by Tad Lindley
By the time we got married, my father-in-law’s fish camp was about a half mile above Nick O. Nick, just past Emma Evon’s. The ground there had eroded so bad at Nick O. Nick they had to move. Eventually the new fish camp also began to erode. The landowners behind us wouldn’t grant permission to move backwards into the trees, so we sucked in our stomachs as much as we could and finally admitted we couldn’t last much longer.
900 feet
We only moved about 900 feet, but it might as well have been 9 miles. All the roofing had to come off. The walls down in sections, the floor and subfloor off the floor frame. Every nail on every piece of steel on the puyurcivik, it all came up in the boat piece by piece on high tides. Bit by bit we put it back together. After that I never wanted to do it again, but now I got to reading in the Bible and I’m thinking if we ever move again I know where I want my new fish camp to be.
The Dead Sea
The Jordan River flows out of the Sea of Galilee (a freshwater lake about the size of Goodnews Bay) southward into the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is about 1,400 feet below sea level; the lowest place on earth. Its water is so salty that people float in it without a life jacket. It is called Dead, because it is currently fishless. Other than bacteria, very little life can exist in it.
When Jesus returns
When Jesus returns, the geography of the region will be modified. At the conclusion of the Battle of Armageddon, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. (Zechariah 14:4 NIV)
On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name. (Zechariah 14:8-9 NIV) Jesus will reign for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-5), a period of time referred to as the Millennium.s
Resurrection of the Dead Sea
At that time there will be a new temple in Jerusalem (currently there is none). Ezekiel described this temple in laborious detail. I’ll let you read it for yourself and see if you don’t think the same (Ezekiel 40-46). Then he begins to describe a river flowing from the temple eastward to the Dead Sea, This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. (Ezekiel 47:8-10 NKJV) The Dead Sea will be resurrected!
And since we’ll be going there anyway
You might be thinking, “Brother Lindley, that’s an awful long way to go for fish camp.” I’ll be going there every year anyway, and so will you. Look at this: Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16 NIV) The Feast of Tabernacles is a one week festival in late September or October depending on the Jewish calendar. So seeing as I’ll be going to Israel anyway, might as well enjoy what will become the best set netting in the world. Come to think of it, why not enjoy the best of both worlds, keep the fish camp on the Kuskokwim and just have fish camp twice a year!
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.