DAY 14: THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE 1

The wilderness is all too commonplace in the Bible to be ignored. From Moses to Jesus,many famous Bible people had a stint there.

• The wilderness is desolate, uninhabited and uncultivated regions (Bible hub).

• In the Bible, the wilderness is a place of both hardship and hope, where divine testing and provision shape humanity’s faith (The Bible project).

It was the place between Moses’ life in the palace to his life as a deliverer. It was the place between Jesus' early life and the commencement of His earthly ministry.

Very fitting to call this wilderness, “the land in-between”. It looked as if before any major shift in status came, there has to be this season of dryness as a signifier.

Arguably, the most widely known wilderness experience is the one the Israelites experienced after their deliverance from Egypt. Today, however, we'll be drawing some lessons from Moses' time in the wilderness.

It is important to note that before Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness, he spent some time there before. After living in luxury all his life, Moses was forced into exile in the land of Midian because he killed an Egyptian to save a Hebrew. 

The land of Midian was described by westerners in the 1800 as a desert wilderness. In Genesis 3:1, we read that Moses led the flock to “the far side of the wilderness” and came to Horeb. 

Midianites were a nomadic tribe living in a vast arid territory.

1. The breaking

For Moses, this wilderness was the place he became undone. When you've lived 40 years of your life as a member of the royal household of Egypt, it takes a while for you to get down from that high horse. This man, trained in the finest arts of one of the world's earliest civilizations, had to abandon them all and live like a nomad.

Acts 7:22 NIV

[22] Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

Moses spent this transitional 40 years tending to his father-in-law's sheep. In those 40 years, he was a regular man; a faithful husband to Zipporah and a father to Gershom. Tending to the sheep, he learnt how to be a shepherd, a skill he will need when leading God's people.

Whatever self image he had formed of himself was broken, he had been humbled. Isn't it strange that the man trained in Pharaoh's palace, bold enough to kill a person, was finding excuses to avoid being a deliverer 40 years later.

This shows the radical transformation that he went through. For many, Moses had fallen off never to peak again, they did not know that the Lord was breaking him.

D.L Moody puts it way, “Moses spent 40 years in Egypt thinking he was somebody; 40 years in the desert learning to be nobody; and 40 years in the wilderness discovering what God can do with a nobody”.

My favourite variation of this saying is this, "Moses spent 40 years in Egypt thinking he was somebody; 40 years in the wilderness learning to be a nobody; and 40 years in the wilderness proving God to be everything".

MOSES SPENT 40 YEARS IN EGYPT LEARNING TO BE SOMEBODY; 40 YEARS IN THE DESERT LEARNING TO BE NOBODY; AND 40 YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS PROVING GOD TO BE EVERYTHING - D. L MOODY

2. The making

In the wilderness, he met the “I AM” in the burning bush encounter (Exodus 3 and 4). The one who gave him identity, power and purpose.

It gives me so much encouragement to see how patient God was with Moses when he was giving excuses upon excuses. His excuses seemed like a lot but when you have been burnt before, you proceed with caution when you're treading the same path.

You see, he had previously tried to play deliverer before but that wasn't received well.

Acts 7:24-25 NIV

[24] He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. [25] Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 

After the encounter in the wilderness, he was widely accepted by the Israelites on his return. What changed? The power of God was with him now.

He was not doing stuff of his own accord now. The Lord was literally telling him what to tell Pharaoh and the miracles to perform each time.

Acts 7:35-36 NIV

[35] “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. [36] He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.

From the Israelite perspective, this was a magnanimous man of God but this was just a man repeating things God had told him to. Murder and rebellion was young Moses' strategy but God's strategy to this wilderness-experienced Moses was to show the power of God.

What he had before was passion and ambition, now he had divine backing and most importantly divine leading.

The Lord rebuilt his self-image brick by brick. This time, not as the son of Pharaoh's daughter but as a man SENT from God.

Hebrews 11:24-27 NIV

[24] By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. [25] He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. [26] He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. [27] By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 

The wilderness will break you but one thing is for sure, you will not leave the same person.