Friday, February 9, 2018

Ezekiel's Desert Prophecies ✡ "The Brushland Of The Negev" - Israel365

O mortal, set your face toward Teman, and proclaim to Darom, and prophesy against the brushland of the Negev
Ezekiel 21:2 (The Israel Bible™)

בֶּן־אָדָם שִׂים פָּנֶיךָ דֶּרֶךְ תֵּימָנָה וְהַטֵּף אֶל־דָּרוֹם וְהִנָּבֵא אֶל־יַעַר הַשָּׂדֶה נֶגֶב
Hear the verse in Hebrew

ben a-DAM SEEM pa-NE-kha DE-rekh tay-MA-nah v’-ha-TAYF el da-ROM v’-hi-na-VAY el YA-ar ha-sa-DEH NE-gev

Ezekiel's Desert Prophecies

Before Hashem (God) gives Yechezkel (Ezekiel) a prophecy regarding Yerushalayim’s (Jerusalem) imminent destruction, He tells Yechezkel to look southward. In His directive, Hashem uses three separate words for ‘“south,” tayman (תימן), darom (דרום) and negev(נגב). In the above verse, however, only the word negev is used. egev can also mean dry, and refers to the desert region of southern Israel. This choice of word alludes to Yechezkel’s prophecy of destruction in which a forest fire will burn uncontrollably, leaving the entirety of the Land of Israel barren and lifeless, as the Negev desert pictured below. With the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel, the country is flourishing including the Negev desert . David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel said, “The Negev is a great Zionist asset, with no substitute in the country.”

Continue reading about the significance of the Negev desert in the Bible and today