Day Three in the Land.
First things first. When you travel to the other side of the world, sometimes “Jet Lag” can really mess with one’s natural sleep patterns. The first two nights for me were okay. But sleep last night was a bit tricky. By 2:30 a.m. I was wide awake. I tossed and turned for over an hour. By 4 o’clock I decided to get up. I’m a bit of a runner, so before another hour passed it was time to lace up the running shoes and hit the bike trail that parallels the shore. The benefit of a pre-dawn run, you get to see the sunrise over the Moab Mountains!
Sunrise on the Salt Sea
The curious thing about the Salt Sea, the water is greater than 30% salt. So there is no life in it. It’s beautiful on the surface, but completely void of any substance underneath. The good news, One Day it will be teeming with life!
Wherever this water flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish, because it will bring life and fresh water to the Dead Sea. Fruit trees will grow all along this river and produce fresh fruit every month. The leaves will never dry out, because they will always have water from the stream that flows from the temple, and they will be used for healing people.
Ezekiel 47:9, 12 CEV
We visited five additional sites today. The first was the southern border palace of King Herod called Massada, which means “strong hold.” It sits high atop a mountain on the edge of the Dead Sea. There is an amazing historical significance for the people of Israel that is not unlike the story of the Alamo in my town of San Antonio.
A five minute bus ride from the base of Masada is Ein Gedi, which means “Springs of Wild Goats.” David and his band of warriors hid out in the caves around here and you’ll find the Bible story in 1 Samuel 23 and 24.
There are also a number of springs of living water here. It’s really amazing to see water in the desert and if it were a warmer day, I’m certain we would have cooled off in the waterfall!
We also went to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in one of eleven caves in the desert.
The next destination was one of two stops we’ll make along the Jordan River. This location was opposite Mt. Nebo, where Moses looked into the Promised Land and urged the people of Israel to remember God as they crossed into the New Land without him. It’s the same spot where John baptized Jesus. It is believed that the reason John chose this spot to baptize was to remind the new followers of The Way to repent and remember the faithfulness of God from generations past, to bring His children into The Land at this very crossing. It’s a faith lesson for us today, right? Even every Sunday when we observe the Lord’s Supper or Communion we are urged to remember… remember the sacrifice of Jesus and the life eternal that we share with Him.
Tonight, well after dark, we arrived up north to the Sea of Galilee, where we’ll spend the next three days. This is clearly my favorite area of the tour!
We’re only three days in and this study trip has been very refreshing for me… like Living Water!
Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty.
Revelation 21:6 CEV
Shalom!
If Israel is someplace you’ve always wanted to see, join me in October. I’d love to show you. Go to gtitours.org/trip/ronald19 for more info.
RichRonald.com 