Camping in the Bible

Note— this is part of a series on the Navigator Camping Badge.

Did people camp in the Bible?  Did they use tents?

Did people camp in the Bible!  Absolutely!

• Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - they had no cities or fortresses - they raised animals and moved throughout the promised land as needed.  They must've used tents and built fires.
• Moses fled Egypt to Midian and stayed for years.  The Midianites were a nomadic people and so camping was a way of life.  Even more so after Moses led the People of Israel out of slavery - because they failed to trust God, they wandered and camped in tents in the wilderness for 40 years!
• David camped with the men of Israel multiple times over the years.  Of course, he also had to camp when he fled from Saul and Absalom...
• Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah - any number of prophets - spent time in the wilderness as they served God.
• The apostles traveled to many places as they spread the gospel.  They couldn't have stayed in homes and towns every day and assuredly had to camp.  The Apostle Paul needed to make a little money every now and again.  What did he do?  He was a tent maker - so the people must've needed them for something!

Did they build fires?

We can safely assume from the above that the answer is to this question must be yes! If the people camped, they needed to cook, keep warm, add light to the night - the same things we use fires for when we camp!