Midrash Tanchuma, Masei 3 | Jewish Mythology

(Numb. 33:1:) “These are the stages of the Children of Israel.” [The matter] is comparable to a king whose son was ill.4Numb. R. 23:3. He brought him to a certain place to heal him. When they returned, his father began recounting the stages, “Here we slept. Here we cooled off. Here you had a headache.” Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “Recount to them all the places where they provoked Me.” It is therefore stated (in Numb. 33:1), “These are the stages....” Another interpretation: Why did all these stages (places) merit to be written in the Torah? Since they received (accommodated) Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, will give them their reward in the future. It is so stated (in Is. 35:1-2), “The arid desert shall be glad.... It shall blossom abundantly, it shall also exult....” And if the desert [will receive] such for receiving Israel; one who receives a Torah scholar into his home, all the more so [will he be rewarded]. You find that in the future the desert will be a settlement and a settlement will be a desert. [That] a desert will be a settlement, as it states (Is. 41:8), “I will make a desert into a lake of water.” And where is it shown a settlement will be a desert in the future? It is so stated (Mal. 1:3), “And I have hated Esau....” Now there are no trees in the desert, but there will be trees there in the future, as stated (Is. 41:19), “I will put cedar and acacia in the desert....” Now there is no path there, as it is all sand and the caravan can only travel it at night with the light of the constellation.5To determine the direction of the journey, since there is no marked path. But there will be a path there in the future, as stated (Is. 43:19), “I will place a path in the desert.” And it is written (Is 35:8), “And there will be a highway there, and it shall be called the Sacred Way....”

Original Sources