LIFE IS PROCLAIMED FOR THE DEAD SEA

EZEKIEL 47:1–12

Ezekiel was among those taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during the Babylonian invasion of Judah in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:14; Ezek. 1:2). While in Babylon, he became a spokesman for the Lord (Ezek. 1:1–3). Into the despondency resulting from the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, God poured hope. So what would come next? The exiles would return to the Promised Land to meet the dawning of a new era. Ezekiel described Jerusalem’s restoration in terms of a life-giving change in the ecosystem of the Dead Sea for a reason.5

The Dead Sea is a large, elongated oval, inland body of water that lies south of the Sea of Galilee at the southern end of the Jordan River. The Dead Sea is about 1,300 feet below sea level, so considerable surface water flows into this natural depression.

It is the geological characteristics of the region, however, that make the Dead Sea one of the most mineral-rich bodies of water in the world. There is no natural outlet, so the only way that water escapes this basin is via evaporation. Yet unlike other bodies of water with no outlet, evaporation at the Dead Sea can occur at amazing rates due to its low elevation and summer temperatures that reach 125 degrees Fahrenheit. This evaporation increases the salt-to-water ratio, producing a body of water higher in salt content than any other lake or ocean. While oceans have a salt content of around 3.4 percent, the Dead Sea has a salt content that rises to 30 percent at the surface and 33 percent at depth.6

Ibex (wild goats) with the Dead Sea and the mountains of Jordan in the background.
© Direct Design

This mosaic map (sixth century AD) from Medeba, Jordan, depicts fish swimming up the Jordan River to avoid entering the Dead Sea.

The water of the Dead Sea looks inviting from afar, and its high salt content provides great fun for those floating atop its surface (one is unable to submerge or sink). Yet this water will burn the eyes; it is undrinkable, is unsuitable for irrigation, and means nothing but death for the kind of marine life we find in other waters. The intense salinity of this body of water was well-known in antiquity—a point aptly made by artists of the Medeba Map (sixth century AD). On that map, the lifelessness of this lake is illustrated by depicting fish approaching the Dead Sea at the Jordan River’s inlet that turn back to escape the brackish water!

As Ezekiel described the new era dawning before his eyes, he saw water cascading from the Temple in Jerusalem, down the Wadi Kidron, and into the Dead Sea (Ezek. 47:1–8). What is absolutely shocking is what happens when this water gets to the Dead Sea. In Ezekiel’s vision, the water becomes fresh (in Hebrew npr, “it heals”), turning the sterile and lifeless Dead Sea into a freshwater lake teeming with fish. Instead of swimming away, fish were swimming into it and reproducing so aggressively that commercial fishermen worked their nets near En Gedi and En Eglaim (Ezek. 47:10).7

Life was proclaimed for the Dead Sea for a reason. Jerusalem and its Temple had been destroyed, but healing and restoration would come. Things would be turned right side up by the dawn of the new era. The change would be so dramatic and bring such good news that it was depicted by a lifeless Dead Sea becoming filled with life brought about by waters from a new Temple. This forbidding body of water became symbolic of the fulfilled promise of the return of the exiles to the Promised Land. Just as river water brought life in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:10–14), so this river flowing from the Temple would bring hope for new life to come out of the ruins and ashes of Jerusalem. The Dead Sea would come to life—a picture that aptly reveals the new era of hope for the exiles who returned to the Promised Land to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea (around 1,300 feet below sea level), with a salinity of about 30 percent, gives one the ability to float without aids.