East Side Church of Christ

It is in the wilderness that Moses meets God, and God uses the wilderness here to prepare Moses for leadership. God punished the Israelites for unfaithfulness/disbelief in the wilderness, and God prepared Jesus for his ministry in the wilderness. In all three places, God came near to the people in the wilderness. We can respond like Moses & Jesus and be led by the Spirit, trusting and obeying, or we can respond like Israel and push God away. One leads to a closer relationship with God, the other separates us from God.

"Coach, if I'd have been as smart as you, we would have lost the game!"
Preparation is good, but often God works in ways we don't expect, or can't prepare for, and we're left Wondering and Wandering through the wilderness. But God uses today to prepare us for tomorrow.

The Hebrew root word for "Desert/Wilderness" is the same as Holy of Holies, and sheepfold (sheep pen). In Hebrew, Wilderness literally meant "place of words." The desert/wilderness was the place Israelites would go to hear God speak.

Read the Story of Moses starting in Exodus 1.

God protected his people, he led his people, and provided for their every need. But when it was time to enter the promised land, they doubted God. So God used the wilderness again, this time for 40 years, to prepare his people to enter the Promised Land.

God took care of them. Their clothes and shoes never wore out during this 40 year period. Have you ever doubted God, even when he's taking care of you?

Why 40 years? Numbers are first of all symbolic in the Hebrew mind.

4 = The world, or worldliness
10 = Completeness, Fullness

40 = Complete Worldliness, or the complete removal of worldliness.

In other words, 40 is preparing God's people by removing worldliness.

Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, but Jesus responded not with sin, but with God's word (Deuteronomy specifically.) After going through the wilderness, Jesus came out in the power of the Spirit. God used the wilderness to prepare Jesus for his ministry. God uses today to prepare you for tomorrow.

Jesus was tempted in every way that we are but didn't sin. Because of this, we can approach him confidently, and trust him to help us in our time of need. As we wonder and wander through the wilderness, we can trust that we have a God who won't forget us, but is preparing us for what comes next. And we have a Savior that has been through exactly what we have, and did it perfectly. He's there to help us navigate the wilderness as well.