The Journey From Egypt To Sinai (Numbers 33:3-15).
The first station from which Israel set out was Rameses, the twelfth was the wilderness of Sinai. This may be totally coincidental, or it may have been deliberate in order to tie in with the twelve tribes of Israel. During that time they moved from being a loose association of tribes to being the covenant people of Yahweh.
‘And they journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the morrow after the passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,'
The commencement of the journey is precisely dated, tying in with Exodus 12. It started on the fifteenth day of the first month, the first day of Unleavened Bread after the Passover night, when the children of Israel went out in triumph in the sight of the Egyptians. It began in triumph. The Egyptians did nothing to stop them. It was a reminder that now as they approached Canaan they could also go ‘with a high hand', that is, confidently and courageously.
‘While the Egyptians were burying all their first-born, whom Yahweh had smitten among them. On their gods also Yahweh executed judgments.'
For it was while the Egyptians were burying their firstborn whom Yahweh had smitten. And He had not only smitten the firstborn, He had revealed His judgments against all the gods of Egypt. Here we have a direct reference to Exodus 12:12. In the Exodus little is actually said about the gods of Egypt, but here it is emphasised so that Israel might recognise that the Canaanite gods would also be able to do nothing against them and that Yahweh would smite them too. It was also to bring out that against Yahweh even the most powerful of gods, the gods of Egypt, could do little. They were as putty in His hands.
‘And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth.'
Then the children of Israel had journeyed from Rameses, where they had been toiling on the rebuilding of the city, to Succoth (Exodus 12:37), with all their herds and flocks. They had arrived in a hurry and not fully prepared for travel, for they had been thrust out (Exodus 12:39). They had rejoiced in that they were on their way to freedom. Succoth may well have been ‘tkw' (near Pithom), which was on the regular way out of Egypt for those who were seeking to escape, and was where refugees from the wilderness were processed as they entered Egypt. It is mentioned in the Tale of Sinuhe, and in Papyri Anastasi V and VI.
The problem for us is that none of these places have been definitely identified. It is rare for a site to divulge its name (as in fact the site at Gibeon in Canaan did, but it is a rare exception), and identifications thus for a large part remain tenuous, something which must ever be remembered before too much is built on them.
‘And they journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.'
And from Succoth they had travelled to Etham on the edge of the wilderness (Exodus 13:20), where they encamped. This is an unidentified site on the way to the sea crossing. By this time the pillar of cloud led them by day and the pillar of fire watched over them by night.
‘And they journeyed from Etham, and turned back unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they encamped before Migdol.'
From Etham they did a detour to Pi-hahiroth which was by Baalzephon and encamped before Migdol (tower). See Exodus 14:2. Note the name of Baalzephon which confirms the worship of Baal in that area. Migdol would be a border post and was ‘by the sea' (Exodus 14:2), that is near to an inner waterway which helped to form the borders of Egypt. Both Baalzephon and Midgdol are mentioned in Egyptian texts as being near Wadi Tumilat.
But the sea appeared to have them entrapped. We do not know where this ‘sea' was. It probably no longer exists. It would be a continuation of the Gulf of Suez, but may not have been directly connected with it. There were probably a number of such seas or lakes. And they were probably all called ‘the Reed Sea'.
‘And they journeyed from before Hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah.'
From there they went to Hahiroth (Pi-hahiroth - Exodus 14:9). It was there that Pharaoh thought that he had them cornered, and where they panicked as they realised that the Egyptians were hard on their tail. And that was where the miracle happened and they passed through the sea, into the wilderness where they could disappear from view, leaving a broken Egyptian army behind them.
From there they travelled on a ‘three days journey' through the Wilderness of Shur to Marah where they found no water (Exodus 15:22-23). This caused their first ‘murmuring' in the wilderness, until Moses was guided by Yahweh to a tree which could turn the bitter waters sweet. And there he formulated basic ‘statutes and ordinances' which would guide their lives as they moved on. His law-giving had begun. With a mixed multitude among them from many nations (Exodus 12:38) it was necessary, with Egypt behind them, for some basic rules to be laid down.
And there, where they had seen the waters healed, Yahweh promised them freedom from diseases if only they would hear His voice and obey Him.
‘And they journeyed from Marah, and came to Elim, and in Elim were twelve springs of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees; and they encamped there.'
From Marah they came to Elim (Exodus 15:27) where there were ‘twelve springs of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees'. And there too they encamped. It is clear that the traditions of Exodus were burned into Moses' mind.
Note too that while we have been briefly remembering all that happened, all that Moses has brought out is their coming out of Egypt with a high hand, the smiting of the gods of Egypt, and this water with its palm trees. He wants one or two lessons to come home as an introduction to this section, but this is not the main point of the exercise. The point was that eventually they could always be sure that Yahweh would always be with them and bring them to a place of fruitfulness. ‘Twelve springs' would indicate sufficiency of water for all the twelve tribes, and ‘seventy' (seven intensified) palm trees indicated the divine perfection of the food supply.
‘And they journeyed from Elim, and encamped by the Reed Sea.'
The seventh encampment was by the Reed Sea. This would be on the Gulf of Suez. Up to this point, then, we have a general idea of the route that they were taking. It was avoiding the routes where they might meet up with those who would betray them to the Egyptians, and moving towards the territory in which Moses had spent many years during his time among the Midianites.
‘And they journeyed from the Reed Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.'
From there they made their way into the wilderness of Sin, ‘which is between Elim and Sinai' (Exodus 16:1). This was on the fifteenth day of the second month. They had now been journeying exactly a moon period (roughly four weeks). It was around this time that the manna began.
‘And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. And they journeyed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. And they journeyed from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.'
Travelling through the wilderness of Sin they came to Dophkah. Dophkah may mean ‘smeltery' and indicate the presence of copper mining, but there was much copper mining in the area. It cannot be identified with any confidence. From there they moved to Alush and then to Rephidim. Note that these are the names of where they encamped. The aim would always be to find water, but at Rephidim there was no water. Neither Dophkah or Alush are mentioned in Exodus, but Rephidim is mentioned in Exodus 17. It was there that water was brought from a rock when Moses smote it, and that they had their first encounter with the Amalekites. The Amalekites probably saw them as trespassing on their grazing lands and rallied in order to oppose them.
“Where was no water for the people to drink.” This is the last comment made until they reach Mount Hor in Numbers 33:37. Given what occurred over that period this is quite remarkable. It may suggest that Moses saw the whole period from this point on as a ‘dry period'. Yahweh had intended plenty for them (Numbers 33:9), but because of their faithlessness and unbelief it was to be a period of spiritual dryness. Even Sinai resulted in the worship of the molten calf.
Incidentally these small comments added to lists are typical of many ancient lists. We can compare for example the Sumerian king lists where similar small comments occur now and again. It is modern man who likes his lists to be stark and barren.
‘And they journeyed from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai.'
Their twelfth listed encampment was in the wilderness of Sinai. They arrived at this in the third month (Exodus 19:1). But we do not know where Sinai was. The earliest traditions are at least 1500 years after the event. This is no grounds for confidence. All we can probably safely say is that it was in the gulf of Suez, simply because of distance travelled. (Jebel Musa is the traditional site, but a number of others such as Jebel Sin Bisher, are variously supported).
Their time spent there is covered from Exodus 19 onwards. There they received the covenant, and made and erected God's new Dwellingplace. They arrived as a conglomeration of people, they left it as a covenant nation. The mixed multitude had mainly now become one with Israel, by being absorbed into the tribes.
From that point on every place where they set up a proper encampment would also be the place where the Dwellingplace of Yahweh was set up. Thus it obtained a kind of sacredness. Possibly one reason for the list was so that they might be specifically remembered.