Joseph Prince - The Judean Wilderness Where Jesus Was Tempted
From the overlook of the Judean wilderness near Jerusalem, Joseph Prince teaches that this rugged landscape is a powerful parable: drawing near to God is always "going up," while drifting away is "going down." More importantly, the wilderness—called "midbar" in Hebrew—is not a place of abandonment but where God's Word and revelation are found, as seen in the lives of David, Elijah, Jesus, and others who met God profoundly there.
The Topography as a Parable
We’ll start with the map. As you can see, Jerusalem is on the left side and the Dead Sea is on the right. Even though it appears from left to right, we are actually descending down 3600 feet. That’s how high we are from the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on planet earth. Think about that—you are looking at the area of the Dead Sea. Just over there, you can see the beginning outlines of the Dead Sea.
All the way down from sea level to the Dead Sea is about 1200 feet below sea level. That’s why the pilgrims back then, when they went up to the annual feasts, would say, “Come, let us go up to Jerusalem.” The man who went down to Jericho fell among thieves—the story of the Good Samaritan. So, you can see the topography. Every time you go to God, if you’re drawing near to God, you’re going up.
Like Jonah: Jonah went down to Joppa, then he went down to the port, then he went down to the boat. In fact, he went down into the sea. Every time you leave God, it’s down, but when your heart is towards the Lord, even after the first word of prayer to Him, you are going up. You’re ascending out of your troubles. I feel that even the topography itself is a parable that God wants us to learn from.
Viewing the Judean Wilderness
I lift my eyes unto the hills—from whence comes my help. There’s so much that clicks when you are here and see the topography of where we’re standing. We’re on, in essence, Mount Scopus. We’re right near the Mount of Olives—on the back side, looking east now. This is kind of north in my view, and towards the east.
When you think of the Judean wilderness, it’s hard not to think about Jesus and how the temptation would have been somewhere in this Judean wilderness. You can see Jericho from here—it’s way down there—but the mountain of temptation is just towards the left. You’ll find the proposed site where Jesus was tempted.
Jesus Succeeds Where Adam Failed
I think that’s a beautiful story. The fact that Satan tempted Jesus and he succeeded in an environment that was like desert—sparse, nothing there—Jesus obeyed. Adam sinned in an environment of plenty. He was surrounded with all kinds of resources and fruits that delight the heart of man, and yet he fell.
So, Jesus, the last Adam, succeeded where the first Adam didn’t. By one man’s sin, death reigned, but for those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign through Jesus Christ.
A Greened-Up Wilderness
I think it’s kind of funny that we’re here in what would be called a Judean wilderness overlook, yet I see a very modern highway, a very modern part of the city, some freeways—and wouldn’t you know it—two weeks ago, it rained like cats and dogs here, so everything looks green. We’re trying to show this barren wilderness, and it’s filled with animals grazing, green grass.
The idea that we’re roughly at about 3600 feet here near Jerusalem, and the Dead Sea at 1300 feet below sea level is an amazing contrast. On a slightly clearer day than today, you’re looking at the country of Jordan, the Jordan River valley. So, Jesus’ baptism was just over here. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho just over here. The crossing of Joshua and the journey of Israel was also here. Elijah—the crossing was just here.
Biblical Events in This Area
David in En Gedi hiding in the caves. Jesus’ baptism. The Pharisees and Sadducees would have come down this now modern road—probably just a trail back then—to find John the Baptist and say, “Under whose authority are you preaching?” He would have been preaching just down here on the other side of the Jordan valley.
And also a place called Aenon—there was a lot of water there. The Bible says he baptized there, but John the Baptist pointed to Jesus.
Behold the Lamb of God
All those years of offering lambs as sacrifice—when you bring a lamb to the temple, it’s obvious why you are there: you have sinned. The priest does not look at you; the priest looks at the lamb. It’s not how bad you are; it’s how good your lamb is. He would check for blemishes, and then the lamb is killed in your place.
But before that, you’re supposed to lay your hands on the lamb. It’s as if all your sins are imparted into the lamb, and all the lamb’s spotlessness and righteousness is imparted into you. Finally, lamb after lamb, year after year, thousands of years passed—then Jesus came. And what did John say? “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
So, we put our trust in Jesus. It is like putting your hands on the head of the lamb—all your sins are imparted to Him, and all His righteousness comes on you. You get what you don’t deserve because on that cross, Jesus got what we actually deserved.
The Father’s Affirmation at Baptism
He was baptized in the lowest place on earth, and when He came out of the waters—I love the way the Bible writes it. It’s not found in your King James Bible, but in the Greek, it says God opened the heavens to Him. It’s like heaven was waiting on the delight of the Father.
He came out of the waters and the Father says, “You are My beloved Son. In You I am well pleased.” Having not done any miracle yet—His first miracle was turning water into wine in Cana of Galilee—He had not done any miracle. The Father affirmed Him.
I think we need to do that for our children, especially to affirm them. And then, I believe that when they hear the Father’s approval—“You are My beloved son. I love you, son”—they’ll go out and win the fight of life. Right there, after that, Jesus went into the fight of life. He was tempted by the devil.
The Meaning of “Midbar”
When we come here and look at the Judean wilderness and think about all the heroes of faith that we grew up reading about in Sunday school—David, John the Baptist, Elijah, Elisha, and all the great stories of Joshua and the opening of the River Jordan—imagine God slapped back the river all the way to the city of Adam. They probably saw a pillar of water moving right in the air and the crossing of the River Jordan here.
I think about the fact that they spent so much time in the wilderness. All the men of God, all the heroes of faith—David especially—spent a lot of time in the wilderness. We think of wilderness in our Western mind as a desert where nothing can grow, but in the wilderness, if the rain comes—you’ll find, just a few weeks ago, now there’s rain—it turns green.
In the Hebrew, that’s actually a name of a book of the Bible in the Old Testament. We call it Numbers, but actually we go by the numbering system of the twelve tribes and all that. The name there in Hebrew is Bamidbar, which means “in the wilderness.” The root word of Bamidbar is related to the word—the Word of God.
So, think about it: “in the wilderness” is from the Word of God. You go find the Word of God in the wilderness. For us today, when we are faced with a wilderness experience—it’s a time of wilderness for me—actually, it’s a time where you find the Word of God. The Word of God is found in the wilderness.
The sheep graze in the wilderness because it’s a picture of us ruminating on the Word of God. They are ruminants. They will lie down—He makes me to lie down in green pastures and meditate, chewing the cud. Cows and sheep chew the cud. Do we chew the cud? We receive God’s Word. We go to a place where you can just be alone with God.
Embracing the Wilderness
At home, it might be difficult—it might be a private room somewhere—but be in that place of wilderness, or you might be going through a time of wilderness. But in that place, you will find the Word of God.
The word midbar—to the average Hebrew speaker—is a good thing. It’s where you go to get the Word of God, to hear the Word of God. So, a wilderness experience can be embraced. It can be something that you look to rather than running from.
That’s exactly what David did. He would seek out the wilderness. That’s what Elijah did. Sometimes God would tell the prophet, “Go here. Go there,” and it’s an area of wilderness. So, instead of just saying that I’m now in a wilderness experience maybe because of my sin—actually, back in those days, they would seek out the wilderness to find the Word of God.
It’s completely opposite in our modern time. God is saying, “The wilderness, the loneliness, is a time where you can come and I’ll be there with you.”
The Devil’s Temptation and God’s Love
Jesus was alone when He was tempted by the devil. It’s something very interesting that the devil actually tempted Him by the common denominator: “If You are the Son of God… If You are the Son of God, turn the stones… If You are the Son of God, do this.” Notice that he dropped out one word. He left off the word “beloved” because the Lord had just come out of the River Jordan and the Father said, “You are My beloved Son.”
The devil cannot use that word because it’s counterproductive for him to remind you that you are God’s beloved. And that’s what I believe our responsibility is—to tell our people that they are God’s beloved. They are loved. We want them to love God. We want them to be loving people. Let them experience being loved. We love because He first loved us. Unless we know we are loved, we cannot love. Those who love best are those who are loved best, and they know it.
Finding Revelation in Dry Times
Perhaps you are going through what is termed a wilderness experience. I think many in the church world are very familiar with that term, but usually it’s used in a negative sense—like maybe I’ve done something wrong, I’m going to the wilderness and God is not pleased with me for some reason.
Actually, the men of God in the Old Testament—you’ll find them seeking out the wilderness. This was just dry and plain—I wanted to show you a different aspect of Israel, the dry side—but it turned green because of the rains. So, we are now in the time of spring. It’s during this time that the latter rains of Israel come.
We have the former rain and we have the latter rain. We are the latter rain generation of Jesus Christ. What a timely season for us to be recording this. Rain is also a picture of the Holy Spirit or the Word of God. Just as the rain comes down from heaven and does not go back until it waters the earth, so shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth—it will not return to Me void. It will accomplish that which I please.
So, likewise, during this time of wilderness in your life, look out for the Word of God. Spend time, if you can, hearing messages that are Jesus-centered, grace-based, love-centered, and start finding that word—that one word. Sometimes you hear a lot of sermons or a lot of words going through your head, and all of a sudden—bang—you hear something that your heart just lifts.
Or you’re reading the Scriptures, and a verse just jumps out and grabs you and says, “Pay attention.” That’s the word that God has for you. I look out for those times when I’m studying the Word and a word just jumps out at me. Many times, I just want to finish my chapters—I have five chapters—but that’s wrong. That’s going by the law. But if I stop and hear what the Spirit is saying to that word, I receive so much more.
So, there is a word—and find that word. What you’re going through right now is going to be riches for others. You’re coming through a time where God will enrich you through His Word so that the God of all comfort will comfort you during this time. That comfort by which you are comforted, you will comfort others also. Hallelujah.