“your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east.”
Numbers 34:3 ESV
On the Bible Recap podcast, Tara-Leigh talks about the deadness of the Dead Sea— how salty it is, how lifeless it is. I was there this time last year, and everything she says about it is true. Including, by the way, how much fun it is to float in it. I wrote another blog post about that. You can Check it out here
But Tara-Leigh also talks about the prophecy of Ezekiel 47, that one day the Dead Sea will be made fresh. Here’s what Ezekiel wrote:
“And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.”
Ezekiel 47:8-10 ESV
I get hung up on this prophecy because of how physically impossible it is. The Dead Sea is the lowest spot on earth—1,385 feet below sea level. And that’s why it’s dead. Everything flows into it, but nothing flows out of it. Nothing can. It’s the law of gravity. When water finds the lowest point, it will pool there. It will stagnate. It will die.
For the Dead Sea to live, the topography of the very earth would have to change. The Great Rift Valley would have to be raised. Mountains would have to be made into valleys.
To which God, through the prophet Isaiah, says, “No problem”:
“Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.””
Isaiah 40:4-5 ESV
“But, God,” I protest. “You would have to remake the entire world for that to happen.”
To which God, through the Apostle John says, “Yep.”
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”
Revelation 21:1 ESV
“But God,” says I, with my tiny little faith, “That is just a lot to believe. You’re going to rearrange mountains?”
To which Jesus says, “That’s the plan.”
“And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.”
Mark 11:22-23 ESV
I serve a God who raises the dead. Who spoke stars into existence. Who upholds the Universe by the word of His power. In light of that, this Dead Sea desalination project is nothing!
If a valley can be lifted up, imagine what God can do with a crushed spirit.
If the Dead Sea can come to life, just think what God could do with your marriage.
If mountains will be made low, just imagine how God will humble the proud who oppose him.
If God can change the surface of the earth to make life spring up where no life was before, is there anything He can’t do in my life? In yours?
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