First, because increasingly we find ourselves living in an ecologically conscious environment. Wilderness has new meaning. Wild places are taking centre stage.
Second, because Wilderness and the experience of wild places is a key theme in the Bible and particularly in the Old Testament. One scholar has described at as ‘the single most informative experience in the creation of the Jewish people’ (Carol Ochs) and another (Ulrich Mauser) says that without it the development of religion in the Old Testament would be unintelligible.
In the Old Testament it comes in both background and narrative in the exodus, in Elijah, in the exile, even in Job and Jonah. In the New Testament it features prominently in John the Baptist and Jesus. As a personal encounter it surfaces in one character after another, from Hagar to Paul and all stations in between, in the prophets, often as a spiritual metaphor, and as a physical phenomenon in the Writings, especially the Psalms.
In presentation and interpretation it is multi-faceted. One day it is negative, a hostile environment, provoking fear. Another day it is a place of hope and encouragement as the voice of God penetrates the horror — a veritable expression of grace as the wilderness purifies and the experience transforms. Ultimately it is an expression of God himself, the alpha and the omega, creation in Genesis and fulfilment in Revelation, to be treated with awe and respect.
In twelve days it is impossible to explore the whole range of interpretation. All we can do is throw out a line here and there, focus on a few incidents, explore them, and so encourage the reader to find similar ideas in other places.