Learning in the Wilderness

Well, thank you again, Alan, and happy Sabbath, once again to all of you brethren. It's around history. Many people have gone through a period in their lifetime when they felt like they had entered a wilderness. Have you ever had a period of your lifetime when you felt like you were in a fog, like you had entered some kind of a wilderness in your life? The word wilderness is defined as, quote, this is from a dictionary, an uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region. A wilderness can be a physical place, it can be an emotional place, it can be a spiritual place where we feel off-center, we may feel uncomfortable, we may feel anxious, we may feel, at times, even alienated from other people. So, I'd like to talk about being in the wilderness today. Let's begin by going to Psalm chapter 95, and we'll begin in verse 7. Psalm chapter 95, beginning in verse 7.

The psalm is hearkening back to a time when Israel, the ancient nation of Israel, was in the wilderness. Psalm chapter 95 and verse 7, for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hands. Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness. When your fathers tested me, they tried me, though they saw my work. For 40 years, I was grieved with that generation and said, it is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know my ways.

So, I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. So, this psalm again is hearkening back to ancient Israel being in a physical wilderness for 40 years. But as individuals, we can go into emotional wildernesses. We might go into a spiritual wilderness, where we kind of get into a spiritual funk, and we're just not feeling right or connected with God, or connected to other people, maybe not connected to the church in a way that we should be. We may go through a time of feeling like we're in a wilderness, struggling, feeling cut off, or sometimes maybe even feeling persecuted.

Before we look at some biblical examples about being in the wilderness and what it is intended to do for us, I'd like to bring out a couple of secular examples of great individuals who are alive during most of our lifetimes, and talk about how they went through a wilderness experience, and the experience made them better than they were. These were great individuals who went into a period of time when they felt like they were in exile, when they felt like they were isolated.

And here's the key that I want you to realize today about being in the wilderness, whether it's a physical wilderness or an emotional wilderness or a spiritual wilderness, we come out of that experience either better or bitter, and that choice is ours. Let's take a look at a man named Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill went through a decade in his life, 1929 to 1939, when he was in political exile. He'd made a number of political mistakes, and he went into political exile, and during that time he was trying to warn Great Britain about the rise of Nazi Germany. He was mocked, ridiculed as a dinosaur whose time had come and gone, called a war-monger.

He warned the British people about Germany and the fact that they were arming themselves and preparing to go to war. He was scoffed at. He was ignored, ridiculed, persecuted until the day that Hitler began to invade Europe. And eventually, England had no other choice but to go to war against Nazi Germany. So he was in the wilderness for 10 years in his life. He was finally asked to become Prime Minister by the King of England in May of 1940, and here's what he wrote.

When he came out of this wilderness to become Prime Minister of Great Britain during a time when the United States wasn't in the war yet, England alone was standing against Nazi Germany. Here's what he wrote, quote, I felt as if I were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial. I thought I knew a good deal about it. I was sure that I should not fail. And with quote. When Winston Churchill was asked to become Prime Minister after his years in the wilderness, he was 65 years old when he became Prime Minister.

The average life expectancy of an Englishman in about 1940 was 65 years old. So he was already considered an old man for his time. But he went into a wilderness, learned things through that experience that prepared him for the mission that he had ahead of himself. Another positive example is Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela was a political activist who started out as a communist, believed in socialism, and led a sabotage campaign against the South African government. He served 27 years in prison, prime of his life, prime years of his life he spent rotting in prison. He was tortured in prison. And for this long time in prison, it transformed him as a human being. It transformed him as he faced endless abuse and humiliation.

At Robin Island, all of the jailers were Afrikaners. Now these were descendants of the Dutch who ruled South Africa at the time. But early as a prisoner, he set out to learn the language of the Afrikaners. He wanted to speak it like they spoke it.

He wanted to know all the nuances, to know the tender terms, to know all of the intricacies of the language. He read their books, he recited their poetry, he engaged prison personnel by soliciting their help in learning the language. Later, this would be invaluable as he negotiated with them to end apartheid. Here's an example in his case of how being in the wilderness, 27 years of his life, changed him. This is an excerpt from his own writings.

Quote, After becoming president, I asked some of my security guards to go to lunch with me at a restaurant. I then saw a man sitting and eating by himself. I told one of my staff to go and ask that man to join us. The man stood up, took the plate, and sat next to me, while eating his hands were shaking. He did not lift his head from his plate. When he finished, he waved at me, even without looking at me.

I shook his hand and he walked away. One of my staff asked, this man must be very sick as his hands would not stop shaking while he was eating. Not at all, I replied. The reason for his tremor is another, I said. That man was the guardian of the jail I was locked up in.

Often, after the torture I was subjected to, I cried for water and he came to humiliate me. He laughed at me and instead of giving me water, urinated on my head.

He was not sick. He was fearing that now that I am president of South Africa, I would send him to jail and do the same thing he did to me, torturing him and humiliating him. But that is not me. That behavior is not part of my character or my ethics.

I believe that minds that seek revenge destroy states while those that seek reconciliation build nations. End of quote. Again, that's from the writings of Nelson Mandela. He was widely considered in our modern age as an icon of democracy and social justice. He received more than 250 honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize. So what happened to these individuals while they were in the wilderness? Churchill, Mandela. What happened to them when they were in the wilderness? They were transformed by that experience, and they came out of the wilderness better prepared to lead and serve others. They came out of the wilderness with a new sense of mission and purpose. So how about us, brethren? How are we doing? I'm here to tell you very candidly the due to COVID-19, it's obvious that a number of our brethren have been in and are in the spiritual wilderness. Obvious by their attitudes, by the comments they make.

So how are we doing?

What you learn from this pandemic is either going to make you stronger, like Churchill and Mandela, Moses, Jesus, and some others we'll look at today, or it will destroy you like the two million Israelites who left Egypt and whose carcasses rotted in the wilderness. And you know this isn't over.

Europe's going backward. Germany has gone back into shutting things down for the second time they've closed down their economy. There are areas of the United States in which there are record numbers of COVID cases, thankfully not deaths, but cases. So we may not even be beyond this yet, is my point. And even when this is over, what kind of activities, what kind of events are going to follow in this world once COVID-19 is done that is going to rock us to the core?

I'd like to bring out some examples of mostly people who were strengthened by going into the wilderness, whose greatness was magnified, whose abilities were honed, who were prepared to serve and lead others in a great way by the experience of going through their own wilderness. We're going to begin with Moses. If you'll turn to Exodus chapter 2 and verse 19. Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He grew up in Egypt. He was a member of the royal family, but he gave it all up because he saw his brethren being abused by the Egyptians. Moses was born during a time when the Hebrew male babies were being killed by the order of Pharaoh. His mother took a basket. She covered the outside with tar and floated it in the tall grasses. And due to divine providence, it was discovered by Pharaoh's daughter. Let's pick it up here, chapter 2 and verse 9. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, said to Moses' sister, who kept an eye on the basket of where it was where it was floating, Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman, that's Moses' mother, took the child and nursed him, and the child grew and she brought him the Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, which is an Egyptian name, saying, Because I drew him out of the water. Now it came to pass in those days when Moses had grown that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way. And when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and he hid him in the sand. Verse 13, And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrews were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, Why are you striking your companion? And he said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? So Moses feared. He knew that he hadn't been hidden. And after all, he might have looked this way and looked that way, but someone saw him killed that Egyptian. He feared and said, Surely this thing is known. When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian, Jethro, who would become his father-in-law, had seven daughters, and they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. So here's Moses, 40 years old, prime of life, all the privileges you can have by being part of the royal household. Wealth, prominence, prestige, probably could just about choose any woman you wanted as your wife because of the significant influence you had within the family. A great lifestyle planned for you the rest of your physical life. And the next thing he knew, he was a simple shepherd looking at sheep for the next 40 years of his life. In exile, this was his wilderness.

When he was 80 years old, God told him to return to Egypt and that he would use Moses to free the Israelites from slavery. So what do you think he may have learned during those 40 years in Midian? Some of the things he might have pondered during that time. Well, before we answer that question, let's go to chapter 4. Exodus chapter 4 and verse 18. Just read a little bit more about Moses here.

Exodus chapter 4 and verse 18. So Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, go in peace. And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, go, return to Egypt for all the men who sought your life are dead. That was 40 years ago. The pharaohs died. The pharaoh who was alive at that time, he's died and anyone else who knew about that circumstance and sought to kill Moses is dead. Verse 20. Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. So from being royalty in Egypt and entering a wilderness to be a simple shepherd was very humbling. Everything was taken away from him. Everything materialistic, everything of value to Moses was taken away from him. Remember, when he goes in the Midian, he doesn't have a relationship with God. That's not going to happen until near after 40 years. Everything he had in his life, all the promise, all the material benefits of being in the royal family of Egypt were ripped away from him and taken away from Moses.

For 40 years, he learned about humility. The book of Numbers states this in Numbers chapter 12 and verse 3. It says, Now the man Moses was very humble more than all men who were on the face of the earth. Humility was one of the things, qualities, that he learned in the wilderness that prepared Moses to lead.

You see, that period in time, the wilderness, didn't make Moses bitter. It made Moses better.

Another important quality he learned in the wilderness was faith in God. Paul would later write in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 24, By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.

For he looked to the reward. So Moses entered a period of time in his life when he was in the wilderness, one of a few periods in his life when he was in the wilderness, because he would also be in the wilderness with Israel for 40 years.

But in this particular episode that we're talking about here, he learned humility and he learned faith. It made him better, not bitter. Now, since we're talking about Moses, how about the Israel of the Exodus? We've seen a number of good examples, Churchill, Mandela, Moses. Let's be honest here and let's look at the alternative. Let's see a group of people who by their experiences didn't become better, they just became bitter. If you'll turn with me to Numbers chapter 13, beginning in verse 27. As I said, we've seen some positive examples. Now let's take a look at a negative example.

Israel could have gone into the Promised Land much earlier than it eventually did, but their foul and arrogant and selfish attitudes made them bitter towards Moses and bitter towards God. So they could have gone there a lot earlier. Moses sent out spies as a military mission. Go spy out the land and tell us the kinds of people that are there, the kind of land that's there. What areas are mountainous? What areas are plains? Go and spy out this land and tell us what it's like.

Numbers chapter 13 verse 27. Then they told him, Moses, the spies returned, and said, we went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. And they brought back samples of fruit. Nevertheless, the people who dwell there are strong.

The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea along the banks of the Jordan. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, because people are getting in nowhere. It's a pretty negative report. There are all these people here. So let's look at this logically for a minute. Do you think any of these people are as strong as the Egyptians were?

No. God brought them out of Egypt, didn't He? So logically speaking, these penny-anny little Canaanites shouldn't be a problem when God is on your side and when He is leading your nation.

But everyone gets to an uproar. They say, oh, bad, oh, oh, oh. Right? So Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it. But the man who had gone up with them said, we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. Again, let's look at this logically. Egypt was stronger than we, and we walked out of Egypt.

We crossed the Red Sea on dry land, stronger than we, and they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, the land through which we have gone as spies is the land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

And we saw the giants, the descendants of Anak came from the giants, and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight. Doesn't say much for their self-esteem. We were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. And brethren, unfortunately, this gloom and doom report, they gave about the land was actually slandering God. Because they're saying, in essence, that God can't do this for us. We're gonna read where they basically accuse God of bringing them into the desert just so they could all die there.

Numbers chapter 14 and verse 1.

Many scholars believe that they could have entered the Promised Land in less than 40 days after leaving Egypt. If only they would have listened and obeyed what God said, 40 days they could have been in the Promised Land. But instead, because of their lack of faith and bitterness, it ended up being 40 years before they entered the Promised Land. Numbers chapter 14 and verse 1. So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night, and all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, if only we had died in the land of Egypt, if only we had died in this wilderness. I'd be better off dead right now here than what I'm going to be facing in the future. Why has the Lord—this is the slander in the accusation— why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword? Why did God bring us here just to kill us? What kind of God is that?

Why has the Lord brought us out of this land to fall by the sword that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt so they said to one another, let us select a leader and return to Egypt? We can see here by the powerful and destructive influence of negativity that the 10 spies, the 10 out of 12 who had a bad report, that they spread that negativity throughout the entire congregation.

In their short time since they had left Egypt, and they were in the wilderness, that short period of time since they had crossed the Red Sea, they had not gotten better. They just got bitter.

Chapter 14 and verse 26. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, how long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against me. Say to them, as I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you. You said, God says to them, you said, if only we had died in the wilderness. God says, and you know what? That's exactly what's going to happen to your entire generation. Okay. Just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you. The carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness. All of you who were numbered according to your entire number from 20 years old and above, except for Caleb, the son of Jeffuna, and Joshua, the son of none, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones whom you said would be victims. Remember? They also said, why has God brought our wives and children out here to become victims? God says here, but your little ones whom you said would be victims I will bring in. And they shall know the land that you have despised, but as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.

So again, I want to ask each and every one of us today, how are we doing? We can liken the year 2020 to maybe unlike any year in our lifetimes. It has truly been bizarre. You had a little COVID here, you had a presidential election over here, and you come up with one extremely bizarre year in our lifetimes, don't you? Are we becoming better through all that we've experienced? Or are we becoming bitter?

Well, let's move from the negative example and look at some examples in the New Testament of those who became better. Hopefully that will inspire and encourage us if we feel like we're going through a wilderness at this period of time in our lives or in the future. Perhaps they can inspire us. Matthew chapter 3 and verse 1. John the Baptist, his ministry started before Jesus even began his ministry. The Scripture suggests the two of Jesus's disciples, Andrew and John, were first the disciples of John the Baptist before they became the disciples of Jesus. John was a forerunner of the ministry of Jesus, emphasizing the kingdom of God and repentance and baptism, some of the very same things that Jesus Christ emphasized in his ministry. Matthew chapter 3 and verse 1. In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. He was in a wilderness. He spent a lot of time in a physical wilderness and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And John himself was clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locust and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. So he spent some time in a wilderness, alone in his thoughts. What are some of the things that John would have learned by being in the wilderness of Judea? Like Moses, he learned humility. He learned to live life as a minimalist. He didn't need lots of stuff to make him happy. He didn't need lots of toys, closets full of clothes. He didn't need the things that our culture says is so important for him to be content. His life would be characterized by abstinence, in simplicity, and self-control. And he learned that that's really all that he ever needed.

He let us occlude it, and perhaps sometimes even a challenging, difficult life.

And some of these things may have been perhaps due to a vow that he had taken. But his time in the wilderness and his ministry, it made him better, not bitter. He came out of those experiences committed to fulfill his ministry.

How about Jesus Christ himself? Matthew chapter 4 verse 1. Jesus Christ himself, our Lord and Savior, needed to prepare for the most titanic spiritual struggle ever between himself and Satan the devil. And how did he prepare for it? What would make him better and allow him to prepare for that ultimate confrontation with Satan the devil before he began his ministry? Matthew chapter 4 and verse 1. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterward he was hungry. Kind of an understatement. I mean, we go through the day of atonement and we're moaning and groaning, acting like we're going to die.

Afterward, he was hungry, it says. Now when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Satan tries to tempt him and challenge him. The response of Jesus is a scripture. Then the devil took him into the holy city and set him on a pinnacle of the temple. He said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone. And Jesus said to him, and according to another scripture, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God, you don't do anything foolish.

Verse 8, Again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory, and he said to him, All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me. And as I've said before, all the kingdoms of this world are owned by Satan the devil and are his the giveaway. Jesus never challenged that he has the ability, a command, and control over this world and all the nations of this world. Verse 10, Then Jesus said, Away with you Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. Brethren, the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting prepared him for his confrontation with the devil. Those 40 days of fasting, all physical needs and physical desires and temptations were stripped away from Jesus Christ. Every one of them. Notice that Satan tries to tempt Christ through physical pleasures or through self-determination, and in contrast, Christ quotes scriptures back to the devil. Obviously, the time of Jesus being in the wilderness made him better to fulfill his mission.

Through this experience, Jesus became better, not bitter. One more example, the Apostle Paul. Turn to Galatians chapter 1 and verse 13, our final example today. The Apostle Paul, of course, before his conversion, he was a zealous Jew who persecuted the Church of God, but when he was converted on the road to Damascus, and that's in Acts chapter 9, he needed to spend some time in the wilderness to prepare for his ministry.

Galatians chapter 1 and verse 13.

To the brethren in Galatia, Paul's giving a little bit of a biography of his background. He says, for you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. He's saying I was a righteous, dedicated Pharisee. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. This is after he had been in Arabia. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained with him 15 days, but I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother, now concerning the things which I write to you indeed before God, I do not lie. Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was unknown by faith of the churches of Judea, which were in Christ, but they were hearing only that he who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy, and they glorified God in me. So, Paul needed some time to prepare for the mission that God had for him. He didn't go from being a zealous Pharisee to overnight an apostle. No, he went into exile for three years after he was converted on the road to Damascus. Three years he went into the wilderness, and during those three years, I'm sure he studied doctrine. He says in some other writings that he literally saw Jesus Christ, just like the other apostles did. Perhaps Jesus Christ revealed himself to Paul in Arabia. Then he came back, and we didn't read that, but he came back, and for 14 years, basically, he was unknown. It was only when Barnabas took Paul to Jerusalem and introduced him to some of the original disciples that Paul began to gain influence and gain prominence in the ministry. So, what happened to Paul wasn't some overnight success. It wasn't something that just happened immediately. Years and years went by as Paul was in his own wilderness, preparing himself, learning more about Jesus Christ, learning the teachings of Jesus Christ, and preparing himself mentally and emotionally and spiritually for a great mission that God would have him on. If I had time today, we could look at many other biblical examples of those who were in the wilderness for a short period of time. We could look at the example of Joseph. Remember when he was in prison himself, when his brothers sold him into slavery? Elijah, Jeremiah, and others.

In conclusion for the sermon today, there's just one other biblical character that I'd like to talk about.

That's you.

2020 has been a very difficult year for all of us due to lockdowns, masks, restrictions, and other limitations. COVID-19, combined with the popularity contest that will occur on Tuesday, has put people on edge. For some in the church, it's been an increased time of loneliness and anxiety, and unfortunately, from some, it's been increased judgmentalism. And that's not good, rather. Some of us are not doing really well in this wilderness we've been in. Some of us are becoming bitter instead of better. And the purpose of this sermon is to ask each and every one of us to take a look at our hearts, take a look at our attitudes, take a look at our perceptions about this world and what's really important, and stop focusing on the secular, stop focusing on material things, stop focusing on the news of the day, stop focusing on social media, and start focusing on Christ.

And the Church of God will be much stronger if we begin to do that in a dedicated and in a fervent way.

Has this last year made you better, or has it made you bitter? Again, I encourage you to take some time to look into your life, but look at your personal example this past 10 months. Look at the example that you've been setting for others. What has it been reflecting? Balance? Spiritual maturity? The fruit of God's Holy Spirit?

Or some other things?

Brethren, we're called to be the light of the world, and if we can't maturely handle the kind of things that have been going on in this world, how are we going to rule in eternity?

If we're so weak and shallow in our faith, that we start judging others and accuse them of a lack of faith, because they choose to do something or choose not to do something, if we are that weak and shallow emotionally and spiritually, how are we going to rule the universe?

So again, I ask all of us to take a look at our lives, to take a look at our personal examples, and to do some reflection, and be determined that no matter where we're at right now, that we come out of this better.

Not bitter.