The Wilderness

Wilderness/Desert Place – Lexicon :: Strong’s G2048 – erēmos 1. adjective solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited: of places, leading through a desert, under the end. of persons: deserted by others; deprived of the aid and protection of others, especially of friends, acquaintances, kindred; bereft; of a flock deserted by the shepherd, a woman neglected by her husband, from whom the husband withholds himself; of Jerusalem, bereft of Christ’s presence, instruction and aid, 
2. a substantive, namely, a desert, wilderness, desert places, lonely regions:an uncultivated region fit for pasturage,used of the desert of Judaea; of the desert of Arabia

I recently heard a teaching about how the Greek word erēmos is often mistranslated into wilderness when it can also be a space deserted by others. I have heard similar teachings, but or whatever reason today, it caught my attention and peaked my curiosity. I won’t pretend to be a Greek or Biblical scholar to determine which places it could be the latter meaning, but below are a list of Scriptures that contain this Greek word.

2 Samuel 2:24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and when the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.

Esther 6:13 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”

Isaiah 54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.

Matthew 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,

Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭‬‬”Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”“.

Matthew 23:38 Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

Matthew 24:26  So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.

Mark 1:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’”

Mark 1:35 In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.

Mark 6:32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Luke 1:80  And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Luke 3:2-4 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.

Luke 4:42 When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them.

Luke 5:16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the deserted places and pray.

Luke 8:29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.

Luke 9:10-12 When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida. But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing. Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.”

Luke 13:35  Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Luke 15:4 What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

John 1:23  He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Acts 1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead be made desolate, And let no one dwell in it’; and, ‘Let another man take his office.’

Acts 7:30 After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

Acts 7:36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

Acts 7:38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.

Acts 7:42  But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?

Acts 7:44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.

Acts 8:26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

1 Corinthians 10:5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

Galatians 4:27 For it is written,

“Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear;
Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;
For more numerous are the children of the desolate
Than of the one who has a husband.”

Hebrews 3:8 Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,

Hebrews 3:17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

Revelation 12:6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Revelation 12:14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.

Revelations 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.

I often think of the wilderness as a place of testing, afterall Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan for forty days and the Israelites also spent forty years in the wilderness. However, sometimes we need to get to the wilderness, to that quiet place alone with God to be strengthened for the journey ahead, as John the Baptist was. Jesus often withdrew to a quiet place to get alone with God. In a society where everything is 24/7, it is good to get away to the quiet place with the Lord.

I have learned to enjoy the solitude with the Lord, it was not a practice that I had much of. I remember the first time I spent two hours in prayer. It was a guided time, but fifteen to twenty minutes in I had walked through the guide with God. With no phone or others to occupy my time, I sat in the silence and actually gave God time to speak. It was then that He spoke to me (Not audibly) that I did not trust Him. I had faith in His Word, but I didn’t trust Him to do it for me. It was hard to hear, but I still allowed Him to minister to me for the rest of the time. When we were called back to fellowship, I wanted to linger longer with the Lord. It was the start of a practice of solitude that I still very much enjoy even a decade later.

He has brought me to that place to refresh me and brought me to that same place to prepare me. It is such a blessing to be able to go into a quiet place with my Lord. He knows what I need every time. He ministers in those times in ways that I could never prepare for. He reveals things about me and about what others need. I am so thankful that I was introduced to the discipline and can follow Holy Spirit into those times.

Lord, thank You for the wilderness of testing and preparation, but thank You also for the quiet place that I can withdraw into just Your presence. I know they are both needed for growth and to accomplish what You have placed on my life to do on this earth. Help me to never neglect or take for granted either space, but to go as You lead and allow You to have Your way in both places. In Jesus holy name I pray. Amen.