Are You Thirsty

Wilderness

David’s Psalms:

Psalm 63 “A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God will glory in him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.”

David authored this Psalm while hiding out in the wilderness from Saul- notice what the wilderness produces in David- thirst, dependency. He authors other “wilderness” Psalms including 34, 57, and 142

Psalm 142 “A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.

I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me. Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to you, Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.”

Wilderness Language at the Beginning:

Midbar (Gen. 16:7; Exod. 3:1), the word most frequently used for “wilderness” in the Hebrew Bible. Midbar refers to uncultivated land, which is often hostile and dangerous.

The biblical story begins in a watery wasteland. Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” describes the world’s initial state with the Hebrew phrase tohu vavohu, meaning “wild and waste” (BibleProject Translation).

Although none of the Hebrew words for “wilderness” appear in this passage, biblical authors use the phrase tohu vavohu elsewhere to describe a lifeless desert (see Jer. 4:23-26; Deut. 32:10). This language links the formless world at the beginning of the story to the image of a wilderness landscape. God creates order and life from a chaotic wilderness expanse.

Exiles in the Wilderness:

How does anyone end up in the “wilderness.” Sometimes it could be because of circumstances that we had no control over i.e. Hagar who is forced into the midbar because she is mistreated by Sarai

Hagar- Genesis 16 “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.”

Other times one might end up in the “midbar” as a result of their own choices i.e. Moses flees to the wilderness after he kills an Egyptian

Moses- Exodus 3:1–3 “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.””

Like many characters in the Bible, Hagar and Moses experience the wilderness as a place of exile. But they also encounter God there, and in that desolate wasteland, God breathes new hope and life into them.

We begin to see the tension the midbar presents- it is both a place you don’t want to be and also a place where one encounters God in transformative ways, its a dangerous place and also at times becomes a place of refuge- Hagar, Moses, David, Elijah the Prophet

Isreal In the Wilderness:

The Israelites could have reached their new home in a couple of weeks if they had taken a direct route along the Mediterranean coast. But God said the shorter route would expose them to warfare too quickly, causing them to run back to Egypt. So God intentionally took the people the long way to the promised land, leading them through the wilderness to build courage and provide them with ample opportunity to learn to trust him and follow his instructions (Exodus 13:17–18 “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.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.” ).

Moses reminds the Israelites of this in a speech before he dies, saying that God led them through the wilderness for 40 years to “humble” and “test” them (Deuteronomy 8:2 “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” ).

They face test of lack of water and food: Each of these tests provides the people with an opportunity to trust God. But when they face the harsh limitations of the wilderness, they repeatedly respond by giving in to despair and grumbling against Moses (Exod. 15:24, 16:2-3, 17:2-3). Still, in each case, God abundantly provides for their needs. Amidst the scarcity of the wilderness, God shows his people that they can trust him with their very lives

As they prepare to enter a plentiful land, which might tempt them to forget God’s provision and instruction, Moses challenges them to remember the lessons they learned in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:3–18 “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.” ).

The Prophets:

The prophets Jeremiah, Hosea and Isaiah use this language to describe what would happened to Isreal as they turn away and return to God.

Jesus’ in the Wilderness:

Matthew chapter 4: Jesus is “tested” 40 days a symbolic representation of Israel's 40 years of testing in the wilderness.

There is a connection in the Greek word peirazo used to describe the testing/tempting of Jesus in the wilderness and the Hebrew word nissah, the word that is used to describe God’s testing of Israel and Israel's testing of God. While God tests the Israelites to invite them to trust in him, the Satan tries to trap Jesus by tempting him to turn away from the Father. But Jesus passes the tests, demonstrating his faithfulness to the Father.

Jesus feeds the multitudes in the wilderness. By multiplying bread in a desolate wasteland, Jesus reveals that he can abundantly provide for people’s physical needs, while also pointing to the more profound truth that he is the source of true life for those willing to follow him. But the people “grumble” or “complain” at Jesus’ words (John 6:41 “At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”” ), just as the Israelites “grumbled” or “complained” in the wilderness (Exodus 16:2 “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.” ).

Conclusion:

How do you respond in the the Wilderness?

One way to respond is like the Israelites often did in the wilderness- Exodus 17:1–7 “The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?””

How do we respond to wilderness experiences?

Massah- to quarrel

Meribah- to test- that Hebrew word nissah

The author of Hebrews points back to this moment in Israel’s story as a reminder to turn to God with soft and receptive hearts.

Hebrews 3:7–19 “So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”

That is a reference to Psalm 95:7–11 “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.’ ””

The next generation of Israelites followed Joshua into the promised land where they experienced a period of rest, that we read about at the end of Joshua 21:44 “The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands.”

Through his death and resurrection, Jesus opens up the way to the deep Sabbath rest that began when God created the world and will reach its fullness in the new creation. Jesus is a new Joshua (both names are Iesous in Greek), who leads people into God’s ultimate Sabbath rest by teaching them to trust God for protection and provision.

Hebrews 4:8–11 “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”

Our currently reality is this- wilderness is what we revert back to- ever since the creature from the “wild” snuck into the garden and deceived humans- we will live in this cycle of reverting back to the wilderness because we forget God, we stray from him, we quarrel and we test him- we like Israel need to be humble, to be disciplined, need to learn dependency on God for everything- but we forget and so back out into the wilderness we go to be remind.

Here is the good news the wilderness is never a permanent place of residence- its always ment to be temporary- why- because we weren’t created to be wilderness people- we were created to be garden people- this has got to be part of the longing within us for the return of Christ or for heaven whatever comes first- because what we experience now it mostly wilderness with some garden experiences sprinkled in

Are you thirsty-do you resonate with David’s wilderness longing Psalm 63 “A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God will glory in him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.”