Past Scenes From the Wilderness

Summary

BibleProject Podcast

Episode: Past Scenes From the Wilderness

Date: November 17, 2025
Host: Michelle Jones

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Overview

This unique "hyperlink episode" explores the biblical theme of the wilderness—a critical motif woven throughout the Bible. Guided by Michelle Jones, the episode curates and reflects upon clips from previous BibleProject episodes, examining how stories of the wilderness illuminate both human weakness and God’s forming presence. The episode journeys from Moses’ failure to obey in the wilderness, through Jesus’ triumph over temptation, and ultimately frames the wilderness experience as pointing to a future Sabbath rest. By revisiting past conversations, the podcast highlights patterns and connections across the biblical narrative, showing how these stories harmonize into a unified message of trust, testing, and hope.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Wilderness as a Thematic Thread

• Wilderness as a Place of Testing and Formation:
  • The wilderness is depicted as harsh and barren, a place where people end up because of bad choices—theirs or others’.
  • Despite its desolation, it’s in the wilderness that God consistently meets people, provides, and forms them into those who can trust and listen to Him.
  • "God consistently meets people in the wilderness, provides for their needs, and uses this environment to form them into people who can trust him and learn to listen to his voice." (Michelle Jones, 00:50)

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2. Moses’ Failure in the Wilderness—Numbers 20

[Clip from "Why Couldn't Moses Enter the Promised Land?"]

The Story:

• Israel, led by Moses, faces a lack of water and repeats complaints from Exodus 17.
• God instructs Moses to speak to the rock to bring forth water, contrasting with a previous command to strike the rock.
• Moses, instead, strikes the rock twice and scolds the people, failing to obey God’s specific instructions.

Insights:

• The episode examines the narrative structure highlighting Moses’ partial obedience:
  • Moses does take the rod and gather the people as commanded.
  • Instead of speaking to the rock, he speaks harshly to the people and strikes the rock.
• "He doesn't do what God says. So I think we're back to the theme in the melody, all the way back to Genesis 1, where God's word is life. God's word is the way to life."
  • (John, 09:10)
• Obedience to God’s word is life-giving and central to the biblical story, with allusions to creation, Noah, and Exodus.
• Moses' failure is not a simple mistake but symptomatic of increasing frustration and detachment from God’s will, similar to prior biblical figures.
• The consequence is severe due to Moses' elevated position as God’s representative, echoing the principle:
  • "To those whom God invests high degrees of power, influence, ability to represent him, God asks for a high degree of adherence to the divine will and instruction." (John, 15:31)
• The ultimate takeaway is not "walking on eggshells," but a demonstration that even the greatest human leaders fall short, intensifying the need for a true mediator.
  • "What we need is a human partner for God who will do the divine will that leads to life for the many... even Moses can't rescue us." (John, 19:19)

Memorable Quotes:

• "Are we supposed to bring out water for you from this rock?"—John, echoing Moses’ words and highlighting his failure to credit God (06:50)
• "With great power comes great responsibility. I can't believe I'm quoting a Marvel movie at this point in our conversation, but that is naming a dynamic at work in the story." (John, 13:58)

Timestamps:

• Moses’ Instructions & Actions: 02:22–07:08
• Analysis of Obedience, Motif of God’s Word: 09:10–13:43
• Meta-theme and Connection to Jesus: 17:17–19:26

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3. Jesus Succeeds Where Moses Fails—The Temptation in the Wilderness

[Clip from "Jesus and the Wild Beasts" – Son of Man series]

The Story:

• After baptism, Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days, tested by Satan, surrounded by wild animals, and served by angels (Mark 1:12–13).
• Unlike Matthew and Luke’s detailed accounts, Mark's version is terse but packed with hyperlinks to earlier biblical stories.

Insights:

• Biblical design patterns:
  • The verb "ekballo" (to cast out) is used for Adam and Eve’s exile, Cain’s exile, and now for Jesus—establishing a typological connection.
  • Jesus, like Adam, Israel, Noah, and Daniel, is tested in the wilderness with ‘beasts’ but, uniquely, does not fail.
• Jesus’ coexistence with wild animals recalls Adam’s naming of animals (dominion), Noah’s ark, and Daniel in the lions’ den, signaling Jesus as the true human ruler—the new Adam, new Israel.
  • "So Mark is placing Jesus's exile into the wilderness on analogy with Adam and Eve's exile into the wilderness." (John, 24:41)
  • "In the wilderness, Jesus is with the wild animals, but remains unharmed. Which is supposed to strike the reader as unusual." (John, 30:47)
• The service of angels signifies Jesus' divinity and authority over cosmic powers—he is the Son of Man served by the heavenly host (Daniel 7).
• While Mark is understated, the narrative assumes Jesus passes the test, emerging to proclaim God's kingdom.
  • "He doesn't obey the cosmic powers. The cosmic powers are there to come under his rule." (John, 32:06)
  • "The Son of man has authority over the skies and the land." (John, 33:11)

Memorable Quotes:

• "Jesus is identified as the Son in the baptism. Yeah. Overcomes the test in the wilderness. He's kind of revealed as the, like, true human ruler." (John & Tim, 32:54–32:59)
• "Three short little statements." (John, 33:21)

Timestamps:

• Introduction to Mark’s Narrative: 20:30–22:19
• Hyperlinks & Typology: 24:10–29:19
• Jesus as New Adam & Authority Over Creation: 29:38–33:21

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4. The Wilderness as an Ongoing Challenge—Sabbath Rest and Future Hope

[Clip from "The Quest for Final Rest" – 7th Day Rest series]

The Discussion:

• Hebrews reads the wilderness wanderings not as distant past, but as a perpetual warning and exhortation for every new generation.
• Psalm 95 is quoted: "Today, if only you would hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
• The Promised Land is depicted as a shadow of ultimate rest—a rest not achieved in Israel’s history, but fulfilled in the Messiah and new creation.
  • "The past is just an instruction for the people waiting to go into the future. Rest." (John, 34:30)
• The narrative rest is unfulfilled because the land, and even entry into it, does not achieve the ultimate Sabbath.
• The future "seventh day rest" is a reality still open to be entered by trust/faith:
  • "There's still a rest that is yet to be entered into—a future rest." (John, 38:08)
• Entry into this rest is both a present experience and a future hope, through faithful trust in the Messiah.

Memorable Quotes:

• "You could get lost in the wilderness too if you don't listen to his voice." (Tim, 35:32)
• "The design of the wilderness narratives in the Torah itself is trying to tell us that the arrival in the Promised Land is an image of the future seventh day rest." (John, 35:50)
• "By the time you get into the Prophets, the land gets expanded out to encompass the whole of creation." (John, 37:00)

Timestamps:

• Hebrews/Psalm 95 Application: 34:30–36:26
• The Land and Final Rest: 36:26–40:10

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• "God's word is what sustains and generates life out of non life." (John, 09:10)
• "So the whole story is leading you to this crisis of like, dude, where's a human partner that will do God's will, that leads to abundant life for themselves and for the many?" (John, 17:31)
• "He doesn't obey the cosmic powers. The cosmic powers are there to come under his rule." (John, 32:06)
• "The Promised Land itself is an image of the ultimate future seventh day rest." (John, 35:50)

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Structure and Flow

1. Opening Theme (00:05–02:22): Michelle Jones sets the stage, describes the "hyperlink" approach, and introduces the wilderness theme.
2. Moses’ Story in Numbers (02:22–19:26): Clip and discussion on Moses’ failure, with analysis drawing thematic connections from Genesis to Messiah.
3. Jesus in the Wilderness (20:30–33:21): Exploration of Mark’s portrayal of Jesus as true human/king, succeeding in the wilderness motif.
4. Wilderness, Hebrews, and Sabbath Rest (34:30–40:19): Clip from '7th Day Rest' connecting wilderness experience as a lasting challenge and hope for future rest.
5. Conclusion (40:19–end): Michelle wraps up and directs listeners to BibleProject resources.

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Takeaways

• The wilderness is not just a physical location but a spiritual space of testing, formation, and reliance on God's word.
• Even the greatest leaders (Moses) fall short, pointing to humanity’s need for the ultimate mediator (Jesus), who uniquely passes the wilderness test.
• Jesus’ successful wilderness experience echoes and fulfills patterns found throughout Scripture, cementing his role as the new Adam and true ruler.
• The biblical narrative invites every generation into a journey through the wilderness, with true rest—the ultimate promised land—not as a physical territory, but as an enduring state of trustful relationship with God.

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Further Exploration

• Episodes Referenced:
  • “Why Couldn't Moses Enter the Promised Land?”
  • “Jesus and the Wild Beasts” (Son of Man Series, Ep. 7)
  • “The Quest for Final Rest” (7th Day Rest Series, Ep. 13)

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For more resources, visit bibleproject.com or download the BibleProject app.

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Note:
Ads, general credits, and non-content remarks were omitted from this summary for clarity and focus.

Transcript

[Michelle Jones]

Hello. Hello. Welcome to the hyperlink episode for the Wilderness. In every theme study, we isolate a biblical topic and then trace its appearance throughout the biblical story. But it's important to remember that these themes all interact with each other, harmonizing and playing off one another throughout the story of the Bible like a beautifully composed piece of music. Today we're going to listen to clips from previous studies where the theme of the wilderness jumps out at us. The wilderness is a harsh and barren place where biblical characters end up either due to their own foolish choices or the choices of others. But God consistently meets people in the wilderness, provides for their needs, and uses this environment to form them into people who can trust him and learn to listen to his voice. Moving forward. How did Moses fail his test in the wilderness? How did Jesus succeed in the wilderness? And how does the wilderness lead us all into final Sabbath rest? That's today on the show. I'm your host Michelle Jones. Thanks for joining us. Here we let's start with a clip from a podcast episode back when we were exploring the scroll of numbers. This is the story of Moses failing his test in the wilderness when he strikes a rock. Now this is a strange and cryptic story, but we'll see that it's the story that helps us meditate on how important it is to listen to and obey the word of God while you're in the wilderness. Even when you're scared or thirsty or just plain fed up. Because God's words are life. We'll also see that this story points us to Jesus where Moses failed to be fully in union with God's voice in the wilderness. Jesus succeeds. Jesus is the one who can lead us through the wilderness and teach us how to live by God's life giving words. This clip comes from the episode titled why couldn't Moses enter the Promised Land? Here's John and tim.

[John]

Numbers, chapter 20. The sons of Israel, the whole congregation came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month and the people stayed at Kadesh. And then this line, there was no water for the congregation. And the people contended with Moses saying if only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord. Why have you brought us out into the wilderness and our animals to die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this wretched place? There's no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates here and there's no water. This is almost identical to how the story of Israel confronting Moses about no water in the wilderness back in Exodus 17. So Moses and Aaron's Response is to come in from the presence of the assembly. They go to the door of the tent of meeting. Great idea. They fall in their faces.

[Tim]

The door would be, would this be right for the holy place?

[John]

Correct. Yeah. This would be walking in front of the altar. That is outside the tent. And they would be walking and kneeling down in front of the first doorway into the holy place of the tent. Yep. And the glory of Yahweh appeared to them in some form, we're not told, either fire or cloud. And Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, take that rod. You, singular, take the rod. And you and your brother Aaron assemble all the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes so that it may give its water. This is how you will bring forth water for them out of the rock and then let the congregation and their beasts drink. So, pretty clear instruction, speak to the rock. Which is kind of a fascinating little scene to imagine. Like, what's he supposed to say?

[Tim]

Take your rod and speak to the rock.

[John]

Okay. Now, the parallel story in Exodus 17 began with the congregation of the sons of Israel camping at the wilderness of sin. The people quarreled with Moses. They're thirsty for water. Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us? What God said to Moses in Exodus 17 was, Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile. Go. I will stand before you on the rock at Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out and the people can drink.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

So there Moses takes the staff and he strikes the rock. And that's how the imagery works here in numbers 20. You can see the parallelism where God says, take that rod. But then there's a twist, which is talk to the rock, which both sounds odd and is kind of a surprise because you're like, oh, last time, what do you need the rod for?

[Tim]

Yeah, what do you need the rod for? And last time, you actually used the rod. So you want to take the rod.

[John]

Totally.

[Tim]

But you're going to speak to the rock.

[John]

Yep. So this is Moses test. Will he do what God says the way that God says it, even if at this moment it seems rather counterintuitive? I think that's what's going on here. So Moses took the rod. This is verse nine from before the Lord, just as the Lord commanded him. So notice how it's drawing attention to Moses did what God commanded in taking the rod. Okay, good. So far, so good. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock. Okay, sweet. That's exactly what God said. To do. Then Moses said to them, listen, you rebels. Are we supposed to bring out water for you from this rock? Then Moses lifted up his hand, and he struck the rock two times with his rod, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. Okay, before we go further, you tell me what you're noticing. And no observation is too simple. This is.

[Tim]

Okay. So he strikes the rock like he did in Exodus. But this time, he wasn't told to strike the rock. He was told to speak to the rock.

[John]

But he does speak, doesn't he?

[Tim]

But he doesn't speak to the rock.

[John]

He doesn't speak to the rock.

[Tim]

He speaks to his people. He's kind of. He's bummed on him.

[John]

Yeah. So he speak to the people, and, you know, he insults them. You rebels. But, you know, they kind of had it coming. Listen now, you rebels. And then notice this. Shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock? So who's that we.

[Tim]

Is he just referring to himself and.

[John]

Aaron on one level? Yep. That seems to be the most natural reading, because he doesn't mention Yahweh. He doesn't mention God. You know, are we, with the help and power of God, going to bring forth water? So this line is really interesting, and it might seem minute to us, but this is not what God told him to do. He's not doing what God told him to do. He doesn't speak to the rock. He speaks to the people, and he hits the rock. So on multiple counts, he's not doing it. And this is just after the narrator highlighted the two things that he did do. That is exactly what God told him to do. So God said, take the rod, gather the people, speak to the rock. So Moses takes the rod, he gathers the people. Do you see how it's designed here to build it up? And then he speaks not to the rock, to the people. So it has the 1, 2, 3, punch that highlights. He doesn't do what God says.

[Tim]

Now, you could kind of forgive him for getting confused. I mean, last time this happened, he was told to strike the rock.

[John]

Yeah, totally. Yeah.

[Tim]

And God said, bring the rod. I can imagine, like, I'm, like, sitting there on Moses, and I'm like, well, I got the rod.

[John]

Yeah.

[Tim]

Last time I struck the rock.

[John]

Yeah, totally.

[Tim]

So I'm gonna strike the rock.

[John]

Yeah, that's right.

[Tim]

What's the big deal?

[John]

Yep, totally. And so I think what the clues that the author gives is that by comparing it to the earlier Exodus 17 story, what we're highlighting is that the Command that God gave in this instance was different. We're not told why, but God didn't tell Moses to do what he did in Exodus 17. He gave him a new set of instructions for this moment. And Moses, he doesn't do what God says. So I think we're back to the theme in the melody, all the way Back to Genesis 1, where God's word is life. God's word is the way to life.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

That's what God speaking 10 times in creation is all about. God's word is what sustains and generates life out of non life. And then in the Eden story, following the word of God is what allows God's partners to continue enjoying the gift of abundant Eden life. So that true life is still a gift from God's word in the Eden story. So that sets up this motif. And so the idea of people doing what God says exactly. And it leads to life, that's a major theme in the Flood story when God gives Noah all the commands about how to build the Eden box. And it's been a major theme here in Numbers, where God said, hey, don't be afraid. Go into the land. I'm gonna deliver the giants into your hand. And the people don't trust. In fact, God's accusation against the people back in rebellion of the spies is exactly the same thing of what God says to Moses here. You didn't trust me and you didn't treat me as the holy one in the eyes of the people.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

Moses is now being given the same consequence that the people got because of the rebellion of the spies. And for the same reason you failed to trust me. You didn't treat me as holy. So I'm with you in terms of. For many years, I had the same reaction of like, what's the big deal? But the design of this story, the two parallel stories that are hyperlinked, are meant to slowly help us focus on the moment that Moses did the opposite of what God told him to do. And you remember how we kind of had this feeling back in Leviticus when the sons of Aaron take the incense, you know, and waltz into the tent like it's theirs to waltz into. And the narrator said, they did what Yahweh had not commanded them to do. And these are the people selected out of the tribe of Levi, who were selected out of the Israelites to be the image of God representatives on behalf of all the people. So the stakes are higher. The closer you operate to the tent, the stakes are higher. And so there's a severe consequence for Moses And Aaron, because of the position that God has elevated them to. And so I think those are all factors that are really there in the text that are highlighting why Moses gets this severe consequence. Moses is, like, the best person we've had in the story so far. He's not perfect, but he's the only character who's ascended to heaven in the biblical story. Oh, except Enoch back in Genesis.

[Tim]

Yeah. Him and God are like.

[John]

They're tight.

[Tim]

Yeah. His right arm is God's right arm.

[John]

Yeah. So the fact that now Moses is excluded from entry into the Eden land, it's a huge blow, man. This is, like, major downer moment in the story.

[Tim]

Yes. Okay. I get it. Like, he didn't do exactly what God said, but it's such a small detail.

[John]

Yeah, totally.

[Tim]

And it's not like God was like, hey, Moses, don't. Don't murder. And he's like, oops, I killed someone.

[John]

Yeah. Though he. Though he did. He did murder somebody. Yeah, yeah.

[Tim]

You know, something of, like, much consequence that's going to, like.

[John]

Yeah.

[Tim]

Have ripple effects throughout the community or something. It was just a small detail of, like, how God wanted to perform this. This miracle.

[John]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Tim]

Why such a. I mean, Moses being disqualified from going to the promised land is a big deal. And it's such a small detail. Are we supposed to learn or think and meditate on that?

[John]

I think so. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't think the takeaway that we should have primarily is, oh, man, like, I'm walking on eggshells with God at all times every day.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

I don't think that's the takeaway.

[Tim]

Why not? It kind of feels that way a little bit.

[John]

I totally. And I can understand why. And why would I say I don't think that's the takeaway? Moses is not an average person. This whole story is about God selecting a special partner out of the many and then giving more. First of all, more generous abundance to them. And also more instruction, more clarity about God's purpose and will and desire.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

And so to those to whom this is. What is it? Spider Man? You know, to those. What is it? With great power.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

Comes great responsibility. I can't believe I'm quoting a Marvel movie at this point in our conversation, but that is naming a dynamic at work in the story. And so what the narrative is doing is it's saying God selects humans, gives them an instruction. They don't do it, and they bring death on themselves instead of life and blessing, which was what was on offer. And then the next generation steps up to the plate. And the biblical story just keeps repeating. So God selects a whole family, and then God selects one tribe out of that family. Then God selects one clan out of that tribe, and it's Moses and Aaron. And they have received more instruction and logged more time with Yahweh face to face, especially Moses, than anybody. And I think that's what we're meant to feel. And, you know, Moses didn't just mistake. I mean, when he gives his speech when God told him to speak, and he does speak, but he doesn't speak to the rock, he speaks to the people. And, you know, he's mad at them. You rebels, and he says, shall we bring forth water for you out of the rock? That's interesting. You know, and this is actually not the first time Moses has showed displeasure and anger about the role God gave him to be the leader of the people. We didn't talk about the story in the podcast Conversations, but back in numbers 11, he actually asked God to kill him. I would rather die than have to lead these people anymore.

[Tim]

It's getting a little cantankerous.

[John]

Totally. So that's at the beginning of their wilderness wanderings, and here we're at the end. So Moses is also depicted as like a character on the edge, along with the people, from the beginning to the end of the wilderness narratives. And then I think we're back to the first point, having gone through that or the first angle, which is to those whom God invests high degrees of power, influence, ability to represent him, God asks for a high degree of adherence to the divine will and instruction. And because what God is after is a human partner who. Whose heart and desire and will is the same as the divine will. Right. A human partner for whom God's will and their will are the same thing. And so now I'm thinking forward to depictions of the ideal servant, like in the book of Isaiah. And there's a big emphasis on how the coming king from the line of David and that suffering servant will love to do God's will. And God's will is their pleasure. And so this is a big meta theme throughout the melody cycling through the Hebrew Bible. And so the fact that Moses has been so in sync with God's will through Exodus and Leviticus, and then here in Numbers, it starts to crack and Moses begins to gripe about God's will. And then here he just straight up doesn't do what God told him to do.

[Tim]

So you're saying if you take all that into account, like his grumbling before, you Read this. And you think he didn't make a mistake. He knew what he was supposed to do and he decided not to do was an act of rebellion. I'm going to do this my own way.

[John]

Yeah. What God says, you didn't have faith in me and you didn't treat me as the Holy One in front of the people of Israel. Those are the two things that God says.

[Tim]

Yeah. He doesn't say like, hey, you forgot a step. You did this on purpose.

[John]

Yes. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So the last thing about why I don't think the takeaway from the story is we're walking on eggshells. The story of Israel selected out from among the nations and the story of the Torah and the prophets is all about how even when God selects a special one out, gives them more instruction, more revelation, more proximity to the divine presence than anybody else, and even they keep repeating the failed choices of Adam and Eve in every generation leading to death. So the whole story is leading you to this crisis of like, dude, where's a human partner that will do God's will, that leads to abundant life for themselves and for the many? And so that is the vocation that falls upon the expected coming royal servant, royal priest that is portrayed in the prophets. And that is exactly how Jesus presents himself and is presented in the Gospels as Israel's representative and humanity's representative. And this is really highlighted in the Gospel of John, where Jesus talks about how he's come to do the will of the Father, and the Father has given everything into my hand, and I do my Father's work. What my Father wants to do, that's what I do. That's a big theme in John, and he's tapping into this right here. Adherence to the divine will leads to true life, even when it looks like death. Yeah, so that's where this theme is going. And so I think where we should walk away from this story is to say, man, what we need is a human partner for God who will do the divine will that leads to life for the many. Because if we don't have that mediator, even Moses can't rescue us, much less ourselves. That's what I think it means to read this in light of the kind of the messianic trajectory of the Hebrew Bible.

[Michelle Jones]

Thanks, John and Tim. I love the reminder that even in times of hardship and uncertainty, faith and patience, trusting in God's word are essential to existing in the wilderness. We'll explore this idea further in our next clip. Specifically looking at Jesus being tested in the wilderness Meditating on a very short passage in Mark. This is right after Jesus baptism, where mark chapter one, verses 12 and 13 read at once. The Spirit sent him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals and angels attended him. What we're about to see is that there is a world of biblical hyperlinks in these few short lines that help us see Jesus as the true human who succeeds in the wilderness and shows he is the ruler of the land and the skies. This clip is from an episode in the Son of Man series titled Jesus and the Wild Beasts. Let's listen in.

[John]

So Mark, chapter one introduces Jesus.

[Tim]

Ooh.

[John]

The first sentence is the beginning of the good news about Jesus. The Messiah. The Christ.

[Tim]

The Christ, yeah. Right.

[John]

So you're the first sentence.

[Tim]

Yeah. And that's the term that the apostles use to refer to Jesus. The title.

[John]

Correct. Yep.

[Tim]

But it's not the term Jesus.

[John]

Yeah, exactly. So then immediately Mark begins his narrative by actually a copy and paste quote from Exodus 23, Malachi 4 and Isaiah 40. Like welds them all together, all about how the prophet said that a messenger, God would send a messenger, a herald to come before the God of Israel showed up personally to both rescue Israel and all humanity. And then the narrative begins, introducing us to John the Baptist as the messenger. As that herald or messenger, Jesus is introduced. He's down by the river, he gets dunked by.

[Tim]

By Johnny.

[John]

By Johnny. Johnny B. We've talked about that baptism story at length in many other discussions. What I want to pay attention to is just this short little detail of what happened to Jesus after the baptism. It's in Mark 1, 12 and 13.

[Tim]

Okay.

[John]

We read immediately the spirit cast out Jesus into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness 40 days being tested by the Satan and he was with the wild beasts and the angels were serving or ministering to him. And then next story, that's it. Yeah, it's over. And then the next story.

[Tim]

Does Matthew have like a longer version of this?

[John]

Correct. Yeah, Matthew and Luke. So it's very interesting. What's often. It's called the temptation. The Jesus temptation narrative of going out into the wilderness. Yeah. And the most well known versions are Matthew's and Luke's, which records a whole.

[Tim]

Yeah, whole back and forth.

[John]

Whole back and forth between Jesus and the slanderer or the devil. It's often translated. Okay, but Mark's version doesn't have a narrative about.

[Tim]

Yeah, what happened.

[John]

Yeah, no, it just gives us two details. Three details. He's in the wilderness. First of all, cast out by the spirit. It's a strong verb.

[Tim]

What do you mean a strong verb?

[John]

Oh, sorry. It's a verb. It's a forceful verb to drive someone out.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

As we're gonna see, it's the verb Mark chooses is very intentional.

[Tim]

Okay, what's the. What is it in Greek?

[John]

Ekballo. Ekballo ebolo means to throw.

[Tim]

Oh, okay.

[John]

And then ek is out. To throw. Out.

[Tim]

To throw out. Yeah.

[John]

So the spirit throws Jesus out into the wilderness, like, see you later, get out of here. Well, or it just drives him. I guess the idea is he had to.

[Tim]

Okay.

[John]

He was forced into the wilderness. Yeah. Detail one, he was there 40 days being tested by the Satan. Detail two, he was with wild animals out there. Detail three, angels were serving him.

[Tim]

That's all Mark gives us.

[John]

And then the next thing is now, after John was taken into custody, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

So in Mark's storyline, you're left to fill in. You're just supposed to know, like, okay, we have Jesus, who's the son. Right. The son of God, Messiah, going out in the wilderness to be tested by the power of evil. And he's with wild animals and angels are serving him.

[Tim]

So going out to the wilderness, that is a biblical motif we've talked about.

[John]

Correct.

[Tim]

And that the wilderness is a place of testing.

[John]

Testing, correct.

[Tim]

Israel goes into the wilderness before they get to the promised land.

[John]

That's right. Cain is driven into the wilderness.

[Tim]

Driven into the wilderness.

[John]

Exiled after he kills his brother.

[Tim]

So that's easy for me to pick up on.

[John]

Yep, yep. And human Adam and Eve are exiled, cast out into the world, into the east of Eden.

[Tim]

Yeah, the forced out.

[John]

Exactly. Right. And in fact, in the old Greek translation of Genesis, when God drives out Adam and Eve and when he drives out Cain, the Greek verb is ekballo. It's exactly the same verb. Yeah. So Mark is placing Jesus's exile into the wilderness on analogy with Adam and Eve's exile into the wilderness.

[Tim]

All those stories should be ringing in my ears.

[John]

Yeah, totally. Except. But also remember, creative inversions, Right? So in Genesis 3 and 4, they.

[Tim]

Screw up and then get pushed out.

[John]

Yeah. It's somebody failing the test, and then they get cast into the wilderness. Here Jesus is cast into the wilderness, and that's the place where he's tested, which is where Israel was tested.

[Tim]

Yeah, well, because Israel's wilderness journey, which was 40 years.

[John]

Yeah, totally.

[Tim]

And this is 40 days.

[John]

Yeah, totally.

[Tim]

They didn't do anything wrong to go into the wilderness?

[John]

No, they were rescued. They were rescued from slavery.

[Tim]

Yeah, but they were in the wilderness for that long because they kept screwing up.

[John]

Totally. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Deuteronomy began saying, listen, this should have been 11 days from Sinai.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

Or from where they sent out the spies, Kadesh Barnea, up to the land, nice little hike. And it took 40 years, so. Yeah, the 40 right there. Okay, so look at how biblical narrative works, dude. This is design patterns. The first story is Adam and Eve tested, failure, exiled into the wilderness. Yeah. Cain, failure in the wilderness. Yes. Both times by beasts and spiritual evil. Yeah, Spiritual evil, depicted as beast.

[Tim]

Got it.

[John]

Then you get Israel exiled in Egypt. By the end of the book of Genesis, you have the family of Jacob.

[Tim]

Egypt's a kind of wilderness in Egypt.

[John]

But the reason they're there is also because the sin of the brothers against Joseph. That's why they're there, ultimately. But God exalted Joseph to be ruler out of his suffering. Then the Israelites are redeemed out of slavery in Egypt, and they're led through the wilderness. And here in the wilderness, God brings little gifts of Eden to them. Like the bread from heaven, which looks just like this. Remember this? The stones of the manna.

[Tim]

The manna looked like.

[John]

Yeah.

[Tim]

Which. What did it look like again?

[John]

Totally. In Exodus 16 and Numbers chapter 11, the manna is described like what it looks like. And it has the color and sheen of those precious stones in the garden of Eden.

[Tim]

That's right.

[John]

And those are the only places in the Hebrew Bible where these words, this precious stone, occurs.

[Tim]

And then the water in the wilderness is to recall the water, that river, Eden. The river.

[John]

Yeah, yeah. So God creating little Eden pockets for his people in the wilderness. And what do they do as they're waiting for the water? They test. They test God, or God tests them by being patient to wait for the water. And of course, Israel fails all of those tests. So here you get Jesus. And so he's like a new Adam. He's a reversal of Cain, and he's a new Israel in the wilderness, not being tested in a garden, but being tested down in the wilderness as all those stories lay on top of each other.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

And then Jesus, just these few lines from Mark just activate. Are supposed to activate all that stuff.

[Tim]

But Mark doesn't tell us that he, like, passed the test. Kind of like Matthew and Luke do.

[John]

That's true. Well, he was being tested by the Satan. We'll talk about the beasts and the angels, and then the Next thing is, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the good news of God. The kingdom of God's at hand.

[Tim]

So you just kind of assume.

[John]

Yeah, he took care of that, I think. Yeah. The narrative logic assumes that, oh, Jesus overcame the test. The test of Adam, the test of Cain, the test of Israel. He's the first human and the first Israelite.

[Tim]

We don't get a story of him failing the test. So you just kind of have to assume.

[John]

You assume he passed. And then in the next line, he's on the scene acting like a boss, like, proclaiming, the King of God is here, and I'm the one bringing it. Yeah, yeah. So he's with the wild beasts. Ah. This detail is not found in Matthew or Luke. It's only Mark's little detail. Yeah, he's with the wild beasts.

[Tim]

They're in the wilderness. I guess there would be beasts out there.

[John]

Yeah, totally. Yeah, that's right.

[Tim]

But yeah, what a strange detail to add.

[John]

Yeah. So then you just have to ask, why would somebody be telling me about Jesus existing coexisting for 40 days with wild beasts out in the desert?

[Tim]

An Adam kind of figure.

[John]

Yeah. There's no other reason that details there.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

Except. Oh, he's. Do you remember there were two narratives about people peacefully coexisting with beasts? And actually now three, now that I think of it. I think I said 2 in a previous conversation. Okay, you got Adam and Eden, Noah and the ark. Noah and the ark. Daniel in the pit.

[Tim]

Oh, in the lion's pit.

[John]

Yes.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

And he's at peace with the. With the lion beasts. Cool. And then Jesus. So in the wilderness, Noah, an Adam, Noah, Daniel figure laid on top of Jesus. For sure. For sure. Brandon Crow is a New Testament scholar who wrote a book, zeroed in on this. It's called the Last the Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels. So it's a whole book on Adam, Adam, son of man, new Adam imagery in the Gospels. So here's how he summarizes the story. In Mark, he says, whereas Adam failed the temptation in the garden and was cast out, Jesus is led by the spirit into the wilderness, a setting associated with Israel's testing and failure. Unlike Adam, Jesus does not fail the test. And in both stories of Adam and Jesus, expulsion is the same Greek word that's used.

[Tim]

Ekballo.

[John]

Yep. Yeah. In the wilderness, Jesus is with the wild animals, but remains unharmed. Which is supposed to strike the reader as Unusual. Yes.

[Tim]

Yeah. Unusual detail.

[John]

Yeah. That's a desert beast. I mean, in biblical times, man Lions.

[Tim]

What kind of wilderness are we talking here?

[John]

Oh, almost certainly the hill country of Judea.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

Yeah.

[Tim]

So we're not talking like Sahara's or something?

[John]

No, kind of like desert. No, this is the same hill country desert that David like.

[Tim]

So there would have been lions, there.

[John]

Would have been leopards.

[Tim]

Probably a lot more than there are nowadays.

[John]

Correct. Yeah. I don't think there's any large predators. Brandon Crow goes on. Jesus peaceful coexistence with wild animals signifies his authority over them. He's kind of taking it that way. And it recalls Adam's dominion over the animals in the garden. Like Adam, Jesus has been granted worldwide dominion, becoming an instrument of God's dominion over the world. And then the angels serving him.

[Tim]

Yeah. What's that about?

[John]

Do you remember in Daniel 7, we. When Daniel was seeing the divine throne? Once he sees the divine throne. This is Daniel chapter seven. Thousands upon thousands were serving him. Myriads upon myriads were standing before him. It's a depiction of the divine council. So Mark is depicting Jesus as a new Adam, but then also as the Son of Man.

[Tim]

He's surrounded by the heavenly hosts and the.

[John]

Yeah, they're his servants. The point is, they're his servants.

[Tim]

Got it.

[John]

He doesn't obey the cosmic powers. The cosmic powers are there to come under his rule.

[Tim]

You know, it's funny, I've always just read that as just this nice detail of like, God was taking care of Jesus, you know?

[John]

Yeah.

[Tim]

But man, it's about Jesus being in charge of the cosmos over even the spiritual beings.

[John]

Yeah. As they'll say in the end of Matthew, the Son of man has authority over the skies and the land. Yeah.

[Tim]

Okay. Wow.

[John]

But here in Mark, he's already has authority over the realm of the skies and the land.

[Tim]

Yeah.

[John]

In the wilderness. It's just nobody else knows about it. Oh, wow. Yeah, man. That flows real. In terms of the Logic of Mark 1, Jesus is identified as the Son in the baptism. Yeah. Overcomes the test in the wilderness.

[Tim]

He's kind of revealed as the, like, true human ruler.

[John]

Yeah. Over the land, namely the beasts. Oh, yeah. And over.

[Tim]

Over the.

[John]

The sky realm. Whoa. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Wow. So in Matthew, Jesus says it explicitly, I have authority over heaven and earth.

[Tim]

Oh, yeah.

[John]

Here in Mark, it's just kind of showing you. He's showing through narrative. Oh, I've never. That's very helpful.

[Tim]

That's really cool.

[John]

Thank you, Mark.

[Tim]

In such a small amount of details.

[John]

Three short little statements. Yeah.

[Michelle Jones]

That clip was from our 2019 series, Son of Man episode seven titled Jesus and the Wild Beasts. Let's wrap up our hyperlink episode with a short clip that connects our wandering in the wilderness to our final hope, rest in the land of promise. This last clip is from our series on Sabbath Rest, the hope of the final, final rest in new creation, the ultimate land of promise. In this clip, Tim and John are reading the letter to the Hebrews, where the author shows us that the wisdom gained in the wilderness is not just for the past, but stands as a challenge to every generation. It warns people not to rebel like the Israelites who perished in the wilderness due to their lack of trust. We'll jump right into this episode after Tim quotes the author of Hebrews referencing Psalm 95, which says, Today, if only you would hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Let's listen in.

[John]

This psalm wasn't just about our ancestors in the past. This psalm is to every generation of Israel who has yet to enter the ultimate seventh day rest. Which is exactly the point that he draws. He says, listen, everybody, let's encourage each other every day as long as it's called today of Psalm 95. Psalm 95 said, Today, listen, listen. The past is just an instruction for the people waiting to go into the future. Rest. So today we have come to share in the Messiah if we hold on to our conviction firmly until the very end. Just like it's been said. Hey, don't be like the people of the wilderness generation. Who were the people who heard and rebelled? Well, it was the people Moses let out. Why did they perish there in the wilderness? Because of their lack of trust, he says. The point is, he reads those wilderness narratives as a challenge and exhortation to every future generation that from the.

[Tim]

You could get lost in the wilderness too.

[John]

Yeah, that's right.

[Tim]

If you don't listen to his voice.

[John]

And you harden your heart, rebel. That's right. And the whole design of the wilderness narratives in the Torah is trying to tell you that the Promised Land itself is an image of the ultimate future seventh day rest.

[Tim]

Say that again.

[John]

The design of the wilderness narratives in the Torah itself is trying to tell us that the arrival in the Promised Land is an image of the future seventh day rest. That is beyond.

[Tim]

How does it do that?

[John]

Well, those rebellion narratives are a huge, like, wet blanket on the storyline of going into the Promised land. So they go into the Promised land, but it's only the second generation, because all the parents are.

[Tim]

But the second generation get in. So they find the rest.

[John]

Oh, right. In theory. In theory. Until they repeat the sins of their ancestors, and they never really do find the rest in the land. Correct.

[Tim]

And so you're saying. Because there really isn't ever any rest found in the promised Land throughout the whole Hebrew Bible. Throughout the whole Hebrew Bible. You read that and you're clearly like, whatever this promised land rest is, it doesn't happen when you enter the promised land.

[John]

That's right.

[Tim]

And inhabit it.

[John]

That's right. It requires more. That's right. And so the point of Psalm 95 is those past narratives are an image of the future hope.

[Tim]

Someone was just remarking about how the number one promise in the Hebrew Bible is about the land.

[John]

Ah, yes. Yeah, totally.

[Tim]

And then it seems like here, when we're talking about entering the rest, we're referring to the promise of the land. Yeah, but are we talking about the.

[John]

Promise of the land anymore in its narrative sense?

[Tim]

What does that mean? It's narrative sense.

[John]

Oh, well, if you're just in the narrative thinking from the narrative perspective of these characters, it's about the land of Canaan, a place where you can live.

[Tim]

In freedom and abundance.

[John]

That's right. And by the time you get into the Prophets, the land gets expanded out to encompass the whole of creation. When they talk about the land very often. That's right. There's a handful of key texts where that particular plot of land becomes an icon for the whole of the new creation.

[Tim]

That'd be interesting to look at.

[John]

And you can see part of that going on right here. So in Hebrews 4. 6, he says, Listen, everybody, it still remains for some to enter that rest. There's still a rest that is yet to be entered into a future rest.

[Tim]

Now, if you were a Jewish person in the first century reading that, you could think, oh, yeah, we'll get the land back. We won't be occupied, and we'll have abundance and freedom here in this land that was promised to us. Is that what the writer of Hebrews is talking about?

[John]

No, I think he's following a different line, a different line of interpretation. In his mind, the promised land, the actual promised land, what we today call Israel Palestine, is an image of something greater and more and more expansive. But what he's focusing on the seventh day, not the land as such, but for him, it's universal.

[Tim]

I see. So when he says enter the rest.

[John]

Yeah, let's just watch his logic. Okay, let's go back up to verse three of chapter four. So he's contrasting. He's saying, listen, the previous generation, they died in the wilderness. Right, Verse three. Now, we who have Trust we do enter that rest, just as God said. He quotes Psalm 95, I declare it on my oath they won't enter my rest. And then he says this. And yet God's works have been finished since the creation of the world. For you know, somewhere in the Bible it has spoken about the seventh day. With these words he quotes from Genesis 1, on the seventh day God rested from all of his work. But then again, in the passage we're Talking about, Psalm 95, it says, they shall never enter my rest. Do you see what he's doing here? He sees Genesis 1 which says, God rested.

[Tim]

That's his rest.

[John]

But then he reads Psalm 95 and says, but here God's saying, my rest is something yet to come. So which is it? Did God rest in the past, or is the rest to come yet in the future? So he draws the conclusion. Verse 6 it still remains.

[Tim]

There's still seventh day is yet to come.

[John]

Seventh day is yet to come.

[Tim]

But he also said in verse three we have entered it by believing.

[John]

Yeah, that's right. It's something you enter in the present which will come to its ultimate fulfillment in the future.

[Michelle Jones]

That clip was from our 2019 7th Day Rest series, episode 13, titled the Quest for Final Rest. And that's it for today's episode. I hope you enjoyed listening to this hyperlink edition of the Wilderness. You can find links in the show notes to the full episodes we sampled today. Keep an eye out for a theme video on the Wilderness, along with a collection of resources for deeper study. You can find everything on our app [e-mail] Bibleproject is a crowdfunded project. We exist to help people experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus. Everything we make is free because of the generous support of thousands of people just like you. Thanks for being a part of this with us. I'm your host, Michelle Jones, and there's a whole team of people working to bring the podcast to life every week. For a full list of who's involved, check out the show credits in the episode description wherever you stream your podcast [e-mail].