Forty Years at Forty-Two Camps: Meditations on Israel's Forty-Two Wilderness Encampments
By L.Grant Luton
From the Introduction:
The Torah identifies exactly 42 encampments Israel made on their forty-year journey from Egypt – 42 stops that had to be taken in order. Not a very efficient way to travel, but in God’s wisdom the shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line. In fact, God doesn’t seem as concerned with short distances as He is with meaningful journeys. Israel’s distance from Canaan was not geographical, but spiritual.
In this devotional we will take a 42-day spiritual journey as we contemplate Israel’s 42 encampments. And as we take this journey, let’s learn the lesson each encampment has to teach us. Some of these locales are filled with meaningful events and lessons, while others only mention a name and nothing more. But the names themselves contain lessons for us. As Paul said, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.”