Neature Walk - Episode 1 Video “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3JodBR-vs”
I want to do a study about all the Times that we see God calling people out into the wilderness.
Let’s look at some examples of times when God called people out to the wilderness
God called Moses to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt. Moses encountered God in a burning bush in the wilderness of Midian, where he had fled after killing an Egyptian.
God told him to return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh, and to bring the Israelites to the wilderness where He would give them His law and make a covenant with them.
Moses obeyed and led the people through the Red Sea and to Mount Sinai, where they spent years in God’s presence (Exodus 3:1-22; 19:1-25).
God called David to be the king of Israel, but before he could take the throne, he had to endure many years of persecution and hardship from Saul, the current king who was jealous of him.
David fled to the wilderness of Judah, where he hid in caves and mountains, and where he wrote many of the Psalms.
God protected him and prepared him for his future role as a leader and a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 16:1-13; 23:14-29; 24:1-22).
God called Elijah to be a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, which had fallen into idolatry and wickedness.
Elijah confronted the evil king Ahab and his wife Jezebel and challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, where he proved that the Lord was the true God.
After this victory, he fled to the wilderness of Beersheba, where he was depressed and afraid.
God met him there comforted him, and gave him a new mission and a companion, Elisha (uh·lai·shuh) (1 Kings 17:1-7; 18:1-46; 19:1-21).
So we can see that GOD uses the wilderness
I’m so excited to see that God has been using the wilderness but why is that?
Let’s look at some Hebrew
Why does God call us to go out into the wilderness?
In Hebrew, the word for desert is “MIDBAR”, which shares the same root letters (M-D-B-R) with “ME-DA-BER”, meaning “to speak”. This connection suggests that the wilderness or desert is a place where God speaks to His people.
This connection is not a coincidence, as Hebrew often uses similar-sounding words to convey deeper meanings and connections between concepts.
So, in the Bible, the wilderness or desert is often depicted as a place of spiritual significance, where God speaks to His people and reveals His divine plan.
Between 2015 and 2019, depression rates increased widely, but treatment rates did not keep up. In 2020, almost 1 in 10 Americans and almost 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults reported having depression.
Goodwin, Renee D., et al. “Trends in U.S. Depression Prevalence From 2015 to 2020: The Widening Treatment Gap.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, vol. 63, no. 5, 2022, pp. 726-733, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.05.014. Accessed 1 Feb. 2024.
Our world is hurting–I’m sure people reading this.
I accepted Christ while at a summer camp, I found my call to ministry at a summer camp
As I talked about earlier God speaks through the desert, through the barren wasteland, through the wilderness
Bring up the Israelite nation – Why did God call them to go out into the desert for forty years?
1) To encounter them
God wanted to meet with his people and reveal his glory and presence to them. He spoke to them through Moses, gave them the Ten Commandments, and showed them signs and wonders.
while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” —Exodus 19:3-6
Exodus 20:1-17 - He encountered them by giving them the Ten Commandments
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. —Exodus 40:34-38
God was WITH them! With them in the desert, through the barren wasteland, through the wilderness
2) To separate them
God wanted to set apart his people from the other nations and make them holy. He gave them laws and instructions on how to worship him, live in a community, and avoid idolatry and sin.
For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am holy… For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” —Leviticus 11:44-45
But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples… You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. —Leviticus 20:24,26
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt —Deuteronomy 7:6-8
GOD needed to separate them from the wickedness all around, not to save them from the wickedness but to build a Oneness with them, to build a nation that had its foundations on GOD and GOD alone.
3) To prepare them
God wanted to train his people to trust and obey him. He tested them in various ways, such as by providing manna and quail, water from the rock, and victory over their enemies. He also disciplined them when they rebelled or complained.
And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. —Deuteronomy 8:2-4
GOD needed to prepare them, to prepare their hearts, to prepare them to trust in him alone. GOD needed this nation, his followers to know that He’s got us!
4) To make himself known to them
God wanted to show his people his character and his covenant. He revealed his name, his attributes, his promises, and his faithfulness. He also demonstrated his power, his justice, his mercy, and his love.
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”
And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. —Exodus 3:13-15
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin… —Exodus 34:6-7a
To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. —Deuteronomy 4:35-39
Without the other steps, they could have missed His true character. GOD is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, faithful, abounding in steadfast love!
GOD Needed to
To encounter them
To separate them
To prepare them
To make himself known to them
GOD is wanted to do that with you!! He wants to
To encounter you
To separate you
To prepare you
To make himself known to you
Are you creating a space where God can do these in your life?
Are you surrounded by so much stuff going on in this world that you don’t even notice what God’s doing?
When was the last time that you went into the wilderness…? Because it’s pretty neat 🙂
I challenge you for this next month!
Let’s put down our phones faster
Let’s go to sleep earlier
What’s Make time for the Lord every day
Let’s go on a walk
Let’s go on a hike
Let’s go somewhere that isn’t filled with clutter and noise so that you can clearly hear God