Page 74 - Advanced Bible Geography ebook
P. 74

In the Bible, there are
               numerous references to
               the oasis. The prophet
               Ezekiel, for instance,
               predicted that fishermen
               would one day line the
               shores of the Dead Sea
               “from En Gedi to En
               Eglaim.” (Ezekiel 47:10).

               Most famously, David hid
               from King Saul at En Gedi.
               When David and his men
               were hiding in a cave
               there, Saul came into the
               cave to relieve himself.
               David slipped over and cut
               off the corner of Saul’s
               robe (1 Samuel 24), thus
               ending the chase and
               giving temporary relief to
               both men.

               In another text, an enemy
               army marching against
               Jerusalem was camped at
               En Gedi when King           The cold, fresh water of En Gedi is remarkable because of its location in the Judean Wilderness,
               Jehoshaphat first heard     within sight of the salt-saturated Dead Sea. Notice the stark contrast between the lush greenery
               the bad news (2 Chronicles   around the waterfall and the harsh, rocky soil that can’t reach the water. Almost all of the land from
               20). God provided a         En Gedi to the southern tip of Israel - a stretch of 160 miles - is rocky desert.
               miraculous deliverance in
               the battle that followed, but it is little wonder why the enemy had camped at En Gedi. That’s the
               location of the only fresh water for many miles around, in any direction.

               Sodom and Gomorrah

                                                            According to the Bible, “the men of Sodom were
                                                            wicked” (Genesis 13: 13). For its many sins, God
                                                            destroyed Sodom and all the inhabitants of the “cities
                                                            of the plain” in an intense conflagration, but not
                                                            before allowing Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family
                                                            to flee to safety.

                                                            The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was the sin of
                                                            homosexuality.  Homosexuality is condemned in both
                                                            the Old Testament (Genesis 18:16-19:29, Leviticus
                                                            18:22, Leviticus 20:13) and the New Testament
                                                            (Romans 1:26-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Timothy 1:9-

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