The Wilderness

In short

It is where the Israelites wandered after leaving Exodus. Sometimes it is translated as “desert”; I think “wasteland” is a good sense also.

Why it is important

The word is in the Bible about 300 times. It is used in different ways.

• Very often it’s about the wandering story
• Much of David’s story is in wilderness regions
• But many other times there is likely symbolism implied
• Basically, when you see “wilderness” in the Bible, you should wonder why it is there. The Bible doesn’t have unnecessary words in it.

Other stories in the wilderness

• “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matt 4:1-11)
• “John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea…. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness…’” (Matt 3:1-12)
• The Garden of Eden seems to be the opposite of wilderness. Isaiah 51:3 makes this comparison. Genesis 2:5 describes a wilderness (if not by name) and contrasts Eden with it in Gen 2:8-9.

Theology and doctrine

I would argue the idea is “hope in a place that seems hopeless.” That seems to be the overarching idea when wilderness comes up in Scripture.