people may “believe.” Faith is what God expects from Israel as the proper response to their Sinai experience. We move forward in the story expecting to find Israel’s faith. We are quite surprised to discover, however, the exact opposite: unbelief and death. In the next major narrative section, the Wilderness Narrative from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land (Num. 10:11–36:13), the people of Israel do not believe: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘How long will this people despise me? And how long will
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