JACK: WE'RE IN A DIFFERENT PLACE IN THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN,
AND IT'S IN THIS PLACE THAT WE WANT TO LEARN
NOT ONLY WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR ISRAEL
IN THIS WILDERNESS BUT TO GROUND OURSELVES
IN A FIRMER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW GOD
USES WILDERNESS IN OUR LIVES.
WE'RE IN WHAT THE BIBLE CALLED THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN.
NOW WILDERNESS AREAS BY DEFINITION DON'T HAVE
FIRM BOUNDARIES BUT, GENERALLY SPEAKING,
THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN EXTENDS FROM KADESH-BARNEA HERE
ALL THE WAY NORTH TO THE BIBLICAL NEGEV ABOUT HERE.
YOU AND I ARE POSITIONED RIGHT HERE AT EIN AVDAT
JUST ABOUT DEAD SQUARE IN THE MIDDLE
OF THAT WILDERNESS AREA.
NOW WE'VE COME HERE BECAUSE THIS AREA HOUSES
WHAT IS BOTH THE LONGEST OF THE WILDERNESS STORIES
IN THE BIBLE AND THE MOST SURPRISING.
BY THE TIME WE GET TO THE END OF GENESIS 12,
WE HAVE A GEOGRAPHICAL EXPECTATION
ABOUT THE STORY OF FORGIVENESS.
GOD HAD COME TO ABRAM AND TOLD HIM NOT ONLY THAT HIS
FAMILY WOULD PRODUCE THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD
BUT THAT STORY THAT WOULD INVOLVE HIS FAMILY
WOULD OCCUR IN THE LAND OF CANAAN.
SO IT'S TERRIBLY SURPRISING BY THE TIME WE GET
TO THE END OF GENESIS TO FIND GOD'S PEOPLE
NOT IN THE PROMISED LAND BUT IN EGYPT
WHERE THEY STAYED FOR 400 YEARS.
THAT'S PRETTY SURPRISING.
AND WHEN THEY LEAVE EGYPT, OUR EVERY EXPECTATION
IS THAT THEY WOULD AS QUICKLY POSSIBLE MOVE BACK
TO CANAAN BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE THE PROMISE OF THE SAVIOR
IS GOING TO ACHIEVE ITS FULFILLMENT.
BUT THE GEOGRAPHY IS NOT WHAT WE EXPECT.
INSTEAD OF TURNING THE ISRAELITES NORTH
TOWARDS THE PROMISED LAND AT THE TIME OF THE EXODUS,
GOD TURNS THEM SOUTH INTO WILDERNESS,
INITIALLY FOR TWO YEARS,
WITH AN ADDITIONAL 38 YEARS BEHIND THAT.
IT JUST BEGS FOR AN EXPLANATION.
WHY WOULD GOD ALLOW HIS PEOPLE TO SPEND
ALL OF THESE YEARS IN WILDERNESS?
WELL, THE LORD GIVES US AN ANSWER.
IT'S FOUND IN DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER EIGHT,
"REMEMBER", MOSES SAYS, "HOW THE LORD YOUR GOD
"LED YOU ALL THE WAY IN THE WILDERNESS THESE 40 YEARS
"TO HUMBLE AND TO 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, AND HE DID THIS
"TO TEACH YOU THAT MAN DOES NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE
"BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LORD."
WE'RE HERE TO THINK ABOUT THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
HOW DOES GOD USE WILDERNESS?
HE USES IT TO HUMBLE US, TO TEST US,
AND TO TEACH US.
THOSE THREE PURPOSES COME INTO PLAY VIRTUALLY EVERY TIME
WE MEET A WILDERNESS STORY IN THE BIBLE.
SO I'M GLAD THAT YOU'RE HERE IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND
NOT ONLY THE EXPERIENCE OF ISRAEL IN WILDERNESS,
BUT TO SEE HOW GOD USES WILDERNESS IN OUR LIVES.
AS I READ THE SCRIPTURES, ONE THING
BECOMES ABSOLUTELY CLEAR TO ME,
GOD HATES ARROGANCE.
HE HATES IT. IT WAS REALLY THE IMPETUS BEHIND THE VERY FIRST SIN
AND IT'S THE MOTIVATION THAT LIES BEHIND SO MANY
OTHER SINS AS WELL.
GOD HATES ARROGANCE.
AND GEOGRAPHY CAN PLAY A ROLE IN FOSTERING ARROGANCE.
THINK OF ISRAEL'S EXPERIENCE.
BEFORE THEY WERE HERE, THEY WERE IN EGYPT.
AND EGYPT IS ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL PLACES TO LIVE
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, MADE SO BY THE NILE RIVER.
THE NILE RIVER PROVIDED FOOD AND WATER.
IT PROVIDED ONE OF THE MOST DURABLE ECOSYSTEMS
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.
WHEN EVERYTHING ELSE WAS DRYING OUT
AND PEOPLE WERE EXPERIENCING FAMINE, WELL,
WE HEAR IT IN THE BIBLE, THEY WOULD GO TO EGYPT.
EGYPT IS ALSO THE PLACE OF GRAND HUMAN ACCOMPLISHMENT.
SOME OF THE GREAT ANCIENT INNOVATIONS COME OUT EGYPT.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE HORIZON LINE IN EGYPT,
YOU WOULD SEE BUILDINGS THAT WERE DESIGNED
AND BUILT BY MORTALS.
EGYPT CELEBRATES, AND ENCOURAGES EVEN, ARROGANCE.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU COME INTO WILDERNESS.
THIS IS EVERYTHING THAT EGYPT IS NOT.
IT'S A PLACE WITHOUT FOOD.
IT'S A PLACE WITHOUT WATER.
IT'S A PLACE WHERE ALL YOUR TIME IS CONSUMED WITH SURVIVAL.
YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO DREAM UP INNOVATIONS.
AND IN FACT, WHEN YOU'RE HERE, THE HIGHEST THING
ON THE HORIZON LINE THAT YOU SEE IS GOING TO BE
NOT MADE BY A HUMAN BEING, BUT BY THE ALMIGHTY.
WILDERNESS IS A PLACE THAT FOSTERS HUMBLENESS.
SECONDLY, WILDERNESS IS ALSO A PLACE OF TESTING.
WILDERNESS IS A PLACE OF TESTING.
GOD COMES TO ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS WITH A VERY,
VERY SOUL SEARCHING QUESTION, WILL YOU TRUST ME NOW?
WILL YOU TRUST ME WHEN ALL THE FUNDAMENTALS FOR SURVIVAL
ARE NOT IN SIGHT?
THAT QUESTION MEANS SOMETHING HERE.
IT SOUNDS DIFFERENT HERE THAN IT WOULD HAVE IN EGYPT.
WILL YOU TRUST ME IN THIS PLACE WITHOUT GRAIN,
WITHOUT WATER, WITHOUT OTHER PEOPLE AROUND YOU?
UNFORTUNATELY, THE ANSWER ISRAEL GAVE
WASN'T ALWAYS A GOOD ONE.
I'M READING FROM NUMBERS 20, VERSE FOUR.
THIS IS THEIR ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WILL YOU TRUST ME?
"THEY QUARRELED WITH MOSES AND SAID,
"OH, IF ONLY WE HAD DIED WHEN OUR BROTHERS FELL DEAD
"BEFORE THE LORD.
"WHY DID YOU BRING THE LORD'S COMMUNITY
"INTO THIS WILDERNESS, THAT WE
"AND OUR LIVESTOCK SHOULD DIE HERE?
"WHY DID YOU BRING US OUT OF EGYPT
"TO THIS TERRIBLE PLACE?
"IT HAS NO GRAIN OR FIGS, GRAPEVINES OR POMEGRANATES,
"AND THERE IS NO WATER TO DRINK."
WILL YOU TRUST ME?
THE ANSWER, NO.
TAKE US INTO THE PROMISED LAND OR TAKE US BACK TO EGYPT,
BUT WE DON'T WANT TO BE HERE.
WILDERNESS IS A PLACE WHERE THE QUESTION,
WILL YOU TRUST ME, MEANS SOMETHING.
WELL, THOSE ARE THE FIRST TWO THINGS
THAT WILDERNESS CAN DO FOR US.
IT HUMBLES US AND IT TESTS US.
I'D LIKE TO HIKE DOWN THE TRAIL JUST A LITTLE BIT FARTHER
TO ILLUSTRATE THE WAY IN WHICH GOD
USES WILDERNESS TO TEACH US. LET'S GO.
WE CAN DROP OUR PACKS FOR A MINUTE.
THAT'S QUITE A WALK UP, WASN'T IT?
YEAH, A LITTLE HUNGRY, A LITTLE THIRSTY?
AND TIRED, ALL OF THAT, RIGHT?
WELL, GOOD, YOU KNOW THAT WAS MY PLAN.
I ACTUALLY WANTED YOU TO FEEL WHAT WILDERNESS CAN DO
TO A PERSON, WHAT IT DID FOR ISRAEL ALL THE DAYS
THAT THEY SPENT HERE.
IT BROKE THEM DOWN, SHOWED THEM THEIR LIMITATIONS.
LISTEN CAREFULLY AGAIN IF YOU WOULD TO THE VERSES
FROM DEUTERONOMY EIGHT.
"HE HUMBLED YOU, CAUSING YOU TO HUNGER
"AND THEN FEEDING YOU WITH MANNA."
DID YOU CATCH THE ORDER OF THOSE TWO THINGS?
GOD DIDN'T PROVIDE FOOD BEFORE THEY GOT HUNGRY.
HE WAITED UNTIL THE WILDERNESS HUNGER HAD REALLY BUILT
INSIDE THEM AND THEN PROVIDED THEM WITH MIRACULOUS FOOD.
NOW WHY DID HE DO THAT?
MOSES TELLS US, "TO TEACH YOU, TO TEACH YOU
"THAT MAN DOES NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD
"THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LORD."
THE WILDERNESS APPEARS TO LACK EVERYTHING, DOESN'T IT?
YOU LOOK OUT HERE, DO YOU SEE A GRAIN FIELD ANYWHERE?
NO, AND YET, DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY,
THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WHO LIVED IN THIS WILDERNESS
HAD A GRAIN SUBSTITUTE, MANNA,
WITH WHICH THEY COULD MAKE THEIR DAILY BREAD.
WILDERNESS IS A PLACE NOT WITHOUT WATER,
BUT WITH PRECIOUS LITTLE WATER.
YOU SAW SOME OF IT IN THE CANYON WE HIKED, RIGHT?
AND SO WHETHER THROUGH NATURAL MEANS
OR EVEN THROUGH SUPERNATURAL MEANS, WHEN NECESSARY,
GOD PROVIDED WATER.
REMEMBER WHEN HE TOLD MOSES, "SPEAK TO THAT ROCK",
AND MOSES SLAMMED HIS STAFF INTO THAT ROCK
AND WATER CAME GUSHING OUT.
YOU SAW SOME OF THAT WATER COMING OUT OF THE ROCK.
WHETHER THROUGH NATURAL OR SUPERNATURAL MEANS,
GOD PROVIDED, AND HE DID THAT DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY
AFTER DAY, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE
TO HIS PEOPLE "I'M TRUSTWORTHY."
"I'M NOT ONLY CAPABLE, I'M TRUSTWORTHY.
"YOU CAN LOOK TO ME AND YOU CAN COUNT ON THE FACT
"THAT I'M GOING TO BE THERE FOR YOU."
THAT'S A LESSON BEST LEARNED IN WILDERNESS.
NOW IN OUR SEASON OF WILDERNESS WHEN IT COMES
IN OUR LIVES, WE MAY REACT IN THE SAME WAY THAT ISRAEL DID.
WE MAY SAY TO THE LORD, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?
AND WE MAY SAY, LORD, I'M TIRED OF THIS.
I WANT TO GO BACK TO EGYPT.
I WANT TO GO BACK WHERE I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY
ABOUT EATING THIS CRUMMY BREAD THAT'S ON THE GROUND.
I WANT TO GO BACK WHERE I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY
ABOUT A WATER SUPPLY.
I'M DONE WITH WILDERNESS, TAKE ME BACK TO EGYPT.
WE CAN GET ANGRY, WE CAN GET FRUSTRATED,
WE CAN BECOME BITTER, EVEN DEJECTED ABOUT WILDERNESS.
AND I DON'T WANT TO SIMPLIFY THIS,
OH, I SO DON'T WANT TO SIMPLIFY THIS,
BECAUSE EVERYONE'S WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE,
NO MATTER WHAT PRECIPITATES IT IN THEIR LIFE,
IS UNIQUE AND THERE'S MORE THAN A SIMPLE ANSWER
TO WHY THE LORD MAY BE ALLOWING
THAT EXPERIENCE INTO THEIR LIVES.
BUT FOR SURE, FOR SURE I BELIEVE THAT DEUTERONOMY EIGHT
HELPS US UNDERSTAND WILDERNESS IN OUR LIVES
AS IT WAS MEANT TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY GOD
ALLOWED WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE IN THE LIFE OF ISRAEL
FOR ALL THE YEARS THAT HE DID.