28/09/2026
WHY DID THE JOURNEY OF WEEKS BECAME YEARS?
Deuteronomy 2:14 NKJV
And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them.
Using the most commonly accepted modern identifications, Kadesh-Barnea and the Valley/Brook of Zered were surprisingly not very far apart geographically.
The straight-line distance between those two points is only about 110 km (68 miles).
So an actual journey following the biblical route would have been substantially longer—potentially several hundred kilometres.
So why does Deuteronomy 2:14 say 38 years?
This is the important point. Deuteronomy 2:14 is not saying it normally takes 38 years to travel from Kadesh-Barnea to Zered.
The thirty-eight years represent the period of Israel’s wilderness judgment and wandering following the unbelief connected with the twelve spies. God had declared that the generation of fighting men who refused to enter Canaan would die in the wilderness. By the time Israel crossed the Zered, that generation had passed away.
So geographically, we might summarize it this way:
* Direct geographical distance: about 110 km / 68 miles, using the traditional locations.
* Possible actual wilderness route: considerably longer, perhaps several hundred kilometres, because Israel traveled southward and around Edom rather than directly northeast.
* Elapsed biblical time: 38 years.
* Reason for the 38 years: not distance, but divine judgment, wilderness wandering, and the passing away of the unbelieving generation.
The contrast in Deuteronomy 2:14 is therefore striking: a geographical journey that could ordinarily have been completed in days or weeks became a 38-year spiritual journey.
DEAREST,
Please GIVE US ONE LESSON YOU CAN DERIVE FROM THIS MESSAGE, that could be of great benefit to us all?
fans
