The necessity of the Lord’s people fleeing the society of which they are a part and taking refuge in the wilderness seems so often repeated in scriptural history that perhaps it ought be viewed as a prophetic type. Even the Savior fled association with all others for a wilderness respite prior to the commencement of his ministry.
The wilderness theme bespeaks the need for a clear separation from the powers, authorities, and influences of worldly societies; it suggests faith and trust in God to provide the necessities of life; and it affirms the basic incompatibility between that which is of God and that which is not. In a symbolic sense, all who would desire to number themselves among the children of God find it necessary to leave the refinements of the world and find refuge in the simplicity of that which God created-be it a mountain top or a sacred grove.