ODJ: dead coming back to life

July 3, 2014 

READ: Ezekiel 47:1-12 

There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows (v.9).

The Dead Sea in Israel is a ‘one of a kind’ place to take a dip. Tourists who enter its waters immediately realise that swimming aids aren’t necessary. Yep, there’s no need to tread water in the Dead Sea. Due to its exceptionally high concentration of salt, people simply float on its surface like apples bobbing in a barrel of water.
The Dead Sea is also the lowest land-based point on earth. The Jordan River empties into it, but nothing flows out of it. And due to its toxic blend of minerals, nothing lives in it. Needless to say, the fishing stinks!

But one day the Dead Sea will undergo a radical change.

The last book of the Bible reports that once Jesus returns, God will send the “holy city, the new Jerusalem” down to earth from heaven (Revelation 21:2). The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel received a vision of the temple area in the new Jerusalem. He saw a river flowing from the temple towards the Dead Sea. Ezekiel was told that the waters from the river “will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. . . . Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows. Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea. . . . Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea, just as they fill the Mediterranean” (Ezekiel 47:8-10).

Ezekiel’s vision is a picture of the great restoration we look forward to—the time when even the deadest of waters will come back to life.

In the new Jerusalem, look for me fishing by the banks of the “Live Sea” (no longer Dead), camping out with my family and friends. According to Ezekiel’s report, the fishing should drastically improve. —Jeff Olson

365-day plan› Matthew 7:1-12