God Approves RV Lifestyle

The Bible contains a great deal about the full time camping lifestyle. In fact, I will argue that God highly favors the nomadic outdoor lifestyle that has been enjoyed by generations of campers throughout history and continues to be enjoyed by modern campers and RVers.

Being a Christian minister I have read the Bible cover to cover many times. I have studied it in Hebrew and Greek and greatly appreciate the many insights and wisdom it contains. I have been an avid backpacker and RVer for many years and have frequently pondered what the Bible says about this activity. Let’s start at the beginning. God created…. Yes, the God of creation certainly appreciates the great outdoors. The woods and hills, streams and lakes, mountains and valleys, oceans and deserts are all awe inspiring and each has incredible riches enjoyed by travelers in every age. The Patriarchs embraced and enjoyed the nomadic lifestyle living in tents and traveling in caravans hauling all their earthly possessions with them from place to place. In fact in the Middle East people still live this way. I snaped the above picture while in Israel.

The exodus is also a camping story. Sometime between Adam and Eve and Moses the RVers greatest asset was invented – the wheel. The wheel allowed man to carry more possessions over greater distances in less time. So we see in the story of the Passover that Moses instructs the people to dress for travel, gather their possessions and get ready for the greatest RV rally ever recorded.

The children of Israel loaded up their possessions on ox drawn carts and headed for the desert. Snowbirds now do this every year, except now they use their motorhomes, 5th wheels, campers and travel trailers. Instead of escaping from a despotic king they are escaping from the despotic cold.

This exodus RV rally lasted forty years. In fact this nomadic lifestyle was commemorated into a religious festival called the “Feast of Tabernacles” or the “Feast of Tents.” That’s right, camping has its own religious holiday! Once the children of Israel occupied the land of Israel on a permanent basis, they were to celebrate this festival once a year by making a shelter or erecting a tent of some kind and they had to move out of the house and live in this shelter and recreate.

King David wasn’t always a king living in a palace, in fact he was a shepherd who enjoyed outdoor living. In fact his thoughts about this are recorded in the Psalms. Many a night he spent around the campfire, living in tents and moving around the landscape. Shepherds, like RVers don’t spend a lot of time in one place, they are mobile and that is the essence of the RV lifestyle. The Old Testament is full of camping stories, but how about the New Testament? What group of common folks did God first tell about the birth of Jesus? That’s right the shepherds. Where were they? They were camping on the outskirts of Bethlehem! Do you think the wise men stayed at motel six? No, they traveled caravan style and camped along the way. They were using the RV tow vehicle of the day, the camel. In fact great camel caravans were common during this time. They traveled great distances across all kinds of terrain. The US government even experimented with the idea of using camels in the Army and the next time you are in Quartzsite, Arizona you can learn all about that experiment.

Jesus enjoyed the great outdoors and we know that as he traveled around the country preaching he frequently slept under the stars.

The Apostle Paul was actually in the RV business. Paul supported himself by manufacturing tents. People traveled by foot or rode donkeys or camels and in so doing they loaded up their tent on a donkey or camel for transport. These folks could make and break camp quickly. They traveled light and travel they did!

I believe God approves of the RV lifestyle because it causes us to get away from the grind of daily living and exposes us to His creation. It carves out time for us to actually enjoy this planet – hence the word “Recreation” which you will recognize as the root word in the term “Recreational Vehicle.” In fact if you study this word it means “re – creation.” The word “creation” is right there! God wants us to experience “re – creation,” rejuvenation and refreshment. Gives a whole new perspective on RVing doesn’t it! Blessings - Jim