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"when we departed fromHoreb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness,
which ye saw by the way of themountain of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God
commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea."
This "mountain of the Amorites" is the most interesting spot in the whole Et Tih, or
"wilderness of thewanderings." Arrived there, it seemed as if Israel were just about to
take possession of the PromisedLand. Thence the spies went forth to view the land.
But here also the sentence was spoken whichdoomed all that unbelieving, faint-
hearted generation to fall in the wilderness, and thither Israel had toreturn at the end of
their forty years wanderings to start, as it were, anew on their journey ofpossession.
"The mountain of the Amorites" is a mountain plateau in the north-east of the Et
Tih,about seventy miles long, and from forty to fifty broad, which extends northward
to near Beersheba.It contains many spots known to us from patriarchal history, and
also celebrated afterwards.According to the description of travelers, we are here,
literally, in a land of ruins, many of themdating far back, perhaps from the time of the
Exodus, if not earlier.
Even the old name of the Amorites is still everywhere preserved as 'Amir and 'Amori.
It leaves apeculiar impression on the mind to find not only the old Scripture names of
towns continued thesethousands of years, but actually to hear the wells which
Abraham and Isaac had dug still called bytheir ancient names! About half way
towards Beersheba the whole character of the scenery changes.Instead of the
wilderness we have now broad valleys, with many and increasing evidences of
formerhabitation all around. Indeed, we are now in the Negeb, or "south country"
(erroneously rendered"the south" in our Authorized Version), which extends from
about Kadesh to Beersheba. If "certainprimeval stone remains" found throughout the
Sinaitic peninsula have been regarded by the latesttravelers as marking the
journeyings, or rather the more prolonged settlements of Israel in "thewilderness,"
there is one class of them which deserves special attention. These are the so-
called"Hazeroth," or "fenced enclosures," consisting of "a low wall of stones in which
thick bundles ofthorny acacia are inserted, the tangled branches and long needle-like
spikes forming a perfectlyimpenetrable hedge around the encampment" of tents and
cattle which they sheltered. These"Hazeroth," so frequently referred to in Scripture,
abound in this district.
Such then was the goal and such the line of march before Israel, when, on that day in
early summer,the Ark and the host of the Lord moved forward from the foot of Sinai.
At the reiterated request ofMoses, Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses, had consented
to accompany Israel, and to act astheir guide in the wilderness, in the faith of
afterwards sharing "what goodness Jehovah" would dounto His people. (Numbers
10:32) This we learn from such passages as Judges 1:16; 1 Samuel15:6; 27:10; 30:9.
Although the pillar of cloud was the real guide of Israel in all their journeying, yetthe
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