WANDERING

We would like to talk about the subject of wandering.

Webster defines wandering as "to move about without a fixed course, aim, or goal."

There are two types of wandering in the Scriptures and this is what we want to know by the grace of God :
1. Wandering as a FORM OF JUDGMENT.
2. Wandering with PURPOSE.

WANDERING AS A JUDGMENT

Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. (Genesis 4:16) 

This happened after Cain slew his brother Abel. He was judged and was sent out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in Nod. In the Hebrew, "Nod" means wandering or vagrancy (state of having no place to live without lawful, visible means of support). It is a very serious thing to be sentenced to wandering as a judgment!

We would like to know what it means to wander as judgment.

He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,
And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.
They grope in the dark without light,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken man. (Job 12:24-25)

In the KJV, we read:

He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth,and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. (Job 12:24)

Several things to consider here:

1. God takes away their heart. "Heart" here is the Hebrew "leb", which, besides pertaining to the actual heart, also speaks of the "feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything". Instead of giving us a new heart, God leaves us with no discernment, no understanding or knowledge. And this was essentially the case of Cain.

2. God causes them to wander. They go from place to place without any indication or vision as to where they are going. There is no clear pathway or goal.

Satan himself and evil spirits are wanderers:

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." (Job 1:6-7) 

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none." (Matthew 12:43)

The word was also used with respect to the children of Israel in Numbers 14:33:

And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

(Note: NKJV translates this as "And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years")

Here, God is saying since they have failed the ten trials in the wilderness, they will go in the wilderness for 40 years, and the generation who failed the trials will not inherit the promised land.

This brings to us a sobering point: IF WE FAIL OUR TRIALS, GOD CAUSES US TO WANDER, HAVING NO PROGRESSIVE VISION IN OUR LIVES WHATSOEVER.

Let us consider Lot: His life depicts the difference between righteousness and holiness. This man is a warning to us. He is described as a righteous man in 2 Peter 2:7-8:

And delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds).

When he was separated from Abraham, Scripture tells us that he had a choice of where he should go. He was said to have "lifted his eyes" (in Hebrew, it can mean "swept away") and saw the lands of Sodom and Gomorrah. He chose for himself this lush plains even if it means dwelling with unrighteous people.

A holy man would have separated himself from them! There has to be separation. Lot was righteous, but he was not holy.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
(Proverbs 9:10)

The holy ones understand! They know where they are going and they understand the ways of God. The righteous man receives the approbation of God, but he can wander! We need holiness to be preserved. May we heed the warning of God.

Ishmael: dwelt in the wilderness, when he should have just been passing through!

He pours contempt on princes (the magnanimous!), And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way; (Psalm 107:40)

Demas is a striking example of how one can wander off the right path, starting off with a good start, yet ending up having forsaken Paul because he loved the present world (2 Timothy 4:10). He left his God-given vision. Jude 13 describes those who have left the right path as "wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! (Psalms 119:9-10) 

"And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them." (2 Kings 21:8) 

Truly His Word is a light unto our feet, and a light unto our path!

WANDERING WITH PURPOSE

This is a type of wandering God introduces into the lives of those who are righteous and holy, which He does not do as a judgment.

In Genesis 20:13, Abraham testified: "And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house..."

This is a wandering of those who are faithful, even as God's Word calls Abraham faithful (Galations 3:9 KJV). He was wandering in a sense that he moved about without seemingly knowing the purpose or aim at the point of his journeying, and yet God has His purpose. Abraham's journey was a progressive journey.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8)

It was God who caused him to wander.

In Genesis 12:6, Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh.

First, God led Abraham to Shechem and then to Moreh.

Shechem is significant because it reveals God's purpose. It means "shoulder" or "a place of burden". When you begin to be guided by God, a burden comes upon you to fulfill the vision that God is giving you. It is a real burden, you feel it. That is why some who have left God's will for their lives have said that they feel free; they no longer carry the burden. Some people feel that the burden was too much for themselves, that they give up the vision and God's purposes.

When Cain was judged, it was he who said to the Lord: "My punishment is greater than I can bear!" Instead of repenting from what he had done, Cain complained that the judgments of God are too much, saying in effect that He is an unjust God.

When God gives a burden in your heart, do not seek to be free from it! Embrace it. Do not pray it away. Do not compare yourselves with others, and say "How come their burden is lighter?"

So many leaders and even church members can no longer carry the burden the Lord has placed in their lives, and they give up. But in giving up, they go off the path. Jesus said in Luke 9:23: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up (to bear what has been raised) his cross daily, and follow Me."
Our discipler always says: "The cost is high, are you willing to pay the price?"  And then you feel threatened about it. Then she encourages you, "but the rewards are eternal." JESUS IS WORTH IT. JESUS IS WORTH IT.

When God gives a burden, wait until He Himself lifts it up.

The next place that Abraham travelled to was Moreh, and that means "Teacher". It is when we received the burden of the task that God has given us that we are equipped to teach. We cannot teach what we do not practice.

David is another man who had wanderings, even as he declared in Psalms 56:8:

You number my wanderings;Put my tears into Your bottle;Are they not in Your book?

God caused David to wander in the wilderness as he was being chased by Saul, yet this wandering was for a purpose. He was being prepared to be king of Israel!

God may cause the righteous and holy to wander, but it will be a progressive wandering. It might not have purpose when it is occurring, but it will have purpose in the end.

May we be like faithful Abraham. God may cause us to wander in ways we do not understand, but if we are faithful to the vision, He will bring us into the most glorious promises as He did with faithful Abraham.

Most of the above material adapted/directly quoted from Dr. Brian J. Bailey's Book: Homilies Volume 2.