Desert
Honeymoon
A VOICE IN THE DESERT
“I remember the devotion of your youth, how as
a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not
sown.” (Jeremiah 2:2)
The
Hebrew for desert is מדבר.
The
Hebrew for speaking is מדבר.
Spot
the difference?
There
isn’t any when you see it written down – it’s from the same word root.
The word for desert is pronounced “midbar” and speaking is
pronounced “medaber” but perhaps it is no coincidence that the two overlap,
for God often speaks in the desert.
I loved the fact that the book of Numbers is called “In
the desert” or “B’Midbar” in the Hebrew Bible.
It
doesn’t often fill Western believers with joy to read these things in the Torah
– it can seem kinda dry, like the desert, but if we are willing to stop, to
still our souls, to wait and to listen, we can hear the beautiful voice of God
in the dryest of places.
Sometimes
our most powerful experiences and connections with God are in desert times in
our lives.
As
a pastor I knew once said that while a dessert is something we do want but
don’t need, time in the desert is something we don’t want, but do need!
God
deliberately calls us away into the desert for his purposes.
An odd honeymoon
destination
The people of Israel spent 40 years in
the desert, but it wasn’t simply because that’s what happened to be between
Egypt and Israel.
Listen
to what God says about that time in Jeremiah 2:2:
“I
remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed
me through the wilderness, through a land not sown.”
God
reflects on that time in the desert as almost like a honeymoon – they had made
a covenant and agreed to be His people, and he was leading them into their
destiny with Him.
He
talks about their time in the desert with Him as a time of intimacy.
He
appeared in a very dramatic way to them at Sinai, and gave them His Word.
Of
course, despite God’s guidance, provision and presence, it was not all smooth-sailing.
Later
on he explains His interesting choice of honeymoon destination in Deuteronomy
8:
“Remember
how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years,
to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not
you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then
feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to
teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes
from the mouth of the LORD.”
The desert
reveals the priorities of our hearts
Desert times really separate the men
from the boys.
It
can really show things as they really are … the true state of the heart is
revealed.
It
is a place of revelation, testing, refining, humbling … which can often result
in deeper intimacy with God.
There
are also a number of parallels between Israel’s 40 years in the desert and the
40 day fast and then temptation of Yeshua.
Matthew
4 tells us that
“Jesus
was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil … After
fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and
said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
It
is interesting to see Yeshua’s reply:
“It
is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes
from the mouth of God.”
He
was thinking about God’s desert agenda for the Israelites too, and quoted
Deuteronomy 8.
The
number 40 often signifies a time period of gestation too – 40 years, 40 days
and nights … and both these parallel desert experiences were times of
preparation and testing.
This
is not the only time that God leads people into the desert – Hosea 2, 14:15
says of Israel,
“Therefore
I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and
speak tenderly to her.”
He will lead her into the midbar (desert) and medaber
(speak) to her heart.
God
continues,
“There
I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of
hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth as in the day she came
up out of Egypt.”
God
loves that soft, loving response of willingness, and longs to bless.
It’s
hard to imagine any parent deliberately letting their children suffer hunger or
thirst, yet this is what God deliberately did with his people.
But
there was a purpose. God tested his people then, to purify their hearts and
their response to him, and we should not be surprised when he does it to us
too.
Perhaps
you’re in a desert time of testing.
It’s
a season all believers have to go through from time to time - a time where the
true priorities of our hearts are revealed.
But
this is not a punishment, or even a mistake.
It
is not because God loves us less, or has forgotten about us, or doesn’t want to
bless us – quite the opposite.
He
delights to replenish, restore and provide – but He is looking for the loving
response of a willing heart, fully dedicated to him, and no other.
If
He led Yeshua to the desert, we can be sure He will do the same with us!
Expecting God to
speak
Would you be willing to pray for those
encountering hard, desert times to hear the voice of God speaking intimately to
them in their time of need?
The
people of Israel have been through so much – sometimes with God, sometimes
feeling abandoned by God, sometimes utterly denying His existence.
Would
you take time even now, to pray for the people of Israel to respond to God as
they did at first, with love and trust?
And
may God strengthen you too, when you encounter the desert, with anticipation
that in the desert, he will speak.
Would you want to have a deeper relationship
with God?
God has made it possible for you to know Him
and experience an amazing change in your own life by receiving His Son,
Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.
Say the following prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my
sins have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I
now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You. I
receive Your free gift of salvation.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my
sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to
rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that according to
your Word, I am now born again, has
eternal life, and I am now Your child.
Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You,
and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your Word – the
Bible.
Please use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
If
you have just put your trust in Jesus Christ, you have been born into God’s
family.
As
a spiritual baby, you need to grow by feeding on God’s Word – the Bible (1 Peter 2:2).
You
must have a good modern translation Bible and begin prayerfully reading it.
Start in the New Testament, such as the Gospel of John or Paul’s letters to the
Ephesians.
Also,
you need to join a Christian fellowship where the Bible is taught and where God
is truly worshiped.
God
bless you as you begin your new life with Him!
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