Jesus performed much of his ministry in urban settings, yet many of his most transformative moments occurred in outdoor settings—bodies of water, mountaintops, and wilderness. The wilderness of the Bible is a liminal space—an in-between place where ordinary life is suspended, identity shifts, and new possibilities emerge. Through the experiences of the Israelites in exile, we learn that while the Biblical wilderness is a place of danger, temptation and chaos, it is also a place for solitude, nourishment, and revelation from God. These themes emerge again in Jesus’ journey into the wilderness, tying his identity to that of his Hebrew ancestors.

“After the Israelites left the Red Sea, Moses led them through the Shur Desert for three days, before finding water. They did find water at Marah, but it was bitter, which is how that place got its name. The people complained and said, “Moses, what are we going to drink?” Moses asked the LORD for help, and the LORD told him to throw a piece of wood into the water. Moses did so, and the water became fit to drink” (Exodus 15:22-25 CEV).

God liberated the Israelites from slavery, leading them out of Egypt and into a barren wilderness. Wilderness in this context is a desert, rather than the forests we might imagine today, and had particular connotations for the ancient Israelites. Remember the barren land that served as the ground of creation in Genesis 2: “When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth, no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land.” (Genesis 2:4-5 CEV). Like the pre-creation waters of Genesis 1:2, desert was a place of chaos and danger in their imaginations. There was real risk of death by thirst, hunger or predatory animals. Yet the desert was also a place to experience God.

When Moses took the Israelites into the wilderness, they were thirsty and hungry. Moses, in faith, prayed for God to sustain them, and God responded with water and manna (Exodus 15:27 – 16:35). God came to them in the wilderness, spoke to the people through a cloud (Exodus 16:10), and formed a covenant with the Israelites, testing their faith and consecrating them in service to God (Exodus 20:1-17). Through their forty years in the wilderness, they were nourished and transformed as God’s chosen people. The wilderness served as a space apart, forcing the Israelites to confront  hunger, fear and isolation (Exodus 16:1-8; 17:1-7), for the experience of God’s immanent and transcendent presence (Exodus 15:25-26; 16:4-7, 10-12; 17:5-7, 19:16 – 20:21), and for the defining of the identity of Israel (Exodus 15:25-26; 17:8-16; 20:1-2).

“The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him” (Matthew 4:1 CEV). Jesus’ journey into the wilderness began when he passed through the waters of baptism and was filled by the spirit of God: “So Jesus was baptized. And as soon as he came out of the water, the sky opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove” (Matthew 3:16, CEV). Then the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and the devil tested him, trying to convince him to use the power of God rather than relying upon the faithfulness of God. Jesus resisted the tempter’s call, even when brought to the mountaintop and presented with the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:1-11). It is interesting to note that in Matthew’s version of the story, the devil “took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. The devil said to him, ‘I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.’” (Matthew 4:8-10 CEV). In Luke’s version, “the devil led Jesus up to a high place and quickly showed him all the nations on earth. The devil said, ‘I will give all this power and glory to you. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. Just worship me, and you can have it all.’” (Luke 4:5-8 CEV). Luke’s devil makes a stronger claim to power. Yet in both cases, Jesus responds, “The Scriptures say, ‘Worship the Lord and serve only him’” (Matthew 4:8 / Luke 4:8 CEV).

In the Exodus story, Moses went through the parted Red Sea, into the wilderness, and up to Mount Sinai. In Jesus’ story, Jesus passed through the waters of baptism, into the temptations of the wilderness, and up to a high mountain with the devil. Jesus’ identity is established in the tradition of Moses, foreshadowing that Jesus would ultimately lead God’s people to a new covenant with God.  Jesus is framed as the right interpreter of Law—people who follow Moses must follow Jesus. In this story, like in the story of the Israelites, the wilderness is a place of hunger and struggle, as well as a place for the establishment and securing of identity—in this case, the identity of Jesus as the human and divine Son of God.

Looking at the Text

In both wilderness stories, the wilderness has many functions. It serves as a place of barrenness and hunger, source of nourishment from God, a location for God’s testing and revelation, and a context for the transformation for God’s people.

Read Exodus 15:22 – 20:21 and Matthew 3:13 – 4:11. How do you see the wilderness functioning in these stories? How might the stories have been different if they had taken place in an urban setting?

Now read Mark’s abbreviated version of Jesus’ journey into wilderness — Mark 1:12-13. What might be the significance of Jesus’ being “with the wild animals” (Mark 1:13 CEV)?

Wilderness serves as a common metaphor for a space or time of confusion, transition and growth. What does wilderness mean to you? How have you met God in a wilderness place? What were the risks of entering your wilderness? How was God revealed?

Looking at Our World

In today’s world, wilderness usually connotes the idea of forests. Yet many of the world’s forests are becoming barren wilderness spaces through deforestation—the conversion of forested land to open land, to desert. People deforest land primarily for logging, development, and conversion for agricultural use. Animal grazing, livestock herding, wildfires, and recreational forest users can also contribute to deforestation. This change in the landscape decreases biodiversity, contributes to soil erosion, harms the water supply, and decreases the earth’s ability to process pollution.

What are the theological implications of deforestation? How does the idea of deforestation impact your metaphorical understanding of wilderness?

Jenny Phillips writes resources for outdoor ministries and churches. She has a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York, NY.