By Way of the Wilderness

by Gilbert, Morris

  Oholiab stopped by and said, “You look like you just bit into a sour pickle. What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Well, I think there is.” He looked out and saw Bezalel dancing with Yona. “They make a good-looking couple, don’t they?”

  “I think she’s ugly.”

  “Ugly! You must be blind. She’s a beautiful young woman. I wouldn’t mind dancing with her myself.”

  “Her nose is too big.”

  Oholiab peered sharply at the young girl and laughed. “Well, it looks like Bezalel’s busy, so you can dance with me.”

  “I don’t know how to dance.”

  “Well, you’ve got the best teacher in all of Israel. Come along!”

  ****

  “I don’t think I’ve ever danced so much in my whole life,” Bezalel said. He was strolling along under the light of a full moon with Yona. The festival had gone on for a long time, and they had stayed until the very last of the musicians had left. Now as he walked back to her tent with her, he was stirred by her appearance. He had always been easily influenced by pretty girls, and this one was much more than that.

  “I can’t tell you how much I admire your work, Bezalel.”

  “Do you really?” Her words pleased him, for he took great pride in what he did.

  “I used to come around when you were working on the furnishings for the tabernacle. Of course, I knew no one could see it once it was taken inside. That candelabrum you made was a stunning work of art.”

  “It was very difficult. Moses told me exactly what it was to look like, but it was hard to get it just right.”

  “You did a beautiful job. I never saw the ark, but I know it must have been beautiful.”

  “I don’t suppose anyone will ever see it again except for Aaron or the next high priest.”

  Indeed, no one except Aaron did see the ark after it was finished. As soon as Bezalel had finished it, it was carried into what was called the Holy of Holies, which was separated from the Holy Place. All that was in there was the ark. As soon as Bezalel had placed it there and left, Moses said, “No man will see the ark except the high priest.”

  So it was. Whenever the tabernacle was to be moved, Aaron went in and covered the ark; then young men of the tribe of Levi put poles through the rings on the side, and they carried the covered ark to the next camping place. Aaron himself was commanded only to go in once a year on the most holy day of all and sprinkle the ark with the blood of a sacrifice.

  “Everyone is talking about how clever you are to make all those things and the tabernacle as well.”

  “Well, Oholiab had a lot to do with it. He’s a clever fellow, and Moses gave all the details of the work, exactly as God gave them to him on the mountain.”

  They walked along, and Yona continued to speak of how beautiful Bezalel’s work was. When they reached her tent, she turned and faced him squarely. She smiled and Bezalel was suddenly aware of the perfume she wore and found himself drawn toward her.

  “You’re so beautiful, Yona!”

  “Come, now. You’re much too serious a man to be making pretty speeches to girls.”

  “Not at all.” Bezalel was admiring the strong lines and planes of her face, the smoothness of her cheeks in the silver glow of the moonlight, and the way her head smoothly joined her strong but graceful neck. Her lips were well shaped, and he could not seem to take his eyes off of them. Suddenly, without really meaning to, he reached out and pulled her to him. She came to him easily, and he was acutely conscious of the pressure of her soft body against his. To his surprise she did not pull away. Her lips were soft beneath his own, and suddenly long-hidden feelings stirred him, deepening his sense of loneliness.

  Yona drew back and whispered, “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “I’ll probably do it again.” He made an attempt, but she laughed and put her hand on his chest. “That’s enough. I enjoyed the dancing.”

  “I’ll come and see you again.”

  “That would be nice,” Yona said with a smile. She touched his cheek, turned, and went into the tent.

  Bezalel made his way back to his own tent as if he were treading on air. When he went inside, he was grinning foolishly, and Shani, who was sitting on the mat she used for a bed, stared at him without expression. “Hello, Shani.”

  She did not answer but got up and stalked out of the tent.

  “What’s the matter with her, Miriam?”

  “She’s jealous, Bezalel.”

  “Oh, that’s foolish! Young girls often get attracted to older men. She’ll get over it. She’s just a child.”

  Miriam turned to face Bezalel and shook her head scornfully. “She’s at least fourteen years old, maybe more. Many of our maidens are married when they’re that age.”

  Bezalel was still living in the memory of Yona’s soft lips. “Well,” he said absently, “I’ll look around for a husband for her.”

  Miriam threw up her hands and gave a short, bitter laugh. “It’s a good thing you can makes things, son, because you are ignorant beyond belief!”

  Chapter 26

  “Come on, everybody—the scouts are back!”

  Miriam looked up from where she was working on a pair of sandals, a light of pleasure in her eyes. She got up, saying, “Come along, Shani. You wouldn’t want to miss this.”

  Shani had been cooking over the fire. She put the pot to one side and joined Miriam.

  Bezalel reached out and pulled her hair. “Try to look a bit more excited, little lamb. This means we’re going to the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey.”

  Shani did not answer. She saw that everyone was hurrying toward the east end of the camp. There were shouts and calls and laughter, and Bezalel caught her by the hand and said, “Come on let’s run.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  Bezalel stared at her. “You always like to run.”

  “I don’t feel like it today.”

  Bezalel had done his best to make up with Shani, but during the past days he had spent a great deal of time with Yona. He knew this did not meet with Shani’s approval, but he was a young man in love and could not help himself. “Well, I’ll just walk along with you, then.”

  “Go ahead. Don’t wait for me,” Shani said shortly.

  The two approached the crowd and pushed their way toward the front. “Look, Shani, there’s Joshua and Caleb, and look at the size of that bunch of grapes they’re carrying. Why, it takes both of them!”

  The scouts arrived in single-file, all of them carrying some evidence of the fruitfulness of the land—grain, fruit, green vegetables. The cluster of grapes that Joshua and Caleb carried was enormous. “They make your mouth water just to look at them, don’t they, Shani?” Bezalel said with excitement. “I can’t wait until we get there.”

  Moses was waiting, and when he examined the fruits of the land, he was smiling. “These are wonderful fruits. Now give us your reports.”

  Gaddiel, of the tribe of Zebulun, spoke up. He was a short, muscular man with a stolid expression, and now he was scowling as he spoke. “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.”

  Geuel, of the tribe of Gad, interrupted. He was a tall, lanky man and ordinarily pleasant enough, but now he was scowling. “The Amalekites live in the Negev,” he said. “The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country, and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

  A muttering went through the crowd, but Caleb raised his voice and silenced them. “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

  Shaphat, of the tribe of Simeon, glared at Caleb. “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”

  Then the voices of the scouts grew louder as they overrode the opinions of Caleb and Joshua. Nahbi, of the tribe of Naphtali, ste
pped forward to speak. He was a spare man with a cavernous face and a lantern jaw. “The land we explored devours those living in it,” he declared. “All the people we saw there are of great size.” His jaw set stubbornly as he added, “We saw the Nephilim there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

  The crowd’s mutterings and complaints turned to cries of dismay. “We are like grasshoppers, the men say … they are like mountains … there are fortified cities!”

  The complaints and weeping of the people overwhelmed the congregation as they lamented, “Woe and misery to us! What will happen to us?”

  Joshua lifted his voice and called out, “Do not despair! The Lord is God. He has delivered us from Egypt. He will take us into the land.”

  But the crowd would not be convinced. A woman with a child in her arms cried out, “Why did you take us out of Egypt, Moses? We had bread to eat there.”

  “Yes, back to Egypt!” cried a voice behind her.

  “Back to Egypt! We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt!”

  As the voices of the crowd grew tumultuous, Moses pleaded with them, “Only remember what the Lord has done for you. He will win this battle for you as He has won other battles.”

  Joshua then leaped forward. His hazel eyes were burning, and he shouted like a trumpet, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.”

  Caleb added his voice, “Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

  But the voices of the two were drowned out with shouts, and many took up stones to kill them. But even as stones were grasped, there was a cry and everyone froze. Bezalel looked up and saw a cloud descending. It was a terrible cloud, dark and ominous, like a mountain settling down on the heads of all the congregation. Many fell to their feet. Others tried to run and hide, but Moses stood still, for he knew that this was Israel’s time of testing.

  The voice of the Lord spoke to Moses: “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”

  Moses cried out to God, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O Lord, are with these people and that you, O Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.’”

  On and on he pleaded, and finally Moses used the words that God had given him when he asked to see the glory of God. They had never departed from Moses’ mind, and now he cried out the words with a loud voice: “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.”

  And then the Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”

  The Lord then addressed both Moses and Aaron: “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die.”

  The voice of the Lord faded, and the people began to get to their feet. Moses was sick at heart and knew that his great dream was now no more. He looked out over the congregation and knew that not one of those men and women who were twenty or older would ever see the land of milk and honey. Only the children and those under the age of twenty would be able to enter it.

  ****

  Shani turned to Bezalel and whispered, “What does it mean?”

  “It means, Shani, that no one over twenty can ever go into the Promised Land.”

  “I’m not going if you’re not.”

  Bezalel had been shaken, and now he said slowly, “I’m exactly twenty. I don’t know whether I’ll be permitted to go in or not.”

  Shani reached for his arm and clung to it. When he looked down at her, she whispered fiercely, “I’m not going to the Promised Land if you’re not!”

  Bezalel tried to smile, but it was difficult. He caressed the girl’s shiny red auburn hair. “We’ll see,” he said, but his heart was sick. He knew that Aaron and Miriam and even Moses himself would never go into the Promised Land, according to the word of God. “It hasn’t worked out as Moses dreamed it would,” he said.

  “It’ll be all right. You and I will go in with the younger ones.”

  The two stood there uncertainly, thinking of the long years that would pass before anyone could go into the Promised Land.

  Chapter 27

  Caleb and Joshua had been sitting outside Moses’ tent for hours. From time to time they spoke quietly of all that had taken place, but for the most part, silence reigned between the two. Finally Joshua straightened up and touched Caleb’s shoulder. “Listen, I think I hear Moses.”

  Caleb, whose hearing was somewhat better than Joshua’s, nodded. Wearily he said, “Yes, he’s been praying all night long. I don’t know how he has the strength for it, strong man though he is.”

  The two men sat there for another half hour, and then the curtain was parted and Moses stepped outside. The younger men at once rose and bowed before Moses.

  “What are the people saying?” Moses’ face was lined with deep creases, and the glory of God that had once suffused his face had faded. His shoulders were slumped, and he moved slowly, like a very old man.

  Caleb hesitated, then said, “The ten men who were with us on the mission to spy out the land are dead. The Lord killed them.”

  Moses shook his head, and his lips drew into a white line. “I grieve for them. Their name will have a bad reputation forever. Why could they not believe the Lord God as you two do?”

  Neither Joshua nor Caleb had an answer for that, and finally Joshua said, “Some of the people have said they are now ready to enter the land and fight.”

  “It is too late for that,” Moses said. “We must think of other things.”

  “What is your command?”

  For a time Moses
did not answer, and as he stood there silently, both Caleb and Joshua realized, perhaps for the first time, exactly how lonely this big man was. He alone bore the burden of being a spokesman of the Lord to the people. He had to bear the criticism, the mutterings, the complaints of the people.

  “My heart is broken, and the people—the poor people—they are confused and will be scattered in a moment like sheep. God has given me His word. We are to turn back into the wilderness.”

  Joshua’s eyes opened. “How soon?”

  Moses appeared not to have heard him. He said in a low voice, “The generations that we led out of Egypt will perish in the wilderness, as God has sworn. I was wrong about the people. I thought they could be transformed into a nation of strong warriors, but the shackles of slavery were too strong, and the idolatry that was part of that old life has sunken into their souls. God is wise, for it will take another type of nation to overcome the inhabitants of Canaan.”

  “The people are weak,” Caleb agreed, nodding. “They are not warriors.”

  “They will have to become warriors—not the men of your generation, but your children and your grandchildren. They will have to become hard, and they will have to learn to trust in the Lord.”

  “How will the people live in the wilderness?” Joshua asked.

  “By the hand of the Lord. Do you not remember the manna that He provided, and that He gave water out of a rock? This generation must die, and a new nation must be born before Israel receives its inheritance into the Promised Land.”

  For a long time the two men listened as Moses spoke of the plans to turn back into the wilderness. Finally he dismissed them, giving them instructions to speak to the people.

  Joshua and Caleb left the great leader and went their separate ways. Caleb, on his way back to his own tent, encountered Miriam.

  She came to him at once. “Have you spoken to my brother?”

  “Yes. We will turn back into the wilderness very soon.”