Wilderness…

What comes to mind when you think of wilderness? More specifically, when “wilderness” pops up in scripture? Knowing the arid climate of the Middle East, I always pictured an Arizona-type wilderness with limited, brushy vegetation. That is until a few years ago when I saw the wilderness between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea in person. Nothing! Just hills of rocks and dirt – no vegetation.

The photo below is of the Wadi Qelt and the Monastery of St. George of Choziba. There is greenery in the wadi but nothing on the hills. Just rocks and dirt.

We last left the million or so newly freed Hebrew slaves in the Sinai Wilderness. I now imagine a different kind of wilderness than I used to envision. I wonder what the view looked like to this large group of people who, even though they were now freed, had left the Nile Valley for this? I think of my parents in their mid-20s. Wanting familial autonomy, they left the rich wheat-farming soil of the Red River Valley (the Lake Agassiz silt deposits) of Northeast North Dakota for the rock-infested sand, gravel, clay, and peat loam of Central Minnesota to become dairy farmers. Wrestling with some depression, I’m sure, my dad said he would end up at the far end of the farm periodically to lament the decision for several hours, then go back to work. (I suspect “lament” was a German farmer’s way of describing an afternoon crying session!)

The good news for these people who found themselves in the wilderness? They were free! But what next? God would use Moses to lead this mass of people about 250-300 miles (400-480 km), as the crow flies, to their ultimate destination, Canaan. It was a long trek, but even a crowd their size could possibly make the trip in about 40 days. Spoiler alert: It took 40 years! Why? There were a myriad of reasons, including some disobedience and stubbornness on the part of the people that delayed the trek. But 40 years? Seems a little extreme to us.

We should probably consider time from God’s perspective. We live in a culture where time is of the essence. We are usually more interested in the arrival than the journey. As I write this, my wife and I are in Arizona for three weeks. Our original intent was to drive the 1700 miles (2735 km) for a four-week stay. Some family stuff required us to shorten our trip by a week, so we decided flying was more prudent. We arrived quickly, but missed out on the journey across the prairies and the mountains and listening to a couple audiobooks. We don’t have to spend much time in the biblical narrative to discover that Yahweh is a God who is comfortable with lengthy processes. We don’t like that! We want to arrive – now!

Not so with God. Maybe not with Moses, either. For Moses, 40-year increments were apparently par for the course. According to Stephen in the sermon that led to his death (see Acts 7), it was after Moses had been an Egyptian Prince for 40 years that he decided to check in on his fellow Israelites, which led to a 40-year exile in Midian. At 80, God called him to help with the rescue of His people (Exodus 7:7). Apparently retirement isn’t a biblical concept 🙂. Forty years later, he died at 120 years old (Acts 7), having never personally entered Canaan. Moses is credited for a prayer included in the Psalter…

A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:5)

In God’s economy, time is not of the essence that we deem it should be! For Him, it seems that the process is as important (if not more) than the outcome.

As I mentioned in the last post, I wonder how well the rescued Hebrews knew Yahweh, the God who rescued them. Likely, there was some oral tradition about the God of Joseph, their first ancestor in Egypt. They knew about this God, but they didn’t seem to have first-hand experience with him. Keep in mind that Moses needed a primer regarding this God whose name he didn’t seem to know.

“Wilderness” is a powerful theme in the Bible – both literally and metaphorically. “The wilderness” often represented a place of testing, transformation, learning dependence on God, and/or preparation for a greater calling. Moses spent 40 years in Midian, in the Saudi Arabian desert, in “preparation” for leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Other wilderness examples found in scripture…

• Elijah – Fled to the wilderness after confronting King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. He was fed by ravens at the Brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:2-6) and later encountered God at Mount Horeb after journeying through the wilderness for 40 days (1 Kings 19:4-8).
• John the Baptist – Lived in the wilderness, clothed in camel’s hair and eating locusts and wild honey, preparing the way for Jesus and calling people to repentance (Matthew 3:1-4).
• Jesus – Spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting, then being tempted by the satan before beginning His public ministry (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13).
• The Apostle Paul – After his conversion, he spent time in the wilderness (Arabia) before beginning his ministry. I imagine he poured over the Hebrew Scriptures that he knew so well, rediscovering the God of Jesus (Galatians 1:15-17).

So why 40 years of trekking around the Sinai Peninsula and Arabia? Could it be that God needed to prepare the Hebrews for the upcoming years under His kingship? They had no experience with a benevolent king. It was out of God’s fidelity that Israel was delivered. But what did they know about God’s fidelity? They had no experience following, only being driven. This was all new territory for them (literally and figuratively). If Yahweh was going to be their God, they had to learn what it meant to be his people (Exodus 6:6-7a).

We can’t underestimate the value of the wilderness. In God’s economy, in his kingdom, the wilderness experiences/processes can be transformative. It’s something we must be careful not to circumvent.