One of the clear markers of Lent is the number of days that it lasts—40.
The number 40 has a deep richness in the pages of Scripture. Jesus fasted for 40 days in the
wilderness following his baptism in the Jordan. It was in that space where he also faced great temptation (see Luke 4:1-13).
The prophet Elijah undertook a monumental 40-day journey from Judah to Mt. Sinai. He had confronted the priests of Baal, and God had brought an end to a multi-year drought. Yet Elijah was distressed, thinking he was the only one who served the Lord and that God’s project would end with him. In the wilderness where God spoke with Moses, God spoke with Elijah. God gave him a new mission: go and anoint some new prophets—and reassured him with a new perspective: there are more than 7,000 who remained faithful in all of Israel (see 1 Kings 19).
The 40 that marks the biblical story the strongest is the 40 years the children of Israel spent marching and living in the Sinai wilderness, where they lived after leaving Egypt and before entering the promised land. It was in the wilderness that the Lord revealed Himself as, “I Am, who I Am.” There, the Lord gave the Ten Commandments and many other rules for living and prospering together.
It was also in the wilderness that the people began to see, experience, and trust in the Lord. The church has often said that the 40-year wilderness journey was about removing the experience of being a slave from the hearts and minds of people who were called “people of promise.”
During the 40 days of Lent, all or one of these realities may be at work in us; maybe facing a
temptation and finding God faithful, maybe hearing the Lord speak into our sadness and giving us
a new vision, or maybe working something out of our lives so that we can be people of promise.
These 40 days are gifts of grace where we can discover that God is faithful to do His good and pleasing work in and through us.