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Isaiah 35
1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as a rose. 2It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; and the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
3Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
9No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
This passage in Isaiah tells us that the land of Israel will literally react to Messiah by flourishing: the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It is no secret that the Holy Land was a barren wasteland for centuries. During a 19th century visit to Israel, Mark Twain famously wrote:
There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent [valley of Jezreel] -- not for 30 miles in either direction... One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings. ... For the sort of solitude to make one dreary, come to Galilee ... Nazareth is forlorn ... Jericho lies a moldering ruin ... Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and humiliation... untenanted by any living creature... A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds ... a silent, mournful expanse ... a desolation ... We never saw a human being on the whole route ... Hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil had almost deserted the country ... Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery Palestine must be the prince. The hills barren and dull, the valleys unsightly deserts [inhabited by] swarms of beggars with ghastly sores and malformations. Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes ... desolate and unlovely.[1]
There have always been Jews in their homeland, but in 1948 with the birth of the modern state of Israel, the Holy Land began to prepare for the coming of Messiah. Literally. As the Jewish people began to return home from the nations of the world, the land began to miraculously respond. I quote Gilla Treibich from 25 Messianic Signs in Israel Today:
When the Jews wanted to return when the country was under the British Mandate, the British would not allow them, because they said that the land could not sustain that many people. At that time there were approximately six hundred thousand Jews and six hundred thousand Arabs, but the British said that was all the people for whom the land could provide food and shelter.[ii]
Treibich also writes:
Our agriculture is (now) so advanced and so successful. Two percent of the people produce all this food, not only for Israel, but for Europe and countries other than Europe. They depend on our melons, oranges, kiwi, strawberries, avocadoes and all kinds of fruit and vegetables. It is indeed amazing how a desolate desert was turned into a blooming garden with the return of the Jewish people.[iii]
Now let us turn our attention specifically to Isaiah 35:7, which reads,
7And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
(Note: The following information comes from Perry Stone's MannaFest TV show, Program#280, originally broadcast in February 2006. The episode was taped on location in the Arabah region.)
In Isaiah 35:1 the prophet writes, and the desert shall rejoice. The Hebrew word here translated desert is Arabah, which happens to be an actual desert region just south of the Dead Sea. Throughout history, nothing of note has ever grown in this region save perhaps the Acacia tree. Interestingly, a Dake's annotated Bible (written in the 1930s or 40s) comments on Isaiah 35 as follows:
The time of fulfillment will be the Millennium, for none of these things are being accomplished today in some spiritual way of life, and this also indicates a literal meaning of every prediction.
The point is, 60 or 70 years ago there was nothing in the Arabah desert to indicate that Isaiah's prophecy was literally coming to pass. Then 20 years ago US Satellites identified a large water source lying unseen under the Arabah desert. The Israelis drilled down and now at a place called the Sapphire Park or the Sapphire Pool water is literally shooting out of the ground. Later in the late 80s water began gushing out of nearby rocks flowing down into this same pool. Again, Isaiah 35:7 says:
And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
Just as Isaiah predicted, the area now surrounding the pool is surrounded by grass, reeds, and rushes! There are also date trees and even flowers blossoming in the spring! The water from the pool is used by tomato farmers in the area. In fact, a company called the Carmel Packing Company (see verse 2) ships the resulting produce all over the world! Amazing! The land of Israel is indeed getting ready for its Messiah!
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[1] http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_early_pal...ists_impact.php
[ii] Dr. Noah W. Hutchings with Gilla Treibich, 25 Messianic Signs in Israel Today
(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Hearthstone Publishing, 1999), 74.
[iii] Ibid.