Shalom!
 
The 40 year journey beginning with the birth of a nation leaving Egypt until the time they were ready to enter the Promised Land included 42 encampments.  
Bemidbar/Numbers 33:1 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moshe and Aharon. 2 Now Moshe wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of YHWH. And these are their journeys by stages... 
If we're honest with ourselves, we don't care so much about these stops and the names mentioned.  We are really just eager to know when will we arrive at our destination.  However, we are given a perspective of what the journey looked like to our Heavenly Father:
Jeremiah 2:2... 'Thus says YHWH : "I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness,  In a land not sown.
 
Fourteen of these stops occurred in the first year and a half before the spies went out, and there were eight stops after the death of Aharon during the 40th year.  That leaves 20 stops during around 38 years.  Obviously each stop should have significance to us because where we have come from is where we are going.  In Hebrew thought, history is our destiny.  It is prophecy.  History and prophecy are two sides of the same coin.  This is why it is so important to teach our children about the "journey."  After all, the "journey" takes us "home." 
Psalm 78:4 We will not hide from their children, Telling to the final generation the praises of YHWH , And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Ya'acov, And appointed a Torah in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; 6 That the final generation might know them, The children yet to be born will arise and tell their own children, 7 That they may set their hope in Elohim, And not forget the works of Elohim, But keep His commandments;

We are a people prone to only focus on the destination.  Isn't it true that YHWH could take us there in a moment?  But it's not His will.  He takes each of us through successes and failures.  These are our encampments, our experiences.  There is no other way.  And it is all ultimately for His glory.

 
What actually is the "destination?"  What is "home?"   It would surprise most believers in Yeshua who believe themselves to be "children of Abraham" that physical possession of the Land of Israel has always been the inheritance YHWH desired to gift His chosen people.  This Land is the location of the coming kingdom:
Bereshith/Genesis 12:1 Now YHWH  had said to Avram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.
Bereshith/Genesis 15:7 Then He said to him, "I am YHWH, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it."
 
Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
The Land was prominent in the instructions Moshe was given to tell the slaves of Egypt:
Shemot/Exodus 6:8 'And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya'acov; and I will give it to you as a possession: I am YHWH

What I found especially interesting this week in Parashat Massei was that as soon as YHWH lists the encampments, He begins to tell them about the enemies in this Promised Land that they would need to drive out:

Bemidbar/Numbers 33:51 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 'then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; 53 'you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.

Specifically, these nations are listed in Devarim:

Devarim/Deuteronomy 7:1 "When YHWH your Elohim brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, 2 "and when YHWH your Elohim  delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
With the help of YHWH, there is no doubt that the Israelites are able to "conquer and utterly destroy" these "seven nations greater and mightier than them." YHWH gave His people the power and the authority to evict them.  Not only is this on the national level, but each person must spiritually take authority over the enemy as we go through each of our own wilderness experiences ahead of entrance into the Land.
Luke 10:19 "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Torah teacher Joe Snipes (http://gatestozion.net/parasha-43) reveals how these nations are strongholds of our flesh that we need to allow our Master Yeshua to "uproot, tear down, destroy, and demolish every stronghold, drive out every entity, until YHWH's Kingdom comes in its fullness."  Mr. Snipes lists the seven nations of Canaan, their meaning, and the specific personal stronghold:
 
        
 
1.  The Hittites - the sons of Heth..."terror" - strongholds of fear
 
2.  The Girgashites - "soil, clay, unsure foundations" - strongholds of deception, traditions of men, twisted truth, lies, etc.
 
3.  The Amorites - some of the largest, and strongest of all of the nations of Cana'an...."boasters" - stronghold of pride
 
4.  The Cana'anites - "brought down, defeated, made low" - strongholds of depression, and hopelessness
 
5.  The Perizzites - "breach in the wall" - strongholds of broken relationships, inability to keep promises, be truthful and honest  
 
6.  The Hivites - lived on Mt. Hermon and it was the capital of the worshipers of Ba'al ..."dwellers in the high places" - strongholds of occult/cult worship, sexual sins, and addictions
 
7.  The Jebusites - "to thresh, trample, and trod down, also can mean to desecrate and utterly reject" - strongholds of rebellion, and inability to deal with authority/structure
 
And let us remember that although our journey has a goal, each stage along the way has something to teach us and something to face about ourselves:  
Devarim/Deuteronomy 8:2 "And you shall remember that YHWH your Elohim led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Even when we get close to the goal, we still must address the enemy strongholds to be conquered.  If we don't, we run a serious risk...
Bemidbar/Numbers 33:55 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. 56 'Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.' "
One more thing now.  The children of Israel were led by the visible glory of YHWH in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  How about us?  How can we be led?  
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of Elohim, these are sons of Elohim.

Yeshua is our example:

Matthew 4:1 Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Tim Hegg sums up various answers to the question of "how can we know we are being led by the Spirit in our life?" under three headings:  feelings, circumstances, and the Bible.  His commentary can be read here - Tim Hegg - Numbers 33.

 
I was very touched by this article about care packages being sent from residents of the Golan Heights to children in Syrian refugee camps.  The goal is to show those who have been taught to hate, who the Israeli's really are.  Operation Good Neighbor

 

We'll end with another story of the Holocaust.  Although a young musician tried to hide her Jewish identity, she eventually ended up in Auschwitz.  She led a woman's orchestra there saving many lives.  Here is her story - Alma Rose
 
                   
 
Shabbat Shalom!
Ardelle