It is very important for us to understand why God led His people out of the house of bondage into the wilderness, even though there was an alternative way available. The scriptures tell us that God’s ways are different from man’s ways.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).
Let’s have a look at what God told Moses to tell Pharaoh:
“And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God” (Exodus 3:18).
Notice that God said they needed to go into the wilderness for the sacrifice.
Again, in Exodus 5:1, we see that Moses and Aaron said, “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.”
Having a feast in the wilderness?
Moreover, in Exodus 7:16 the scriptures tell us:
“And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.”
Serving the Lord in the wilderness?
There has to be something very important about the wilderness.
Now let us see some of the things that happened in the wilderness as the children of Israel went out from the house of bondage:
“And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no” (Exodus 16:1–4).
One of the challenges faced by the people was the unavailability of bread. The people murmured, and the Lord said that He would provide bread for them—not earthly bread, but bread from heaven. However, when the people saw it, they said, “What is it?”
“And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat” (Exodus 16:15).
The people were not able to comprehend the bread that came down from heaven. But we see that Moses received the revelation about the bread which came from heaven and introduced it to the people.
In the wilderness we receive the manna, the bread of life. The revelation of Yeshua. In wilderness we learn to live by the Word of God.
John 6:35 says, “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.”
We see that Jesus said He is the bread of life, the true bread. Again, the people did not comprehend the true bread which came from God. They murmured again and said, “Is not this the son of Joseph?” However, Peter received the revelation and said to Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Interestingly, we see that Jesus was also led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. The devil tempted Him, saying:
“And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:3).
A temptation related to bread—not a coincidence. Jesus answered:
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
Is this what the Lord wanted to teach His people in the wilderness?
To live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God?
Again, in Exodus 17 we see another crucial incident. Verse 7 says:
“And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?”
The question, “Is the Lord among us or not?” seems very similar to:
“Hath God said…?”
It is like asking whether the same Lord who brought them out of bondage and parted the Red Sea was really still with them.
Moreover, in Matthew 4:6–7, the devil tempted Jesus to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. Jesus responded:
“It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Look at what the scriptures tell us in Deuteronomy 6:16:
“Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah.”
This means that when we know the Lord is with us and has promised He will never leave nor forsake us, we need to believe His Word and not tempt Him.
IIn the wilderness, the people were told that the LORD our God is one LORD, and that they were to love Him with all their heart, soul, and might.
Deuteronomy 6:13 says:
“Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name.”
In Matthew 4:8–10, again we see the devil tempting Jesus to worship him:
“Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”
In the wilderness we learn to serve the Lord our God and Him alone.
Hebrews 3: 7-8 tells us “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:”
In the wilderness our hearts are prepared.
Hebrews 3: 10 “Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.”
Gods ways are known in the wilderness.
Hebrews 3: 16-19, “For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief”.
The wilderness journey is to be completed in faith.
See closely what the scriptures tell us about the journey in the wilderness:
“All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or no.
And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him” (Deuteronomy 8:1–6).
The Lord wants to humble us as He leads us in the wilderness. He wants us to learn to live by the His Word. He wants us to to enter into His rest. He prepares us in the wilderness.
There is no possession in the wilderness, but there will be no lack, because God will provide.
The Word teaches us that God completed His works and rested on the seventh day.
There remains a rest to the people of God. “let us labour to enter into His rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief”.
Wilderness is in the plan of God for us. Once we understand this, we can finish the journey in faith—like Joshua and Caleb—and we will possess the promise of God. We will not murmur but bring pleasure to our heavenly Father.
