A fun and safe resource for kids, provided by Got Questions.
What is the importance of the Dead Sea in the Bible?
Great question! Here's the answer:
The Dead Sea is important because it points back to many things that happened in the Bible.
The Dead Sea is unlike any other body of water. In the Old Testament, the Dead Sea surrounded the borders of the Promised Land. It is also known by the names of the Salt Sea, the Sea of Arabah, and the Eastern Sea. The Dead Sea is known as the Dead Sea because nothing can live in it. There are no fish or sea creatures swimming in it. It cannot sustain life.
The salt content of the Dead Sea is about 26 percent. That means, if you go into the water, you will float very easily! You also don’t want to get it in your eyes or it will hurt!
The levels of salt in the Dead Sea tell us why nothing can live in this body of water. In the present day, the Dead Sea is shrinking. Over the last forty years, 30 percent of the Dead Sea has disappeared. Since the Dead Sea is quickly evaporating, we don't know how much longer it will last.
Some people believe that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are below the Dead Sea. Archeologists and scholars have found that these cities would have been close to the Dead Sea.
In the future, there will be a time that God transforms the Dead Sea to be streams of fresh water. We don't know the exact timing, but we can trust God.
Bible Truth
"But Lot’s wife looked back. When she did, she became a pillar made out of salt." (Genesis 19:26).
"Many creatures will live where the river flows. It will have many schools of fish. This water flows there and makes the salt water fresh. So where the river flows everything will live. People will stand along the shore to fish. From En Gedi all the way to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading fishnets. The Dead Sea will have many kinds of fish. They will be like the fish in the Mediterranean Sea" (Ezekiel 47:9-10).
