BibleProject | Finding God in the WildernessSample

From the Wilderness to the Garden and Back Again

The wilderness is a setting we see again and again throughout the Bible. Some people find hope and refuge in the wilderness, while others face starvation and death. But in all of the Bible’s wilderness narratives, it’s a place where people are tested and shaped. This reading plan will guide us through a few key wilderness stories, so we can better understand why God leads his people into the wilderness.

We’ll start in Genesis 1, which opens by describing the world before creation as “wild and waste” (Hebrew: tohu va-vohu, Gen. 1:2), the same words used by later biblical authors to refer to the wilderness (Deut. 32:10; Jer. 4:23-26). Whether we envision the desolate wasteland as the watery void described in Genesis 1:2 or the dry landscape described in Genesis 2:5, an important theme emerges from the Bible’s opening chapters: God’s creative work can transform the wilderness into a lush garden.

As the story continues, God places humans in the garden to serve and care for it (Gen. 2:15). But rather than following God’s instructions, the humans choose their own path. Their choice results in God exiling them from the garden and sending them back into the wild (Gen. 3:23).

For the rest of the biblical story, this pattern repeats. God transforms the wilderness into an Eden-like place for humans, but they make choices that lead back to the harsh wilderness. However, God continues to be with his people in the wilderness, providing for them and transforming them into the garden people he created them to be.

Reflection Questions

• God transforms the barren wilderness into a fruitful garden, but humans rebel against God’s instructions and are exiled to the wilderness. In what ways are we tempted today to live by our own rules, ignoring or rejecting God’s instruction?
• How do the opening chapters of Genesis invite us to see creation not as something to control or exploit but as a gift we will receive through trust and partnership with God?