DESERT ENCOUNTERS
Desert Encounter - Audio, Part 2 ONLY
Returning to the desert – looking at what is encountered there
Area around Jericho is rich with Biblical history – Possession of the Promised Land beings here
• Moses dies across from Jericho – outside the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34)
• Leadership transfers to Joshua , who receives Moses' Spirit of Wisdom (Deuteronomy 34, Joshua 1)
• Rahab was watching the Hebrew people from her vantage point in her home in the wall of Jericho (Joshua 2)
• Witnesses see the evidence of God at work
• As Rahab watched, she found even more faith in God
• Faith is remembered in Hebrews 11
• There is a parting of the water as the Jordan stops
• Evidence of God at work in Jericho is still there today with excavation work supporting the biblical account of the wall's falling down
• Hebrew people hear God's command to destroy all that is in Jericho and not to take anything for themselves (Joshua 6 – interesting that the word used for the reason the people are not saved in Hebrews 11 can be translated “unbelief” and not just “disobedience”)
Area around Jericho is rich with Biblical history – also place where Elijah is taken up in the whirlwind
• Elijah is prophet – Elisha is his understudy
• Elijah slaps the Jordan with his cloak and it parts
• Elijah doesn't die here, but leaves earth here
• The chariot comes for Elijah
• who leaves his cloak behind as a transfer of leadership to Elisha (2 Kings 2)
• Leadership transfers to Elisha
• Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit
• Elisha knows his request has been answered when he returns to the Jordan and slaps it with the cloak, since it parts again
• Witnesses see the evidence of God at work
• Event is witnessed by 50 sons of the prophets of Jericho
• Elisha is asked to heal the spring
• He does so – and to this very day it continues to produce over 38 gallons of fresh water per second – in the middle of the desert
• Witness of God at work in Jericho is still present today
Area around Jericho is rich with Biblical history – place where Jesus was baptized
• John is preaching in the Judean wilderness (possibly in the area around Qumran – where it is believed that he grew up)
• People from around Judea, the Jordan and Jerusalem are all going out into the desert to listen to him
• He begins baptizing them in the Jordan, which changes his location – taking him north of the Dead Sea – right to the area around Jericho
• Jesus leaves Galilee and goes to John at the Jordan.
• If this is not the same place where the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land and where Elijah and Elisha crossed, then it is very close to the same place.
• Baptism is representation of dying to self
• “ Change in leadership” happens once again, as John baptizes Jesus (Matthew 3: 13 – 17)
• Up until this point, John has been the “voice in the desert” calling people to repent – but after this point, John is imprisoned
• Those who were there witnessed God at work again
Matthew 4: 16 ” When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He [ c ] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Audio Part 2 Here ___________________________________________________
Area around Jericho is rich with Biblical history – this is also the same place where Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness
• Jesus left the Jordan and went to the Judean wilderness around Jericho
• area where the Valley of the Shadow of Death is located
• area where the primary route between the Jericho and Jerusalem
• area primary route between Jordan and Jerusalem
• Jesus, while fasting, could view all this activity – even in the wilderness
• Jesus also could view the lushness of Jericho while fasting
Area around Jericho is rich with Biblical history – this is also the same place where Satan tempted Jesus
• Mount of Temptation is just outside of Jericho
• Satan knew this was the place where the Israelites had crossed into the Promised Land
• Satan knew this was where leadership had been previously transferred – he was seeking for Jesus to transfer His leadership from God to himself
• Satan knew this was where miracles had happened
• Satan knew that this was where God started over with His people – and the people fell short almost immediately – he was seeking for Jesus to disobey God
• Satan knew that God did special things in this place and yet, the people were far from free and victorious in this place – and he was seeking to suck Jesus in so that He would not be free or victorious
Area around Jericho is rich with Biblical history – also the general area where the Good Samaritan parable is located as well as the story of Zaccheus
So, is today's message simply a history lesson?
What are the connections, and what do they have to do with us?
Go back to Jesus in the desert
• He was coming off of a “spiritual high” and went immediately to a time of great testing
• He was led by the Spirit to go through this testing, but does that make it any easier?
• I have read and re-read and glossed over those lines in the Gospels where it talks about Jesus' baptism, fasting and temptation and not really allowed them to impact me a tremendous amount.
• Jesus is God – of course He can fast for 40 days and resist temptation
• But realizing that Jesus wasn't just out in the desert alone impacts me
• Knowing that He was in this place tells me things
• He had to have considered if it was worth it all
• This place He was in had to remind Him of God's covenant and man's inability to keep it
• The lack of food and water had to be very intensely sacrificial when it was in His line of vision
• This place impacted His decision that it “wasn't about Him”
• He goes from baptism to a time of fasting
• from one spiritual encounter to another
• only to be faced with yet another spiritual encounter – the Temptation
When I look at the Temptation, I'm tempted (no pun intended) to focus on what Satan asks and see if there is a correlation between the questions and a pattern to his thought process.
But I realize what I need to look at is the response of Jesus and the process He used to overcome him.
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Jesus knew that we don't focus on our physical needs – we focus on the spiritual, then God will take care of the rest
7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Jesus knew that we do not elevate ourselves to the point where we challenge God or His love for us
- we know He loves us
-we believe that in faith and don't demand that He jump through hoops for us
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
Jesus also knew that talking with the devil leads to conversations and further temptations you just don't need.
- Tell him to take a hike
– affirm that you choose to worship and serve God
– then let God handle Satan.
• It is not my job to debate with the enemy.
• It is not my job to defend God to the enemy.
• It is my job to submit myself to God, resist the temptation, then tell the enemy to take a hike.
James 4:7 ?Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil , and he will flee from you.
So, once again, what does all this tell us – what are the connecting dots – what is the point?
It is amazing that there is very seldom only one point – and everyone will walk away from this hopefully with at least one bit of truth revealed
• First, spiritual highs are often followed by desert moments and times of temptation
• Israelites thought their desert moments were over when they were on the banks of the Jordan – crossing over and taking Jericho was a tremendous spiritual high – but it was followed by more desert moments and intense times of temptation
• Second, be sure that people are watching you when you are in the desert
• Rahab watches the people of Israel
• The people of Jericho watched the people of Israel
• The 50 sons of the prophets of Jericho watched Elijah and Elisha
• Undoubtedly, there were people watching the hills where Jesus retreated to
• Third, when you are in the desert and seemingly alone and struggling with your circumstances, God is using those circumstances to work in the lives of others
• Once again, Rahab
• Once again, the people of Jericho
• Once again, the sons of the prophets of Jericho
• Possibly people like Zaccheus
• Fourth, in the desert you may receive greater spiritual responsibility or a tremendous outpouring of God's spirit
• Moses – Joshua, who received the spirit of wisdom
• Elijah – Elisha, who received a double portion of his spirit
• John – Jesus, Who had the Holy Spirit rest on Him
• Lastly, when you are in the desert, focus on the spiritual instead of your physical needs, don't demand that God jump through hoops for you, don't have conversations with Satan and instead tell him to take a hike, then things of eternal consequences can happen there
• Rahab is remembered for her faith, but also because she is in the lineage of Christ
• Elisha's spring still blesses in spite of the blasting of voices worshipping false gods in Jericho
• The foundational work of Jesus in the desert led to the beginning of His ministry