MANY helpful accounts are found in the Bible of experiences which took place in a wilderness, and the prophet Isaiah speaks with great beauty of the transformation of the wilderness into a place of joy and peace. The children of Israel passed through the wilderness before they reached the promised land, and their experiences are helpful to the Christian of to-day who is journeying from the enslavement of materiality to the spiritual haven of Soul. After the Israelites had passed through the Red Sea and had seen the pursuing Egyptians engulfed by the very waters which had divided for their own progress, they were for three days in the wilderness of Shur, "and found no water." Remembering the mighty hand of the Lord which had governed the waters of the Red Sea, one would think they would have joyfully expected to be delivered from thirst. But when they came to a place called Marah and found the waters of Marah bitter, they murmured and complained. Moses, however, was instructed how to sweeten the water and to remind the people of their God, who, if they would but obey Him, would heal them of all ills, and prevent them from suffering from the fleshly ills to which the Egyptians bowed down.
Journeying on, they came to Elim, where they found twelve wells of water. Then "they took their journey from Elim," and "came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai," and there they yielded to the same ingratitude and complaining, looking back with longing to the fleshpots of Egypt. But God, who is ever good, supplied them with manna; and manna continued to sustain them for forty years. God had promised them before they left Egypt that they should be guided to a land flowing with milk and honey, where they should not lack anything. Moses trusted God and looked for divine guidance. Had the others trusted and obeyed as faithfully as did Moses, they would doubtless have found the promised land much sooner. The children of Israel found themselves sojourning in the wilderness as the inevitable result of murmuring and complaining against God. They longed for the former material gratification of appetite, even though in Egypt they had endured bitter slavery and oppression. They doubted God's goodness, even the presence and power of God. Small wonder that they were lonely or felt forsaken and separated from God! Believing in a power apart from God, they at times even made and worshiped other gods, yielding to that erroneous thinking which separated them from a realization of harmony and protection.
Balaam is a Biblical character who found himself in a wilderness. We remember how Balak, the king, sent for Balaam to curse the Israelites and bless the people of Moab. Balaam at first refused, but later temporized with evil, trying to go in a way which was forbidden, even though the faithful ass upon which he rode refused to pursue the path. Small wonder that he found his foot crushed "against the wall," and was unable to proceed. Temporizing in any way with evil must eventually cease; and we who are walking through the wilderness of mortal belief must take our stand firmly for righteousness. It may have been the vain effort to cry "Peace, peace" where there could be no peace, it may have been yielding to the sway of so-called personality, which has prevented us from lifting up our voice for Truth and against error; but eventually the time comes when we are forced to show plainly where we stand, and to know that the one infinite Mind governs all and is the only real power.
