In the Bible one of the prominent ideas or concepts both in the Old and New Testaments is the idea of the wilderness. There are different wilderness areas including the wilderness of Judaea (the Judaean hills extending to the Dead Sea), the wilderness of Sin (the southern Sinai peninsula), the wilderness of Paran (the central Sinai peninsula), the wilderness of Ziph (the wilderness around the town of Ziph which was in Judaea near the city of Hebron) the wilderness of Moab(the wilderness in Moab on the east of the Jordan in what is now central Jordan), the wilderness of Edom (the wilderness in Edom on the east side of the Jordan River in what is now southern Jordan) etc. The wilderness in the Bible had the idea of a place that was uncivilized, undeveloped and lawless. These were also the areas outside the main towns that were protected by walls around their outer boundaries called the walled or fenced cities in Bible days. This was true not just of the cities of Israel but also of other countries such as Damascus in Syria and Babylon in Mesopotamia or approximately the current area of the country of Iraq. In the wilderness areas there were few people and people were vulnerable to the elements such as the sun's heat, the dryness and wind and animals including snakes and wild beasts and also lawless people like bandits or robbers. With little vegetation it was also easy to lose one's way there as there were also few roads. There is also sometimes the idea in the Bible that the wilderness is a God forsaken place where evil spirits roam freely. This is generally the idea of the wilderness in the Bible and I believe the reader who reflects on these characteristics of the wilderness in the Bible or has read some passages about the wilderness in scripture and has some knowledge of the concept of the frontier especially of the American West as popularized in American history and culture will see some similiarity between the concept of the wilderness in the Bible and the American West in popular and serious American history as a place on the edge of civilization legally, morally and geographically and in communications. The wilderness in both places is also seen as a place where people have to live off the land and frequented by wild animals including some hostile or dangerous to humans such as snakes or lizards, dangerous spiders, vultures or at least in Israel and perhaps in the American west scorpions.
Sarah encouraged Abraham to have sex and a child with her maid servant Hagar of Egypt because Sarah thought she would be unable to have a child and that God wanted to fulfill His promise and a multitude of descendants of Abraham's descendants through Hagar although God later allowed Sarah to have a child Isaac who was the true seed of promise and through whom came God's chosen earthly people the Jews and their Messiah and the Saviour of the world the Lord Jesus Christ. However when Hagar had a child through Abraham she despised Sarah because she was old and not able to have a child. Sarah then got envious and upset and dealt harshly with Hagar who fled into the wilderness. This would be the wilderness of southern Israel, the Gaza Strip or the northern Sinai peninsula since the Way to Shur was a road between Israel and the Gaza Strip and northern Egypt especially the Nile Delta. This wilderness area in the northern Sinai by the way to Shur is sometimes called the Wilderness of Shur. When Hagar had fled into the wilderness the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water or oasis and encouraged her asking her from where she came and where she was going. Hagar mentioned she was in the wilderness because she was fleeing from her master Sarah. The angel of the Lord then instructed Hagar to return to Sarah and be submissive to her instructions. The angel of the Lord also promised Hagar that he would multiply Hagar's seed so that they would be virtually without number which can be seen to be fulfilled in the current world situation as the Arabs are descendants of Hagar and Abraham and in many cases dwell in wilderness areas of Africa and Asia. The angel of the Lord also said to Hagar that she would be of child through Abraham and that she was to call his name Ishmael who became also an ancestor of the Arab people many of whom dwell in the wilderness. The scripture reference in Genesis 16 of Hagar Sarah's handmaid fleeing into the wilderness and being comforted by the angel of the Lord and being assured she would have a child Ishmail and a multitute of descendants is as follows:
And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to they mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name, Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. Genesis 16:3-11
Moses at first was keeping the flocks or being a shepherd of his father in law Jethro who was a Midianite. Moses then led the flock to the backside or fringe of the desert or wilderness to the mount of God, mount Horeb which is also called Mount Sinai in the Bible but could actually be in Midianite territory which is current north west Saudi Arabia probably the Mountain now called Mount Lawz which means the Mount of Almonds. This would be instead of the traditional location in the southern Sinai peninsula and this idea is gaining more popularity with more archaeological discoveries especially of probably abundant remains of chariot wheels perhaps by the Egyptians in the Gulf of Aqaba part of the Red Sea. The angel of the LORD then appeared to Moses in a bush in the desert of wilderness and there was a fire in the midst of the bush but the bush wasn't burnt up indicating a supernatural event or phenomena. God called Moses out of the bush and Moses was willing to respond saying here I am. This angel of the LORD revealed himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God revealed to Moses in the wilderness that he had heard of the affliction or oppression of the Israelites in Egypt and that he was come to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Egyptians and to bring the Israelites into the promised land of Canaan that he had assigned to the Israelites the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who was renamed Israel. God then instructed Moses that he was to be the leader of Israel through which he would deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Egyptians and that they would come back into this Mount Horeb in the region frequented by the Midianites. God then revealed himself by his new name to Moses in response to Moses's question what name or identity should he give to the Israelites of the one who sent or commissioned him as I AM or "the LORD" or Jehovah or Yahweh. The scripture passage in Exodus 3 of the angel of the LORD (God) appearing to Moses in the wilderness and appointing Moses to be the means of delievering the Israelites from the oppresion of Egypt and God promising he as the self existant and eternal God would give the Israelites the Land of Canaan as the promised land is as follows:
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert (wilderness), and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, and thou mayest bring forthh my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharoah, and that I should bring forth the childrend of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. Exodus 3:1-14
In Leviticus 16 there is described some of the ceremonies that the Israelites were to perform through the high priest on the Day of Atonement. One of these involved two goats. One of these goats was to be offered to God as a sacrifice for the sins of God's chosen people Israel for the past year. The other goat was also to be offered to God in a different way. On that goat the sins of Israel were to be ceremonially transferred by the high priest placing his hands on the head of the goat and then confess the sins of the people of Israel. Then a man was to bring this goat into the wilderness and when the goat was brought into the middle of the wilderness it was to be let free. This was meant to symbolize the sins of Israel being brought away from them and their camp or inhabited place to a desolate or wilderness land where they were thought to not bother the people of Israel anymore. The wilderness in this sense was viewed as a God-forsaken land or land of desolation and it was used in this sense other times in the Bible. In the original context in Leviticus the wilderness would be the area in the Sinai peninsula that was wilderness or desert outside the encampment of Israel but when the Temple was built in Jerusalem the wilderness was viewed as the wilderness of Judaea near the Dead Sea. It is sometimes used in this sense in other parts of the world such as in the US southwest at least by the white man. In the New Testament view this ceremony in the Day of Atonement is meant to symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ in His death on the cross for our sins taking the sins of the believer far away from us that we will never encounter them or be bothered by them again. The scripture reference of the sins of Israel being transferred to the live goat that was led out to the wilderness and the use of the wilderness as a desolate area in Leviticus 16 is as follows:
And when he (Aaron the high priest) hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all the transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. Leviticus 16:20-22
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