In the Bible, the wilderness is a lifeless place where death is always right around the corner.

And characters find themselves in the wilderness, sometimes by their own choices, sometimes by the injustice of others.

But God always meets them in the wilderness with mercy.

In today's episode, we continue to explore the theme of the wilderness

while looking at what's probably the most famous wilderness stories in the Bible,

Israel's 40-year wandering in the wilderness.

Where God has led his people into the wilderness,

directly and personally.

When God rescues Israel from Egypt, he promises them a garden land to live in.

And here's the thing.

He could have taken them directly to that lush garden land,

but it would bring them right by the Philistines who live in those coastal plains.

And God didn't think they were ready to meet them.

God is aware of the limitations of these people.

The Philistines inhabited these coastal plains.

And the Israelites are going to see that and be like,

oh, back to Egypt.

God wants to avoid a war that will make his people want to go back

to Egypt. And so, God brings his people into a long season of wilderness wandering. And this isn't

a consequence. This is a training ground. The people have been formed in their Egyptian slavery,

and it's as if they need to enter into a season where their identity and mindset as slaves needs to get deconstructed, and he's going to recreate his people.

To have this new glorious cosmic identity as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation,

...