Genesis 2:8-15
God Creates The Garden of Eden
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Exodus 13:18-22 (KJV)
God Leads His People in the Desert
18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.
20 And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
Deuteronomy 5:1-33
Moses Receives the Ten Commandments at Horeb
1 Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our fathers that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:
6 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
7 “You shall have no other gods before me.
8 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
16 “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
17 “You shall not murder.
18 “You shall not commit adultery.
19 “You shall not steal.
20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
22 These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leading men of your tribes and your elders came to me. 24 And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him. 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. 26 For what mortal man has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? 27 Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.”
28 The Lord heard you when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. 29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!
30 “Go, tell them to return to their tents. 31 But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.”
32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
Acts 17:26-27
God is Not Far From Each of Us
26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Matthew 1:23
God is With Us through His Son
23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
God created the beautiful Garden of Eden, and that was the home of Adam and Eve...It was there home, and a green, fertile, comfortable place, until they fell from grace with their sin of eating the forbidden fruit...
Later Moses would lead God's people and it would be in a place far different than the greenery and colors of Paradise...God's people would be in a barren, desolate desert...And they would wander this desert for forty years...Of all places to lead One's people, I have often thought and wondered why a desert?...Why not green grass, lots of plant life, nice trees, or why not near the earth's poles with snow and ice, with the cold and harshness of winters and wintry weather?...
God knows what experiences and trials each of needs to grow as we move along the path of life...And He knows that a lifetime of experiences molds us into who we are...We will have good times and we will have some desert-type times...And he is near us in all our times...But do we actually realize this, and is there a time we actually seek Him more?...
In His wisdom our LORD chose the desert, to teach His people and us lessons...He chose the Near East and Mid East desert to be His place and the place He would teach His people to become the nation of Israel...This disciplining process took many, many years and would take place in a desert, and that desert would always be remembered...It would be the desert of God...And Mount Horeb would be always linked to His name...Mount Horeb is the Mountain and linked to our Ten Commandments...The Ten Commandments were received in the desert...The God, we have and believe in, is a moral God...One who believes in each individual human and in human rights...He wants people to act morally and ethically...And our LORD and His revelations (and our Ten Commandments) are forever attached to the desert...
God gives us many lessons from the desert...The desert is not a place of great comfort...With little green or plant life and animals, the desert can be desolate and make us feel alone...And maybe, God chose the desert, because the desert is without water and with little food...With little protection from the heat during the day...And the desert nights can be cool and relenting...We often need help in the desert, and water is one of the essential things needed...And with both food and water scarce, the desert can take its toll on people...In the desert water and food must be sought out to survive...The desert can be brutal...And maybe that is why God chose the desert...He wants us to trust Him and need Him, not only when things are nice, like in Eden, but when we have troubles and need help -like the time or times in a desert (and His people would be there for years)...Maybe He wants us to learn to persevere, and not to expect all of our answers and our needs to come quickly and easy...Often the things we desire must wait...We must learn patience...
God would lead them...He would lead and go before His people...He went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; He went with them by day and night...He provided them the protection of a cloud in the hot desert heat, and at night the fire would be light...It gave His people light and any heat they needed to keep warm or cook their daily bread...
God is always with us and near us...He wants us to learn from our experiences, and it seems (at least to me) we learn more and better through the experiences of some sufferings, some griefs, some times of unpleasantness, some times of being alone -our desert-like times...It seems He wants us to be at least a little tough, because to live for years in the desert takes a mental and physical toughness...Our tough times are not the most pleasant, but during these times we realize that, if we really believe in Him, that we must trust Him and love Him...We need Him...And during a life time of all our experiences of our good and times of trials, we better understand His wisdom, and in knowing that He has taken care of us and been near us all the time...In the green growing comfortable places maybe we just don't feel that great need for Him, like we do when we have those desert-like times in our lives...