17 Bible Verses about Wilderness

Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water.

They departed from Pi-hahiroth and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They took a three-day journey into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

He entered a cave there and spent the night. Then the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life." Then He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord's presence." At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. read more.
After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. When Elijah heard [it], he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" "I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts," he replied, "but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they're looking for me to take my life." Then the Lord said to him, "Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. You are to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. But I will leave 7,000 in Israel-every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him." Elijah left there and found Elisha son of Shaphat as he was plowing. Twelve teams of oxen were in front of him, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah walked by him and threw his mantle over him. Elisha left the oxen, ran to follow Elijah, and said, "Please let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you." "Go on back," he replied, "for what have I done to you?" So he turned back from following him, took the team of oxen, and slaughtered them. With the oxen's wooden yoke and plow, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he left, followed Elijah, and served him.

The Lord responded, "I have pardoned [them] as you requested. Yet as surely as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord's glory, none of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested Me these 10 times and did not obey Me, read more.
will ever see the land I swore to [give] their fathers. None of those who have despised Me will see it. But since My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me completely, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the lowlands, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea." Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: "How long [must I endure] this evil community that keeps complaining about Me? I have heard the Israelites' complaints that they make against Me. Tell them: As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness-all of you who were registered [in the census], the entire number of you 20 years old or more-because you have complained about Me. I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for 40 years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie [scattered] in the wilderness. You will bear the consequences of your sins 40 years based on the number of the 40 days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know My displeasure. I, the Lord, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against Me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die." So the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and who returned and incited the entire community to complain about him by spreading a bad report about the land- those men who spread the report about the land were struck down by the Lord. Only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to scout out the land. When Moses reported these words to all the Israelites, the people were overcome with grief.

During the second year, in the second month on the twentieth [day] of the month, the cloud was lifted up above the tabernacle of the testimony. The Israelites traveled on from the Wilderness of Sinai, moving from one place to the next until the cloud stopped in the Wilderness of Paran. They set out for the first time according to the Lord's command through Moses. read more.
The military divisions of the camp of Judah with their banner set out first, and Nahshon son of Amminadab was over Judah's divisions. Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the Issachar tribe, and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the Zebulun tribe. The tabernacle was then taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting the tabernacle. The military divisions of the camp of Reuben with their banner set out, and Elizur son of Shedeur was over Reuben's division. Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of Simeon's tribe, and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. The Kohathites then set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival. Next the military divisions of the camp of Ephraim with their banner set out, and Elishama son of Ammihud was over Ephraim's division. Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh, and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin. The military divisions of the camp of Dan with their banner set out, serving as rear guard for all the camps, and Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was over Dan's division. Pagiel son of Ochran was over the division of the tribe of Asher, and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali. This was the order of march for the Israelites by their military divisions as they set out. Moses said to Hobab, son of Moses' father-in-law Reuel the Midianite: "We're setting out for the place the Lord promised: 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel." But he replied to him, "I don't want to go. Instead, I will go to my own land and my relatives." "Please don't leave us," Moses said, "since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes. If you come with us, whatever good the Lord does for us we will do for you." They set out from the mountain of the Lord on a three-day journey to seek a resting place for them, with the ark of the Lord's covenant traveling ahead of them for the three days. Meanwhile, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp. Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say: Arise, Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, and those who hate You flee from Your presence. When it came to rest, he would say: Return, Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels began to serve Him.

Then Jesus returned from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

He found him in a desolate land,
in a barren, howling wilderness;
He surrounded him, cared for him,
and protected him as the pupil of His eye.