Walking With God in the Desert Group Bible Study by Ray Vander Laan - Faith Lessons Volume 12

in a desert land he found him in a barren and howling wasteland he shielded him cared for him protected him like the apple of his eye those are the words in Moses great oration we call the book of Deuteronomy that describe how God found Israel in a barren howling wasteland in a desert the desert it's really part of a much bigger picture in the Bible the Bible begins with a description of chaos not desert but watery chaos the churning nothingness of Genesis 1 verse 1 it's jeremiah who connects that formless and empty waste of creation with the desert so the desert for all its beauty for all its glory is also a metaphor in the Bible of chaos a pain of suffering of things that are not the way they're supposed to be it's an interesting metaphor because in a way it's a paradox on the one hand the desert is dangerous and filled with peril poisonous snakes the Bible says scorpions wild animals demons are found here no water no food no shelter the blazing heat of the day the valley of the shadow of death at night dangerous place and yet in the Bible it's a place of refuge David finds sanctuary in the desert and meets God himself Moses finds refuge here Israel does too from the bondage in Egypt and Elijah as well in another paradox the Bible recalls the desert as a place of disobedience lack of trust building of a golden calf worshiping the vale of Moab complaining continually and yet the Bible also recalls the desert as a place where Israel followed God like a like a bride met him there in God's faithfulness was proven over and over again the desert the place of danger and peril the place of refuge and provision there's another way the Bible looks at desert there are different lands in the Bible the Hebrews start in Egypt which in a way is Pharaoh's land oh I know the whole earth belongs to the Lord that's first Corinthians 10 but in a way Pharaoh rules in Egypt and Pharaoh by serving the gods of Egypt Pharaoh as God Himself Pharaoh provides the Egyptians believe Pharaoh makes the Nile flood Pharaoh makes the grain grow Pharaoh makes the Sun come up and Israel must have been tempted to believe this - and so Egypt mitzrayim in Hebrew comes from a root word that means bondage the bondage not only of slavery but the bondage of giving credit for what is for life to someone other than God so God takes Israel out of Pharaoh's land and brings her to a promised land belonging to God - but a land that God will give them a land where he will provide everything they need including rain from the heavens but the danger in the promised land is that Israel will begin to think that they deserve the credit that they deserve the praise for what they accomplished and they forgot that it is the Lord even in the promised land and in between those two what you might call God's land it's a place where only God provides its water out of the rock it's manna from the sky it's a pillar of a fire that leads by night and cloud that leads by day it's protection against the Amalekites it's a snake that heals the snake bites it's a tabernacle where they meet God intimately it's the place where they learn to trust God completely and when they get to the promised land and they forget God inevitably brings them back to the desert not usually literally but at least metaphorically and sometimes the Hebrews went into the desert because God led them there it's us so I led you all the way in the desert because in the desert in times of pain and suffering in times of difficulty and hardship God's people learn to know him trust him and love him I've waited for a long time to do this series of studies the whole project began 16 years ago it started in a desert my mother was killed in a car accident way too young just before we started filming that very first study and it was hot and hard and difficult but in it I found the presence of God mana living water and shade but the background to this study has been another desert in my life about four years ago in a normal yearly physical was discovered that I have coronary artery disease went through a bypass operation maybe not as painful as some of the deserts that you've been in but painful nevertheless and as I wondered I cried out why I needed to be in that desert I realized I could not provide what I needed I couldn't handle this one God was going to have to take over and little by little he taught me he taught me that in pain he taught me that in the unknown and the times of difficulty and struggle he is always there and just enough I can't honestly tell you it made my desert any easier or less painful but I can tell you it was an amazing discovery and as I've come out of that desert I'm closer to God today and more aware of his provision and his presence and his power than I've ever been because you see in the desert God joins his people for whatever reason we're there God is there too and as God joins his people he always provides just enough right at the moment they need it again it doesn't make desert easier doesn't make it less painful but it makes it possible and one can emerge on the other side of the desert closer and more intimately related to God than ever before I'd like to invite you to join us in this series of desert studies I'd like to have you join us if you would not as a spectator and watch our journey or in our study and our hiking in this desert to watch Israel's ancient journey long before us as recorded in the text I'd like to have you join us in your deserts it may be something you carry deep inside your soul but in the heat in the pain in the struggle in the unknown I'd invite you to discover that God is there with you and he will be just enough for you as he was for them we were in the desert of Sinai we were in the desert of Paran we were in the desert I've seen the Negev desert the wilderness of Judea we were in all of the deserts and as we wandered we kept our eyes open and the book opened to discover those beautiful biblical pictures and metaphors that reminded us of how God sustained them and God sustained us so you're going to see a whole series of of those moments where we suddenly discovered again how God is sufficient in desert as you join us I pray you would discover that God's purpose in desert yours as well is in the struggle to know him more intimately I pray that in the silence of these deserts where somehow the noise of life that often drowns out our awareness of God's presence would be the moment where you discover him again and fall in love with him all over again come let's find God in the desert

Channel: zondervan

Views: 130,027

Rating: 4.9396482 out of 5

Keywords: Faith Lessons, That the World May Know, Follow the Rabbi, Ray Vander Laan, Rabbi, desert, difficulty, loss, death, unemployment, crisis, faith, Israel, DVD, curriculum, video, Bible, Bible study, focus on the family, slavery, wandering, wilderness, Egypt, God, Jesus, Hebrew, Promised Land, Messiah, Middle East, exodus, sinai, sin, rebellion, Zondervan, 9780310889465, 9780310329923

Id: 8AjnnhKVqsw

Length: 12min 12sec (732 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 29 2012