What is this wilderness The Bible talks about? Why was Jesus led of the Holy Spirit into the wilderness? Most Christians would recognize this as a time of testing and trial.
Besides Jesus, lets look at some other men of God who spent time on the backside of the desert…
But first a little credit where credit is due. Early on in my own personal wilderness experience, The Lord led me to a man named David Eells founder of Unleavened Bread Ministries. Like many others before him, David has spent a great deal of time alone with The Lord in his own personal wilderness experience, and God has both gifted him as a teacher and also granted much wisdom and revelation in regards to what many Christians refer to as “The End Times. Here is an excerpt from one of his many books, speaking of the commonality of Jesus and Moses…
…one thing we can see right away from Moses and Jesus is that they
went through a common experience, which was what prepared them to bring the people of God into the wilderness and teach them how to be overcomers. Moses went into the wilderness for 40 years (Acts 7:30) and he overcame to lead the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:2) and He overcame
to teach the disciples.The number 40 represents “trial” or “tribulation,” so both Moses and Jesus overcame in their own trials.
(Rev.2:26) And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations. (Rev.3:21) He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat
down with my Father in his throne.In other words, dominion is given to the people of God who overcome in
their wilderness experience.So where is this “wilderness” and what does it entail? Well, the wilderness is everywhere there is a Christian. We’re not looking for a literal, physical desert somewhere to go into, folks. Just forget about that kind of thinking!
(2Co.3:6) Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Anywhere God’s people are, there is a wilderness available to them. Why do I say “available”? That’s because God’s people are like Israel when they were in Egypt and they don’t necessarily want to go into that wilderness. In some cases, God even has to force them into that wilderness. Israel had to be forced into that wilderness by Pharaoh’s army behind them and by God parting the Red Sea before them. But both Moses and Jesus each went out into their wilderness first; first they overcame their own temptations and trials before God used them to bring others there. The wilderness is a place where you are tempted and tried, and if you want to be used to bring others there, you have to pass the test.
Fear Not the Wilderness written by David Eells © 2014 www.UBMbooks.com
Like Jesus, God will lead each and every one who desires a deeper relationship with Him, and more so those who are desirous to serve Him, to a place of spiritual and often physical isolation. A place free from the distractions of life, pride, lust and religion. The place where a man can only hear three voices… The voice of God, the voice of Satan, and his own.
If that man has not yet learned to hear God fluently, this valuable skill is often the first one learned during the wilderness experience.
Secondly, that man will learn to discern the cunning voice of the enemy. Thus, gaining the ability to separate out the voice of Satan, from his own thoughts, and clearly differentiate that voice from God’s voice.
These skills and many more are often established along with deep rooted faith and trust during this intimate quiet time alone with God. The depths and extents of our own personal wilderness experiences vary according to how willing and flexible we are in allowing God to do His perfecting work in us.
Those who willingly choose to enter into the wilderness; following the Holy Spirit’s leading, and are quick to allow the Lord to make speedy changes in their hearts and mind, allowing their spiritual flesh to die, will often find the experiences, though challenging, to be an overall rewarding experience. Even something to be anticipated with joy, knowing the process will lead to a great adventure along the way!
Now let us look at an example of a man who displays the qualities of someone who has come to know and understand God on a much higher level.
And when the servant of the man of God (Elisha) arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:15-17
Here we see a man, in a situation which would seem perilous at first glance, act in a very peculiar way. Instead of being shocked by the seemingly dreadful news of this invading army, Elisha doesn’t flinch. Why? Because Elisha had beforehand taken the time to get to know God intimately through much time spent alone in his own private wilderness tabernacle. An intimate knowing of God, and being known by Him, opens our spiritual ears to hearing the voice of the Lord, as well as seeing with spiritual vision.
Notice Elisha doesn’t seem surprised by this news at all. Whether God warned him in advance we don’t know, nor does it matter, his response would have been the same. Elisha wasn’t moved by the situation because of his spiritual readiness, a skill only mastered through the practical experience of walking it out in God’s spiritual wilderness, alone on the backside of the desert.
Failure to prepare for the journey.
Those who refuse to be obedient, yet still desire to serve, will find their trials of faith much more challenging, perhaps even leading to the physical death to their flesh. Their own lack or preparing for the difficulties of the journey ahead will leave them very vulnerable and without the Lord’s protection and provision in troublesome times due to a faith which is built on shaky ground.
Without a deep understanding of who God is, who we are to Him, and our relationship with Jesus, we will find ourselves often surprised by the events unfolding around us…
Let’s look at another example.
“Therefore, when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Matthew 24:16-21NKJV
Jesus is talking to a very specific group of people. These are Godly people who have some ability to see and understand spiritual things. He is not speaking to the uneducated non-religious crowd, for they would not even understand the reference to Daniel. He is also not speaking to those who are already in the mountains (those walking spiritually in the protection of The Lord because they dwell on the Holy Mountain of Zion, living in the world but not a part of it.) Instead he makes reference to “those who are in Judea” representing natural Israel, those keeping and practicing the theology of Judiasm by a method of works based religion. These people are not spiritually able to hear the voice of The Lord because religion has stopped up their ears. They are only able to obey by first seeing with their natural eyes. This is one of the lowest levels of faith in action.
Unlike Elisha, these people are surprised by this event unfolding. This is evident by the fact that they were not prepared, even having extra clothes, or vital necessities for the journey. The next verse is a very dire statement… “Woe to those…” This is not a warning, as most would believe, but a statement of impending doom. It has nothing to do with women not having children in this time. This is again a reference to the church (foolish women) who are still feeding their children (the fruits of their labor) the milk of the word, and as such are not yet matured enough to eat the meat of the word, as in deeper spiritual truths. Tribulation is coming to this group of people, the bride, to make her ready for the soon return of her Lord and Husband Jesus. She is unwittingly being forced into the wilderness to be stripped of religion and pride through an experience that will bring humility and deeper trust.