Numbers 21:12-13
From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered. From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Numbers 21:16-20
And from there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.” Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!—
the well that the princes made,
that the nobles of the people dug,
with the scepter and with their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they went on to Mattanah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that looks down on the desert.
Notice in the above verses the “from there” statements. Israel was on the move. They didn’t really settle anywhere in their 40 year wilderness travelings. Why? Because, their refusal to believe in God and enter the promise land made it impossible for them to find "rest" in God. Lesson: Unbelief always puts us in the wilderness and always steals our peace and rest. Life is that simply. The nation of Israel is our example. God told them He would bring them into the “promised land.” It was a land “flowing with milk and honey.” It was their ultimate paradise. But, when the heard about the giants in the land and the fortified cities they were frozen with fear and could not move forward. They feared the giants (unknown results) more than they believed the promises and character of their Mighty God. Note what the author of the book of Hebrews says about them:
Hebrews 3:16-19
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
They “heard” the Word of God and decided to not believe the promises of God. When God promises He can not go back on His promise. But, their fears kept them from believing in the promises of God and obeying. Israel stands as a stark reminder to us. When God promises and we believe we find rest. When we fail to believe Christ’s promises we wander in the wilderness and go from “there” to “there” to “there.” Note Christ’s Words (His Promise):
Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
If we put Him at the center He puts us in the middle of “rest.”
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