In Numbers 13, Moses sends spies to check out the Promised Land. The Scriptures do not tell us which cities the scouts visited, but we can guess they took they most common route through Canaan, and visited the biggest cities along that route. The first city the spies are likely to have reached is Arad. Arad was a prosperous and …
The Saddest Days of All
Earlier this week, Jews all over the world observed Tisha B’Av, the Ninth day of the Jewish month of Av. Tisha B’Av is a day of mourning in Judaism, wherein several calamitous events are remembered. The first of these is a central element in my second book, By the Waters of Kadesh—the report of the spies. When the scouts returned …
In the Footsteps of Abraham
Just a few verses in Numbers 13 presage a major turning point in the life of the young nation of Israel. Twelve men are chosen to be the first ones to enter the Promised Land and report back. The twelve spies left Kadesh-Barnea and went north into Canaan. They were instructed to “go up through the Negev and on into …
By the Waters of Kadesh
I thought this week I’d share with you the first scene of book two: By the Waters of Kadesh. Kadesh takes places a couple months after In the Shadow of Sinai ends, just as Israel reaches the edge of Canaan. The characters from Sinai are here: Bezalel, Meri, Ahmose—but Egyptian captain Kamose is our hero this time. And now I …