PATHWAYS OF THE PROPHETIC- THE WILDERNESS

THE WILDERNESS

“And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.” (1 Nephi 2:2)

In the science of Israel, the wilderness is a method for the purification from the ego or carnal man.  Journeying in the wilderness leads to the gradual attainment of the Land of Promise meaning the personal embodiment of the desires and characteristics of God; i.e. we are created or recreated in the image of God.  This image is the vessel of pure love (tzedekah or charity) that comes from God and that is bestowed upon others.  The wilderness itself is a symbol of profound humility and dependence upon God.

What is the significance of the wilderness in our life?  The wilderness is the place of the klipoth, the barrier, or the veil.  It represents a state that is not abundant in the material resources or of the natural life force, but is the place where God gave sustenance- the Torah and his light. The wilderness represents humility. It represents the opposite the place of the spiritual man as opposed to the carnal man or the ego.   It is a place of emptiness where the vessel is made clean to receive all the gifts that God wants to bestow. In like manner it represents our personal wilderness where we become empty and not consumed with ourselves and the things of this world.  If we want to be able to feel the image of the light of God in ourselves, the only condition where this occurs is that of being in a spiritual wilderness. Our ego or the carnal man is that which separates us from God.

How do we accomplish or what do we need to do to become like the wilderness?  How do we behave or have the spiritual mindset of the wilderness? The best way to understand the wilderness of God is to compare it with its opposite- Jerusalem, the city, or the World.

The Carnal City/World VS. The Spiritual Wilderness

Our ego wants us to feel like we are someone and that we have means and worldly significance represented by our wealth	In the wilderness our vessel is filled and consumed with the things of this world.
Apathetic of and not being open to listen from everything that God seeks to communicate.	We are enthusiastic and awe of all the positive little gifts or things of God in our lives.
A Spirit of complaining/murmuring	A spirit of gratitude
We compare ourselves to other people in the city.  In the city we look to other people to fill us up.	In the Wilderness, represents the empty vessel waiting to be filled by the life giving rain of God.
We are lax in doing Good because we are comfortable with our current condition.	The Wilderness represents a condition of discomfort, change, and purification.
In the city our hearts and minds are filled with worries or delusions of grandeur where we have to have our names in the limelight.	In the Wilderness there is nothing artificial or creating false images to fill our minds and cause us to constantly obsess with.
We feel we have to say the last word or prove that we are a person of importance we are not in the wilderness.  We are focused on control and on what we lack or have given up.	In the Wilderness we have no control and realize our utter dependence upon God.
In this state we are spiritually lethargic because we carry with us the concerns and weight of the world.	In the Wilderness the spiritual come to preeminence and the weight of the worlds constructs do not exist.
In the City our confidence or faith comes from our substance, possessions, and wealth.	In the wilderness our confidence or faith comes from the light of God, his sustenance and support.

“And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness. And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him. And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.” (1 Nephi 2: 2-4)

Lehi’s obedience to God led him to willingly depart from the city of Jerusalem into the wilderness.  His leaving of his house, the land of his inheritance, his gold and silver, and other precious things is symbolic of the journey that we must all make from the carnal man to the spiritual man. Descending (or going down) into the wilderness of the spirit we leave behind the artificial things that fill our vessels and keep us from receiving the light of God.  These artificial things come in all sizes, shapes, images, and packages. They are the false gods that keep us from connecting with the true God.  In the first steps of his journey into the Wilderness he took with him the things of the spirit—his family, necessary provisions (bread and water of life), and tents (his place of spiritual connection). The goal of the wilderness was to get Lehi to his roots just as Israel dwelt in tents in the Wilderness of Sinai.  God’s design was to connect him to his roots in Heaven.  As we start to connect with the light from above rather than the stuff provided by the city/world, we cannot imagine the power God can channel through our souls.  We must descend or go down into the Wilderness before we come to the Mountain of YHVH and ascend.

© 2018 Robert Kay

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