When the Jewish people began returning to their homeland in the 1890s, they did not find a land “flowing with milk and honey.” What they encountered was devastation.
One of the most striking examples was the Jezreel Valley. For centuries it had been a swamp, uninhabitable, malaria-infested, and abandoned. Mosquitoes bred in stagnant water, spreading disease and death. The land lay desolate, seemingly beyond recovery.
Yet the pioneers did not give up. They drained the swamps by planting eucalyptus trees imported from Australia around the perimeter and digging canals to channel water toward the Mediterranean Sea. Slowly, deliberately, life began to return.
At the same time, they began replanting the forests of Israel. For centuries, every tree in the land had been cut down for firewood, war, and conquest, by one empire after another. To restore the land, the Jewish National Fund was established. As of today, the JNF has planted over 250 million trees, built 180 dams and reservoirs, and established more than 1,000 parks throughout Israel.
Today, the Jezreel Valley is one of the greenest and most fertile regions in the country. Wheat, cotton, sunflowers, beans, and fruit trees flourish. Fishponds dot the landscape, and grazing cattle and sheep fill the fields.
All of this stands as a visible fulfillment of the words spoken centuries earlier through the prophet Ezekiel:
“The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’” (Ezekiel 36:34–35)
What was once barren became fruitful. What was once cursed became blessed. What was once impossible became reality because God keeps His Word.
God’s Word will NEVER return empty. It will always accomplish its purpose.
TODAY: Stand with confidence on the WORD of GOD. Every prophecy, every promise, and every declaration spoken by Him will be fulfilled in the land, in history, and in your life.
