The Judean Desert

The pictures can more than speak for themselves today. However I highly doubt the pictures can compare to the actual beauty of the desert where so many Old Testament stories unfolded.

The Sea in the wilderness.

The Dead Sea on the drive to Masada.

 

Funny thing about today….I thought it was going to be a slow easy day of popping down to the Dead Sea, floating about for a few minutes, seeing some caves and then back to Jerusalem….ha ha ha…Hezi has shown us more history than we probably thought was possible in one day. In short, we saw these things today: Masada, Qumran, Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea and Jericho!  I’m sunburned and tired but it was so, so, so worth it!

So first thing after breakfast, we load the bus and headed down, down, down to the lowest spot on Earth…the Dead Sea. We drive along the coast until we reach Masada, a plateau fortress on the eastern fringe of the Judean Desert. I have to admit the landscape we saw on the way to Masada was exactly what I expected most of Israel to look like. From the pictures, you can see it’s arid, rocky and desolate. The thing is though, if you add a small amount of water to the ground, vegetation blooms abundantly. It’s amazing. There were groves of pomegranates and date palms that cover sections of the Judean Desert. It looked surreal.

When we arrived at Masada, Hezi secured our gondola tickets and we took it to the top of the plateau. Herod the Great built this desert fortress in case he was ever under siege. About 70 years after Herod’s death the Jewish rebellion began and some of the last rebels fled into the wilderness. They were able to defeat the small garrison of soldiers at the fortress and occupied it for three years even though 15,000 Roman soldiers surrounded them. In the end, the Romans were able to build a ramp and break down a section of the wall. The Jews decided to die instead of going into captivity. So the men killed their wives and children, and drew 10 lots to see which of them would kill the others and then fall on his own sword. Before they died, they destroyed all the spoils that the Romans could take back to Rome….that is... all but the food and water. They wanted the Romans to see that they killed themselves because they refused to be made slaves not because they had run out of supplies. In truth, there was enough food for 7 more years in the fortress! 960 Jews died rather than be taken; there were 6 survivors (2 women and 4 children) The ruins were fascinating.

Gondola that whisked us to the top of the plateau.

The fortress offered amazing views of the wilderness and sea.

Life will find a way even in the harshest climates.

The storehouses of Masada had enough food for a siege of 10 years.

Views from the plateau.

The bath house at Masada.

The 10 lots for the last survivors.

Me overlooking the Judean wilderness.

Water was stored in cisterns that collected water from the mountains.

The synagogue at Masada.

Hezi giving us a lesson on how the Jews bury the prayers written on paper and placed in the cracks of the synagogue.  To throw away or burn the prayers would dishonor the name of God according to the Jews.

A model of how water would flow from the highlands when it rained and fill the cisterns. Amazing innovation!!!

The ramp that the Romans built to finally conquer the rebels at Masada. It took them 3 years to accomplish this task.

The ruins of Masada. 

The Acacia Tree....Probably the Crown of Thorns That Jesus Wore Was Made From This Tree.

Next we journeyed to Ein Gedi which is a lush desert oasis. Cleopatra was so enthralled with the perfumes that were extracted from the persimmon groves that grew here that Marc Antony just confiscated the groves for her. Herod returned them to their Jewish owners when she died. With the waterfalls, this place looks surreal surrounded by barren desert.

While at Ein Gedi, Pastor Polson read from I Samuel 24 where God tells David that He shall give your enemy into your hand. David is hiding in the wilderness fleeing from the wrath and jealousy of Saul. He was sustained by the constant, year round water that runs at this oasis. It is here that he comes upon King Saul sleeping in a cave and cuts off a piece of his robe instead of killing him. This story in the Bible has new meaning to me now that I have seen this place. I am so grateful that I have been able to join the West Park group of believers to see the land that I have heard of since childhood.

The cliffs and caves at Ein Gedi.

The smaller waterfall. Where there is water, there is life.

Our beloved Cindy!

Lots of people were at the parks today because it was a holiday for the elections.

Views of the Dead Sea as we head northwest along the sea. It is shrinking at a staggering rate.

 

For lunch we ate buffet style at Qumran. I had a very excellent falafel before a quick shopping spree at the gift store. We could buy mineral salts, mud and lotions from the Dead Sea. Afterwards we hiked over the ruins of this break-away sect of Judaism, called Essenes. Here the men-only group lived like monks for two centuries. They studied scriptures and made copies to preserve their beliefs. These copies were wrapped in animal skin, sealed in clay jars and hidden in caves to preserve their library in the case of an attack. We know them as the Dead Sea Scrolls today. We all know the story of how the Bedouin shepherd found the jars, but the details of the discovery are amazing. There are many, many caves in this area, and 11 contained scrolls. The first one found was the whole scroll of Isaiah. Thousands of fragments of scrolls were excavated.

Replicas of the jars where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

The ruins of Qumran.

The hills and caves where the scrolls were found.

Cave #4 of 11 where scrolls were found at this site.

There are many caves at Qumran.

 

Lastly today, we crossed into the Palestinian controlled territory of Jericho. The city is 99% Muslim and 1% Christian. We stopped at a Hebron glass shop and made a few quick purchases of Phoenician glass before we went by the ruins Jericho. Archeology has not unearthed much from the Exodus period although artifacts have been unearthed back to the time of Abraham. Later we stopped at a sycamore tree that is very ancient which perhaps was the tree that Zacchaeus climbed in order to see Jesus. While we were there, several street vendors sold us sycamore nuts, dates and Jericho bananas. We passed them around the bus for sampling. I think most of us would agree they were all pretty tasty.

Sycamore Tree in Jericho (Zacchaeus Tree)

 It's a huge, old sycamore tree! 

Many of us gathered up our bathing suits and headed for the changing rooms at the Dead Sea. From there we trekked to the shore and slipped and slid over the black mud into the water. It’s true, you really do bob like a cork in this mineral rich, salty water! Again, I think the pictures speak for themselves. As I was floating around, I looked over to the Moab Mountains in Jordan just across the lake. There before our group was Mt. Nebo where Moses climbed to look into the promised land just before he died. Melody and I talked about how Ruth crossed those same mountains as she came to Israel. Seeing these places in person, will forever change how I understand scripture.

To end our day, we stopped for camel rides at the Mt. of Temptation. Jessica, Tina and Guyer took rides! 

Jessica

Tina

Guyer makes a good Bedouin!

 

What an eventful day! I can’t believe how much we did today, but I am so grateful that Hezi makes the most of every minute we have here. Tomorrow we spend the day right here in Jerusalem. I can’t wait!