KADESH BARNEA

The Holy Place of Desert Wandering

 Numbers 13 and 14

 

Here I am back from my holy place of desert wandering. I have just returned from a 4 day personal retreat down in the northern Sinai. I stayed in a settlement called Ezuz, near the border with Egypt. This settlement is probably one of the most remote in Israel, some 15 km off road 211 which leads to the  Nitzana border crossing into Egypt. I stayed in a B&B called the Zimmerbus, which is a Zimmer (Yiddish for B&B) made out of converted retired Egged buses. Sound a bit quirky? It sure was, but the artistically designed interiors, the mud built exteriors with the palm leaf roofs made for a comfortable and enjoyable stay - the airconditioning and the pool also helped.

 

Inside the Zimmerbus

From the outside 

I discovered that just a few kilometers down the road lay Kadesh Barnea, which is now a modern  kibbutz farm called Sade Sinai. Although there is a lot of controversy about the actual location of Kadesh Barnea, I feel this is the most likely site as it lies on the watershed dividing Wadi Paran from Wadi Zin, the two largest wadis in the area, and both of which are named in the Bible as being associated with Kadesh Barnea. Kadesh Barnea is the place where the people of Israel camped and sent out the twelve spies into the Promised Land. When the spies returned with reports of the great strength of the inhabitants of the  Promised Land, the people of Israel murmured against God and gave in to fear. Fear is the antithesis of Faith. Their lack of faith doomed them to 40 years of fruitless wandering in the wilderness.

 

 

I felt this was a timely reminder for me personally as I had gone down to the wilderness to seek God's direction for my future precipitated by my fears relating to my job situation. I felt God calling me to faith and trust, and to walk in the peace that passes all understanding. I don't want to walk in the wilderness of wandering because of my fear and anxieties.

I have just this evening discovered to my surprise that the weekly parasha read in the Synagogues for this week includes the passage of Numbers 13 and 14,  which is about the rebellion at Kadesh Barnea.  How amazing is that!

 

 

The wilderness of Kadesh Barnea

 

 

One day while down there I took an early morning walk in the desert just as the morning fog was rolling back. I saw a white bush shimmering near the track and went to investigate. I thought of Moses' burning bush but this bush was not burning but shining white light. When I drew near I saw it was a tamarisk bush (Eshel in Hebrew) and the cause of the shimmering was droplets of dew clinging to every leaflet and twig. I tasted a droplet and discovered it to be extremely bitter and salty.



Dew drops on the Tamarisk

The tamarisk is famous for its ability to grow in extremely salty soils, in places that for other plants would be toxic. The tamarisk grows long tap roots that draw water up from the deep desert aquifers. This water is often very salty and would kill any other plant, however the tamarisk has special glands on its leaflets that secrete the excess salt onto their surface. At night the dew collects on these salt crystals, dissolves the salt and washes it away as the droplets fall. 

I felt that the Lord was telling me that though he had put me in a somewhat toxic workplace for now, he had given me the resources and abilities to survive, if I was willing to persevere.  This was very encouraging.

Although I feel these things were God's personal words for me I am sharing them with you. Perhaps you too are living in a somewhat 'toxic' situation. We do not need to be afraid but to walk in the peace that derives from faith. God will see us through.

I had another experience while down there that also spoke to me.  One morning I drove up to a hilltop lookout and spent and hour or two in the shade of a shelter that had been erected there. Not long after I had settled a bold little bird came along and we spent quite a while together. It was a female black-eared wheatear ( I think - please correct me if I am wrong). She had a nest of young birds nearby (I could hear them) and she had come to warn me off. She exhibited no fear and stood her ground even in the face of this huge monster (me) that had dared to enter her territory.  Are there any monsters in your territory? There are a few in mine. But she reminded me that no matter how small and insignificant I may feel I do have a right to stand my ground and possess that which is mine, even in face of enormous odds.  She also reminded me of the sparrows of  Matthew 10. God is our provider. Just as he provides all the needs of his little birds in the harsh desert, he can and will provide for me and you, if we trust him.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ³⁰ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 

Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Matthew 10: 28-31.

 

Get off my territory !

 

I really thought I was going to be able to write a post this time without mentioning terror attacks but sadly, tragically it is not to be. This morning a 13 year old Israeli girl, Hallel Yaffe Ariel, was brutally stabbed while sleeping in her bed in her home in Kiryat Arba, near Hebron. She sustained multiple stab wounds to her upper body and later died of her injuries. Security forces were alerted when surveillance systems spotted the terrorist crossing the settlement's fence and one of the security guards shot and killed the terrorist. The guard sustained serious wounds to his upper body and legs.  The terrorist was Mohammed Taraireh (aged 17) from the village of Bani Na'im, near Kiryat Arba.

Hallel Yaffe Ariel
http://2xkcvt35vyxycuy7x23e0em1a5g.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Hillel-Yafa-Ariel-was-killed-when-a-terrorist-stabbed-her-in-her-bed.jpg



The scene of the attack
https://twitter.com/IDFSpokesperson/status/748423446862925825/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

At the funeral today, Rena Ariel, Hallel Yaffe’s mother said : "Hallel, look, everyone has gathered to see you. How do you eulogize a 13-and a half-year-old girl? Your mom and dad are here. Tell me what should I say? Tell me the words you use to eulogize a flower.”

“I ask you, the Muslim Arab mother who sent her daughter to stab someone. I taught my daughter to love and you, Arab Muslims teach hatred. Take a look at yourselves. We are here, Israel is eternal. God gave us the strength to continue to settle this mountain, and the Muslims shall not win.”

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.728190

This incident also provides an example of how the Press often subtly molds public opinion against Israel.  Compare these two headlines  " Israeli Girl Dies From Wounds After Being Stabbed at Home in West Bank"   - Haaretz (an Israeli daily newspaper) vs 
"Palestinian kills teen in Israeli settlement, then shot dead: army"   - Reuters. Note that  the subject of the Reuters' headline is the Palestinian terrorist. The innocent teenage girl who was killed barely gets a mention.

In my last post I mentioned how Israelis are prohibited from entering areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. In the news today is an incident that illustrates why.  Last night 9 Israelis, left wing activists, entered Ramallah in order to celebrate the nightly breaking of the Muslim Ramadan fast with the local Arabs. This expression of support for the Palestinian people was cut short when they came under attack by these same local Arabs who threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at them setting one of their cars on fire.  The Israelis had to be rescued by Israeli security forces and escaped without injury. It could have ended much differently.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/214285#.V3T3zNjylWE

As I am writing reports are coming in of another stabbing attack this time in Netanya. A man aged 40 and a 62 year old woman sustained wounds to their upper bodies.  The attacker, an Arab from a town near Tulkarem was shot dead. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4822678,00.html

There are still 'giants' in the Promised Land, enemies bent on our destruction, but their days are numbered and  in the end God's people will possess the land just as his Word has promised. 

Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word;  but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord—  because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice,   they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.   But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.

 

Numbers 14:20-24