What do you think about the Dead Sea? Is it a mark of the destruction of Sodom?
I think so. It's 33% salinity (salt), which is more than any other body of water (the oceans have 3% salinity). Nothing lives in it, it's a wasteland of water. And it's the lowest spot on earth, at -1300ft below sea level (and that's just the surface of the water, the bottom of the Sea is about -2300 ft!!!). It contains tons of minerals, like Magnesium, Potassium, Sulfur, Calcium and a bunch more. Sulfur huh...sounds like fire and brimstone to me! There's tons of crystalized salt on the shores and on the Southeastern shore are large deposits of salt.
It's difficult to tell exactly where the cities were located from the biblical text (Gen 18-19), but it fits well to put the cities within the vicinity of the Dead Sea. It makes sense that the Salt Sea was once a normal, maybe still mineral-rich, sea. But the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, all that fire and brimstone being poured out by the Lord on their heinous sins and unrighteousness, led to the salty corruption of the place (cf. Deut 29:23).
It's quite a mark of death. It still looks like a sea, but the salt BURNS your eyes sooo bad...and if you have an open wound, WATCH OUT for the pain! The salty phenomenon is a reminder of God's power, WRATH, justice, and authority. This event stood as a memorial to the land of Israel, and stands as a reminder to us (Deuteronomy 29:16-28).
And yet, God's GRACE is shown in the area of En-Gedi, just on the coast of the Dead Sea. The area has multiple springs and some flowing fresh water, which is rare to find in the Judean Wilderness, especially around the Dead Sea. And there's a quaint, but steep, canyon of beautiful greenery, just a short walk away from the salty coast. And it's so green that it's almost like a miniature jungle! The place is named Nahal David (David's canyon) because it's a probable spot for where David hide out from Saul and eventually spared Saul's life (1 Sam 24). This is a retreat spot, where the Lord provided for David while he spends decades running for his life, unlike anything we could ever know or ever will experience.
And there is a prophecy of God's redemption of this wretched Sea in Ezekiel 47:1-12. With the new temple built in Jerusalem (which I believe Ezekiel is talking about the futuristic kingdom of the Messiah), the water flowing from the temple will rush down the barren Judean Wilderness and cleanse the Dead Sea from its saltiness and it will become a beautiful and lush habitation.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Nahal Parat Hike
Just East of Jerusalem is a nice, deep canyon that funnels all the way to Jericho near the Jordan River. This canyon, however, hasn't had water flowing in it for some time now. And some of the rock formations prove that a large, catastrophic...something had to sweep by in order to carve the rock canyon and quickly form certain rocks (two completely different types of rocks formed into one)...something catastrophic...something like...the Flood of Noah! There is, however, one spring that we hiked by that produces enough water to stream through the rugged bottom of the canyon.
We went on an awesome hike through this nahal (Hebrew for canyon). It was a wonderful experience. It brought to life the passages that speak on the righteous man, like a tree by water, and the unrighteous man, like a shrub in the wilderness. The contrast is great. If a tree is not rooted by a close water source, it will die. In the canyon, there was a small line of greenery near the water--the rest was barren. With that water, many plants could survive. But without, nothing will last for long.
Jeremiah 17:5-10 ESV
"Thus says the LORD, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and it does not fear when the heat comes for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his work, according to the fruit of his deeds.'"
Psalm 1:1-3 NASB
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away."
We went on an awesome hike through this nahal (Hebrew for canyon). It was a wonderful experience. It brought to life the passages that speak on the righteous man, like a tree by water, and the unrighteous man, like a shrub in the wilderness. The contrast is great. If a tree is not rooted by a close water source, it will die. In the canyon, there was a small line of greenery near the water--the rest was barren. With that water, many plants could survive. But without, nothing will last for long.
Jeremiah 17:5-10 ESV
"Thus says the LORD, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and it does not fear when the heat comes for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his work, according to the fruit of his deeds.'"
Psalm 1:1-3 NASB
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away."
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