Lessons from the Wilderness — Part 1
Our Scripture reading today is out of the book of Deuteronomy chapter 8. Moses made this statement after he had been used by God to lead the Children of Israel for 40 years in the wilderness. The book of Deuteronomy is his message to the nation just before he died.
Deuteronomy 8:2 “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart…”
There are two very important truths out of this verse, for the Israelites, and for your life. The first truth is this
God took Israel through the wilderness for forty years. God took Israel through the wilderness. He led them there, on purpose. You remember the story. Initially they were freed from slavery in Egypt. They arrived at the shore of the Red Sea and God delivered them there from the Egyptian army. He takes them to Mount Sinai where He gives them His 10 commandments. After that, some other things happened. And it only took about one year and two months for them to travel, and arrive at the border of Canaan, the Promised Land. This was the land that God promised to give them as an inheritance. It was described as lush and fertile, a land flowing with milk and honey. It was right there in front of them.
And yet, I just told you that they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, next to the promised land. God took them back into the wilderness.
Let me give you a little perspective on this “wilderness” we are talking about.
The Wilderness of Zin, identified with the northern Negev region of southern Israel, is a rugged and arid land of rocky hills, canyons, and plateaus cut by dry streambeds like Nahal Zin, which flow only during rare rains. Its elevation ranges from roughly 600 to 1,000 meters, with limestone and chalk formations that cause runoff rather than absorption, creating dramatic erosion features such as the nearby makhteshim (erosion craters). The climate is intensely dry, receiving only 50–300 millimeters of rain annually, mostly in winter, with scorching summers often exceeding 40°C, (104 F) cold winter nights, and wide daily temperature swings. Occasional storms can trigger sudden flash floods through otherwise dry wadis. Vegetation is sparse—limited to drought-resistant shrubs and desert grasses—except around springs and oases like Ein Avdat, where reeds and poplars grow. With scarce water, harsh heat, and difficult terrain, the Wilderness of Zin posed severe challenges to travel and settlement, demanding perseverance, careful water management, and dependence on God’s provision for survival.
And even though, in the place where they were, they could have easily made a straight bee line for the Promised land at any time, but God kept leading them in circles, from one encampment to the other. And it wasn’t that they were lost. God led them that way. Let that sink in. God led them to walk for 40 years in the wilderness. That’s the first important truth we get from our Scripture reading. The second very important truth is “why?”
Why did He do that? We read why in our opening Scripture. After the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, Moses delivered a final message to the nation. It is the book of Deuteronomy that we know today. And this is what Moses told them,
Deuteronomy 8:2 “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart…”
In short, God was teaching the Children of Israel lessons in the wilderness wanderings. Do you ever feel like you are wandering in the wilderness? So, today in our foundations series we are going to begin a section called “Lessons from the wilderness.” And what we discover is that God still leads us through times of wilderness wanderings.
why? To humble them, prove them, and know what was in their hearts,
I asked you if you felt like you were in a wilderness today. What do I mean by a wilderness?
Today’s “wilderness” is rarely a place of sand and stone, but it feels just as dry and desolate to the soul. It’s the season when God seems silent, prayers feel unanswered, and the path ahead looks uncertain. It may come as a time of personal loss, illness, grief, broken dreams, or spiritual exhaustion—a place where comfort is stripped away, and faith is tested in the heat of hardship. The wilderness is the in-between space, where the promises of God have been spoken, but their fulfillment has not yet been seen. It humbles us, exposing our weakness and dependence, and forces us to confront the idols we’ve carried from Egypt—the illusions of control, security, or self-sufficiency. It’s a place where doubts whisper louder than hope, and obedience feels costly or even pointless. Yet in that barren place, God does His deepest work. The wilderness becomes the classroom of trust, where character is refined, pride is broken, and faith is proven genuine—not by what we see, but by whom we follow.
Do you feel like you are in the wilderness today? We’re going to consider the lessons that Israel learned in the wilderness, and that God led them there for a purpose.
prayer
Heavenly Father,
We come before You with grateful hearts, remembering that every wilderness in life has a purpose in Your plan. Just as You led Israel through the desert, shaping their faith, testing their hearts, and revealing Your glory, we ask that You lead us now through these lessons from the wilderness. Teach us to trust You when the path feels uncertain, to depend on Your Word when resources run dry, and to see Your hand at work even in barren places. May these messages remind us that the wilderness is not a place of abandonment but of preparation—where You refine our hearts, renew our faith, and draw us closer to Yourself. Open our eyes to the truths You revealed to Your people long ago, and help us apply them to our journey today. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Guide through every wilderness. Amen.
This morning we are beginning a new section of Scripture under our Foundations of the Christian faith series. This series of messages has been about the Scriptural foundations on which our faith is built. Our faith is built on Jesus Christ being sent by the Father offering salvation to the world. But Jesus didn’t just come into a world that had never heard a message from God before. God had been at work laying the groundwork for the message.
And in our study, we’ve seen Him laying that groundwork, getting us ready for Jesus. He made this world, He called out Abraham to be the father of the nation Jesus would be born in. He gave that nation His heart, described in the Mosaic law. And now He is building and refining that nation to be the cradle of the Christ.
And that’s where we get to our message for today. We’ve just spent several weeks looking at the Mosaic law and its eternal purpose. But after God gave Israel His law, He began leading them to the new land that He had reserved to be the home of their new nation; Israel. They leave Egyptian slavery, got to Sinai and receive the law, but then end up spending 40 years wandering around in the wilderness.
God was teaching them.
I want to just give you a preview of the lessons that God taught Israel in the wilderness because He uses the wilderness to teach us today as well. I asked you earlier, Do any of you feel today like you are going through a wilderness? Well, here are just some of the lessons that God was teaching Isreal.
We’ve already begun with the first; 1.The Wildernesses of life are God’s Classroom, Second lesson; 2.We must Learn to Trust God’s Provision, (These are the two we will get to today) third, 3.the wilderness teaches us the Danger of Grumbling and Discontent, 4. God’s Presence Is Greater Than Any Place, 5.Faith Must Conquer Fear, 6.Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice, 7.God Raises Leaders in the Wilderness, 8.Beware of Idolatry in the Waiting, 9.God’s Word Is Our Daily Guide, 10.The Promise Is Reached by Faith and Perseverance, 11.Remember and Teach the Next Generation.
So, let’s continue today with the first lesson from the wilderness. “The Wildernesses of life are God’s Classroom”
Exodus 13: 17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: 18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. 20 And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: 22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
II. Main Text – Exodus 13:17–22
“And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near… But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea…” (Ex. 13:17-18)
There are couple things that I want you to notice about this narrative. First is that phrase “God led them.” vs 17 God led them not vs 18 But God led the people about vs 21 And the Lord went before them, to lead them the way
What is the point? It’s the one I made just a moment ago.
A. God Led Them
He was taking them where He wanted them to go.
Now, I’m sure that God’s leading was comforting in those first days and weeks. He had led them out of slavery, He led them to deliverance from the Egyptian army through the Red Sea. He led them to Sinai where He gives them His law, and He would shortly lead them to the border of Canaan, the land He promised to give them as an inheritance. Those were the times that God’s leading was reassuring, powerful, and apparently purposeful. But when it sums up God’s leading in this passage, it also says that God was leading them, even in the wilderness. We know that they spent 40 years of pitching their tents in a dry and desolate land. We know that the place He took them was short on food and water. And this passage, and others tell us that God led them there.
Now there is a second thing that I want you to notice. There was an easier way.
17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near;
The route by the land of the Philistines was shorter. How much shorter? Even considering that God took them to Mt Sinai before the Promised land, the whole journey should have only taken 3 to 6 months. Instead, God took them on a 40-year journey!
Have you ever had somebody navigate in your car, telling you how to get somewhere. They say, turn left, then turn left again, then turn left again, turn left again. At that point you say to them, “We’re back where we started Cristopher Columbus!”
Why did God not taken them by the easy way? Because the easy way might have broken them. God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
The fastest way to the Promised land would have led straight through an occupied territory. They could have easily followed the coastline. But in doing so they would have encountered 5 already occupied and established cities of the Philistines, an already warlike people. And those people would have objected to this migration across their land and come out for a fight. But you say, “So what?” They had God on their side. Couldn’t God deal with the Philistines? The easy path was along the coast, by the water, along beaches and flatter land. God could have just sent a swarm of billions of bees ahead of the Children of Israel and driven out the Philistines. Why didn’t God give them the easy path?
How many times have you asked that question? Why doesn’t God give me the easy path? Why do these hard and difficult things have to happen to me? Why is He leading me into difficult terrain? Well, it comes down to God’s purposes. You see, God’s purpose was not just to get these people from point A to point B. He was building a people who would be called by His name. So that when they arrived at point B, they would be a witness nation, worthy of being the birthplace of the Christ, the Savior of the world. So, He is teaching them with the difficulties of the wilderness. So, what is He teaching them? It tells us in Deuteronomy 8.
III. God’s Purposes in the Wilderness
1️⃣ To Humble Us – Deuteronomy 8:2–3
2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
We think of humility as thinking less of ourselves. Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself—it’s realizing how much you depend on God.
In the wilderness, Israel had to admit they couldn’t survive without Him. No food, no water, no map. Every day they had to wake up and look for that pillar of cloud to know where to go. And you don’t learn dependence on God in days of sunshine and roses. You learn dependence on God during storms, clouds, and destroyed crops
Many of us older believers can testify: the hardest times in life were the times that brought us to our knees—and taught us who God really is.
2️⃣ To Test Us – Deuteronomy 8:5
Testing is never for God’s information; it’s for our transformation.
He already knows what’s in our hearts—but He lets us see it. Here’s a question. When you’re squeezed, what comes out? Complaining or trust? Faith or fear? The wilderness exposes what’s inside so we can see it, even if it is ugly, and God can refine it.
God leads us into the wilderness as Preparation, Not Punishment
Israel saw the wilderness as a setback; God saw it as a seminary.
Before they could conquer Canaan, they had to learn dependence. Before they could wear the crown, they had to carry the cross.
And sometimes God delays the destination because the journey is part of the training.
Romans 8:29 – “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
Older believers—your current trial may be the final stage of refinement before you see His reflection. Young families—your struggles may be the foundation of faith your children will one day stand upon.
Philippians 1:6 – “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
First lesson- God leads us into the wilderness.
Lesson 2 – Learning to Trust God’s Provision
The first lesson that the Children of Israel had to learn was that God was using the wilderness as a time of training. And part of that training was learning to trust that God would provide for their needs.
30 days after the glorious Red Sea deliverance.
Exodus 16:1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
Now listen to the next words. What’s the first thing that the Children of Israel did when they entered the wilderness of Sin?
2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them, “What’s for dinner?”
It had been roughly 30 days from the time they left Egypt to this time when they grumbled about food. Now, God is going to provide for their food by providing manna. It came up in the morning like dew, a small grainlike substance they had to gather and make into bread. But notice that He waited 30 days. What did they eat for 30 days? Well, we know that they left Egypt with all of their cattle and domestic animals, so they would have had milk and cheeses. They also left with grain and grain products like bread. They would have quickly packed all the provisions they could gather in their escape of Egypt. But 30 days later, the food supplies have been significantly depleted. And this is an interesting point. God is letting their food supplies deplete. Why? He wants to see how they will respond in a time of need. Will they humbly come to Him in prayer saying, “Father, you know our need, and we know that you will supply our need. We trust you, we love you.” or will they say this,
Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
Why did God let them get hungry? To teach them to trust His provision. Sometimes the only time we turn to God in a time of need. Sometimes the only time we ask, “what is the meaning of my life?” is when those things that we relied on crumble. Sometimes the only time we think about eternity is when it looks like our body may not make it much longer on this mortal plane.
They failed this test. God still provided their need at that time. But it did teach them some things. It would teach them that in the future when they come to a hardship or need, turn to God first. It also taught them obedience.
4 Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
Would they follow directions on how to gather this manna that God would provide. And He also taught them that He would provide exactly what they needed
17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
Did you know that we go through the wilderness for the same reason. It teaches us to first humbly turn to God, second trust His wisdom, third to come out the other side, fourth to see that God saw us through so that next time we turn to Him more readily.
Think of this. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” not our weekly, monthly, or yearly bread. God Provides Daily, Not in Bulk
We often struggle to trust God’s provision in the very areas that feel most uncertain or deeply personal. For many, it’s finances—wondering how the bills will be paid or whether there will be enough for tomorrow. Others wrestle with trusting God to provide direction when the future feels unclear, or relationships when loneliness or loss weighs heavy. Still others fear for their health, struggling to believe God is present and good in seasons of sickness, aging, or physical weakness. We question whether He will provide strength when we are exhausted, peace when anxiety rises, and purpose when life feels aimless. Just like Israel in the wilderness, we sometimes forget how faithfully He’s already provided and focus instead on what we lack. Yet God’s Word reminds us that His provision is not limited to our needs but extends to our hearts: He gives grace for every moment, wisdom for every decision, healing for our bodies and souls, and Himself as our daily bread.
The Children of Israel in the wilderness were being taught every morning, whether they still trusted Him enough to believe there would be manna on the ground today. So, the question for you is, in your wilderness today, do you trust that God will provide? Do you trust what God is providing? Do you trust Him with when and how He will provide?
The Day the Detour Saved Us
In 2011, a couple named Jeff and Laura were driving from Atlanta to Birmingham after visiting family. They had made the trip dozens of times and usually took I-20 the whole way. Halfway there, their GPS suddenly announced: “Re-routing… faster route found.”
Jeff almost ignored it—after all, he knew this highway like the back of his hand. But the new route only added a few minutes, and his wife said, “Why not? Let’s see where it goes.” The GPS led them off the interstate and down a series of two-lane country roads, past farms, fields, and even a tractor that slowed them down. Jeff grumbled that it was wasting time.
About twenty minutes later, they stopped for gas and heard the news: a multi-car pileup had just occurred on I-20, only a few miles ahead of where they had exited. The wreck shut down the highway for hours and caused several serious injuries.
Suddenly, that strange detour made sense. The “wrong road” had actually been the right one all along. What felt like inconvenience turned out to be protection.
That’s what I think the first day in heaven will be for a believer. While we are here we think, “Why is this happening to me?” “Why is God doing this?” But when we get there, we will know as we are known. Suddenly we will see all that God was doing, and all the wilderness will cease feeling like God’s desertion, and more like a display of His direction and love
prayer
Benediction
May the Lord who leads us through every wilderness go before you in the days ahead.
When the path feels uncertain, may His presence be your guide; when the journey feels heavy, may His strength be your support; and when your heart feels dry, may His Word refresh your soul.
Go in peace, remembering all the way the Lord your God has led you—faithfully, lovingly, and without fail. Amen.