Dead Sea Area Field Study

We start out this day very early 6:30 AM. We are missing the Nordell’s, Jan is not feeling well and is taking the day to rest. George and Martha Johnson are headed home. We pause to pray for them and feel sad about what we are loosing. Amy Flack has decided to stay in Jerusalem for the day to go to services at a local church and just be in the city. Jim Kielsmeier is speaking at a couple of organizations. He is paying our speakers back for their generous visits with us.
Johnny is taking us directly to Masada which is located near the Dead Sea. We move deeply into the wilderness. Miles of chalky hills, then suddenly palm tree forests where the date harvest is in full swing. The Dead Sea stretches out in front of us cool blue and immense in the middle of all the sparseness. Because of its minerality and salinity nothing grows near it. Cindy tells us that there is a water crises with the lake. There is too much water being drained off of it, and it is literally going down an entire meter a year. No one is moving to help the situation yet. High red cliffs hang about the sand with flat tops. Even brush is sparse here.
We turn off the highway to the fortress of Masada. We step off the bus and though it is early yet, the air is hot and water bottles are already being drunk. Yadin was the excavator of Masada in the 1950s. He was brilliant and was able to stir international interest in the dig. It is the most excavated sight in Israel. David might have hidden at Masada from Saul. We know he was hiding in this country. Herod built another lavish palace here. He built an aqueduct to the palace and had a one million gallon cistern built. The mosaics of the Western Palace are gorgeous with colors that go with the natural area, the red of the rock, the blue of the Dead Sea, the pale green of what little vegetation was there. The mosaics are in geometric designs avoiding any "graven images" probably as a nod to his discontented Jewish subjects.
We travel up the rocky island on a large cable car. We see the snake path below us that Jewish soldiers used to have to hike up at their official initiation into the army.

The spirit of Masada is the Josephus story. The story is an idealistic portrayal. It is the stuff of legend with beautiful heroes and heroines acting in great honor and nobility. It really is a national story that captures the heart of the people. It is the spirit and pride of the Jewish nation. There are reasons to question the account that Josephus has recorded. Josephus himself was a rabbi and commander of an army. He is a turn-coat to the Romans when it was clear that he and his men were going to be defeated. He becomes the Roman historian of the campaign against Israel. He has to placate Rome and wants to honor the Jewish people at the same time. We read Josephus' account of the breach of Masada where the remains of the Roman siege ramp are in place. It is a moving account of bravery with an ending in which all the inhabitants of Masada choose to die at their own hands rather than to be slaves to the Romans. Cindy pointed out the remains of a Roman Camp that lies below Masada. It is well preserved because of the dryness of the area. We can also see the remains of the siege wall that the Romans erected so that no one could escape.


We are surprised by how large the complex is. We pass the remains of a columbarium, which at this time was a place for keeping doves and pigeons for food and for fertilizer. We walk through the the northern palace catching sight of Herod's plaster faux finish that turned field stones into beautifully sculpted slabs of granite and marble pillars. The palace has three tiers. The top tier has a beautiful open courtyard for entertaining. The second tier is a rounded structure used for private quarters for Herod and his family. The final tier is another gorgeous entertainment courtyard with stunning frescoes of red, olive, and blue. The pillars have the elaborate carvings still on the top. The faux finish is still on until about half way up the pillar. The view stretches for miles. The breeze is brisk and helps dry the sweat. The descent down the face of Masada to the third level of the palace makes one appreciate the incredible giftedness of the architects of the lavish palace. The ascent back to the top makes one appreciate the physical fitness of people two thousand years ago. Cindy guides us through the well-preserved bath house that has three rooms: the Fridgedarium for a cold water dip, the Tepedarium for warmth and comfort probably a massage room, and the Caldarium which was the steam room. We see the remains of the beautifully tiled floors, the gorgeous pillars and arched doorways. The false floor in the Caldarium that would have provided heat for this steam room. Several were intending to walk down the snake path, but the path was closed because of the intensity of the heat. We fill our water bottles a little disappointed, but delighted with what we got to see.
After ice creams and sodas, we loaded back on the bus and drove along the shores of the Dead Sea toward En Gedi. We can see the receded shoreline of the Sea. It is startling the damage that is being done. We unload at a thatch covered shelter where some put on bathing suits to wade the pools of En Gedi. Cindy tells us about two creatures of this area the Hyrex (a badger like creature) and the Ibex (looks like a small antelope) that we might spot. The ibex have the distinction of being sure-footed in the rocky places and it is those feet that are mentioned in scripture. Essentially the request of the Psalmist is for God to give him feet like the ibex who dances on the rocky hillsides. The Psalmist doesn't ask for a different land. He asks for feet for the land he has. Cindy invites us to think about the power of water as we walk through this dry, dusty, rocky land toward the pools of En Gedi.
the story of David sparing Saul's life in one of the caves of En Gedi. He also reads Psalm 163 which is all about thirsting for God in a dry land. We walk on to the pools and suddenly there is an explosion of green and the lush sound of running water. Elegant reeds grow thick along the edge of the pools. Green moss covers the rocks that the water cascades down. Trees and birds abound. Each pool gets successively deeper and cooler. Caves line the canyon walls. The natural spring that fills these pools is one of the few in this area. At the top of all the successive pools was David's waterfall. The water plunges 50 feet into a deep rocky basin that sparkles invitingly but is roped off. The rocks are jade colored with life and all down the face of the falls grow vines and plants drinking thirstily from this unexpected abundance. It is amazing to see how powerful a little water is.
We stop under a tree and have a Communion service led by Don Genereaux that includes The soil looks completely unusable as though it would sustain nothing, but add water and a paradise of lushness explodes. (Jesus choosing the image of living water is much richer than I have understood in my water soaked life in Minnesota. Water has power to make life out of barren waste. So God too brings life to the deserts of me, my wastelands of selfishness and fear.-Jonna)
We cross over the road from En Gedi on the bus to the park where we will take a dip in the Dead Sea. The water feels so soft, almost oily. It is intensely minerally and salty. We bob like corks at its surface. So this is what it is like to be made of plastic. We know the water has healing qualities, but it is not long until it begins to sting.
After 15 minutes we head to the showers to rinse off and change. Cindy has graciously been grilling hotdogs for lunch. We eat pita dogs and hummus and of course olives on the shores of this sea in which nothing lives. We are reminded by Cindy of Ezekiel 47 of the picture of a river flowing from a newly restored temple in Jerusalem that runs into the Kidron valley which would drain here into the Dead Sea. This river of water from God is to be so fresh and abundant that it makes the Dead Sea fresh, and fish and plant life fill this area. A powerful picture of God's restoration that links easily with Revelation 22 of a heavenly city that comes down and a river that brings life to a land where trees will grow whose leaves heal entire nations. Eden restored.
We load back up and head to Qumran. The heat is now oppressive well over a hundred. The wind is hair dryer hot. One could not be far from water for very long. The Qumran community is obsessed with water. They have many mikvahs (traditional Jewish purity baths) there are many cisterns and pools to hold water. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered near this community, but the connection between the community and the scrolls is unclear. We do know that not all the scrolls were made in this community, and they seem to be a collection of scrolls from all over Israel. In 1947 a shepherd found the scrolls and sold a couple to an antique dealer who got them to an antiquities professor. Wesaw the famous cave 4 which is the one in which most of the scrolls were found. The heat is oppressive, but we are amazed to be in this ancient place where the Essenes lived their lives in purity far away from the corruption of the temple. We wonder together if John the Baptist may have been part of this sect. Then we load back onto the bus and head back to Jerusalem leaving behind the intense heat of this wilderness.

Several head out shopping after a quick shower. Some back to Shabban's other go to the Damascus Gate where the real market is. No touristy trinkets there, but produce, meat and other goods that locals shop for. After supper Dr. Reuven Gal the chief psychologist for the Israeli army joins us for a conversation. He shares his long history in Israel. His family has been here for six generations. He fought in the 1967 war one half mile from his pregnant wife and their home. He spoke of the intensity of the love that Jewish people have for this land. Everyone in Israel goes into the military for at least three years of service. He painted a picture of the Jewish people and their sense that they must survive. Every conflict is about survival. Every battle fought feels like it is one more chance that the holocaust will happen again. They are 7.5 million people surrounded by millions and millions of Arab nations who hate them and want to see them destroyed. It explains the force with which Israel reacts. It painted a picture of a people backed into a corner perpetually fighting just to live. The two evenings stand next to each other. Injustice has been done and continues to be done to both sides. They both want the same land. This is a complex and difficult issue. No easy answers today. Jim Kielsmeier leads a prayer for Reuven and comments on what an exceptional and rare opportunity we have just had to hear him speak.
As we head to our rooms, the real hope seems to be that living water could some how restore this political desert. We are dependent again on the goodness of God.