Numbers 18, 19 and 20: Cry Out to Jesus

Numbers 20:4
Amplified Bible (AMP)

“And why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, we and our livestock?”

One of the characteristics of a wilderness as described by our government is that it “is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain” from the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. (Utah Wilderness Survey)

Although the Israelites felt as though they would never escape the hardships of the wilderness, they were destined one day to leave it and enter into the Promised Land. They were visitors to a land “untrammeled by man.”

Apparently water and food are lacking in a wilderness, because those items were the topic of much dissension among the Israelites causing them to grumble and complain about what they didn’t have.

Those in a spiritual wilderness often feel alone because they find themselves in an area untrammeled by man which is lacking in food (His Word) and water (His Spirit). Just as the physical body would die without the essential food and water, the spiritual body eventually will as well. Yet, God sends all of us into the wilderness at times. I believe one of the purposes of the wilderness is to kill the flesh or the worldly ungodly thoughts and actions that have piled up inside us.

What’s awesome though is if we cry out to God in the wilderness He will come and minister to us. I had a wilderness experience several years ago, and it was in that difficult place that Jesus spoke the clearest, and moved the most powerfully in me. It was the place where Jesus Himself became my Lifeline. This place is where I learned to love and trust Him on a deeper level.

Hosea 2:14
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart.”

Looking back on that time now, I do remember the pain of aloneness and feeling as though I would die, BUT I am thankful for the relationship that was build between Jesus and me there.

If anyone of you reading this finds themselves trapped in the wilderness, cry out to Jesus. I promise you that it is all worth it.