Lessons from the Wilderness
Pastor Aaron Green
November 17, 2024
Psalm 95:6-11 (NIV) “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.Today, if only you would hear His voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested Me; they tried Me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways.’ So I declared on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”
Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV)
To ‘know’ = yada, this means to know something experiential not cerebral only.
- God wants you to
Exodus 15:22-27 (NIV)
Matthew 4:1-4 (NIV) “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
What’s the temptation here: What do you do when you think no one is watching.
Empire-Minded people live in a scarcity mentality. Kingdom-Minded people are content in every situation.
Exodus 16:1-4 (NIV) “The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
- God will prove Himself, but it may not be
Psalm 78:12-20 (NIV)
Matthew 4:5-7 (NIV) “ Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:“‘He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
What’s the temptation: Give us a sign; make God prove Himself by setting an impossible standard*
Empire-minded people say, what’s in it for me? Kingdom-minded people reflect on what God has already done.
- Walk by
Numbers 13:27-14:4 (NIV)
Exodus 13:17 (NIV) “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”
Matthew 4:8-10 (NIV) “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from Me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”
Empire-minded people seek and sustain comfort at all costs. Kingdom-minded people embrace the discomfort of the wilderness with their minds fixed on the Promised Land.
Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
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All scripture is from the NLT unless otherwise noted