Masada, En Gedi Nature Preserve, Caves of Qumran, Dead Sea

November 1 (11:00 pm)

The day started earlier than usual today. We boarded the bus at 6:30a.m. instead of our usual 7:30a.m. We left Jerusalem and headed East toward the Dead Sea. At modern Jericho, we turned South and traveled down the Jordan River Valley toward Masada. As we traveled toward Masada, the Dead Sea was to our left and the barren hills of the Judean Wilderness was to our right. The Dead Sea has a salt content of  30 - 35% and is unfit for drinking, but it is beautifully blue.  We arrived at Masada before the temperature and the crowds got too bad. We all rode the cable car up the mountain. Masada is 1400 feet high and flat on top. Herod the Great (who else) built this place as a fortress and of course he built a beautiful palace there for himself. Also, zealots  who  resisted  Roman rule  held out at Masada for over one year while the Romans laid siege to the stronghold. There were 967 resisters, and 15,000 Romans. Rome did eventually take the city in 72AD only to find that the residents had committed mass suicide rather than be taken by Rome. A very tragic story. Some of our group elected to walk the "serpentine path back down while myself and several others decided to "save our knees. The walk down winds down with steep steps, step, steps, and takes about 50 minutes. Those who chose to ride down decided that we needed our knees for the next stop. Next, we turned North and traveled  to En Gedi  Nature Reserve. We enjoyed a nice but steep and sometimes wet walk up to a waterfall where David  and his men spent time hiding out when Saul was pursuing David. In one of these caves near here, David had the perfect opportunity to kill Saul, but David decided not  to kill him since he did not a clear word from God to do so. We should consider David's example when confronted with opportunity, but not having clear  direction from God.  Dr. Beck gave us a demonstration of why there is so much water here and how it flows into this oasis. We saw several Nubian Ibexes and other wildlife. Dr. Beck told us that this land used to be home to many leopards and other large predators. We ate our picnic lunch quickly and hit the road again. Next stop was at the Caves of Qumran.  The Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1947 in a cave on this site.  Archeologists believe a large community of people were living there and apparently making copies of the Bible. I wonder if  today, we would be as dedicated as they were  about preserving the Word for future generations. Last stop was at the Dead Sea for a float in the salt water.  I did not expect to sink into mud up to my thighs. Paula, Nancy, and I had to pull each other out when we got stuck.  Bruce (husband of Paula and clearly smarter than we were) snapped a picture for us and rather quickly we ended our float in the Dead Sea. The three if us agrees, that we can say, "been there done that ". We came back to Jerusalem and had dinner together. After dinner, we had our departure meeting where the logistics of our departure were discussed. Some of us are off to Jordan for 3 more days and some are departing for home tomorrow. At our meeting, we also had a chance to say our goodbyes and to share with one another what this trip and group of Christian brothers and sisters has meant to us during the past 2 weeks. We are all agreed that we are so thankful for having had Jack shepherding us through this land where the Great Shepherd  walked.

Dr. Jack Beck and our group studying atop Masada

The spring at En Gedi where David and his men were hiding out from Saul.