Let’s look at some things about the wilderness that we see here in Deuteronomy Chapter Eight, beginning with verse number one:

Of course, we understand what’s going on here. This is the Lord speaking to the nation of Israel as they’ve been wandering around the wilderness for all these years. And they’re getting ready finally to be able to go in to possess the land, the promised land.

The wilderness.

Well, the word wilderness is in your King James Bible 305 times in 294 verses. That’s a lot about the wilderness. The Webster’s Dictionary defines the wilderness as a desert place, a land or region that’s been uncultivated or a state of disorder.

When I think of wilderness, I think of the woods and trees and all that sort of thing. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in the woods before and got down there in the middle of the woods, and it was time to leave. And I turned around to walk out. And, you know, everything looks different from the other side of the trees. And I thought that I was really lost a time or two while I was in the woods or in the wilderness, you might say.

And panic sets in real quick. You know, you have to you have to settle yourself down, and just start to think things through calmly.

Spiritual Wilderness Seasons

And that happens in your spiritual life as well. There are wildernesses that you’re going to go through that you’re going to need to go through. Every Christian has a period of time in their walk where they will experience a wilderness season.

You might feel spiritually dry or alone. When you’re in that season, you might feel like your prayers go unanswered. You might even wonder if God even hears you anymore. You might ask God, what in the world is going on? Or even where are you, Lord?, when you’re in these times Of spiritual wilderness.

The wilderness is a hard place, but it plays a crucial part in our lives, a crucial part in our spiritual walk.

The Wilderness is Not

Now the wilderness is not God punishing you. The nation of Israel here; thought that God was just punishing them when they were in the wilderness. He said specifically up here in these verses that we just read what the purpose as to why they were in the wilderness was, and Although he did say that he used the wilderness to humble them and allowed them to go through some things, it says here that he suffered them to hunger. But then it also says but then he fed them with manna. He suffered them to hunger to show them that their sustenance was to come from him, not from their own efforts anyway.

But as you note, as you go through this list, all these things that the Lord says that he did for them in the wilderness and all the reasoning behind them being in the wilderness, I don’t know about you, but in my Bible, I didn’t see anywhere where it said to punish you. But that’s what they thought. And sometimes we think that, too when we go through these these spiritual wilderness times and seasons in our lives.

God’s not punishing you.

• But God’s not punishing you.
• He’s not abandoning you.
• He’s not ignoring you.

The wilderness is a place where you can learn a lot about yourself and you can learn a lot about your relationship with the Lord. It’s a season that God leads us into.

Look with me over in Matthew chapter four, real quick. Matthew, chapter four. You say, well, you know, you wouldn’t go into a spiritual wilderness unless you need to be corrected or you needed to be reprimanded for something or, you know, you’ve done something wrong. And boy, you know, if you’re going through this time of spiritual wilderness, you know, you must you must have really, screwed it up this time. That’s what we think about ourselves and what we think about other people. But it’s not true.

Look at Matthew chapter four. Now, in Matthew Chapter Three You understand that was the beginning of the Earthly Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gets baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and God speaks out of heaven, The Holy Spirit descends out of heaven like a dove and lands on him. God says, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Right. That’s in verse 17 of chapter three. In case you’ve lost count, there are only 17 verses in Chapter Three. So chapter four, verse one, the very next verse:

It says then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? This great spiritual victory that he had, the very next verse he’s led into the wilderness.

And that’s what happens. A lot of times we go through these these great spiritual victories, whatever they might be. We go on this great spiritual high, and then all of a sudden the next day it’s like, all depression and doom and gloom and everything else. All the spiritual highs and everything going on. And then boom, comes the next day and you’re led into this this spiritual wilderness.

God Leads us into the Wilderness

The Lord Jesus Christ was led by of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. To prove him, to show who he who and what he is. We know as you go on down through there, what happens there. But the point is, the Lord Jesus Christ didn’t do anything wrong. He’s sinless, he’s God manifested in the flesh. He’s sinless Perfection.

He went into the wilderness. I don’t know why we as Christians think that we’re so much better than the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s a man of sorrows, but we’re not supposed to ever sorrow. He was tempted. But oh, boy, if we if we’re tempted and you know, that’s completely on us; now, I will grant you that too many times we walk too close to the edge.

We like to stay right here on the edge of temptation. And then it’s like, whoops, I fell in. Well, how about you step back from the edge? Then you won’t be as likely to fall in. But no, we got to be right on the edge. We got a teeter-totter all the time, right?

The Wilderness Has a Purpose

The wilderness has a purpose. The wilderness and the times of wilderness is to test you, to train you, and to prepare you for what God has for you to do next.

But we don’t see any of that when we find ourselves in the wilderness. We let panic set in and we’re trying to look for the quickest exit was the quickest way out, right? Can I activate my GPS locator beacon and have somebody, hover over me with a chopper and come pull me out or something? We’re looking for the quickest way out.

But God’s purpose for Israel in the wilderness is much the same as His purpose is for us when we go through these times of wilderness

And that is to test us train us and prepare us. He was testing, training, and preparing them to become the mighty warriors that they needed to be to conquer and occupy the promised Land. They thought it was punishment, so they decided to murmur and complain the entire time.

Don’t view your wilderness as punishment, but view it as an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.