Folks, we’ve had a tremendous day as we begin the journey of the people of God from OT to NT. Days 1 & 2 of the tour were basically getting here to Israel and to the Dead Sea area in particular. Because we were up for so long coming over (again, not much sleep on the plane), today was a short day so the group could take advantage of some afternoon time for extra naps, a dip in the Dead Sea (or a float in the Dead Sea, I should say), the a relaxing at our hotel–hoping for the first full night of sleep for everyone in several nights.
We began our day by moving from our hotel through the modern version of the Old Testament city of Arad (Numbers 21) on our way to the Camel Trek location. Even this ride through this southern wilderness (desert) was fascinating. One of the main reasons was all of the water that we saw in the bottom of ravines, as well as puddled in the road. This is desert, which
Julie & Steve Colden on ‘Sarge’…
At Masada synagogue with Malcolm…
makes this sight very unusual. We also had to take our time crossing certain sections of the road that had been washed over with mud/rocks due to flash flooding after the recent snow storm, then cleared. We finally made it to the Camel Trek sight though, sent the group to the nearest ‘Gladder Bladder Station’, then mounted. Since one of our group did not desire to go on the camel ride (think pony ride, tied all together), I stayed back for company, as well as took pictures for many while they were riding. I know that the Colden kids from Dodgeville, Wisconsin, couldn’t hardly believe that their mother was going to ride a camel … but take a good look! The proof is in the pic…
After the Camel Trek, we made our way to the back side of Masada, Herod the Great’s Desert Fortress. This is the first time (in 6 tours) that I’ve had the opportunity to go to the back side of Masada, but the regular entrance (as well as the cable cars usually used to get to the top) were closed due to mudslides and roads closed on the front side. But, it was great! Not all, but a good majority of our group walked all the way up the back path to the top of Masada, where the ancient fortress still stands today. There we learned about the fortress itself, how Herod was trying to copy his recent travels to Pompei in his decorating schemes, and generally what an incredible builder he was (though there’s no written proof anywhere that Herod was actually there). When we got to the synagague, some thoughts were pulled together regarding the tying in of ancient Israel with modern-day Israel. Jesus, in Luke 21 begins to speak of the future. He talks about the eternal word of God, along with a time that will come called the ‘Period of the Gentiles’. And, I believe, Jesus was speaking of exactly what was going to happen to Masada … a few decades before it actually happened. Even in jesus time, ancient Palestine (as the Romans called it), was under Roman rule. In other words, Israel was not a free people then and hadn’t been since about 586 BC when Babylon (modern-day Iraq) conquered Israel and sacked Jerusalem. Then, in 70 AD, the Romans sacked Jerusalem again, destroying the Temple. It took a couple of years for Jesus predictions to come true, when folks would be fleeing Jerusalem and running to the desert. Masada was inhabited by some of those folks. Then, in 73-74 AD, a Roman general and company finally conquered Masada. We learned the whole story, along with how Masada is now a modern-day monument that ‘this will never happen again’ with Israel. At least one section of the IDF (Israel’s military) are sworn in at the top of Masada….
After coming back down from Masada, our bus driver took us to a mall in modern-day Arad so we could eat lunch and pick up some personal items. Many of us had burgers at local place called Burgerim (‘im’ in Hebrew makes it plural)–specializing in 2-3 sliders on each order. We then came back to our hotel early so folks could go to float in the Dead Sea, take a nap, or whatever was needed. Tomorrow, it’s off to Galilee. Until then…
Blessings from the Holy Land, Pastor Rom