by Barry Britnell
Synopsis: Even in the most desolate regions of the earth, the glory and majesty of our God burst forth.
Author Bio: Barry is the founder of Exploring Bible Lands, LLC (exploringbiblelands.com) and leads Bible study tours to the land of Israel. He also works with Appian Media (appianmedia.org) to produce biblically-sound videos used in teaching others about the Bible. Barry and his wife, Tabatha, have three children, live in Athens, AL, and worship with the Capshaw Church of Christ.
As Isaiah foreshadows future events of God’s people, he uses an interesting example. In chapter 35, he says:
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing (vv. 1-2a, ESV).
One of the most beautiful places in the land of Israel is the wilderness. As the sun’s rays bounce off of the towering hills and jagged cliffs, it makes for an awe-inspiring view. Yet, it is still an arid wilderness. For the most part, vegetation is limited to the small scrub bushes that spring up wherever there is the least bit of water.
This is something that the people of Israel understood as well. Being familiar with this region, they recognized the rarity and beauty of the wilderness springing to life with plants and flowers. This is why Isaiah chose to use that image in his prophecy.
Over the past two years, the winter rains in Israel have been abundant. Israeli meteorologists have measured the snow on Mount Hermon in feet rather than inches. We have seen waterfalls and rivers that typically flow only a few days a year, do so for weeks at a time. The Sea of Galilee has risen over five and a half meters (about 18 ft.) and has nearly reached full capacity (Once this occurs, the Israeli government will open up the dam at the southern end of the lake and release that water into the Jordan River.)
Earlier this spring, the beneficial rains also produced another amazing event. The wilderness “rejoiced and blossomed.” During March, the Wilderness of Judea around the Dead Sea was a beautiful array of colors bursting forth from billions of seeds lying underground, awaiting their opportunity to grow—and grow they did!
For people who have studied pictures of the Dead Sea, the images accompanying this article may not seem real. These pictures were taken by a professional tour guide, Shmuel Browns (who, as you can tell, is also an excellent photographer). In these images, you can see the absolute beauty of the flowers, covering the hillsides and reaching for the sky—a rare and beautiful event, indeed.
Isaiah continues:
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God (v. 2b).
In this passage, Isaiah is making two points: First, at times like this, even the wilderness (which is usually very dry and inhospitable) will enjoy the glory generally attributed to such beautiful places as Lebanon, Carmel, or Sharon. Second, in doing so, all who witness will be able to see first-hand the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our loving and caring God.
All pictures were used by the permission of Shmuel Brown. For more information about the land and to see more of his fantastic photography, I encourage you to visit his website: israel-tourguide.info.
Image 1: © Shmuel Browns, used with permission. https://israel-tourguide.info/
Image 2: © Shmuel Browns, used with permission. https://israel-tourguide.info/
Image 3: © Shmuel Browns, used with permission. https://israel-tourguide.info/
Image 4: © Shmuel Browns, used with permission. https://israel-tourguide.info/