And they have not said, ‘Where is Jehovah, the One bringing us up out of the land of Egypt, the One walking us through the wilderness, through a land of desert plain and pit, through a land of no water and of deep shadow, through a land through which no man passed and in which no earthling man dwelt?’”​—Jer. 2:5, 6.

Why did they not search for Jehovah as their God? He was the One who delivered their forefathers from Egyptian bondage. They benefited from his providing for and protecting them in the wilderness​—a dry, parched region filled with pits that could be injurious to humans and animals stumbling into them. Had it not been for Jehovah’s miraculous provisions of water, the Israelites and their animals would have perished from thirst. The region was one of “deep shadow,” confusing and bewildering like the darkness. There were no well-marked paths to follow, for the route by which the Israelites traveled was not one over which others had passed. There were no settlements along the way.