Wilderness

Biblical occurrences

• The patriarchs and Moses: Hagar encountered the angel of God in the wilderness (Genesis 16; 21). Moses led his flock "to the backside of the desert" and received his call at Mount Horeb (Exodus 3:1).
• After the Exodus: In the wilderness Israel ate manna (Exodus 16) and received the Law at Mount Sinai. Because of their unbelief, the people spent forty years in the wilderness (Numbers 14). This period is covered in the article Forty Years in the Wilderness.
• The monarchy: David hid from Saul in the wilderness of Ziph and the wilderness of En-gedi (1 Samuel 23–24). Elijah fled into the wilderness to escape Jezebel (1 Kings 19:4).
• The New Testament: John the Baptist preached repentance in the wilderness of Judea (Matthew 3:1-3). Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days (Matthew 4:1-11). This event is covered in the article Temptation in the Wilderness.

Terminology and background

The principal Hebrew word for wilderness in the Old Testament is midbar, and the corresponding New Testament Greek word is erēmos. A midbar is not the same as a desert consisting only of sand dunes. The term also covers open country where rainfall is too scarce for farming but where sheep and goats can be pastured seasonally. The New Korean Revised Version renders the term, depending on context, as "wilderness," "rough country," or "desert place." Some wildernesses bear regional names, such as the wilderness of Sinai and the wilderness of Paran. Scholars, however, differ on the precise locations of these wildernesses and on the route of the Exodus.

Significance across Scripture

The wilderness is a place of murmuring and judgment, but it is also where God fed and led His people. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 explains the purpose of the wilderness journey: to humble and test the people, so that they would know "that man doth not live by bread only."

The prophetic books portray the wilderness in two ways. On the one hand, it recalls the time of first love between God and His people (Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea 2:14). On the other, it is the place where a new way will be opened (Isaiah 40:3; 43:19).

The New Testament carries this theme forward. The Gospels apply Isaiah 40:3 to John the Baptist. During His temptation in the wilderness, Jesus answers with words from Deuteronomy. Paul read the experience of the wilderness generation as "our examples" (1 Corinthians 10:1-11). The Epistle to the Hebrews treats their disobedience as a warning (Hebrews 3:7-19). Stephen called Israel in the wilderness "the church in the wilderness" (Acts 7:38).

Interpretation and issues

• Typological reading: Typology is a method of reading Old Testament events as foreshadowings of things to come. Many Protestant preaching traditions use this approach, likening the crossing of the Red Sea to baptism or salvation and the wilderness to the believer's earthly journey of faith. Interpreters differ, however, on whether Canaan represents heaven or the rest enjoyed in this life.
• Wilderness spirituality: Following the tradition of the early monastics who lived ascetic lives in the desert, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches have emphasized the wilderness as a place of solitude and prayer. Within Protestantism, some embrace this emphasis, while others are wary of it, often in connection with the debate over contemplative prayer.
• The text and later embellishments: Sermons commonly generalize the wilderness as "a period of training every believer must pass through." The text, however, narrates specific events, and applying them to individual lives is a matter of interpretation. Likewise, the identification of the site of Jesus' temptation with a mountain near Jericho rests not on the biblical text but on later tradition.

In the Korean church

In the Korean church, "wilderness" is commonly used to refer to a season of hardship and refining. Difficult times are described as "passing through the wilderness," and gospel songs bearing this phrase as their title are widely sung.