Israel Study Tour with Joshua Wilderness Institute

April 9-21, 2016

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The Rift Valley (with some slight detours)

Shalom from a bus on the way from Jericho to Galilee. We have seen quite a bit today: Ein Gedi, Qumran, the Jordan River, and Jericho.

The first place we visited today was Ein Gedi. It is a large oasis with a natural spring, so it has a lot of vegetation, which is rare in the dry desert. Jeff Lilley talked about 1 Samuel 23-24 when David fled from Saul into the wadi of Ein Gedi. Jeff used that story to illustrate the concept of the righteous and the wicked. He explained that it is not simply those who do good and those who do evil, but a righteous man puts himself at a disadvantage for the advantage of others, and a wicked man puts others at a disadvantage for the advantage of himself. I really liked how this was paired with the story about David and Saul at Ein Gedi because it shows David’s righteousness. David’s men hid in the back of a cave and it says that Saul went into the cave to relieve himself. David’s men were telling him that this is the moment God has given Saul into his hand. He closes in on Saul and only cuts the corner of Saul’s robe. It was a great picture of David’s righteousness and it was so cool to actually be at the place it happened! David’s righteousness came from meditating and dwelling on the Lord. Jeff challenged us to do the same and live a life of righteousness and not wickedness.

Ein Gedi

En Gedi is the largest oasis along the western shore of the Dead Sea. The springs here have allowed nearly continuous inhabitation of the site since the Chalcolithic period. The area was allotted to the tribe of Judah, and was famous in the time of Solomon (Josh 15:62). Today the Israeli kibbutz of En Gedi sits along the southern bank of the Nahal Arugot.

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Qumran was a bit of an emotional experience. Since it is raining out here (the only time Rich has seen it rain here), we were unable to hike up to the Joshua monument. It started out as a tour of a ruin of an Essene village, a group of Jewish people, who went into the wilderness to learn about the Lord, live in close community, study scripture, live under a strict code (kind of sounds like Joshua) and escape religious corruption in Jerusalem. This was also the place the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden in caves, which were discovered in 1947, and helped establish the Jewish people’s claim to a Jewish state. After the tour, it began to rain, and we went inside, and when it stopped, we went out to a small hill, and decided to make our own monument, which hopefully will be carried up to the actual monument by next year. Then we said the Shema, a saying we have said all year. It was a beautiful moment to reflect on the year and recite a prayer I love with people I love.

Qumran

10 miles south of Jericho, Qumran was on a “dead-end street” and provided a perfect location for the isolationist sect of the Essenes to live.

The site was excavated by Catholic priest Roland deVaux from 1953-56. More recent excavations of the site have taken place under the direction of Hanan Eshel.

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After that, we went to the Jordan River. We had to cross into a demilitarized zone from the days when the area was still part of Jordan. With a backdrop of monasteries and desert, the river was beautiful. When we got down to the water, Jeff gave a short lesson on baptism and its Jewish roots, and the relevance of the site as the supposed crossing point of the Israelites into the Promised Land, going from wandering to new life. He challenged us to accept God’s call to crossover into whatever He calls us to, no matter how nerve-wracking or intimidating it may be.

The last place we went to was Jericho. It was a spontaneous trip because some of our other activities were cut short. We stopped at a little souvenir shop that had a dining area, coffee, ice cream, and other things to snack on. The employees were very excited to have Americans at their shop. We got to try kanafe, which is a traditional Middle Eastern dessert. It was pretty good. We also tried sycamore nuts and dried dates.

Jericho

The “City of Palms” spreads out on the west side of the Jordan River at 825 feet below sea level. In Jesus’ day a new center had been constructed on the wadi banks in the foreground by the Hasmonean rulers and Herod the Great.

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We loaded the buses to head for the, “almost lowest place on earth,” the Sea of Galilee! We made a small pit stop at a kibbutz in Ein Gev. There is a company there named Olea Essence that makes all kinds of olive products. We got to watch their company video and their spokesman gave a presentation of all their products.

It was a full day and we are happy to be at our Ein Gev hotel for the night. Thanks for reading! Your prayers are felt and appreciated!

With Love,
Collin Mitchell and Chris Harman

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