“…; and now let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God.” (Exodus 3:18)
“…, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Let My people go that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 5:1)
In part I, we shared that in following God, besides knowing God and God’s will, God’s children need to understand even more so that God has an adversary — which is Satan, the world over which he reigns, and the evil nature of the world that opposes God — so that they would willingly and desperately leave Egypt, which signifies the world. After God’s people “left Egypt,” God immediately brought them into the wilderness. Most of the time, we have a negative impression of the wilderness. If we study the Bible carefully and with the right experience, however, we will see that the wilderness plays a very significant role in God’s will, and that it is indispensable to the process of God’s children in following God. So how did God use the wilderness to accomplish His will? What should our experience of and attitudes toward the wilderness be?
After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, God asked them to go into the wilderness. The Red Sea clearly separated the world and the wilderness. This indicates that to accomplish His will, God must have His people enter an entirely new environment — a domain totally separated from the world. In the wilderness, the world carried no supply, power or sway to distance people from God. Instead, God Himself became their supply and enjoyment. Moreover, entering the wilderness required a three days’ journey on foot. It’s evident that the wilderness is not only a domain that is totally separated from the world, but more importantly, a domain in resurrection.
From the perspective of God, the book of Exodus is a clear picture detailing step by step how God uses the wilderness to prepare His people, to enable them to put off the old creation, to be reconstituted, and to ultimately enter the good land. The worldly system offers fleshly enjoyment to satisfy the natural man with the purpose to destroy people through the indulging of their flesh, so as to attack and damage God’s will. But the wilderness is quite the opposite of the world. It has a unique “irrigation system” that is God Himself as living water and manna to irrigate and feed His people unto the fulfillment of His unfailing will. It is through this preparation that God can reveal His eternal will in the wilderness — that is, to build His dwelling place on the earth.
Furthermore, wilderness is also a place where God trains His people. Through the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, God’s people gradually learned to recognize, be familiar with, and follow God’s leading. This is completely different from the nature of the world that makes people follow their fleshly lusts and allows them to do whatever they want. In addition, the wilderness is the place where God transforms His people. Through forty years of wandering in the wilderness, God’s people were exposed through the environment God portioned out for them, and were able to see the true condition of their own degradation. By this process, God is able to get rid of the nature, religion, and rebellion of their old man, and transform their souls. This transformation, however, does not receive recognition from the world; on the contrary, the world despises this transformation because the world’s value of enjoyment is to encourage people to indulge their flesh, and this opposes the desire to grow and mature in life.
From the perspective of God’s children, in today’s church life, if we are not separate from the world and alive by the resurrection life, which is in our spirit, we will never find the entrance to the wilderness. If not in the wilderness, we will neither find the supply of the living water and manna, nor will we experience God’s leading — let alone learn to follow it — nor will we recognize that the environment He prepared for us is for our growth and maturation to have a complete transformation of our soul. Without these as the foundation, how shall we hear and obtain the revelation of God’s will, which is regarding His dwelling place?
In the wilderness, the world and its impact is silenced, the offering from the world is no more, nor is there any more noise and chaos. Here, the voice and leading of God is clear, the direction of God’s people is definite, and the resulting growth and maturity are worth looking forward to. Here, we breathe in the heavenly air, enjoy the heavenly irrigation, and learn to trust God simply and absolutely. Life in the wilderness is how God’s people testify and announce their utmost rejection of the world; for God’s will we never compromise.
Oh, wilderness, wilderness! We have wronged you. You are the place we must experience after we depart Egypt. Today, we embrace you, because for me, and for all God’s people, you are God’s ordained way to the good land.
(The text above is enjoyment and testimony shared following a gathering on 8/29/2021.）