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Isaiah 32:15
until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
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Isaiah 35:1-2
Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God.
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Romans 11:19-27
“ Well,” you may say,“ those branches were broken off to make room for me.”Yes, but remember— those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen.For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either.Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree.You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ.And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,“ The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.”
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Ezekiel 20:46-47
“ Son of man, turn and face the south and speak out against it; prophesy against the brushlands of the Negev.Tell the southern wilderness,‘ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Hear the word of the Lord! I will set you on fire, and every tree, both green and dry, will be burned. The terrible flames will not be quenched and will scorch everything from south to north.
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Haggai 2:6
“ For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land.
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Matthew 21:43
I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.
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Psalms 84:6
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.
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Zechariah 11:1-2
Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedar forests.Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars; the most majestic ones have fallen. Weep, you oaks of Bashan, for the thick forests have been cut down.
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Isaiah 49:5-6
And now the Lord speaks— the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The Lord has honored me, and my God has given me strength.He says,“ You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
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Romans 11:11-17
Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves.Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this,for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them.For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy— just as the entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree— some of the people of Israel— have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.
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Matthew 19:30
But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.
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Hosea 3:4
This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!
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Micah 3:12
Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.
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Hebrews 10:37
“ For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.
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Habakkuk 2:3
This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.
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Psalms 107:33
He changes rivers into deserts, and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.
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Matthew 21:18-19
In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry,and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it,“ May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.
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Isaiah 63:18
How briefly your holy people possessed your holy place, and now our enemies have destroyed it.
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Isaiah 65:12-16
now I will‘ destine’ you for the sword. All of you will bow down before the executioner. For when I called, you did not answer. When I spoke, you did not listen. You deliberately sinned— before my very eyes— and chose to do what you know I despise.”Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:“ My servants will eat, but you will starve. My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. My servants will rejoice, but you will be sad and ashamed.My servants will sing for joy, but you will cry in sorrow and despair.Your name will be a curse word among my people, for the Sovereign Lord will destroy you and will call his true servants by another name.All who invoke a blessing or take an oath will do so by the God of truth. For I will put aside my anger and forget the evil of earlier days.
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Isaiah 5:6
I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.
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Isaiah 41:19
I will plant trees in the barren desert— cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.
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Hosea 1:9-10
And the Lord said,“ Name him Lo ammi—‘ Not my people’— for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.“ Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore— too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told,‘ You are not my people,’ it will be said,‘ You are children of the living God.’
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Psalms 107:35
But he also turns deserts into pools of water, the dry land into springs of water.
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Isaiah 55:13
Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
