Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series on the history of climate change on Earth from a biblical perspective by Joseph Farah, the author of a new book called The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians and the End of the Age." Read Part 1, "What the Bible says about catastrophic climate change."
Back when I was young and working as a musician in New York, I got to know many of the old comedians – from Jackie Mason to Henny Youngman to Dick Shawn and Pat Cooper.
I can't remember who first told this classic joke, but I think it was a lesser-known comic somewhere in the Catskills. It still has legs.
"A skinny lumberjack shows up at a lumber camp looking for work. But the foreman says, 'You don't have what it takes. We're looking for someone big and strong.' The skinny lumberjack responds, 'Just give me a chance to show you what I can do.' The boss replies, 'OK, see that giant tree over there, go cut it down.' The skinny lumberjack says, 'No problem!' and cuts it down in minutes without breaking a sweat. 'Wow! says the boss, 'Where did you learn how to cut trees like that? 'In the Sahara Forest,' the lumberjack replies. 'You mean the Sahara Desert?' says the boss. The skinny lumberjack responds: 'Well sure, that's what they call it now!'"
I recalled this oldie but goody as I was reading through Ezekiel 20 and 21 recently in various translations. (I generally stick with King James, but I've been reading through some alternative translations for research on my latest book, "The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians and the End of the Age.")
As I was reading through "The Complete Jewish Bible," translated by David H. Stern, this line, found in some Bibles in Ezekiel 20 and others in 21, hit me like a ton of bricks – Ezekiel 21:1-5: "The word of ADONAI came to me: Human being, turn your face southward, preach to the south and prophesy to the scrublands of the Negev; say to the Negev forest: 'Hear the word of ADONAI, Adonai Elohim says: I will light a fire in you; it will devour every tree in you, green and dry alike; a blazing unquenchable flame that will scorch every face from the Negev to the north. All humanity will see that I, ADONAI, lit it; it will not be put out."
What's this? The Negev forest? That certainly caught my eye.
Today, everyone knows the Negev is a desert, just as they know the Sahara is a desert. Was this a joke? A mistranslation? Or is it evidence that, once again, a righteously angry God has used "climate change" in response to disobedience by His people?
I checked many other translations, many commentaries and concordances. Here's what the King James says, this time with a different location reference, Ezekiel 20:45-48: "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field; And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched."
A little research explained the differences. "Negev" in Hebrew means "south." So there is no real contradiction. In fact, it's an explanation. Other more familiar translations use the word "Negev," too, such as the Holman Christian Standard, God's Word Translation, International Standard Version and the New American Standard.
So what does this mean? Was the Negev desert once a forest?
Why did God burn it down? He burned it down at the time of the Babylonian captivity so that all the world would know he was punishing disobedience or sin, specifically mentioning cavorting in the forested hills with abominations including child sacrifice and worshiping wood and stone idols.
Yet, true to form, God held out hope, forgiveness through repentance and obedience in the future for Israel – which is what my new book, "The Restitution of All Things," is all about. It's a phrase the Apostle Peter used in Acts 3 when he explained that the Coming Kingdom of God on Earth is what all the prophets foretold from the beginning to the end. It's the common denominator between all of them. Yet, we seldom hear about this promise of a future world ruled and reigned over by a Messiah who first came and was rejected, crucified and resurrected and who would come again to set things right from His throne in Jerusalem as King of Kings. In 40 years in the church, I have never heard even one sermon devoted to this period. I've read dozens and dozens of prophecy books but never saw one devoted to this time.
Here's what it says in Ezekiel 20:40-44 (KJV), just before this mind-blowing passage about the Negev forest: "For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God."
And what's even more astonishing is that we can actually see part of the fulfillment of prophecy taking place today.
Of course, Israel is back in the land. But there's much more.
The Negev desert is blooming, again.
And it's being called a "miracle" by the Jewish National Fund's chief forester, Dr. David Brand, who has overseen the planting and restoration of some 240 million trees in Israel.
Yes, what we are seeing in the Negev is, indeed, already the fulfillment of another prophecy – Isaiah 35:10, which explains that what we are seeing today in Israel is a harbinger of "the restitution of all things":
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
Are you ready for joy and gladness and the fleeing away of sorrow and sighing? It's right around the corner. It's just part of "the restitution of all things."
And it goes to show you, "climate change" is not all bad news.
Read Part 1 of Farah's series, "What the Bible says about catastrophic climate change."
See the book trailer for "The Restitution of All Things":
Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].
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