Much of the Old Testament can seem pointless. Take Numbers 33. Consecutive verses begin, “And they journeyed from.”

After a brief interruption, there are 9 more verses that begin the same way. They journeyed from some place we’ve never heard of, went some place else we never heard of, and stayed there for. . . Who cares?

I remember similar disappointment when I encountered my great-grandfather’s journal. But there is a point.