the Arabian desert all the way to Gaza and Egypt. The Nabatean city was on the edge of a sandy rise covered with crumbly rocks. Because they knew the locations of wells and oases, these spice traders were able to dominate the southern arena.

About five minutes away from Mamshit we arrived at our housing for the night. But before hunkering down in our sandy huts, we hoisted ourselves up onto the tall saddles of camels.

They walked quite slowly along the path, one tied to the saddle of the camel ahead. We made two long trails as we walked away from the camp into the desert. Looking down on my shadow, I tried to imagine myself as a Nabatean, following the well-worn trail to Gaza to trade spices with Egyptians. The slow rolling motion under me swung my upper body back and forth ever so slightly as the camel line shuffled toward a cliff edge. I probably would have been walking if I were a spice trader though. I wouldn’t have the luxury of sitting atop a camel to accommodate our precious cargo. 

On the next morning, we woke up to say good morning and bid farewell to our camel friends. Our first stop was at an overlook of Nahal Zin. This is where Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel is buried. He used to love the scenery around the area and when we stopped there, I could see why. I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but I imagine it would give me a similar feeling if I ever visited the park.

Nahal Zin stretches out towards the east and the wilderness of Zin

On the lookout, we learned about the two biblical wildernesses in this area. Nahal Zin runs into the wilderness of Zin. South of Zin is Nahal Paran which is around the much larger Paran wilderness. Both Nahals run east towards Kadesh Barnea, where the Israelites first camped when Moses sent out the 12 spies into the Promised Land.

Numbers 13 records God sending the 12 spies from Kadesh up through the wilderness of Zin, the Negev, and into the hill country. After 40 days, they came back. Because the majority of the spies brought back a bad report about the strength of the land’s inhabitants, the Israelites became afraid and grumbled. God, therefore, sends them to wander around and around in the Paran wilderness for 40 years. Seeing how desolate this land is brought a sobering reality to the anguish they must have felt after hearing of God’s punishment. They must have had many questions: What will we eat? What will we wear? How will we survive?

We spent some time hiking in Nahal Zin. A short, steep climb from the bottom to the southern bank left me out of breath and sweating. We climbed several sets of stairs and two ladders. When we made it to the top I was in awe at the scene before us. It looked like the other side, but this time we knew the work of getting through such a formation. Passing in the bus by another Nabeatean city called Oboda, we made our way to a second stop, called Mitzpeh Ramon. This means “view of Ramon”, which is a giant crater called a Maktesh. This crater wasn’t created by a meteorite, however. The 40-kilometer-long formation came from erosion.

Maktesh Ramon is 20 miles East of Kadesh which is also the site of Miriam’s death recorded in Numbers 20. This chapter tells the drama that took place between Moses and the Israelites at the waters of Meribah near the end of their forty-year wanderings. There was no water there, so the people started grumbling and quarreling with the Lord. Then Moses misrepresented God by striking the rock in anger when God had merely told him to speak to it. Because of his disbelief and portrayal of God as angry and impatient, the LORD told Moses and Aaron that they would not lead the people into the promised land.

As we sat in front of the vast overlook and read this passage, we discussed some of the lessons it teaches us today.  How do we convey God to other people? Do we live in a way that shows his mercy on undeserving sinners, or in impatience and unrighteous anger? Even after forty years of wandering, Moses failed in something that may seem like a small fault. However, as the mouthpiece of God, it was not unjust for God to forbid him from entering the Promised Land. God’s punishment may seem severe at times, but He is always just in executing it. 

We got to learn more about God’s discipline in a hike in the middle of Maktesh Ramon. We had a steep climb up a ridge and down a rocky ravine. The views were stunning. towards the right, on the southern side of the crater, we saw the land spreading out, with sheer cliffs running into dramatically flat plateaus. The sky was bright blue with scattered clouds and the dirt varied in color with hues of brown, red, and black.

Our path in Maktesh Ramon

When we arrived at a flat location, we all read Deuteronomy 8 and took some time to think and meditate. I thought about what the passage was saying. It is God’s words to the Israelites as they are about to enter the promised land. He tells them why he had them wander for so long in the wilderness, “That he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not” (Deut 8:2b ESV). Moses reminds them of the good land that they are going into. It is from God, and they must never forget this. What would it be like to hear these words? I tried to imagine myself as a young Israelite who had grown up in the wilderness hearing these words from Moses. How would I respond?