In this enlightening episode of Discovering the Jewish Jesus, Rabbi Schneider dives into the profound topic of embracing your wilderness. Often we find ourselves in lonely, challenging places, questioning the path ahead. Rabbi explains that these wilderness seasons are not wasted time but divinely appointed opportunities for personal growth and deeper faith. Drawing wisdom from Deuteronomy and the journey of the Israelites, Rabbi Schneider emphasizes that our trials are blessed with potential and purpose when viewed through the lens of faith.
Hello and welcome to our 1000th weekday episode of Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I’m Dustin Roberts, your host today as Rabbi Schneider explains how to make it through your wilderness season. Waiting on God to move us out of the desert, it can really be frustrating sometimes. But instead of being bitter about our situation and our circumstance, the question could be, how do we handle better the actual season we’re in? Well, that’s the question that Rabbi Schneider is going to explore today in our study on the wilderness. And if you’d like to learn more about Rabbi and this ministry, You can visit us online 24 seven at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now here’s Rabbi with today’s message.
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Many of you, even as I’m speaking, are finding yourself in a place of real loneliness or a place of loss or a place of struggle. Maybe you’ve even lost a job or a loved one, but you’re at a season in your life right now that you would identify even yourself as a wilderness. I want you to know Your wilderness is not something that’s lost. In other words, there’s nothing that’s wasted in our lives in the economy of God. Everything that His elect ones go through, He uses. Isn’t that a blessing to know that nothing in your life that you ever go through would just be a waste because the Word says that He causes all things that father God, causes all things to work together for good to those that love him and are called according to his purpose. Your wilderness is not wasted time. It’s not a season in your life that didn’t matter, that didn’t count. No, in fact, as I’ve been saying, there’s things that Father God is doing in your life right now through King Jesus and the Holy Spirit that he can’t do when things are going well. You see, the wilderness seasons in our life, beloved, are appointed by God. We’ve been using as our primary text for this series, Deuteronomy chapter 8. In Deuteronomy chapter 8, God tells the children of Israel through Moses the reason that he had them in the wilderness for 40 years. I’m just going to read two of those verses right now to set the stage, beloved, for today’s ministry. Hear the word of God, Deuteronomy 8, verse 15 and 16. Moses said… He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water. He brought water for you out of the rock of Flint. In the wilderness he fed you manna, which your fathers did not know. Hear it now, that he might humble you and that he might test you, hear this last phrase, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise you may say in your heart, my power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. Father God had it in his purpose to bring Israel through the wilderness to prepare them for the blessing that he was about, beloved one, to bring them into. And I want to say to you today, don’t waste your wilderness. Because if you don’t go through the season in your life right now, the one that you’re in, the wilderness that many of you are experiencing, if you don’t go through it rejoicing, and praising God, what’s going to happen is the wilderness period is going to be extended. It’s going to be made longer. Or you’re going to have to go through another one because you didn’t receive and learn what Father God had intended you to receive and hoped you would receive during this wilderness for you. You see, James told us in James 1, 1 through 4, when you go through a trial, rejoice. knowing that it’s producing endurance in you, which is making you complete. You see, if you’re going through a wilderness right now, beloved one, and don’t have a positive attitude towards God and towards your family and towards your loved ones, if you don’t walk through it right, what’s going to happen is Father’s going to probably have to bring you into another wilderness until you get it right. because He can’t bring you in to the fullness of what He has for you and I until we receive what He wants us to receive that can only be received in the wilderness. You see, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 8 and 9 this, he said, I’d have you know, brethren, He said that I am burdened excessively beyond my strength. That was a wilderness. It was a challenge. He said I’m burdened with such tremendous weight of circumstances in my life right now, it’s beyond my ability to bear it. He said, but this happens to me, get it now, that I would learn to trust in God that raises the dead. In other words, even as the Lord taught Israel of his supernatural provision, why they were in the wilderness, by bringing forth water out of the rock, by supernaturally providing man on the ground. So Paul was in a circumstance in his life that he couldn’t deal with it in his own resources. There were no earthly answers. He had no earthly crutches, and he said this was happening to him so that he could find the power of God that raises the dead in the midst of the circumstances, that he was going to experience God’s supernatural provision in his life in the circumstances so that his faith would rest, beloved, not in the word of man, but on, hallelujah, the power of God. I want to give you a very powerful application now as you’re walking through this wilderness. And I know, beloved one, that many of you are wanting to go through this faithfully. So listen to this very important principle. When you’re in the wilderness, stay flexible. I’M GOING TO GO NOW TO THE BOOK OF NUMBERS, CHAPTER 9 AND 10. AND WHAT WE’RE GOING TO SHOW YOU HERE IS THAT AS THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE IN THE WILDERNESS BEING LED, BELOVED ONE, BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD AS A GLORY CLOUD BY DAY AND A PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT, THEY HAD TO STAY VERY FLEXIBLE IN ORDER TO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD OUT OF THE WILDERNESS. So I’m going to be reading a fairly lengthy portion of Scripture, but this is very important, because the same Spirit, beloved one, that manifested Himself as a glory cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, that same Spirit lives in you. It was the Spirit of Jesus manifest in physical form. So the way that He led the children of Israel is the same way that he leads God’s children today, although we can’t see him physically and visibly. Hear the word of God. I’m beginning now, Numbers chapter 9 in verse number 15. Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud, this is the glory cloud, covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and in the evening, it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle until morning. So again, in the day it was a glory cloud of light, and in the evening it turned into a pillar of fire. Verse 16, so it was continuously. The cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out. And in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. At the command of the Lord, the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of the Lord, they would camp. As long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. Now what’s going on? When they say they camped and moved at the command of the Lord, what was the command of the Lord? It was whether the fire and the cloud stayed or whether it moved. When it stayed, they stayed. When the cloud or fire moved, they moved. That was the command of the Lord. Continue in verse number 19. Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, The sons of Israel would keep the Lord’s charge and not set out. Now, some of you are tempted to run out of your wilderness. You’re trying to make things happen. You’re trying to change the circumstances. You’re trying to get out of your circumstance. And maybe that’s what God wants you to do. But if it’s not God that’s causing you or leading you to do something, just stay where you’re at and wait for Him to lead you and Him to move you. This is what Moses is telling us here, that when the cloud stayed, even if it stayed for a while, they stayed. They only moved when it moved. So don’t take matters into your own hands. Get settled in the Spirit of God and let Him lead you. Let’s continue on in verse 20. If sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, according to the command of the Lord, they remained camp. Then, according to the command of the Lord, they set out. If sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out. Or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. Now listen to this next verse. Very powerful. Verse 22. Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out. But when it was lifted, they did set out. At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. What does this mean? Don’t waste your wilderness by taking matters into your own hand. If God is leading you to do something in your wilderness to create new circumstances and to birth a new reality, don’t sit in the wilderness and do nothing. Do what the Spirit is leading you to do. Otherwise, you’re going to stay in that wilderness forever and possibly die there.
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You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi Schneider will be right back. But first, it’s our 1000th radio program. And to celebrate, here’s some testimonies from listeners just like you who’ve been touched by this program.
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I’ve learned so much from you. I feel like I’m going through a major transformation with my faith. God’s working in me. Thank you so much for connecting me and others to draw close to our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Rabbi, your teachings have helped me grow in my faith and become much more mature as a follower of Messiah.
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God is using you to help me in my life. I am so grateful for His power in and through you.
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We are so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to reach this incredible milestone with you. And to those who support us, your financial gifts, your prayers, they make this possible. Thank you. We couldn’t do it without you. And now back to Rabbi.
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Some of us have a nature that we’re always running ahead of God, and the point is, if you have a nature that’s always running ahead of God, and you’re finding yourself right now in a difficult set of circumstances, perhaps there’s things God wants to teach you in these circumstances, you need to stay where you’re at, Let him teach you what he wants to teach you rather than trying to escape where you’re at and missing the opportunity to be blessed, beloved one, and to receive what he has. Don’t waste your wilderness. You see, sometimes I’m thinking of young people. Young people today are different than some of you that are a little bit older. And you know, when you were growing up, many of your mindset was, you know, you’re gonna work hard, you’re gonna save, you’re gonna eventually get your first house, it’s gonna be a small house. Then when you’re older, maybe 40 or 50, you know, you’ll get another house and so on and so forth. And you build your way up. But you know, so many of the young people today, they want the house that it took you 40 years to earn and save, they want to get it overnight. They want everything right now, everything so fast. Now I’m not picking on our young people, I just think it’s the way our society is today. Everybody wants everything so fast. It’s the quick fix society, fast food, fast this, fast that. Now we even go into restaurants, we don’t even have to wait for the waiter or the waitress. We order at the table in some kind of computer so they can get us the food faster. The point I’m making is this. Sometimes young people today, I’m speaking to you if you’re a young person, beloved one. You get your first job, and maybe what Father wants to accomplish in your life in your first job is to teach you a work ethic. Maybe He wants to teach you how to be faithful to your job. be faithful to your employer, learn how to discipline yourself, to show up at work on time, do a good job, work unto the Lord. For a father got to build character in your life before he promotes you to the next job. But oftentimes what happens, because of the culture today, People get into their first job, and after two weeks they’re just settled, they’re already looking for another job. They’re not allowing Father God to build in their life what He wants to build in that place that may feel like a wilderness, which is faithfulness, a work ethic, learning how to work hard, to be patient, Listen, let’s not run ahead of God. Let’s not try to escape our wilderness if Father has a purpose for us being there, because to run from it only means to prolong the pain, because what He’s going to do is He’s going to discipline every one of His children. And if you and I keep on running from our pain without receiving what He wants to give us in the pain, We’re just going to keep on finding ourself in painful circumstances because we’re never going to learn and receive what we can only learn in a painful wilderness experience. Capisce? You understand what I’m saying? Let’s do what the children of Israel did and learn how to move at the command of the Lord and stay at the command of the Lord. You know, the Bible says, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. I’m just going to pray for us now. Father God, I know that those that are listening right now, Father, almost all of them, they want to follow you. Father, they want to love you. They want to obey you. But Father God, in some of our lives, the flesh is ruling. The spirit of the age is having dominion. Father, we thank you that you discipline every son and daughter that you receive. Father, we ask you for your discipline in our life. We want to be trained, Father, in righteousness. Father, discipline us and teach us how to do what the children of Israel did in Deuteronomy 8. Father, that we can move when you’re leading us to move. and we can stay when you’re leading us to stay. Father, I’m asking you now on behalf of myself and your children, train us to follow your spirit. Father, thank you that you discipline us and that we even learn obedience according to the things that we suffer. Father, you’re the potter and we’re the clay. Father, we ask you to have your way in our life. Abba, your word says that in the day of God’s power, man is made willing. Father, we want to be willing. Make us willing, I pray. Father, cause each one of us to bend our heart and to bend our knee to the obedience of Yeshua HaMashiach, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father God, we want to be found faithful, walking in that straight and narrow way that leads to life. So Father God, have your way, Daddy, we pray. In Jesus’ name, amen and amen. And so the application, summing up, that I just brought was, in order to move through your wilderness, you have to be sensitive to the Spirit of God, like the children of Israel were. Eventually, the fire and the glory cloud led them into the Promised Land. And the same will be true for you and I. The Father will lead us out of our wilderness in the Lord Jesus by His Spirit as we learn, beloved, how to settle in Him and abide in Him, move when He moves, stop when He stops, so that He can get possession of our souls and so that He can become, listen now, the energy and outflow of our lives. Hallelujah. Praise God. Amen and amen. I wanna talk to you today, beloved, about as you’re in your wilderness, I want you to exercise faith in knowing that God has something more for you than what you’re experiencing right now. You see, the Lord tells the children of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter eight that the reason he had them in the wilderness was that he might do good for them in verse number 16 in the end. The whole purpose of the wilderness, beloved, was to prepare them for the good thing He had for them. Some of you are feeling right now like your wilderness will never end. But I want you to know, beloved one, in some sense, all of us are in a wilderness right now because this earth is not our home. This earth is not our home. The Bible says all of creation right now is crying out to God, waiting for the glory of God to be released. We only see through the glass dimly right now. This world is not our home. You think about the great heroes of our faith in both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus said of the Israelites, which one of the prophets did you guys not kill? You know, Moses said, and this isn’t just about Israel. This is about humanity. This is about all of us. Jesus said that humanity was responsible for his crucifixion. Jesus said, which one of the prophets, he said, did your forefathers not kill? And the same is true today, beloved ones. You look at Paul. What happened? Paul spent most of his life in prison. We read the life of the apostles. Many of them, if not all of them, were martyred. The point is, is this world is not our home. All of us are, in a sense, in the wilderness here. The scripture says that eye is not seen, an ear has not heard, and never has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love Him. And so God has something great in store for us. You see, the patriarchs of old, Moses was struggling with Israel. He said, you know, I know that when I leave, you’re not going to obey. You’re not going to listen because you’re a stiff-necked people. The same thing is true of all of us today, beloved. This world is not a perfect place, and it’s a hard place, and the people around us are not perfect, and we ourselves are struggling for perfection we’ve not attained. So we’re all groaning right now, reaching out for something more, believing for more, and we should and we must because Jesus said… If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. That eye has not seen, An ear is not heard and neither has it ever entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love him. You may be in the twilight years of your life. Maybe you’re in a place right now when you’re in your home and you can’t get around much and you’re having a hard time getting along because of your frailness due to your age. And you might wonder, well, what’s left for me? I want you to know there’s a lot left for you. Jesus said, I go and prepare a place for you. If it were not so, I would not have told you I am going to come again and I’m going to receive you for myself. So, beloved, I want you to rejoice. I want you to know that God has blessing in store for every single one of us. And that as you and I walk through our wilderness experiences faithfully while we’re on this earth, we’re building up for ourselves treasures in heaven. And I hear Jesus saying, I am coming soon. I am coming back quickly to reward to each man according to what he has done. Don’t waste your wilderness. Stay in faith. Stay faithful. God’s with you and he’s imparting something into your life right now that you can receive no other place. Beloved, it took a lot of time, resources, and being educated to be able to dig deep into the Word of God in order to bring you these teachings. And I want to thank those of you that are supporting this ministry that have created a situation where I’m able to invest myself in the Word of God the way that I do. Because of you that are partnering with this ministry, we’re able to bring teachings like these to God’s people all over the world. And as a result, the church is being built and people are coming to faith. If you’re not already a monthly partner or sowing financially into Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and the Lord is bearing witness with your heart right now that there’s something unusual about this ministry, I want to ask you if you would prayerfully consider sowing into discovering the Jewish Jesus today. Beloved, because of you, people are being saved and changed, and you’re going to be blessed for every sacrifice that you make with a pure heart unto the kingdom of God.
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Amen. And as the Lord leads you to support Discovering the Jewish Jesus today, go online. Our website is discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Or if you’d like, you can give by calling us at 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. And friends, as you know, we’re celebrating a remarkable 1000th program on the radio. And we are so moved by the countless lives that are being touched each and every day through this ministry. Listeners like Brenda, who says that she loves the programs and she shares them with her neighborhood and even with women at the local pregnancy center. and so many other listeners who leave kind words and testimonies that remind us of the profound impact these teachings are having. And it’s all thanks to those of you who are giving donations and our monthly partners. Thank you all so much for allowing us to reach people in your community and beyond your community. Thank you, thank you. We’re really grateful that God has been so good and allowed us to have this milestone. So here’s to the next 1,000 weekday episodes. And friends, if you wanna help us reach that milestone and more, I wanna encourage you, keep supporting us. And if you haven’t ever supported us, or maybe you’d like to go beyond just supporting us and become a monthly partner, I wanna encourage you, do that today. When you do, you’ll receive our latest newsletter, which features exclusive content and ministry updates. And for new monthly partners, you’ll receive a handcrafted shofar made in Israel. You can partner or donate at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now, as we’ve done for the first 1,000 shows, here’s Rabbi again with God’s special blessing, the Aaronic blessing, to pray it over you. Rabbi?
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Blessings trump curses. And in the book of Numbers, chapter 6, we find the Aaronic blessing that God commanded Moses’ brother Aaron, the high priest, to speak over the children of Israel. There’s power in blessing, beloved ones. So take part in receiving Father’s blessing upon your life today.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.
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I’m your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again next time when Rabbi Schneider shares some prayers that resonate with God. That’s Tuesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
