In a fulfilment of a Bible prophecy, what is dead is coming back to life!
Since ancient times, the Dead Sea, a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west, has exactly been what its name says: dead. No sea or plant life can survive the lake's hyper-saline environment—it's nearly 10 times saltier than the ocean—or so scientists have previously thought.
However, researchers discovered in 2011 that life exists at the bottom of the Dead Sea. And just this Wednesday, July 27, Breaking Israel News (BIN) reported the discovery of freshwater ponds teeming with fish and wildlife on the shores of the Dead Sea—precisely as it was foretold in the book of Zechariah, which states:
"On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea. This will happen for the summer as well as the winter" (Zech. 14:8).
According to BIN, the "inexplicable phenomenon" that seemed to contradict the laws of nature has escaped the attention of scientists and the media.
Samantha Siegel, an American Jewish woman now living in Jerusalem, made the stunning discovery while taking her usual nature hike on the desert and shores of the Dead Sea.
"Last year, when I saw the fish in the pond, I remembered the prophecy, but I didn't realise the significance," Siegel told BIN early this week. "I wasn't really blown away. I just thought, 'Gee, that is pretty cool. The Dead Sea is coming back to life.'
"A few months later, when I reread the prophecy, it clicked," she said. "Once you see it, the connection is so undeniable. It is right in front of your face."
She noted that the prophecy is being fulfilled down to the smallest detail. "Not only are there fish, but a family of ducks comes to greet me every time I go there," Siegel said.
"So it is really like the prophesied resurrection of the dead. It shows how much power for life is coming out into the world," she said.
More than 400 meters below sea level, the shores of the lake are coated with a thick layer of salt that kills any plant.
According to the Scripture, the region was once a fertile and well-watered land. But the fire and brimstones from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah turned the valley into a wasteland, as written in Genesis 13:10.
However, in 2011, a team of researchers from Ben Gurion University sent divers to the floor of the Dead Sea where they discovered huge craters on the seafloor. Fresh water was flowing from these craters, which were carpeted with mats of microorganisms, showing that the Dead Sea was not entirely dead.
Siegel sees something profound in the Dead Sea.
"The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth and you float in the water. Even if you don't know how to swim, or even tried to drown, you couldn't. You can fall so low, to the lowest you've ever been, but God will always be there to lift you up," she said.
