Shabbat Pesach service reading 2/2

The Intermediate Sabbath—Losing Heart in the Wilderness

Panorama of a wadi in the negev desert, israel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, they came through areas of wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.

Even though the Israelites entered into a covenant with God in the wilderness, and came to understand their identity as God’s treasured possession there, sometimes they responded to hardship and barrenness of the wilderness with discouragement.

In the wilderness, they also lost heart, lost hope, longed for Egypt, and grumbled, murmured and complained.

For that reason, all perished but two—Joshua and Caleb—who followed the Lord wholeheartedly and kept the faith.  The bodies of the other Israelites lay scattered across that vast wilderness.

 

Jeshua is Tempted in the Wilderness, by James Tissot

 

Even Jeshua spent time in the wilderness—perhaps the Judean or Negev Desert.  The Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) led him there to be tempted by the devil, the adversary of God.  (Matthew 4:1–11)

The Negev is not an easy place to live—even with air conditioning!

It is a land of snakes and scorpions; a place of great danger.  And yet, the wilderness is not a punishment, but a necessary stage in our spiritual journey.

It is often God who leads us into our wilderness experiences to humble us, to test us, to refine our faith, and to teach us perseverance and endurance.

If we come out of it alive, we do so “leaning on our beloved” instead of relying on our own strength or limited sufficiency.  (Song of Solomon 8:5)

The wilderness can be our spiritual university where we learn to trust in and depend upon the Lord, and only God knows how long that lesson will take.

 

Holding up the Torah for all to see at Jerusalem’s Western (Wailing) Wall.

For Believers, in the vast space between salvation and the resurrection lies the wilderness, a dry and thirsty land where water is scarce.  That is where we are sanctified.

Because it is so easy to lose heart in the wilderness—our sanctification process—our response to the trials and challenges will determine how well we make it through to the resurrection.

Discouragement during our wilderness is an especially powerful weapon of the enemy because of its enfeebling, demoralizing effect.  Hatred, jealousy, fear, and other negative states may cause us to act foolishly, to fight, or to run.  But at least we act.

Discouragement on the other hand, hurts us more than any of these.  It ultimately saps the energy right out of us, causing us to sit down, pity ourselves and do nothing.

Discouragement causes us to give in to the temptation of the enemy who whispers, “Just give up.”

Hopelessness is a very dangerous state of being.  In fact, Scripture tells us that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.”  (Proverbs 13:12)

 

Jewish men sort through a table full of prayer books at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.

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Preceding: Shabbat Pesach service reading 1/2

Additional reading:

1. Israel God’s people
2. Commemorating the escape from slavery
3. On the first day for matzah
4. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
5. High Holidays not only for Israel
6. Suffering produces perseverance
7. A new exodus and offering of a Lamb
8. The redemption of man by Christ Jesus
9. Atonement And Fellowship 6/8
10. In what way were sacrifices “shadows”?
11. The meek one riding on an ass
12. A Messiah to die
13. In the death of Christ, the son of God, is glorification
14. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
15. 14-15 Nisan and Easter
16. Getting out of the dark corners of this world

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Wadi in Nahal Paran, Negev, Israel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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