Why did God put Moses on the backside of the desert for forty years?
God put Moses on the backside of the desert for forty years to prepare him as an instrument He could use. Moses had acted in the energy of the flesh when he was mighty and had clout, but God chooses the weak and foolish things to confound the wise and mighty.
Les explains that God had to put Moses on the backside of the desert for 40 years in order to prepare him from God’s point of view to be an instrument God could use. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, Paul shows that not many wise after the flesh, mighty, or noble are called; instead, God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things to confound the things which are mighty. Les applies this directly to Moses: when Moses was mighty, had power, and had clout, God could not use him; he went out in the energy of the flesh and thought he could deliver the children of Israel. The desert preparation therefore dealt with Moses’ fleshly confidence so that he could be usable to God.