For the generations to come

On the second day of our journey to Ancient Paths, we were awaken by the shrill of a wake-up calls anxious to learn what the day ahead of us would reveal...more "rock climbing"?? First on the agenda...breakfast, and we were greeted with a feast of foods presented by the folks at the Isrotel Ganim Dead Sea Resort and Spa - from sweets to savory, too many choices for the mere 30 minutes we had, but our day's journey awaited us.

Brandon, our GTI leader, teacher, and Rabbi reveals little when asked "where are we going?", or "will we be need to climb over rocks to get where we need to be?"

En Gedi
Patience and a little time gives way to being present in the presence of knowing we are in the desert wilderness, the Judean Wilderness, the very same location where young David hid when he alluded being captured by Saul. We are guided by the paths, our Rabbi, and by the words of The Lord to have an experience in the very area where young David and his men survived. We see the pooling springs of living waters, various species of tropical vegetation, there are the goat like creatures known as the ibex and the rodent-hyrax, and countless other animals. And what seemed to be a barren, dry, rock valley now appears to become a place full of life... We then hear how our Lord has given us "living water" thus giving us life...what a lesson to hear, to experience, whether it's the first time or umpteenth time, is the lesson of David!

As we return to the bus, we take a moment and pause by the slow-growing Tamarix tree....we hear how Abraham had planted such a tree, not for himself to enjoy the shade, but for the generations to come to have life-sustaining shade from the desert of their lives, thus signifying his faith in the future, a legacy if you will. We are then posed with the question - what have we planted for future lives to be saved? But wait, our day has just begun.

Qumran
Our next stop literally became a reality in the mid-20th century with the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. Qumran, a desert community built by and made up of an all male society, were a devoutly religious group known as the Hassems (ph). They dedicated their life to capturing the divinely inspired memorized oral Word of The Lord to be the divinely inspired written Word of The Lord. If an error occurred during their writings, the entire text would then be rolled up, placed in a clay jug and situated in a cave as the writings could not be destroyed. In 1947, two young boys were scouring the rocks of Qumran when a tossed stone went through a cave opening, hit a jug, thus breaking it. Inside the jug were scrolls, which made no immediate impact on the finders. Months later the scrolls were ultimately sold for penance, and from this auspicious beginning, the Dead Sea Scrolls became the greatest of Biblical and historical finds to date.

As we ponder over what we are seeing, feeling, hearing about the day-to-day life in Qumran, the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they authenticated the written Word, we must press on ...the time requires we be partaking of a bit of nourishment, or lunch.

I must admit, taking a breather to sit and eat a pita filled with fresh veggies, chicken schnitzel, and French fries (yes, French fries were contained within the pita), along with a cool, refreshing Mango juice was just what was needed...thank you Lord for the pleasure of simple food with simply great fellowship.

Masada
Our last leg of the day's journey was to a World Heritage spot, the Masada. As we were arrived to Masada via a tram, our local guide Walid (ph), became our very own human Wikipedia, sharing with us a multitude of facts. However seeing Masada from a far does not give you a true perspective of just how magnificent it really is, nor the depths of engineering that was needed or the technical know-how of those who constructed the renown fortress for King Herod. The history of Masada is more than just an engineering feat of wonder, more importantly it is the story of people who persevered amidst fear and tragedy.

During our walk-about the grounds of Masada we witnessed a bar mitzvah, quite an unexpected visual for us, yet a meaningful moment in the life of a young Jewish lad. Another unexpected treat was seeing a rabbi sitting alone in a side room of the "synagogue" painstakingly with pen in hand, his ink well nearby, capturing God's Word, the Torah, for future readers, an inspired moment given the question posed earlier in the day...what are we going to leave behind for those to follow?

Our day seem to come to an end quickly, but what a glorious day it has been. We boarded the bus to move quickly from the lives and histories of the ancient past to the reality of supper, a bit of fellowship with the other sojourners, and hopefully a good night's rest. The brilliance of the night's full moon was cresting the horizon as we sped away from Masada, leaving each of us to wonder what the following day might reveal to each of us individually as well as a group.

Some of us arrived thinking we knew what to expect, or anticipate, or thought we did, and though the first day may have opened our eyes, our second day gave us a glimpse of discovery of what true life is and could be in Christ, our Lord.

In Christ we serve...