Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DESERT

Caravansary at Nuweiba in the Sinai desert (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)

Arid environment hostile to life. In the Bible, desert functions thematically as a place of revelation and a training ground for faith and obedience, in preparation for mission.

Desert is an arid region (mean annual precipitation of 25 cm. [10 in.] or less), with sparse vegetation, few animals, little or no agriculture, and low population density. (“Wilderness,” a common misnomer, merely denotes an uninhabited region, without reference to food and water resources.) In biblical deserts temperatures are harsh, often exceeding 45° C. (113° F.) on summer days and falling below freezing on winter nights. Most precipitation occurs in winter. The chief livelihood was shepherding sheep and goats.

The various deserts mentioned in the Bible are part of the greater Saharo-Arabian desert system, but each has distinct geological, topographical, meteorological, hydrological, floral, and faunal features. Though often symbolic rather than strictly historical, biblical stories set in these deserts tend to reflect the differing conditions of each.

Physical Characteristics

Negeb

The land of Abraham and Sarah, the Negeb semi-desert was limited to the Beer-sheba and Arad basins and considered part of the Promised Land. It has some fertile loose soil and a mean annual but highly fluctuating rainfall of 10-25 cm. (8-10 in.), sometimes meeting the 25 cm. (10 in.) needed for winter wheat. In normal years vegetation for grazing is found in all wadi bottoms and on most hillsides. Thus it was a land of nomadic grazing but unreliable agriculture, becoming a place of high risk in drought years (cf. stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph).

Sinai

The location of the desert of Sinai, the setting for the Mt. Sinai and covenant stories, remains unknown. If correlated with the huge Sinai Peninsula, it falls into three diverse regions: (1) a northern plain of sand dunes and gravel near the Mediterranean coast, with rainfall of 7.5-10 cm. (3-4 in.); (2) the large central et-Tih plateau, drained by the el-Arish system, covered with chalk and flint toward the center and limestone toward the south, with rainfall of 2.5-5 cm. (1-2 in.); (3) the high granite mountains of the south, including Jebel Mûsā, the traditional Mt. Sinai, at 2285 m. (7296 ft.), with rainfall at 7.5-10 cm. (3-4 in.). Oases of perennial water and vegetation support a modest population, but most of the Sinai is hostile to life.

Paran

Crossed by the Israelites between Sinai and Zin, the harsh desert of Paran drains a large plateau area northeast into the Rift Valley. Its rugged limestone and chalk geology with gravel plains and alluvium, very sparse rainfall (0-5 cm. [0-2 in.]), and few perennial water sources, make most of it particularly hostile to life — a hard, hot region, deserving its description as a “great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions” (Deut. 8:15). Taking the Israelites safely across this desert provided an extreme example of divine care and power, an image of God as Bedouin leader — the good shepherd of his people.

Zin

Location for much of the Israelites’ “wilderness wandering,” the desert of Zin is drained by the substantial Wadi Zin system, between Paran to the south and the Negeb to the north. Its mean annual rainfall of 10-20 cm. (4-8 in.) on soft chalks, marls, and clays with some alluvial loess, supports many perennial water sources and some year-round vegetation on both wadi bottoms and some north-facing slopes. It was survivable by shepherds grazing goats but supported no reliable dry farming.

Associated with Zin was the oasis region of Kadesh-barnea, portrayed as an important Israelite stopping place and central meeting point. It was apparently located in a border region between Paran and Zin, for it was linked to both (Paran: Num. 13:26; Zin: 20:1; 27:14; 33:36). and may have included all the oases of the modern ʿAin el-Qudeirat region. Stories about Moses sending the 12 scouts (Num. 13) and striking water from the rock (ch. 20) and the Israelites attempting to enter the Promised Land prematurely (14:39-45) occurred there during a lengthy stay (14:33, 35; Deut. 1:46).

Conditions and Lessons

Life in the desert teaches important lessons about faith and ethics. Surviving in this unforgiving environment requires both specialized knowledge and the discipline to apply it. Yet no amount of skill and discipline will guarantee survival, so desert life requires that people help each other, and it also generates more direct trust in God. The desert seems to facilitate revelation. People hear the voice of God more clearly, unimpeded by civilization or their own rationalizations.

Biblical Accounts

Desert played a major role in the accounts of the patriarchs (Gen. 12-50). As a whole, this cycle created a symbolic salvation geography in which the desert fringes of the Promised Land rather than the great civilizations of the day (Mesopotamia and Egypt) functioned as the chosen place for training the nascent chosen people.

The most important desert stories relate to the Exodus (Exod. 15:22; 16:1; 17:1), Sinai (18:5; 19:1-2), and 40-year sojourn (Num. 14:33; 32:13; Deut. 2:7).

The desert functioned as a place of refuge from oppression, e.g., for Hagar from Sarai (Gen. 16:7), Moses from the pharaoh (Exod. 2:15–3:1), Benjaminites from Israelites (Judg. 20:47), David from Saul (1 Sam. 23-26) and later from Absalom (2 Sam. 15-17), and Elijah from Jezebel (1 Kgs. 19:1-4).

Desert themes are similar in the NT. John the Baptist trained for his ministry and carried it out in the desert, preaching a message of repentance and justice characteristic of desert values (Matt. 3:1-12; 11:7-10; Mark 1:3-4; Luke 1:80; 3:1-20; John 1:23). There Jesus made his final preparation before embarking on his public ministry (Matt. 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13) and retreated to desert places for renewal or revelation (Matt. 14:13; Mark 6:30-32; Luke 4:42; 5:16; 6:12; John 6:15; 11:54).

Bibliography. G. Brubacher, “City and Civilization Ideology in the Book of Genesis,” in Within the Perfection of Christ, ed. T. L. Brensinger and E. M. Sider (Napanee, Ind.), 33-46; A. Danin, Desert Vegetation of Israel and Sinai (Jerusalem, 1983); E. Orni and E. Elisha, Geography of Israel, 4th ed. (Jerusalem, 1980); S. Talmon, “miḏbār, ʿărāḇâ,” TDOT 8:87-118.

Gordon Brubacher

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DESERT

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)