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The prophet Zechariah describes how these living waters that heal the Dead Sea come
our from Jerusalem:--
"I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle . . . . . His feet shall stand in that
day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of
Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there
shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and
half toward the south . . . . . for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal . . . . .
And it shall come to pass in that day that living waters shall come out from Jerusalem;
half of them toward the former sea (Eastern, i.e., the Dead Sea), and half of them toward
the hinder sea (Western, i.e., the Mediterranean)" (Zech. 14: 2-8).
Here we have definite statements that cannot be explained away. East and West,
North and South are geographical points.
A very great valley reaches to Azal. The Companion Bible comments: "A new place,
yet to have this name, at one extremity of the valley." The reader will see that the A.V.
spells it Azal, and the R.V. Azel. A glance at the map will show that Rollins in his
"Ancient History" marks two names close together near the site of Ashkelon, namely
Afcalon-Azol. Jeremiah seems to refer to this in chapter xlvii:--
"O thou sword of the Lord . . . . . the Lord hath given thee a charge against Ashkelon,
and against the sea shore" (Jer. 47: 6, 7).
When we remember that the Mediterranean is 1300 feet above the level of the
Dead Sea, we can well imagine what would happen if a "very great valley" extended
from Ashkelon or Azal on the coast, as far as the Jordan valley in the East. The rapid rise
of water at the Dead Sea would cause the Jordan to find its old river bed and flow out into
the Gulf of Akabah (see map). R. Stephenson writes:--
"The Wadi-el-Arabah appears in part to be an old sea beach, deeply grooved by torrents."
And Keith says of this valley that "without doubt it was the ancient bed of that river
(the Jordan) before the volcanic eruption which formed the actual basin of the dead Sea".
The "tongue of the Egyptian sea", the sea of Suez, will be destroyed, the land slightly
raised, and where the Delta of the Nile and the Suez Canal now exist, men shall walk
dryshod. Micah speaks of the Lord clearing a valley like wax and of the waters pouring
down a steep place (Micah 1: 3, 4). Joel tells us that "all the rivers of Judah shall flow
with waters, and a fountain shall come out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the
valley of Shittim" (i.e., the plains of Moab bordering the Dead Sea) (Joel 3: 18).
The words of the well known Psalm may be far more literal than many have
supposed:--
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we
fear, though the earth be removed, And the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;