Daily Archives: June 8, 2009

Israel’s experience in the Sinai wilderness might be summarized by the two words complained and murmured. One such account is given in Numbers 11.

We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” (Numbers 11:5-6 ESV)

The Land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was located in the eastern Nile Delta along the Pelusiac Branch of the Nile. The land is flat and fertile, and their are canals with water. Because water is rare in the wilderness (or desert) crops are also rare.

From the wilderness, the great meals of fish and vegetables in Egypt looked good to the Israelites. The hard days of oppression were overlooked. (A lot like the bondage of sin!) I had an opportunity to be in some of the fields in Goshen. The farmers grow crops for the cattle, but they use the corners of the fields to grow vegetables for their own use. I saw leeks and cabbage.

Field in the land of Goshen. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The white object in the field is one of the pieces of the colossal statue of Rameses that we mentioned in an earlier post. Smoking is widespread in Egypt.