ABUNDANCE by Raphael ben Levi
“Imagine the wilderness whooping for joy, the desert’s unbridled happiness with its spring flowers. 2 It will happen! The deserts will come alive with new growth budding and blooming, singing and celebrating with sheer delight. The glory of Lebanon’s cedars and the majesty of Carmel and Sharon will spill over to the deserts. The glory of the Eternal One will be on full display there, and they will revel in the majestic splendour of our God.” (Isa.35:1-2)
This is the season in Israel where the desert blossoms like a rose, a period shortly before Pesach. I used to live in a small desert town in Israel in the Negev close to Beersheva. Every year around this period, the desert was transformed from a barren wasteland into a carpet of colour after the latter rains descended upon the parched sands; beautiful flowers sprung up seemingly from nowhere. Yet, within a couple of days, the scorching sun caused these same flowers to wither and die as if they had never existed until the next year when the cycle was repeated. It was truly an amazing thing to behold indelibly etched in my memory.
The promises we see in Isa.35 are like the flowers that seem to appear from nowhere. One moment (ch.34) God is speaking words of judgment upon Edom and suddenly in the following chapter we see a monumental shift and He is speaking blessings upon the land of Israel! The desert transformed is described with prolific poetic imagery as the glory of God is placed on full display. The people responded in spontaneous joy as they revelled in the majestic splendour of their God – how could anyone have reacted differently!
Isaiah 35 was prophetically fulfilled, at least partially, when the land of Israel was transformed from a parched desert and malaria-ridden swampland into a paradise yielding an abundance that in our modern times has become the envy of nations. But the completion has yet to be fulfilled: “And the ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with shouts of jubilation,
and everlasting joy will be upon their heads; they will find joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Isa. 35:10)
During the millennium period, people will dwell in complete security and peace, for the Lord Himself will rule from out of Jerusalem. There will be unprecedented abundance and unparalleled joy with songs of praise and worship to our God as the revelation of His glory fills the whole earth!
Sometimes, what is hidden underneath the surface of our lives is embedded the true substance like the flowers of Negev in springtime. If you are currently experiencing a barren desert experience, hold on for just a little while longer. In the fullness of time, at just the right moment, your life will be filled with an explosion of colour – unprecedented blessings that cannot wither or die!
