Walking (and Swimming) in the Desert
We began early this morning in order to try to beat the heat as we went to Masada. This huge rock in the middle of the Negev desert was used for fortresses for many centuries. Herod built a monstrous palace complex on top, and later the Romans used the fortress, and still later, the Jewish rebels in A.D. 70 used Masada as their last holdout. (Find the story...it's fascinating and filled with all sorts of historical questions.) In the heat, we took the cable car up the side, walked around the top to explore, then took the cable car back down. Already incredibly warm, it was only about 10:00 a.m.
From there, we went to hike at En Gedi, a refuge mentioned in the Bible as the place where David hid from Saul. We hiked up past several beautiful waterfalls to the cave where David and Saul had their confrontation. The cave is open now, the roof has fallen in, and a waterfall runs through it. Springs in the desert.
Our next stop was at the Jordan River, at or near the place where Jesus was baptized by John. Chris and I celebrated the reaffirmation of baptism for several in our group, and for me it was especially meaningful to immerse my daughter. The water felt cool and good, and there were tears among our group as we not only remembered our baptism, but Jesus' as well.
Lunch was in Jericho, the oldest city in the world. Civilization dates back 10,000 years here. We ate at the Temptation Restaurant, so today it was good to give in to temptation. After lunch (and some shopping), we went to see the Mount of Temptation, the place where Satan challenged Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. There is a monastery halfway up the mountain, and a fortress (uncompleted, from what I'm told) at the very top. Rachel took another camel ride in the shadow of the mountain.
Our last stop of the day was for fun—swimming in the Dead Sea. Even I can swim there, because the mineral count is so high no one can sink. Everyone floats. It was relaxing, though getting out on the muddy, slippery floor is quite the challenge! Let's just say Mitch and I scooted on our behinds over to the deck. After rinsing off the salt, we still didn't feel quite clean. The showers back at the hotel felt great.
Much of our group is leaving tonight to go to Tel Aviv and back home to the United States. Eight of us are leaving tomorrow morning to head to Egypt. I would imagine a very different cultural situation awaits us there, but we look forward to what we will learn about Moses and Abraham and our forefathers in the faith.
From there, we went to hike at En Gedi, a refuge mentioned in the Bible as the place where David hid from Saul. We hiked up past several beautiful waterfalls to the cave where David and Saul had their confrontation. The cave is open now, the roof has fallen in, and a waterfall runs through it. Springs in the desert.
Our next stop was at the Jordan River, at or near the place where Jesus was baptized by John. Chris and I celebrated the reaffirmation of baptism for several in our group, and for me it was especially meaningful to immerse my daughter. The water felt cool and good, and there were tears among our group as we not only remembered our baptism, but Jesus' as well.
Lunch was in Jericho, the oldest city in the world. Civilization dates back 10,000 years here. We ate at the Temptation Restaurant, so today it was good to give in to temptation. After lunch (and some shopping), we went to see the Mount of Temptation, the place where Satan challenged Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. There is a monastery halfway up the mountain, and a fortress (uncompleted, from what I'm told) at the very top. Rachel took another camel ride in the shadow of the mountain.
Our last stop of the day was for fun—swimming in the Dead Sea. Even I can swim there, because the mineral count is so high no one can sink. Everyone floats. It was relaxing, though getting out on the muddy, slippery floor is quite the challenge! Let's just say Mitch and I scooted on our behinds over to the deck. After rinsing off the salt, we still didn't feel quite clean. The showers back at the hotel felt great.
Much of our group is leaving tonight to go to Tel Aviv and back home to the United States. Eight of us are leaving tomorrow morning to head to Egypt. I would imagine a very different cultural situation awaits us there, but we look forward to what we will learn about Moses and Abraham and our forefathers in the faith.
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