“N.” My impression is that these words “wilderness” and “desert,” as you notice as being frequently used together in Scripture, have but a shade of difference, and seem to be the variation of thought in the Hebrew language, which gives such strength and force to the poetic strains of the prophets who uttered them. There is no doubt a difference between the words; “wilderness” conveying the thought of untracked solitudes, parched with want of water — “They wandered in a wilderness where there is no way”; “desert” conveying rather barrenness and drought, where the verdure of the earth is unknown — “He will make the desert and the solitary place blossom as the rose,” etc. Rivers in the desert would be given, to give drink to His people, His chosen.
Words of Truth, New Series 3:78-80.