10. How have modern scientists been rewarded in following the Bible record?

¹⁰ Such is the reliance placed on the geologic and geographic record in the Bible by some modern-day scientists that they have followed it as a guide and have been well rewarded.

Dr. Joseph Weitz, Israel’s noted authority on reforestation, said: “The first tree Abraham put in the soil of Beersheba was a tamarisk.” “Following his lead, four years ago we put out two million in the same area. Abraham was right. The tamarisk is one of the few trees we have found that thrives in the south where yearly rainfall is less than six inches.”e The book Tree and Shrub in Our Biblical Heritage, by Nogah Hareuveni, adds: “It appears that the Patriarch Abraham did not simply plant any tree upon arriving in Beersheva. . . . He chose the tree whose shade is cooler than that of other trees. Moreover, the [tamarisk] can withstand heat and long dry spells by sending its roots deep down to find underground water. Not surprisingly, the [tamarisk] remains to this day in the vicinity of Beersheva.”f​—Gen. 21:33.