BibleProject | Finding God in the WildernessSample

Wooing in the Wilderness

Today, we’ll discover that lush places can be transformed into wild wastelands when people reject God. But even there, God will run after his people, drawing them back into a loving relationship.

After their exodus journey through the wilderness, God brings the Israelites into a lush, garden-like land of promise—their new home. But in their comfort, the people quickly forget their need for God and choose to trust in their own wisdom and resources instead. Rather than walking humbly with God, they lift themselves up and oppress the powerless and vulnerable.

God sends sharp warnings through Israel’s prophets. Jeremiah says that Israel’s Eden-like land will return to the original state of the uncreated world, “wild and waste” (Jer. 4:23; see Gen. 1:2), because of the people’s choice to reject God. These words come to pass when the Israelites’ enemies destroy their good land and carry them off into exile (2 Kgs. 25), just as Adam and Eve were removed from the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:23).

But God wants to be with his people no matter what—even in the most barren places. The prophet Hosea talks about God wooing Israel back into a loving and trusting relationship in the wilderness (Hos. 2:14-20), just as God did during Israel’s earlier journey through the desert after he rescued them from slavery in Egypt (see Exod. 19-24).

Through the prophet Isaiah, God promises to restore Israel’s land to its once-beautiful state. This sparks hope for the future, when God will once again transform the wastelands created by bad choices into abundant landscapes shaped by his goodness.

Reflection Questions:

• How does God use the wilderness as a place to restore his relationship with his people?
• In what ways has God lovingly extended himself to you in times of difficulty or suffering?