The Desert

Stasi Eldredge once wrote, “God leads all his people into the desert at one time or another.”

Most of us are fearful of the desert. It’s wasteland holds mysteries which confuse and concern us. The desert has none of the comforts of home. It is cold, harsh, hot, and lonely. In our minds, the desert must be punishment.

Abraham and Sarah spent the majority of their lives wandering in the desert, heading for a land that God would provide. David wandered through deserts hiding from Saul as God was preparing him to be king. Jesus was led into the desert for 40 days to be tempted before the start of His ministry.

Stasi reminds us that a good Father takes us to the desert to provide us with rich blessings – even though the time spent there may feel like an interruption. She points our attention to a simple but often overlooked verse from the pages of the Old Testament.

“Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak kindly to her” (Hosea 2:14 NASB).

And think about poor Moses. Moses waited 40 years in the desert before God called him to deliver the Israelites from bondage only to wait another 40 years wandering in the desert on the way to the Promised Land that he was only allowed to see from afar.

As we beginning to understand the nature of time spent with God in the wilderness, let’s think about a little desert trivia from the life of Moses. Did you know that while the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, they were actually wandering in four different deserts?

The people first entered into a severe wilderness called Shur (Exodus 15:22), and then moved into the scarce wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16:1). After a short time, the progressed into what was described as a chaotic wilderness of Rephidim (Exodus 17:1), and finally spent the majority of the time in the mundane wilderness of Sinai (Exodus 19:1).

Let’s notice all four as we think about the nature of the desert.

The Wilderness (Desert) of Shur

It wasn’t long before God’s people realized their first wilderness was a place with absolutely no water. Sometimes our desert reminds us of desperate need.

For three miserable days, the people of Israel wandered in the hot desert sun. The people were miserable – languising under exertion and parched from thirst. They searched and searched until finally they found water – only to find that the water was poisonous and undrinkable.

Finally finding water only to discover it was bad must have made the people feel betrayed and embittered. The people named the place “Marah,” which means “bitter” – both the water and the people.

Have you ever spent time waiting for an answer from God? As your life was on pause, an answer seemed to appear, only for you to discover that God was really not in the answer. Perhaps like Abraham and Sarah, you had tried to “help God” by doing some things on your own.

This type of wilderness calls upon your patience and your trust. God wanted Israel – and you – to taste and see – that only His grace satisfies our desperate needs.

The people cried out to the Lord. God responded by showing Moses a tree and instructing Moses to cast the tree into the bitter water. The tree acted as a means of purifying the water. Suddenly the water became healed – sweet, refreshing, and drinkable (Exodus 15:25).

After providing clean water, God brought the people into the land of Elim – a place known for the lushness of its 70 palm trees and 12 springs of water (Exodus 15:27). The people went from a time of desperate need to a much longer time of abundant oasis.

Isn’t that just like the goodness of God?

The Wilderness of Sin

Following their stay in the land of Elim, God led the people into the wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16:1). Let’s pause here for just a moment to be reminded of something incredibly important. We describe this time in Israel’s history as a time when they were wandering in the wilderness. Please notice they were never wandering aimlessly – and they were never wandering alone. God led the people into the wilderness. He was always guiding them. He always had their hand.

In the Wilderness of Shur, the people had a desperate need; the wildness of Sin would be a time of daily need.

The Wilderness of Sin had plenty of fresh, clean water. But the supplies the people had brought from Egypt ran out. Everywhere they looked in this wilderness, there was no food to be found. The people’s cries to God turned into complaints.

“Things were better back in Egypt. At least there we had plenty of food.”

It is either ironic or appropriate that this wilderness is named Sin. How many times when you are following God do you end up walking through times that are uncomfortable and uneasy? How often are you tempted to return to your habits of sin? Things were better before I tried to walk on this narrow path.

God answered their complaints with a lesson. Morning by morning God provided manna and quail. The Scripture says that none of the people were lacking enough food. But there was one important condition. The people could not gather more than they could eat or else the food would spoil.

God’s provision for us is day-to-day. When we worry about tomorrow, we squeeze God out of our ability to trust for today.

The Wilderness of Rephidim

In the first two times in the wilderness, we noticed the distinction between a time of desperate need and a time of daily need. The last two times in the wilderness will provide us with another contrast.

Again God led His people from the wilderness of Sin into the wilderness of Rephidim (Exodus 17:1). For lack of a better word, we are going to call this wilderness a time of chaos. Here everything bad seems to happen at once. There was urgent need and daily need, but now enemies attack and the people have to go to war.

Have you ever felt like you were being swallowed by this type of wilderness? Financial problems seem to always hover nearby. Out of no where comes a health issue. A relationship suddenly turns sour. One headache after another.

Unfortunately the people were slow in learning lessons of trusting in God. Their confidence wavered and fear stepped in. At this point, they begin to doubt God’s presence.”Is the Lord among us or not” (Exodus 17:7)?

Here God responds with abundant grace. Instead of rebuking their comments, God provided for their needs. He brought Moses to a rock and water gushed from the rock. During their battles, when Moses held up his hands on either side of him, the people prevailed over their enemies.

Even when one thing happens after another, God will never allow more to happen to you than what you can bear. He always provides a gracious answer.

The Wilderness (Desert) of Sinai

Finally God led the people into the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus 19:1). While sometimes life can be chaotic, sometimes it is just plain boring.

The time in Sinai had significant moments. Moses receives the Law at Mt Sinai. He is able to brush with meeting God. But while Moses is active, the people are waiting. And wondering. And worrying.

“Where is Moses? What happened to him? Where is God? Where did He go? Let’s just get going and do things our own way” (Exodus 32:1-6).

The biggest temptation in the wilderness of Sinai is to take matters into our own hands. The people made their own idol, created their own religious feast, worshiped God in their own – even though distorted – way.

During a time of mundane waiting, the people made wrong assumptions about God. The assumptions happened because their trust faltered.

Notice one last thing about each wilderness. God works in each season of wait.

• Shur – lasts 6 verses, about 1 week
• Sin – lasts 30 verses, about a week and a half
• Rephidim – lasts a chapter, about 2 weeks
• Sinai – lasts 31 chapters, almost a full year.

Sometimes the most difficult thing about a wilderness is that it is long and boring.