Daily devotion – Tuesday 22nd June 2021
Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. (Ezekiel 47:8)
After leaving the site of King Saul and Jonathan’s tragic deaths we head south now following the fertile Jordan Valley southward.
We pass ancient Jericho and view from a distance this city famed as the oldest in the world. It’s considered not a safe place to visit still at this time!
To the east of Jericho along the Jordan River Valley (Queser El Yehud) is the Israeli side of Bethany beyond the Jordan. In this area Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan, as well as where the children of Israel, led by Joshua, entered the Promised Land. Our lodging for the evening is at the Dead Sea – the lowest place on earth.
As we arrive at the Dead Sea besides the vastness of this amazing salt sea I am always staggered at the landscape around this location. You could easily film a scene from Mars at this site due to the spectacular colours and bareness of this area.
The Dead Sea is called the Salt Sea, the Sea of Plain and the Eastern Sea in the Bible. It’s fifty miles long and ten miles wide at its widest point. At its deepest point its 1300 feet deep but it’s mostly shallow between ten to fifteen feet deep and it is thirty-four per cent salt!
The Bible tells us that at Jesus return He will bring life again into this barren salt sea. Jesus is coming back, and he will rule the earth from the New Jerusalem, and water will flow from the Temple Mount down to the Dead Sea. This ‘river of healing’ will cause life to flourish in the sea once again as its waters become fresh. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river and there will always be fruit on their branches (Ezekiel 47:11).
What the Lord will do for the Dead Sea in that day, He can do for you today.
No matter how far we think we have gone, the power of Christ’s blood to bring life again is amazing. Many people think that they are too far gone for God to forgive them and change them.
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
Never underestimate the power of Christ’s precious blood to cleanse you from all sin. Just like the Dead Sea, Christ can bring new life to all those who would repent of their sins before Him and call on His precious name for His forgiveness.
Eze 47:10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
Call on the Lord today and let Him come and bring life where you thought only bareness would always be.