Deuteronomy 1:19

My Notes

What Does Deuteronomy 1:19 Mean?

"And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea." Moses SUMMARIZES the journey from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea in one sentence — and the description of the wilderness is DUAL: GREAT (gadol — large, vast, extensive) AND TERRIBLE (nora — fearful, awesome, terrifying). The wilderness was BOTH: vast in SIZE and terrifying in EXPERIENCE. The journey was as LARGE as it was FRIGHTENING. The terrain matched the terror.

The phrase "that great and terrible wilderness" (hammidbar haggadol vehanora hahu — that wilderness, the great and the terrifying, that one) uses TWO adjectives for ONE wilderness: the GREAT wilderness (gadol — the size, the vastness, the sheer SCALE of the desert) AND the TERRIBLE wilderness (nora — the fear, the danger, the terrifying quality of the terrain). The wilderness isn't just BIG. It's FRIGHTENING. The size and the terror TOGETHER define the experience. The vastness and the fearfulness are BOTH real.

The "as the LORD our God commanded us" (ka'asher tzivvanu YHWH Eloheinu — as the LORD our God commanded us) makes the journey through the TERRIFYING wilderness COMMANDED: the going-through wasn't Israel's CHOICE. It was God's COMMAND. The great-and-terrible wilderness was the COMMANDED ROUTE. God didn't guide Israel AROUND the terror. God guided Israel THROUGH it. The commanded path went THROUGH the terrifying, not around it.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What great-and-terrible wilderness are you going through — on God's command?
• 2.What does the wilderness being BOTH great AND terrible teach about the dual nature of hard seasons?
• 3.How does the route being COMMANDED change your experience of the terrifying?
• 4.What arrival (Kadesh-barnea) on the OTHER SIDE of the wilderness proves the survival?

Devotional

We went through that GREAT and TERRIBLE wilderness. As the LORD our God COMMANDED us. The wilderness was vast AND terrifying. The route was commanded, not chosen. God didn't guide around the terror. God guided THROUGH it. The commanded path went directly through the great-and-terrible.

The 'great and terrible' describes the wilderness with DUAL honesty: GREAT — the Sinai wilderness is ENORMOUS. Miles of sand, rock, and emptiness stretching in every direction. The vastness is the first quality. TERRIBLE — the wilderness is TERRIFYING. Snakes, scorpions, drought, heat (Deuteronomy 8:15). The terror is the second quality. Moses doesn't SOFTEN the description. He gives it BOTH words: great AND terrible. Big AND scary.

The 'as the LORD our God commanded us' makes the TERRIBLE ROUTE the COMMANDED route: God didn't say 'go around the scary part.' God said 'go THROUGH.' The command includes the wilderness. The obedience includes the terror. The following-God includes the great-and-terrible. The commanded path isn't the COMFORTABLE path. It's the DIRECT path — which goes through the worst terrain.

The 'we came to Kadesh-barnea' is the ARRIVAL that proves the SURVIVAL: they went through the great-and-terrible AND ARRIVED. The wilderness didn't kill them. The terror didn't destroy them. The vastness didn't swallow them. They CAME to Kadesh-barnea — the destination on the other side of the desert. The going-through ENDED. The arriving HAPPENED. The wilderness was SURVIVED because the command that sent them through also SUSTAINED them through.

What great-and-terrible wilderness are you going THROUGH — on God's command — and has the arriving started yet?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture