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THE "WILDERNESS OF JUDAH"
A. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
This region called Midbar Yehudah (The “Wilderness of Judah) has historically been an area of “retreat.” This region lies east of the Hill Country of Judah and enjoys an all-together difference climate than virtually the rest of Israel. The Wilderness consists of different type of rock: Eocene and Senonian limestone, giving the wilderness a look of barrenness. With the water running west-east from the Watershed Ridge of the Judean Hills, this water over time has carved out many steep cliffs and narrow wadies (“river beds”).
Biblical history seems to indicate to us that the Wilderness was a place of refuge for the wanderer. David and other psalmists seem to be writing their laments frequently from this area, perhaps isolated form the rest of society. In the time of the New Testament, John the Baptist and Jesus Himself spent time here. In fact, it was here where Jesus spent 40 days of temptation. He also traveled “up from Jericho to Jerusalem” through this most difficult territory, ascending nearly a mile in elevation until he reached Bethany and the backside of the Mt. of Olives.
B. BIBLICAL REFERENCES:
1. Job 38:26 “...In the wilderness in which there is no man...a desolate wasteland.”
2. Ps. 23 “...the valley of the shadow of death...”
3. Ps. 29:8 “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness...”
4. Ps. 61:1-3 "Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.”
5. Ps. 63:1 “O God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
6. Ps. 78:52 “The Lord guides us like a flock in the wilderness...”
7. Ps. 102:6 (a prayer of affliction) “I’m like a pelican in the wilderness.”
8. Pv. 21:19 “It is better to dwell in the wilderness than to be with a contentious and angry woman.”
9. Is. 27:10 (referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.) “Cites shall be left desolate as in the wilderness.”
10. Is. 40:3 “The voice of him who cries in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth.”
11. Mt. 3:1 John the Baptist preaches in the Wilderness of Judah.
12. Mt. 4:1f Jesus is tempted in the Wilderness of Judah.
13. Lk. 10:30f The story of the Good Samaritan takes place in the Wilderness, “as a man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho....”
14. Lk. 15:4-7 The Lost Sheep parable - one is left in the wilderness.
C. ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS OF INTEREST
1. ROMAN: Generally with the exception of some of the cites located in or near the Wilderness, archaeological finds are minimal. However, occasionally one can see portions of the original Roman Road that extended between Jericho (in the Jordan Valley) and Jerusalem.