The child grew, and grew strong in spirit. He lived in the wildernesspublicCulturethe wildernessIn the prophetic tradition, the wilderness is the place where God forms people. Moses spent forty years there before Sinai. Elijah fled there when his life was threatened. Israel wandered there for a generation between Egypt and the land. The wilderness is not empty; it is the place where everything unnecessary is stripped away. John's formation happens outside institutional religion, although he is a priest's son. The prophet is shaped not by the Temple but by the desert. until the day he stepped into the open life of Israel.