A Wilderness is Not So Bad…

      A wilderness is not so bad…

Christians sometimes say they are having a wilderness experience, but how bad was the wilderness for the children of Israel?  They had lived for 430 years as slaves in Egypt with cruel taskmasters, but God delivered them with many plagues and miracles.  The book of Exodus tells the story of their deliverance, their crossing of the Red Sea and moving into the wilderness.  God didn’t just take them out of Egypt, he hardened Pharaoh’s heart one last time and caused him to send his entire army and all his chariots after the children of Israel.  That was part of the miracle–they would never have to worry about Egypt attacking them again.

Exodus 14  The Red Sea Crossing

¹³ And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid.  Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. ¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

The Lord parted the Red Sea and the entire Egyptian army was destroyed in the crossing of the Red Sea.    

Here are some of the other things that God did for them:

·         They left Egypt, loaded down with gold and silver articles and clothing from the Egyptians.  After all the plagues that had occurred, the Egyptians were glad to see them go.

·         The Lord’s presence was with them from beginning to end of the wilderness experience.  He led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  They saw the Glory of the Lord!

·         Their clothes didn’t wear out, and that’s 40 years of wear! Their feet didn’t swell. 

·         God fed them daily with a spiritual food from heaven called Manna.  It probably had all of the natural ingredients that you would want on the back of the label.

·         They had water miraculously gushing out of a rock and, when the pillar of fire moved, the rock (which was Christ) followed them!

·         God gave them the Ten Commandments, the plans for the Tabernacle and the Laws and Statutes for them to live by.

1 Corinthians 10:1-11 

 ¹ Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, ² all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

There were some serious problems in the Wilderness!

⁵ But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Lust
⁶ Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.

This was referring to the people weeping and complaining about the Manna in Numbers 11:1-6.  They wanted meat, so God caused quail to fall all around the camp that piled up three feet deep for miles around.  They gorged on the meat until it was coming out of their noses!  The Lord struck the people with a “very great plague”!  The place that they buried them was called “The Graves of Greed” [Numbers 11:34] “because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.”

Idolatry

⁷ And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”

While Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, the people fashioned a Golden Calf [see Exodus 32] to worship.  Moses had the sons of Levi go through the camp and slay about three thousand men that day.

Immorality

⁸ Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;

The people began to “play the harlot” with the daughters of Moab and participated in some of the most vile practices by “joining themselves” with the idol Bael-Peor.  A plague broke out and was stopped by the heroic action of Phinehas.  [See Numbers 25]

Test the Lord

⁹ nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;

Numbers 21 tells how the people became impatient because of the journey. 

 ⁵The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”  ⁶The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.  

The plague was broken when God told Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and put it on a “standard.” Whenever anyone was bit, if they would look at it they would live.  (a beautiful type of Christ on the Cross!)

Rebellion

¹⁰ nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

Numbers 16 talks about a rebellion that Korah led against Moses and Aaron.  Moses warned the people to get back from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.

³¹As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;

³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions.

³³So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

¹¹ Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Exodus 19:4-6 

⁴ ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. ⁶ And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Exodus 34:10-14 

   
¹⁰ And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. ¹¹ Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. ¹² Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. ¹³ But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images ¹⁴ (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)…

Read Psalms 106 for another summary of the travels through the Wilderness.

Some advice if you are going through a Wilderness!

1.    Avoid the cravings of the flesh!

2.    Do not attend the parties of Idolaters!

3.    Do not hang out with people who rebel against the Lord!

Remember, only two men Joshua and Caleb of the original Exodus made it through to the Promised Land.  The rest circled in the desert and died in the Wilderness because of unbelief.  The bottom line is that God puts you in a wilderness to purge you.  It is for a limited period of time (the actual time needed to cross the desert was 11 days), and the goal is to prepare you for victory in the Promised Land.

See Deuteronomy 8 (whole chapter) 

 ²“You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

 ³“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

“Moses’ tabernacle in the Wilderness”  painting copyright 1976 Mark and Jody McNulty http://www.selahart.com 

This entry was posted on February 7, 2011 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Bible Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.