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Bible Theme: Lessons from the Wilderness · Traveler’s Tales

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  Have you ever wondered why so many of God's greatest servants spent time in the wilderness?
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  Moses, David, Elijah, John the Baptist, even Jesus.
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  This is not a coincidence.
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  God often does some of His greatest work in the places we would rather avoid.
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  We love mountaintops.
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  We enjoy the green pastures.
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  We pray for seasons of blessing and abundance.
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  But throughout Scripture, God repeatedly chose another classroom, a lonely, barren wilderness.
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  You see, the desert was never just an empty place.
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  It was a meeting place.
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  Today we're going to travel into the wilderness of Scripture and discover that some of God's
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  clearest messages are heard where the landscape seems the most lifeless.
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  Welcome to another edition of Traveler's Tales produced by Enjoying the Journey.
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  I'm your host, Greg Dowdy.
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  Every page of Scripture was lived before it was written.
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  It unfolded in real places among real people, shaped by the customs and culture of the day.
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  And as we step into that world, familiar passages often come alive with fresh meaning.
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  Today's journey has been enriched by the insights and research of our friend, John
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  Buckner.
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  Our journey today begins in one of the most familiar passages in the Old Testament.
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  Isaiah 40, verses 2-4, Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem.
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  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
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  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
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  When Isaiah wrote those words, the wilderness carried tremendous meaning for the Jewish
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  people.
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  Their national history had been shaped there.
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  God delivered Israel from Egypt, but before bringing them into the promised land, He led
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  them through 40 years in the wilderness.
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  The land God promised them would eventually be filled with vineyards, olive groves, and
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  fertile fields.
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  But scattered throughout that land were vast stretches of barren desert.
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  In fact, many of those regions remain largely uninhabited even today.
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  To us, a wilderness sounds like a place of emptiness.
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  To the Hebrew, it became something much more.
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  It became the place where God speaks.
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  One of the beautiful treasures hidden in the Hebrew language is found in the word for wilderness.
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  The Hebrew word is Midbar.
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  What's fascinating is that this word is spelled exactly the same as the Hebrew verb meaning
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  He speaks or I speak.
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  Although the pronunciation changes slightly, the letters are identical.
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  Ancient Jewish readers couldn't miss the connection.
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  When they saw the word wilderness, they also thought of speaking.
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  The wilderness was the place where God speaks.
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  That insight suddenly causes many Bible passages to come alive.
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  Consider the words of Hosea,
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  Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably
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  to her.
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  Did you hear it?
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  God didn't bring His people into the wilderness simply to test them.
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  He brought them there to talk with them.
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  Again and again throughout Scripture, God met His servants in lonely places.
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  Moses encountered God in the wilderness.
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  Israel received God's law in the wilderness.
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  David learned to trust God in the wilderness.
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  Elijah heard God's still small voice after his wilderness journey.
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  Even John the Baptist preached in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Messiah.
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  The wilderness became God's classroom.
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  In fact, the Hebrew title for the book we call Numbers is simply In the Wilderness,
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  and the book begins with these words,
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  And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai.
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  That theme continues throughout the entire book.
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  God spoke over and over and over again.
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  Perhaps that's why Jesus Himself later told His weary disciples,
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  Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.
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  Sometimes the Lord calls us away from the noise before He can speak into our hearts.
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  There's an important lesson here for us as believers.
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  Most of us don't choose wilderness seasons.
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  We don't pray for hardship.
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  We don't ask for disappointment.
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  We certainly don't enjoy loneliness, uncertainty, or suffering.
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  Yet some of the deepest lessons we ever learn about God come in those very places.
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  When life feels dry.
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  When the future seems uncertain.
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  When the landscape around you feels empty.
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  Don't assume that God has abandoned you.
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  It may be that He has intentionally brought you into a wilderness because He has something
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  He wants to say that you could never hear amid the noise of ordinary life.
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  The wilderness strips away distractions.
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  It removes our self-sufficiency.
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  It quiets our hearts.
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  And often that's when the voice of God becomes clearest.
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  Notice too that Isaiah says, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
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  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
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  Before God changes the landscape around us, He often changes the landscape within us.
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  He lifts the valleys of discouragement.
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  He lowers the mountains of pride.
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  He straightens what sin has twisted.
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  He smooths the rough places of our hearts.
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  Sometimes that work only happens in the wilderness.
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  So if today you find yourself walking through a difficult season, don't waste the wilderness.
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  Open your Bible.
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  Quiet your heart.
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  Listen carefully.
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  The God who spoke to Moses, to Elijah, to John the Baptist still speaks through His
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  Word today.
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  Your wilderness may not be evidence that God has left you.
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  It may be evidence that He has drawn you near.
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  Because in Scripture, the wilderness was never just a place of isolation.
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  It was a place of revelation.
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  And perhaps the greatest truth of all is this.
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  If God has led you into the wilderness, He intends to meet you there.
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  Thanks for joining me today on Traveler's Tales.
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  Every journey we take leaves us with something we can carry home.
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  And to continue your journey throughout Scripture and listening for the voice of the Lord, visit
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  etj.bible where you'll find a growing collection of Bible studies, podcasts, and practical
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  resources to help you know Christ and His Word more deeply.