JACK: WILDERNESS, WHAT CAME INTO THE MINDS
OF THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS WHEN THEY USED THE TERM WILDERNESS?
THAT'S THE IMPORTANT QUESTION,
AND THAT'S WHAT THIS SESSION IS ALL ABOUT.
MY WIFE AND I LOVE THE AMERICAN WESTERN WILDERNESS.
WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME HIKING AND BACKPACKING THERE.
BUT WHEN I ENTER MY BIBLE AND I THINK ABOUT THE IDEA
OF WILDERNESS, I HAVE TO CHANGE THE IMAGE.
AND THAT'S WHAT THIS FIRST SESSION IS REALLY ABOUT.
IT'S CHANGING OUR IDEA OF WHAT WILDERNESS IS
SO THAT IT ALIGNS MORE CLOSELY WITH THE IDEA OF WILDERNESS
THAT THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS HAD.
SO BEFORE WE GET INTO ANY OF THE BIBLE STORIES
OR ANY OF THE BIBLE TEXTS, WE'RE GONNA HIKE UP
TO THE TOP OF THE RIDGE BEHIND ME,
AND FROM THERE WE'LL BEGIN TALKING ABOUT SEVEN QUALITIES
OF BIBLICAL WILDERNESS.
YOU NEED TO JUST STOP AND TAKE IT IN.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF NAMED WILDERNESSES IN THE BIBLE,
AND EACH OF THEM IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER.
OUR PURPOSE IN THIS SESSION IS NOT TO IDENTIFY
ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENCES, BUT TO FOCUS ON THE SEVEN
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ALL BIBLICAL WILDERNESSES.
SO LET'S START WITH THE FIRST ONE.
WILDERNESS IS VAST AND IT'S RUGGED.
WE'RE HERE IN THE JUDEAN WILDERNESS ABOUT 12 MILES
NORTHEAST OF JERUSALEM, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WILDERNESS
IS NOT JUST A LITTLE POSTAGE STAMP OF LAND.
IT GOES ON FOR A LONG TIME.
THIS JUDEAN WILDERNESS GOES ON FIVE MILES TO THE NORTH
IN FRONT OF YOU AND 55 MORE MILES TO THE SOUTH BEHIND YOU.
AND ALL OF IT LOOKS LIKE THIS.
EAST WEST VALLEYS, EAST WEST RIDGES,
TALL DIFFICULT LAND TO MOVE THROUGH,
WILDERNESS IS VAST, WILDERNESS IS RUGGED.
SECOND QUALITY OF WILDERNESS THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT
FROM THIS SPOT IS THAT WILDERNESS
HAS PRECIOUS LITTLE WATER.
NOW THERE ARE TWO REASONS FOR THAT DEPENDING
ON WHICH WILDERNESS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
EITHER IT COULD BE THAT THE WILDERNESS IS TOO FAR
FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA TO HAVE THE WATER,
THE RAINFALL, GET THERE.
OR IN THIS CASE, WE HAVE MOUNTAINS BETWEEN
THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA AND WHERE WE'RE STANDING RIGHT NOW.
AND THOSE MOUNTAINS PREVENT THE RAINFALL
FROM REACHING THIS FAR INLAND.
IT'S TRUE ACROSS ALL WILDERNESSES OF THE BIBLE,
WILDERNESS IS A LAND WITH PRECIOUS LITTLE WATER.
THOSE ARE THE TWO THINGS THAT I WANTED TO TALK
TO YOU ABOUT HERE IN THE JUDEAN WILDERNESS CONTEXT.
WE'RE GONNA GO BACK TO THE BUS FROM HERE
AND TRAVEL SOUTH INTO THE OTHER WILDERNESSES
LIKE THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN IN PARAN
AND TALK ABOUT FIVE OTHER QUALITIES OF BIBLICAL WILDERNESS.
AS THE SUN SETS AND STARTS GETTING JUST A BIT COLDER HERE,
WE'RE HERE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE WILDERNESS OF PARAN
IN ORDER TO TALK ABOUT THE FIVE QUALITIES THAT REMAIN.
WE'RE UP TO NUMBER THREE, RIGHT?
NUMBER THREE, WILDERNESS IS A LAND WITHOUT GRAIN.
NOW PEOPLE OF THE PAST TENDED TO DEFINE THEIR LAND
IN TERMS OF WHETHER IT COULD OR COULD NOT PRODUCE GRAIN.
YOU SEE IT TOOK ABOUT 12 INCHES OF ANNUAL PRECIPITATION
FOR THEM TO GROW BARLEY WHICH WAS THE MOST DROUGHT RESISTANT
GRAIN THAT THEY HAD AVAILABLE TO THEM.
YOU'RE LOOKING INTO A PLACE THAT ONLY RECEIVES FOUR INCHES
OF ANNUAL PRECIPITATION.
SO IN TERMS OF RAINFALL, NOT A CHANCE.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SOIL QUALITY,
YOU'VE GOT TWO STRIKES AGAINST YOU RIGHT THERE.
THIS WILDERNESS, LIKE ALL OTHERS, IS A LAND WITHOUT GRAIN.
NUMBER FOUR, WILDERNESS IS A LAND
WITH LIMITED PERMANENT SETTLEMENT,
LIMITED PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
THAT GOES HAND IN HAND WITH GRAIN.
YOU SEE, PEOPLE IN BIBLE TIMES CONSUMED A LOT OF GRAIN,
ABOUT 1/3 OF THE ANCIENT DIET WAS GRAIN.
AND SO IF THEY COULDN'T GROW GRAIN IN A LOCATION,
THEY COULDN'T REALLY LIVE THERE VERY WELL.
THE WILDERNESS AREA, BECAUSE IT'S A PLACE THAT CAN'T
GROW GRAIN, IS ALSO A PLACE WITH A LIMITED POPULATION.
NUMBER FIVE, WILDERNESS IS A PLACE WITH VERY FEW TRAVELERS.
NOW THINK OF WHAT TRAVELERS NEED.
THEY NEED FOOD AND WATER AND THEY NEED VILLAGES
TO SUPPORT THEM ALONG THE WAY.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE VILLAGES IN WILDERNESS,
IT'S NOT A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WANTED TO TRAVEL.
NOW BECAUSE EVERYBODY WALKED FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER,
THEY WOULD WANT TO WALK THE SHORTEST DISTANCE POSSIBLE.
BUT THEY OFTEN AVOIDED WILDERNESSES COMPLETELY,
TAKING A LONGER ROUTE, BECAUSE WILDERNESS WAS JUST
TOO HOSTILE AND DIDN'T HAVE THE SUPPORT MECHANISMS
FOR THEM TO TRAVEL THROUGH IT.
NUMBER SIX, WILDERNESS IS A LAND WITHOUT BORDERS.
WELL, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYONE LIVING OUT HERE,
AND VERY FEW PEOPLE TRAVELING OUT HERE, THERE'S NO FIGHTING
OVER WHOSE LAND BELONGS TO WHOM.
YOU KNOW THAT THERE'S LOTS OF BIBLE PASSAGES,
PARTICULARLY AT THE CLOSE OF JOSHUA, WHICH DESCRIBED
TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES IN DETAIL.
THIS IS NOT THAT PLACE.
NOW WILDERNESS IS A LAND WHERE NO ONE CARES ABOUT BORDERS,
AND SO WILDERNESS IS LAND WITHOUT ESTABLISHED BORDERS TO IT.
AND FINALLY NUMBER SEVEN,
WILDERNESS IS A LAND THAT LACKS EVERYTHING.
THINK ABOUT THE THINGS WE'VE SAID SO FAR ABOUT WILDERNESS.
ALMOST ALL OF OUR DEFINITIONS ARE NEGATIVE.
IT'S A PLACE WITHOUT WATER, WITHOUT GRAIN,
WITHOUT A PERMANENT POPULATION, WITHOUT TRAVELERS,
WITHOUT BORDERS.
IT'S A LAND THAT LACKS EVERYTHING.
AND I THINK JEREMIAH CAPTURES IT PRETTY POWERFULLY.
I WANT TO READ TO YOU THE WAY IN WHICH JEREMIAH
DESCRIBES THE VIEW IN FRONT OF YOU.
HE'S TALKING TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
OF THEIR ANCESTORS IN WILDERNESS, AND HE SAYS
IN JEREMIAH TWO AND I'M STARTING AT VERSE FIVE,
"THE LORD BROUGHT US OUT OF EGYPT AND LED US THROUGH",
LET YOUR EYES GO TO LANDSCAPE,
"AND LED US THROUGH THE BARREN WILDERNESS
"THROUGH A LAND OF DESERTS AND RAVINES,
"A LAND OF DROUGHT AND UTTER DARKNESS,
"A LAND WHERE NO ONE TRAVELS, AND NO ONE LIVES."
IT'S ABOUT THE BEST DEFINITION I'VE EVER FOUND OF THAT.
BUT I'M STILL GONNA HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE
FOR THOSE SEVEN QUALITIES OF WILDERNESS
BECAUSE I THINK IT'S SO IMPORTANT FOR BIBLE READERS
TO DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO SHAPE THAT WORD
TO THE IMPRESSION THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS INTENDED
TO MAKE WITH IT.
WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER THE WORD WILDERNESS,
REALIZE THAT EVERY INDIVIDUAL NAMED WILDERNESS
WILL BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN ITS PARTNER,
BUT THOSE SEVEN QUALITIES WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND
BIBLICAL WILDERNESS IN THE WAY THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS DID.