Voice In The Wilderness Meaning

(idiomatic, rare) An influential religious personage, especially one who makes prophetic utterances.

Example: 1974, Leonard Horwitz, Clinical Prediction in Psychotherapy, ISBN 9780876681497, page 1 (Google books view):
  Eysenck (1952) was just beginning to seriously question the validity of dynamically oriented therapy, but he was a lone voice in the wilderness at that time. Not until the sixties did opposing points of view . . . begin to gain prominence.
1994 May 9, John Elson, "Books: Following the Leaders," Time (retrieved 28 April 2015):
  A leader without committed followers is an unheard voice in the wilderness.
2015 January 5, Hans Sherrer, "Justice Denied Begins Its 17th Year," Justice Denied (retrieved 29 April 2015):
  When Justice Denied’s first issue was published in February 1999 it was a ‘voice in the wilderness’ alerting the world to the widespread problem of the unreliability of the legal system.
2015 April 16, David Rutter, "Earth Day lets us remember who owns the environment," Chicago Tribune (retrieved 29 April 2015):
  The nation was a mess environmentally, and only a few voices in the wilderness were paying heed. In 1970, environmentalists often were derided and dismissed.
1876, Charlotte M. Yonge, The Three Brides, ch. 3:
  "I don't know," said Anne. "He gathers together a little flock of all denominations, who only care to hear the word."
  "Such a voice in the wilderness as often does good service," said Julius.
1920, Jerome K. Jerome, "A Charming Woman" in Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green:
  "I, even I, may be the voice in the wilderness leading the lost sheep back to the fold."
1994, David E. Mungello. The Forgotten Christians of Hangzhou, ISBN 9780824815400, page 153 (Google books view):
  Zhang again acted as a Confucian prophetic voice in the wilderness who called the people to truth.