But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.
So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul- then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.
– Deuteronomy 11:11-17
Israel is entirely dependent on rain. The water level of the Sea of Galilee–Israel’s main source of fresh water–drops around 5 feet every year and needs to be replenished by rains during the rainy season (generally, the winter months between Sukkot and Passover). When rain doesn’t fall, the water level doesn’t rise. If there aren’t sufficient rains for a few years in a row (as has been the case for a number of years), the Sea of Galilee’s water level continues dropping.
For the last decade, the water level has been hovering around what Israelis call “the red line” — the level at which scientists say that the fresh water source is imperiled (some scientists have worried publicly that dropping too far below the line could cause mineral springs below the lake to burst through, which would turn the Galilee into another Dead Sea). The sea has been below the danger low pretty much constantly for the last decade or more.
But someone must be doing something right — earlier this month, before the end of the season, the level climbed above the danger line for the first time in a year and a half.
Still, there’s plenty more space — the Galilee had another dozen or so feet of space to be filled before its dams have the be released (to prevent flooding in the area). Water experts are hoping for another few feet before the rainy season ends next week.
What do you think?
11:56 pm
Call me old fashioned if you like, but I believe the story of David and Goliath still holds sway!
4:52 pm
I have been told that Hebrew neighborhoods have existed in East Jerusalem even before the war, so if Israel wants to build in her capital then it should be a fair deal. Arabs have bought land in Israel, and I do believe they build on those lands, and that is happening in Israel which happens to be a Hebrew country. I don’t see how Israel is the “occupier.” It’s in her own borders. The Arabs have way more land than even Israel, and they don’t even offer to help to make peace. They could offer to help their pals by absorbing some of them if they aren’t happy where they are.
8:01 pm
We are praying for the peace of Jerusalem as commanded in the Word of God. God will have His sovereign way in all matters concerning Israel.