Nomads of the Bible

Considering the nomadic life from a biblical perspective we see that many of the great characters of the bible were often moved by God to a period of nomadic isolation. When God wanted to do a great work in a person He often got them to a place where it was just them and the Lord.

Abraham was a Nomad with no land of his own; living in tents, moving from place to place. 

Moses was led into the desert for 40 years in preparation for leading the Israelites to the promised land.

The Apostle Paul after his initial conversion went to the desert of Arabia for three years. It appears from scripture that this is where he received the direct revelations from the risen Christ that we now know as our explicit directions for living the Christian life.

Of course Jesus Himself was led into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting before the start of His ministry.  Jesus had no permanent home; owned nothing but the clothes on His back and at the crucifixion not even them. The Gospels tell us that He often went alone into the wilderness to pray and prepare for the works He would be doing.

There are many more examples like these from the bible and it makes a fascinating study of how God works in a person's life.

Our society today tends to place a negative stigma on people who are reclusive suggesting that it may not be healthy to spend much time alone. I would say based on my study of scripture and personal experience that the oposit can be true. A permanent isolation would not be God's best for anyone, but certainly periods of aloneness, even years can be used by God to build a deeper relationship with Him. I would even suggest that without times alone with God deeper spiritual growth is stunted. 

 Christians are never specifically called nomads in Scripture; however, we are warned that this world is not our true home—we are foreigners and strangers on this earth (Hebrews 11:13), with our true citizenship in the kingdom of God. Nomads do not settle down or invest in “permanent” structures, knowing that they will be moving on soon. Many of the difficulties that Christians face are a result of forgetting where our true citizenship lies and getting too attached to the comforts of this world. We should be like the patriarchs, who lived “like a stranger in a foreign country,” all the while “looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:9–10).