A wilderness is a place where many people do not live. It is a place that is away from where people have built their cities and homes and planted their crops. In the Bible, the word “wilderness” is used to talk about an empty place.
Sometimes the word “wilderness” is used to talk about a desert. A desert is a land area that has a dry climate. It has few plants or animals. Very few people live in the desert because it has very little water.
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The word “wilderness” is used often in the Old Testament. The Israelites traveled through the wilderness after God rescued them from being slaves in Egypt (see: Exodus 13:18; 15:22; 16:1; 19:1-2). God forced the Israelites to live in the wilderness for forty years before they could enter the promised land. He did this because the Israelites sinned against him (see: Numbers 14:20-23, 34-35).
David hid in the wilderness when King Saul tried to kill him (see: 1 Samuel 23:14). The prophet Elijah hid in the wilderness when Jezebel tried to kill him (see: 1 Kings 19:1-4).
Prophets said that when God punished a place, that place would become a wilderness (see: Isaiah 64:10). Prophets also said that when God blessed a place, he caused it to prosper. It was like he caused there to be water in a wilderness and caused plants to grow there (see: Isaiah 43:19-20; 51:3).
In the New Testament, John the Baptist ministered to people in the wilderness (see: Matthew 3:1-3). Jesus also went into the wilderness. He did this to get away from the crowds to a quiet place where he could pray (see: Mark 1:35, 45; Luke 5:16). After Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. The devil tempted Jesus there for forty days (see: Luke 4:1-2).
People thought that demons lived in the wilderness (see: Matthew 12:43; Luke 8:29).
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