Wilderness: God's Provision

Part FOUR of a seven part series on a word study of "Midbar"

Midbar: a desert, wasteland, barren wilderness, desolate land that supports very little life. Also used to described an open country suitable for grazing and as a mouth/instrument of speech.

*God provides for His people within the wilderness.

If you know me personally, you may know that I tend to be a little naive at times. It has gotten better over time, but I can recount many instances in my lifetime where I had no idea what I was getting into. Move across the country solo and show up on a random person’s doorstep to live in their home with them for the next 4 months? Twice? Sure, why not? Hop on the wrong bus and end up abandoned in a suburb of Seattle at night? Makes for a great time to dance in the rain, huh? I think that a piece of this attitude was me simply not knowing what could be out there, as I grew up in a small town with very little exposure to the “real world”. In many ways I am thankful I had this attitude as I was traveling to new places, because I know that it allowed for me to go and experience some crazy-amazing things in my lifetime without fear. However, I know now that these, along with many other situations, were situations where things could have gone completely wrong, as I was not prepared. Throughout this whole phase of my life, I can look back and see that God provided in all of these situations, just as He provides for His people in the wilderness.

Continuing with Hagar’s story, Sarah eventually conceives a son (Isaac) and has Hagar and Ishmael cast out into the wilderness. Even though Abraham is displeased with this, God assures him that Hagar and Ishmael will be okay, so they pack up a little bit of food and head out to the wilderness of Beersheba. Just as I have lacked preparation a time or two, Hagar and Ishmael did as well when they ran out of food and drink. Hagar reaches the point when she has nothing left, so she sits far enough away from Ishmael so she does not have to hear him die and she lifts up her voice and weeps. God does not leave her there, but He hears, He responds, and He provides. Genesis 21:17-20 tells us that God heard their voices and responding by sending His angel directly to her. The angel of God speaks and she opens her eyes. God had provided a well of water for her on that day, right before her eyes.

Not only does God provide for their needs at the moment where they experience great despair, but Ishmael grows up. God provides for His needs within the wilderness for the rest of their lives. And, you know what’s really cool, is that this SAME wilderness (Beersheba) is the wilderness where Elijah flees to as he fears Jezebel. He reaches a low point, where he asks God to take his life (1 Kings 19:5). However, an angel of God comes to him in the wilderness, touches him, and provides food and drink for him so he is able to survive and make the journey to the mount of God where God is able to speak to him (1 Kings 19:5-8).

God’s provision, and His provision ALONE, is made clear within the Old Testament at many other times. In Exodus 15:22-26, resources were scarce for the people of Israel and they had no water to drink, however God provides them with a log to throw into a source of unclean water so it would be safe for them to drink. In Exodus 16, God makes bread rain down from heaven in order to feed His people, and He tells them that He will continue to provide for their needs so they will know that HE is God (Exodus 16:11-13). He even provides for them abundantly, so that no one was lacking (Exodus 16:18, Deuteronomy 2:7) and He calls the people to take what they need because He promises to continue to provide for them. In Exodus 17, God provides drinking water for them through a rock - like, what? This isn't just a recurring Old Testament theme, but Jesus Himself feeds the 4000 within the wilderness from 7 loaves and 2 fish (Matthew 15:33, Mark 8:4). He not only provides, but He provides abundantly.

I truly don't think that it is possible to be prepared for every single situation that comes up in life. Life is full of curveballs and things that we do not expect. I do believe that we are called to invest in our relationship with Him to better prepare for any season we may encounter on this earth. We can best invest in our relationship with Him through the reading of the word and through prayer. God tells them in Deuteronomy 8:2 that He tested them and humbled them so they could see that His word is what brings life; “that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” If we enter into a wilderness season with a better understanding of our God, we can better attune our hearts and minds to His guidance so we can better hear and follow Him through the season. We can know that He doesn't provide just enough, but He provides in abundance during the wilderness seasons. Isaiah 51:3 tells us “For the Lord comforts Zion; He comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.” He transforms and renews our hearts within the wilderness so we can come out the other side renewed and alive in Him. We can be confident that He will provide in abundance in the most beautiful way, because that is who He is.

Our good God is present and pursuing us within the wilderness. He provides for our every single need so we lack nothing.

***

Scripture References:

Genesis 21:17-20

And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold Him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.

1 Kings 19:5-8

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

Exodus 15:22-26

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

Exodus 16:11-13

And the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.

Exodus 16:18

But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

Matthew 15:33

And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”

Mark 8:4

And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”

Deuteronomy 2:7

For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’

Deuteronomy 8:2

And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

Isaiah 51:3

For the Lord comforts Zion;

he comforts all her waste places

and makes her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the garden of the Lord;

joy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and the voice of song.