What was the wilderness wandering and what is its significance to us today as Christians?

Answer 1

A:

The Bible tells us that the Israelites fled from enslavement in Egypt and then spent forty years wandering in the wilderness in one of the greatest epic adventures of history, until they finally entered and conquered the land ofthe Canaanites.

Israel Finkelstein says that over 90 per cent of scholars believe there was no Exodus from Egypt as described in the Bible. Ze'ev Herzog says that what archaeologists have learned from their excavations in the Land of Israel is that the Israelites were never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not conquer the land in a military campaign and did not pass it on to the twelve tribes of Israel. In that case, the significance of this to Christians is that the story of the wandering in the wilderness is believed, rather than that it really happened. The story is so majestic and the presence of God so evident throughout the story, that it is hard not to believe this was real history and that God really chose the Hebrew people above all others.

Another View:

Biblical historian Eugene Merrill describes the importance the Exodus has for the rest of the Bible (includes Christian New Testament): "The exodus is the most significant historical and theological event of the Old Testament because it marks God's mightiest act in behalf of his people...To it the Book of Genesis provides an introduction and justification, and from it flows all subsequent Old Testament revelation...In the final analysis, the exodus served to typify that exodus achieved by Jesus Christ for people of faith so that it is a meaningful event for the church as well as for Israel" (Kingdom of Priests, 1996, pp. 57-58).

But for the Christian faith, the words of their Saviour surpass all the worldly scholars put together. Jesus Christ affirmed the biblical account of the Exodus as true, and He based some of His teachings on it. Reminding His countrymen that God had miraculously provided food for them during 40 years in the wilderness, He said: "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven" (see John 6:49-51).

Christians, as well all others who openly search the entirety of the Bible will conclude, the Exodus account remains a powerful witness to a God who does care about His people and intervenes in human affairs to carry out His plan.