Streams in the Negev
Psalm 126
Isaiah 19:18-21
2 Peter 1:2-15
I grew up in the desert. When I look at pictures of the Negev in Israel, it looks remarkably familiar to the desert around Phoenix. Because much of the Bible was written to a desert people, there are analogies used that would make sense to them. If you haven't ever lived in a desert, the power of these word pictures may lose a lot of their strength.
The overwhelming change of God's restoration is likened to what streams of water do to the Negev desert. What does that look like? Well, as you probably know, deserts are dry, but they are not all like sand deserts such as the Sahara. Many deserts have plant life... hardy trees, though they grow alone and not in forests, flowers which bloom when the conditions are right, grasses which lie dormant for months. There is a lot there, you just don't see it in the driest months. There are also dry creek beds, washes is what they are called in the southwest. It's all there, just not obvious to the eye unless you know to look for it.
There's another thing you need to know to understand this imagery of streams in the desert. When it does rain, the ground is so dry and hardened the water cannot immediately soak in. Those dry river beds can fill extremely quickly because of this, and the idea of a flash flood in a desert is not an oxymoron. When the streams in the desert do appear, they appear extremely quickly.
Finally, after a rain, all of those plants which had lain dormant for months and months come to life, taking advantage of the water available to them. The grasses green up, flowers bloom, the whole landscape changes. It's as if the movie suddenly changed from sepia to full color. This, too, seems to happen overnight. The change can feel nearly miraculous; a place that gave every appearance of being dead springs to life all because of life giving water. The desert becomes beautiful.
Is there any better visual picture of what God does for us? Without God, we are essentially dead. Sure we may be surviving, holding on in a brutal environment, but there is not life as God intentioned it. When Isaiah was writing, Israel was spiritually dead to the point of being sent into exile. Psalm 126 was written in exile. Peter writes from prison, surely a bleak environment, but writes from the other side. All tell us the same thing: God is in the restoration business. And this restoration, when our faith turns us to God, will be overwhelming, swift, and total. Just like what happens in the desert when the rains cause to the streams to run.
God's restoration can happen anywhere, even in Egypt. If you've spent anytime in the prophets, you soon realize that talk about Egypt is often a representation for a place at odds with God. Turning to Egypt for help is pretty much the equivalent of turning away from God.
But God...
God can restore even Egypt. If God can do this, He can restore anything. He can redeem anything. The only thing that you or I need to do, frankly the only thing we can do for ourselves, is to turn to God. God does the rest. Allow God to turn your desert into something beautiful.
Isaiah 19:18-21
2 Peter 1:2-15
I grew up in the desert. When I look at pictures of the Negev in Israel, it looks remarkably familiar to the desert around Phoenix. Because much of the Bible was written to a desert people, there are analogies used that would make sense to them. If you haven't ever lived in a desert, the power of these word pictures may lose a lot of their strength.
The overwhelming change of God's restoration is likened to what streams of water do to the Negev desert. What does that look like? Well, as you probably know, deserts are dry, but they are not all like sand deserts such as the Sahara. Many deserts have plant life... hardy trees, though they grow alone and not in forests, flowers which bloom when the conditions are right, grasses which lie dormant for months. There is a lot there, you just don't see it in the driest months. There are also dry creek beds, washes is what they are called in the southwest. It's all there, just not obvious to the eye unless you know to look for it.
There's another thing you need to know to understand this imagery of streams in the desert. When it does rain, the ground is so dry and hardened the water cannot immediately soak in. Those dry river beds can fill extremely quickly because of this, and the idea of a flash flood in a desert is not an oxymoron. When the streams in the desert do appear, they appear extremely quickly.
Finally, after a rain, all of those plants which had lain dormant for months and months come to life, taking advantage of the water available to them. The grasses green up, flowers bloom, the whole landscape changes. It's as if the movie suddenly changed from sepia to full color. This, too, seems to happen overnight. The change can feel nearly miraculous; a place that gave every appearance of being dead springs to life all because of life giving water. The desert becomes beautiful.
Is there any better visual picture of what God does for us? Without God, we are essentially dead. Sure we may be surviving, holding on in a brutal environment, but there is not life as God intentioned it. When Isaiah was writing, Israel was spiritually dead to the point of being sent into exile. Psalm 126 was written in exile. Peter writes from prison, surely a bleak environment, but writes from the other side. All tell us the same thing: God is in the restoration business. And this restoration, when our faith turns us to God, will be overwhelming, swift, and total. Just like what happens in the desert when the rains cause to the streams to run.
God's restoration can happen anywhere, even in Egypt. If you've spent anytime in the prophets, you soon realize that talk about Egypt is often a representation for a place at odds with God. Turning to Egypt for help is pretty much the equivalent of turning away from God.
But God...
God can restore even Egypt. If God can do this, He can restore anything. He can redeem anything. The only thing that you or I need to do, frankly the only thing we can do for ourselves, is to turn to God. God does the rest. Allow God to turn your desert into something beautiful.
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