“Your children will be shepherds here in the desert for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not faithful to me. They must suffer until all of you lie dead in the desert.
Don’t worship or serve idols of any kind. Why? Because I, the Lord, am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods. [125] People who sin against me become my enemies. And I will punish those people. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren.
“So, the Lord my Master said these things, ‘\{Jerusalem,\} you forgot me. You threw me away and left me behind. So now you must suffer for leaving me and living like a prostitute. {\cf2\super [190]} You must suffer for your wicked dreams.’”
Israel, don’t celebrate like the nations do! Don’t be happy! You acted like a prostitute {\cf2\super [84]} and left your God. You did your sexual sin {\cf2\super [85]} on every threshing floor. {\cf2\super [86]}
“The Lord was very angry against the people of Israel. So the Lord made the people stay in the desert for 40 years. The Lord made them stay there until all the people who had sinned against the Lord were dead.
Aaron the priest obeyed the Lord and went up Mount Hor. Aaron died at that place. Aaron died on the first day of the fifth month. That was the 40th year after the people of Israel had left Egypt.
So Moses led the people out. He did powerful things and miracles. {\cf2\super [138]} Moses did these things in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then in the desert for 40 years.
But it was 40 years from the time the people of Israel left Egypt until the time they came to this place. On the first day of the eleventh month of the 40th year, Moses spoke to the people. Moses told them all the things the Lord commanded.
It was 38 years from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until the time we crossed Zered Valley. All the fighting men of that generation in our camp had died. The Lord had sworn (promised) that that would happen.
Remember that the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He knows about your walking through this great desert. The Lord your God has been with you these 40 years. You have always had everything you needed.’
And you must remember the whole trip that the Lord your God has led you through these 40 years in the desert. The Lord was testing you. He wanted to make you humble. He wanted to know the things in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands.