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Word in the Wild is a one year Bible adventure with friends. Join from anywhere and enjoy a fun, rewarding, and doable 12-month journey through the Bible where you read it from cover to cover and understand it. It’s not a devotional or recap. It’s a guide by your side through God’s Word. With support from a weekly podcast and an online community of fellow travelers, this is the year when you finally explore the Bible in its own words and on its own terms for yourself.
INTRO
This is Word and the Wild...a one year Bible adventure with friends. My name is Owen. I'm your host and your guide, and together we are on a 12 month journey as a podcast plus community...where we read the Bible for ourselves, but not by ourselves.
We are here in WEEK TEN... Moses and the Israelites have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory last week as they turned their backs on the Promised Land. So, hello wilderness... Because a house divided against itself cannot stand... and God won't stand for it, either.
So... hello and welcome in to this chronological journey where we watch the story the Bible unfold like the epic movie it is... So, subscribe here on your favorite podcast plant form and share with a friend.
And, a special welcome to our Word and the Wild PLUS community members. Their support of this non-profit endeavor is making space for all of us on this Bible reading adventure. They enjoy access to our private, safe online space where no honest question is a dumb question... along with a weekly livestream Q&A, and bonus content like articles, interactions, meet-ups, and even some livestream teaching gatherings with yours truly.
If any of that sounds like your jam, then check the show notes for how to become a member yourself. Or get all the details over at wordandthewild.com.
With that...let's get to wrestling with the "why" behind the wilderness to set you up for success as you dive into the story this week
THE WHY IN THE WILDNERNESS
The wilderness. The wild. No-man's land. Inhospitable. Uninhabitable. Neglected and abandoned.
With such a hostile environment as the backdrop for this week's episode, it's easy to for a couple of things to happen.
First, to just toss your Bible across the room and yell, "SERIOUSLY, PEOPLE!" For real. I mean, we spent all this time watching God install a new identity into this nation of people who had been beaten down by generational enslavement. And the tabernacle. And SO MANY laws and rules and regulations. If felt like we were just to get to the part of the story where the good guys win. And then, they decide they'd like more desert time. C'mon people!
Second, to oversimplify the wilderness episode into God sending the Israelites into a big sandy corner for a long time out.
But, there's more to it than that.
End of the day, the Israelite's were unimpressed with God's plan to lead them into the land of Canaan. Don't get me wrong... they saw that land itself was impressive. Abundant crops and resources. But the work to claim it -- the apparent obstacles in their path overshadowed any optimism. And, even worse.... overshadowed their trust in God's promise to give them that land.
Right before Moses sent the scouts into Canaan, the Lord said to Moses, "Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites" (Num. 13:1-2). Just 40 days later, 10 of the 12 scouts came back and said the native inhabitants of the Canaan were too much to handle. "We can't go up against them. They are stronger than we are..." And then they made sure every Israelite knew their exaggerated prediction of doom. They said: "The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there" (Num.13:31-33).
Those 10 scouts saw potential threats, and inflated them to a size that eclipsed both reality and their trust in God's promise. This is what God had already told them:
““If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands....
“I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.”
(Leviticus 26:3, 6–8 NLT)
God didn't break his promises. It was the people who broke faith in the relationship with him.
When your perspective is off... When what you see as threats seem bigger and more powerful than the Creator God... You are in trouble.
In other words: You're in the wilderness.
As we will see this week, when the Israelite's trust in God's character and God's promise is abandoned... their loyalty to him and each other is pushed beyond the breaking point. God's command to love him and love each other is broken time and again.
And so... the wilderness. While it easy to see the wilderness as punishment for failure... it's really more about preparation for focus. Focus on their identity as God's people and the destination God has planned for them.
God's people got to the border of the Promised Land, but their divided loyalties left them unprepared to enter. So, back to the wilderness they go.
The wilderness puts every person in the Israelite camp to the test. And, every person with motives other than maintaining their relationship with God and and their neighbor... and becoming a nation of people who represent God and the good life with him at the crossroads of the world that is Canaan? Every one of those people gets canceled.
Straight up. Deleted. It seems harsh and intense to our eyes. It's hard to watch. But, God knows that a house divided against itself cannot stand.
And God can't stand for that.
Now... as we tag along with the Israelites we'd be doing ourselves a disservice to leave the story with them. There's something very practical in the story for you, too.
See, God had a destination in mind for the Israelites. Canaan. The Promised Land.
God has a destination for you, It's not necessarily a geographical place on the map. Although, your journey may include that. No, God's destination for you takes you forward in your own growth...and takes you back to the earliest moments in our story... The Garden of Eden.
What is that destination? When we flash forward in the story to what Paul says in the New Testament book of Romans, we find the answer:
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son...”
(Romans 8:28–29a NLT)
The wilderness was a place of preparation for the Israelites. It was uncomfortable, tense, adversarial, and hostile. But, God used the harsh environment to highlight and delete the divided loyalties of his people and prepare them for their future.
You and I... we all walk through a harsh environment. Uncomfortable, tension-filled, hostile. But God causes all of it to "work together for the good of those who love him" in alignment with his purpose for them. And what's that purpose? As another translation of Rom. 8:29 says, "to be conformed to the image of his Son."
Like the Israelites, we are divided. There's part of us that wants to step into the work of adopting a mindset like Jesus. There's part of us that wants to scream at God and head back to Egypt. There's part of us that wants God to improve our conditions, bring us more comfort, or let us call our own shots.
So God walks us through a path of preparation where the cutting and abrasive environment works together to shape and sand us into the image of Jesus. Where I love and live with his mindset.
Mixed loyalties divide us. So, the wilderness shapes us for God's best future: A future where you and I look like Jesus.
Because, if you look like Jesus then you look like God. And if you carry God's image into his beloved word and among the people he has created and cares so much about... then you are reclaiming the roll you were created to fill. Then you return to the Creator God's purpose for Adam and Eve... and you.
OUTRO
Alright... you are all set for this week's walk in the wilderness. Enjoy and don't be a stranger
Word and the Wild is a one year Bible adventure with friends. I'm loving it and I hope you are, too.
All you Word and the Wild PLUS community members, I'll be seeing you in THE WILD... our private online community space. Everyone else, don't be a stranger. Subscribe to this podcast and follow Word and the Wild on Facebook for some interaction there.
Word and the Wild is a LineHouse Community. It's part of the LineHouse Community Network, a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring neighbors together to promote awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the Bible.
Because friendship and God's Word change lives and change cities.
And... presented by the LumaVoz podcast network.
I'm Owen, I'm your host and your guide. Until next time, I'll see you out there on the trail in the Word and the Wild.