As we have seen elsewhere in this issue, the wilderness was not part of God’s purposes for Israel and is not mentioned either in the promises of God to Israel in Exodus 6 nor in the annals of faith in Hebrews 11. However, it was part of God’s ways with them, for in the wilderness they learned what they could not have learned in any other way. In going through various experiences for forty years, they learned their own hearts, and they learned God’s heart too. Even when they came into the land of Canaan, they were to “remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or no” (Deut. 8:22And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. (Deuteronomy 8:2)).
During all this time, the Lord provided manna for them to eat, and it is recorded that “the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited” (Ex. 16:3535And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. (Exodus 16:35)). For fully forty years they ate it, and although they tired of it, it sustained them until they came to Canaan and were able to eat of the fruit of that land. Later, the Lord commanded Moses, and Moses in turn commanded Aaron, to “take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations” (Ex. 16:3333And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations. (Exodus 16:33)). Thus, even after the wilderness experience was over, the pot of manna was there to remind them of it.
All this has real spiritual significance for us. The manna spoke of Christ — Christ in His perfect manhood and the food for our wilderness journey. It is He who has walked this same lonely pathway through this world and has experienced from without all that we go through. He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:1515For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)). As such, He is perfectly fitted to be a merciful and faithful High Priest, and in feeding on Him, we are able to meet all the difficulties of the way.
The Trials
We might wonder why all the trials of the desert, so to speak, are necessary, but there are things of Christ that we cannot learn in heaven; we can learn them only down here. We cannot learn Him up there as the God of all comfort, for there will be no need of comfort there. We cannot learn Him up there as the One who can meet us in every need, who can sustain us in difficulties, who can give us patience when we need it, for there will be nothing to try us up there. It is in going through all these things down here that we learn Christ in a special way. Thus we, like Paul, are able to glory in tribulations, for the ultimate result is that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. In spite of adverse circumstances, we are able to enjoy His peace — the peace that He gave us (John 14:2727Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)). This is the peace in which He walked, in going through this world as the perfect dependent man. In Philippians, which is a wilderness book of the New Testament, we find that in having “the fellowship of His [Christ’s] sufferings,” we also come to know “the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:1010That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (Philippians 3:10)).
The Reward
The trials in our lives, like the wilderness for Israel, will come to an end. Just as the day came when they crossed the Jordan and entered the land of Canaan, so the day will come when our Lord will call us home. Yet the lessons learned and the knowledge of Christ so gained will last for all eternity. Thus we have in Revelation 2:1717He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Revelation 2:17) a reference once again to the manna — the “hidden manna.” Here it is a reward to the overcomer, for he will be given the privilege of eating of that hidden manna. To what does it refer? Just as there was a pot of manna reserved in the ark, even after the wilderness journey was over, so we will be able to eat of that hidden manna — Christ in manhood — even after our wilderness journey down here is over. What we have learned of Him in going through difficulties down here — His grace, His provision for us, His comfort, His patience — all will be ours to enjoy for all eternity. Just as Israel looked back on their wilderness journey and remembered all that the Lord had done for them, so we in coming glory will be able to look back at all our circumstances and see how the Lord ordered them all for us. More than this, we will be able to enjoy for all eternity all that we have learned of Him in going through those trials with Him — things that we could not otherwise learn, even up there in heaven.
The thought of this, while not causing us to seek for trials, should make us able to accept them from the Lord and give us grace to go to Him in them, realizing that they are the opportunity to learn Him in a way which would not otherwise be possible. For all eternity we will celebrate His grace, and the memory of our trials will only add to the praise!
W. J. Prost