A
PLACE OF RESTORATION
The greening of the desert will be one of the signs of Messianic restoration.
Judea will begin to resemble Lebanon; the Negev will begin to resemble
the Galilee. The prophet Isaiah refers to this motif to illustrate
the reestablishment of the sovereignty of Israel:
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The greening of the desert |
The
poor and the destitute request water and there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the Eternal,
will answer them; I, God of Israel, will not abandon them.
I will open rivers on high places and springs in the midst
of the valleys; I will make the desert a lake and the
dry land springs of water. I will make the cedar, the
acacia, the myrtle and the olive tree grow in the desert.
I will put the cypress, the maple and the box tree together
in the Arava so that all will see and know and consider
and understand that it is the hand of the Eternal that
has done this, that the Holy One of Israel created it.
Isaiah 41: 17 – 20
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| The
exultation of the desert |
 The
desert and the arid land will rejoice! And the desert will
rejoice and blossom like a rose! It will blossom abundantly
with joy and singing. It will be given the glory of Lebanon,
the splendor of the Carmel and the Sharon! They will see the
glory of the Eternal and the majesty of our God! Strengthen
the weak hands and steady the feeble knees. Say to the wavering
heart: “Be strong, fear nothing! Behold your God will come
with vengeance, with divine retaliation; He will come and
save you!” Then the eyes of the blind will be open and the
ears of the deaf will be unblocked. The lame will leap like
a ram, the tongue of the mute will sing for water will burst
forth in the desert and streams in the arid plain. And the
parched land will become a lake and the thirsty land springs
of water.
Isaiah
35: 1 – 7
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Returning
from a first exile that had deported them to Babylon (585 B.C.), the
descendants of the first Hebrews were not interested in the Negev,
leaving it to the Nabateans who traveled long the roads connecting
their capital, Petra in Trans-Jordan, to Gaza on the Mediterranean
and to Eilat on the Red Sea. The Nabateans, moreover, will settle
in localities such as Avdat, Elousa and Nizzana where they developed
desert cultivation thanks to some ingenious irrigation techniques.
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