LESSONS FROM THE WILDERNESS

A WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE

"What does it mean to have a wilderness experience?"

A “wilderness experience” is usually thought of as a tough time in which a believer endures discomfort and trials. The pleasant things of life are unable to be enjoyed, or they may be absent altogether, and one feels a lack of encouragement. A “wilderness experience” is often a time of intensified temptation and spiritual attack. It can involve a spiritual, financial, or emotional drought. Having a “wilderness experience” is not necessarily a sign that a believer is sinning; rather, it is a time of God-ordained testing.

Might I suggest this morning that we are having a wilderness experience right now?! America is on the brink of a chaotic catastrophe akin to the civil struggle that divided this nation not even two hundred year ago. The spiritual condition of this nation, which claims to be “One nation under God with liberty and justice for all” is like a metastasized malignancy: NO JUSTICE; NO PEACE! Executive Orders are of little consolation to the millions of people who are being affected by the financial nightmare that we are faced with, not to mention the emotional stresses that so many are having to try to endure in these changing times dubbed the “New normal!” For whatever the reason, I think we all can agree that we are having a wilderness experience.

A “wilderness experience” is often linked to a “mountaintop experience”; that is, the struggle follows a success of some kind. The period of trial comes on the heels of a period of accomplishment or achievement. There are several biblical examples of people enduring a “wilderness experience.” The people of Israel, in leaving Egypt, experienced a miraculous deliverance through the Red Sea. The triumph of finally being free from slavery was their “mountaintop experience.” Yet what followed was a journey through the desert. They were tried in an actual wilderness, and they failed the test. As a result, their “wilderness experience” stretched to forty years.

The Lord is concerned about the many who will potentially die in the wilderness. Paul, the apostle, wrote in Romans 15:4

Romans 15:4 ESV

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

That’s the reason we ought to look at the Lessons from the Wilderness so that we don’t make the same fatal mistakes that they did. Or as the writer of Hebrews says: Heb. 3:15-16

Hebrews 3:15–16 ESV

As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?

SITUATION

As already mentioned, God had won a great victory over Pharoah and his army. They were drowned in the Red Sea. If it is more historically correct to say Sea of Reeds for some, it still does not invalidate the fact that God rescued Israel with his strong hand and outstretched arm.

Chapter 15 of Exodus records that praise party that took place after the deliverance. Mariam and Moses lead the praise and everybody gets into the act. But, the party doesn’t last forever, they have some were to go, things to do, lands to possess. And so the text says: Ex 15:22.

Exodus 15:22 ESV

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

Notice first, if you would, that they did not stumble into the wilderness, they did not wander into the wilderness; but, Moses led them into the wilderness of Shur. The wilderness of Shur is not new to the biblical story…as a matter of fact, it was in the Wilderness of Shur that Hagar had an encounter with the angel of the LORD. See Gen 16:7

Genesis 16:7 ESV

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

The Wilderness of Shur is also referred to as the Wilderness of Etham. The main point I need you to see is that they had been traveling in this wilderness for three day and had not found water. That was the first issue…They could not find what they were looking for! This was a legitimate need because the average person can survive only 3 days without water. The situation was dire. WATER, I NEED WATER!

COMPLICATION

With their thirst raging, The text says, See Ex 15:23…They could not drink the water

Exodus 15:23 ESV

When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.

Why: the water was bitter. Because it was bitter describes the unpleasant taste of the water in a general sense. It was possibly caustic, with a sharp, biting taste, but was not necessarily sour as opposed to “sweet” in verse 25. And it was not poisonous. Most languages will have suitable vocabulary to describe liquid or food that has an unpleasant or bitter taste.

Noel D. Osborn and Howard A. Hatton, A Handbook on Exodus, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1999), 378.

Lesson 1 - Improper Response of the People

See Ex 15:24

Exodus 15:24 ESV

And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

A Handbook on Exodus a. Bitter Water at Marah (15:22–27)

And the people murmured against Moses uses a word repeated several times in these chapters and in the book of Numbers. It describes the complaining of the people throughout their wilderness wandering. Most English translations use either “complained” or “grumbled.” This “murmuring motif,” as it has been called, shows how much difficulty Moses had in building a relationship with the people.

Saying introduces what the people said. Since it is a question, TEV has “and asked.” What shall we drink? may be either inclusive or exclusive. In languages that require one or the other, the exclusive form of we may be preferable, since it sets the people apart from Moses and agrees more with the “murmuring motif.” This question is not a request for information but almost a statement of despair. This may be stated as “We don’t have anything to drink now!” If the question form is kept in translation, one may also say “What are we to drink now?” or “What can we drink now?”

Lesson 2 - Proper Response from Moses - prayerful and watchful

See Ex 15:25

Exodus 15:25 ESV

And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2760 What Kind of Wood Was Cross

2760 What Kind of Wood Was Cross

Many traditions have come down to us respecting the wood of which the Cross was made, and to many trees is ascribed this mournful honour. The most popular tradition is that which ascribes it to the aspen, because the leaves are ever trembling, as if shuddering with shame at the awful use in which it had been employed. Sometimes it is represented as made of the mistletoe, which was once a great tree, but which shriveled up through the curse, which He who suffered thereon endured, being in part transferred to the tree itself. In the Elizabethan period it was generally believed to be the elder wood. Thus Ben Jonson: “He shall be your Judas, and you shall be his elder-tree to hang on.”

—James Burns

RESOLUTION

SEE EX 15:26-27

Exodus 15:26–27 ESV

saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Tony Evans Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More Than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking God’s Voice

GOD’S VOICE

A NATIVE American was walking down the street with a businessman one day. The Native American stopped.

“Listen!” he said.

“For what?” the business replied.

“Don’t you hear it?”

“Hear what?”

“Crickets.”

“Crickets? I do not hear any crickets.”

The Native American continued to try to help the businessman hear what he heard: “Oh, they’re loud. Just listen! Don’t you hear them?”

Getting a little disgruntled, the businessman said, “I don’t hear any crickets.”

The Native American looked around, and right over on the side, there was a cricket. He went and picked it up.

The businessman looked shocked. “I can’t believe that. We are here downtown with all these people. You and I are talking and you can hear a cricket. I don’t know how you did that.”

The Native American reached into his pocket and took out some change. He threw it on the ground. Twenty people stopped walking. Then he said, “You always hear what you are tuned in to. You are tuned into money; you are going to hear a penny when it’s dropped. I am tuned in to nature, I hear a cricket.”

A lot of Christians will miss the still small voice of God because they are not tuned in.407

[Worldliness, Distraction of; Worship, Benefit of]

1 Kings 19:9–18; Ps. 46:10