As they advanced, the way became more difficult. Their route lay through stony ravine and barren waste. All around them was the great wilderness--"a land of deserts and of pits," "a land of drought, and of the shadow of death," "a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt." Jeremiah 2:6. The rocky gorges, far and near, were thronged with men, women, and children, with beasts and wagons, and long lines of flocks and herds. Their progress was necessarily slow and toilsome; and the multitudes, after their long encampment, were not prepared to endure the perils and discomforts of the way.

Vejen førte gennem bjergkløfter og ødemarker og blev vanskeligere og vanskeligere, idet de gik fremad. Overalt omkring dem strakte den store ørken sig, ødemarkens og kløfternes land, tørkens og mulmets land, landet, hvor ingen færdes eller bor". Jer. 2, 6. Klippeslugterne fjern og nær var fyldt med mænd, kvinder og børn, trækdyr og vogne og uendelige kvæghjorde. Rejsen måtte nødvendigvis foregå langsomt, og den var meget besværlig. Efter det lange ophold i lejren var folket ikke optrænet til at udholde vejens farer og besværligheder.