Flourishing Life

Early this morning we made our way down out of Jerusalem into the Judean wilderness and headed toward Masada, Herod’s fortress that was used as a last refuge of militant Jews during the Jewish Revolt which began in A.D. 66. As we were driving along the Dead Sea, Hannah pointed out the far eastern end of the Kidron Valley. This is one of the valleys that begins next to the Old City, then runs through the Judean Wilderness and empties into the Jordan Valley, eventually into the Dead Sea. Hannah spoke about the prophecy in Ezekiel 47 which tells of the renewing of God’s good creation and the fulfillment of God’s plan for God’s people. Water will flow from the Sanctuary down the valley and turn the Dead Sea into a Living Sea, flourishing with life. We stopped at En Gedi, an oasis in which David took refuge when King Saul pursued him. Bob read from 1 Samuel 24 and we prayed.

After walking the Snake Path to the top of Masada

Upon arrival at Masada, some brave members of our group chose to walk up the Snake Path, the one mile path up to the fortress that rises 1,300 feet in elevation. I was one of those persons whose sanity should be questioned. Actually, it was a a cool day, as far as temperatures go in the Jordan Valley, so the walk, though challenging on the cardio-vascular system and leg muscles, was as pleasant as it gets. A nice breeze blew and we took our time, stopping along the way for breathing breaks.

King Herod built a magnificent retreat on this high plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. It included two palaces, a bath house, numerous cisterns, and several other buildings, all fortified from potential attack. The Jewish Revolt broke out in A.D. 66 and a group of Jewish rebels took refuge in Herod’s abandoned fortress. The Romans sieged Masada in A.D. 73/4, taking two to three months to build a siege ramp up the back side, eventually compromising the wall and entering the fortress. They discovered that the rebels had designed a scheme to have each man kill his family, then ten representative men to kill the other men, and one of those to kill the other nine, finally killing himself. The only survivors of the 960 Jewish rebels were a few women and children who had hidden in a cistern.

The remains of a synagogue from that period are still evident, along with the remains of a Byzantine church from a monastery that was built there in fifth century. The church didn’t get much attention on the tour, but I find it fascinating exploring where Christian monastic communities sprang up all over the Holy Land. We took the cable car down to the visitors center and left via bus to visit Qumran.

Lydia and me at Qumran.

Qumran is an archaeological site north of Masada, along the Dead Sea, which served as a monastic type community for a Jewish sect called the Essenes who were contemporary with Jesus. Their importance lies in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls which contain sectarian documents, biblical commentaries, and biblical texts. The documents and fragments of the Old Testament uncovered at the Qumran caves serve as the earliest written copies of the Old Testament and verify the biblical text as we understood it before this find. The scrolls were discovered in various caves in the area. We visited this site and Hannah did a great job of explaining its historical and biblical importance.

On a beach at the Dead Sea, several from our group floated in the mineral rich waters of that lowest body of water in the world at an elevation of 1,300 feet BELOW sea level. Others enjoyed coffee or ice cream, sitting in the shade on the beach, watching people from all over the world floating in the water and spreading the mineral muds all over.

We made our way back to the hotel a little earlier tonight for a good night’s rest before the final day of the pilgrimage.