Day 7 – Monday, September 9: Qumran, Jericho, Ein Gedi, Masada, Dead Sea (Theme of the Day: Finding God in the desert)
Today was a hot day, with temps around 100. This is to be expected here in the Judean Desert. We had a wonderful day, with “water” scheduled in the program to cool us off. Once again, we had every site today to ourselves. We read from Psalm 18 as we left the hotel at Almog following breakfast and checkout.
Qumran
About 15 minutes south of Almog is Qumran, the most significant archaeological site in all of Israel. Found here in 1947 were the Dead Sea Scrolls. We first hiked up to see Cave 6 (one of 12 caves in which fragment of scrolls were found) and the unique aqueduct tunnel. Then we walked back down and visited the site itself where we saw many miqvot (plural for mikve, or ritual baths), cisterns, and the scriptorium. In front of Cave 4 (and 5 & 10), we read from Psalm 19 and “151,” an extra psalm found here. We also remembered 2 Timothy 3:16 about God’s inspired Word. Thanks be to God for the preservation of His Word and the joy, instruction, direction, and hope it provides us! We even saw some ibex here among the ruins (Psalm 104).
Jericho
Next, we backtrack a bit to visit Tel es-Sultan, or Old Testament Jericho. We were glad that the site was open for us today (it wasn’t yesterday). We first looked east and could see the Jordan Valley, with Mt. Nebo on the ridge on the horizon (Dt. 34). Elijah was taken to heaven in the area across the river (2 Kings 2). Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River at “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” (John 1). Looking south we could see the area of NT Jericho (where Zacchaeus and Bartimeaus lived, and where Herod the Great died in 4 BC). We then turned our attention to the ancient OT site of Jericho. The archaeology of this ancient site of Jericho supports and confirms the Bible’s historicity. Besides seeing the oldest structure (a round tower) in Israel, on the southern end we saw the double retaining walls of this Canaanite city taken my Joshua (Joshua 6). A mud brick wall once stood on top of these stone walls. They came “tumblin’ down.”
Ein Gedi
From here we returned driving further south along the western shoreline of the Dead Sea to Ein Gedi. Together we walked into the canyon (Wadi David) where we stopped to read from Song of Songs 1 (mentioning the henna blossoms), 2 Chronicles 20 (mentioning the Ascent of Ziz), and 1 Samuel 24 (the David and Saul “cave encounter”). Everyone in the group walked back to the series of water falls. We also enjoyed getting wet under a few sets of waterfalls. It was an amazingly refreshing experience! No wonder David and Saul were hanging out here, right? HA
Masada
We drove south about 15 minutes to get to the eastern side of Masada, a palace-fortress built by King Herod in the 30s BC. This was our last site of the day. We all took the cable car to the top. Among the ruins we saw the casemate wall, huge cisterns, the synagogue, the northern palace, storehouses, and the bathhouse. The courageous story of Masada (with 967 using the site as a place of refuge) is both incredible and inspiring! We all took the cable car down (since the Snake Path was closed due to the heat) and loaded in our bus.
“We all enjoyed the four sites we saw today. The sites offered us new insights archaeologically (Qumran), connected us to the Bible (Jericho), provided a lot of fun (getting wet at Ein Gedi), and they inspired us (Masada). It was another great day!”
Ein Bokek/Dead Sea
We ended the day at our hotel in Ein Bokek. After checking in (with amazingly cold welcome drinks and wonderful moroccan date cookies), many in the group enjoyed floating in the Dead Sea. This unique body of water is about 33% salt and minerals. It was a unique experience. The temperature of the water was about 90 (at least), while the air temp was 100. It was a dry heat and with the breeze was tolerable!
After showering up back in our hotel rooms, we enjoyed dinner and overnight.
Day 8 – Tuesday, September 10: Arad, Sde Boker/Zin Desert, Lachish, Azekah, Jerusalem (Theme of the Day: Learning to trust God in our battles!)
