Dreams in the Desert
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· 8 viewsUzziah loved the soil, and growing things. He started building towers in the desert and digging wells. His vision was greater than the parameters of the city itself.
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3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
4 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
5 He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
9 And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress of the wall; then he fortified them.
10 Also he built towers in the desert. He dug many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains; he also had farmers and vinedressers in the mountains and in Carmel, for he loved the soil.
He loved growing things.
Keep Watering Your Bamboo Tree – Eric Aronson
“In the Far East, there is a tree called the Chinese bamboo tree. This remarkable tree is different from most trees in that it doesn’t grow in the usual fashion. While most trees grow steadily over a period of years, the Chinese bamboo tree doesn’t break through the ground for the first four years.
Then, in the fifth year, an amazing thing happens – the tree begins to grow at an astonishing rate. In fact, in a period of just five weeks, a Chinese bamboo tree can grow to a height of 90 feet. It’s almost as if you can actually see the tree growing before your very eyes.
Well, I’m convinced that life often works in a similar way. You can work for weeks, months and even years on your dream with no visible signs of progress and then, all of the sudden, things take off. Your business becomes profitable beyond your wildest dreams. Your marriage becomes more vibrant and passionate than you ever thought it could be.
Yet, all of this requires one thing – faith. The growers of the Chinese bamboo tree have faith that if they keep watering and fertilizing the ground, the tree will break through. Well, you must have the same kind of faith in your bamboo tree, whether it is to run a successful business, win a Pulitzer Prize, raise well-adjusted children, or what have you.
You must have faith that if you keep making the calls, honing your craft, reading to your children, reaching out to your spouse or asking for donations, that you too will see rapid growth in the future.
28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.
Uzziah was into growth.... things that are not stagnant!
The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 10: 1, 2 Chronicles Overstepping God’s Limits
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.
Two men were lost in the woods...
Herman and Elmer
When your lost in the woods your supposed to shoot into the air 3 times and wait for help....
The did this a couple of times and waited and nothing happened.
Elmer said, “Help better be on the way, because this is my last three arrows.....”
If you were stranded on a desert island what 5 books would you take?
Time life do it yourself guide to basic ship building
When we have repentant hearts...
The devil doesn’t know what to do with the evidence against us.
Angels rejoice
Heaven is happy
Hell is in torment
and soul is relieved.
There is nothing like living a repentant life.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Three Aspects of Living for God
Spiritual (Worship)
Mental (Think)
Practical (Act)
Our Kingdom is not of this world!
The temporal cannot override the eternal.
9 And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress of the wall; then he fortified them.
Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, &c.—whence resistance could be made, or missiles discharged against assailants. The sites of the principal of these towers were:
1. At the corner gate (2 Ch 25:23),
1. At the corner gate (2 Ch 25:23),
the northwest corner of the city;
Place where two ways meet
Place of decision
11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
2. At the valley gate on the west,
2. At the valley gate on the west,
where the Joppa gate now is;
The Valley is a place of loneliness....
The place of discouragement
The place where the Sun seems to hide itself....
3. At the “turning”—
3. At the “turning”—
a curve in the city wall on the eastern side of Zion.
The Transitions in life
The Twists in life
When things change
4. In the Desert
4. In the Desert
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged: Old Testament 10. Uzziah (26:1–23)
10 The reality of Uzziah’s “towers in the desert” (of arid southern Judah) has been validated by the discovery of an eighth-century tower at Qumran.
Also he built towers in the desert—for the threefold purpose of defense, of observation, and of shelter to his cattle.
Vision!
Vision!
Also he built towers in the desert—for the threefold purpose of
defense, of
observation, and of
shelter to his cattle.
He dug also a great many wells, for he loved and encouraged all branches of agriculture.
Some of these “were in the desert,” that is, in the district to the southeast of Jerusalem, on the west of the Dead Sea, an extensive grazing district “in the low country” lying between the mountains of Judah and the Mediterranean; “and in the plains,” east of the Jordan, within the territory of Reuben (De 4:43; Jos 20:8).