Mayim Chaim

Our fourth day of the Israel In-Depth Tour (a.k.a. Believers’ Boot Camp) began with a hike through Wadi David in the Ein Gedi.  David came here to the Judea Mountains from the cave at Adullaml to hide from Saul.  This is shepherd country – David knew it well.   He was familiar with where every path, every crevice, every cave and every spring of water was located.  We hiked to the base of two waterfalls and it was the perfect place for our teaching on Living Water (Mayim Chaim).  It is said that this water has been making its way from Jerusalem through the land, the rocks and the desert for over 1000 years.  Perhaps as long as 2000 years.  How amazing that God prepared this water so many years ago for us to enjoy on this very hot day.

Spending the past three days in the desert, we have come to appreciate the value of water.  David equated the need for water to our need for God. In Psalm 42:1 he wrote, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”  Augustine said it this way – “God has made us for himself, therefore our souls are restless for him.”  Rod added that without God we remain spiritually thirsty.   With him, we have Living Water (Mayim Chaim) continually flowing through us.  As individuals, we are trickles of water, and together as the community of Christ, we can be the waterfall bringing the refreshing water of God’s love to others.

Our next lesson was at Wadi Arugot, only a short bus drive away. Along the hiking path, we observed the acacia trees growing strong in the narrow river bed far below us.  However, right along the path, far from any water, Rod pointed out the Arar tree, also called Sodom’s Apple.  The fruit on the tree looks like Granny Smith apples, luscious and attractive.  But when they were cracked open, we discovered they were hollow.  Empty, except for a fleshy part near the stem that is poisonous.  The question was posed to us, “What is inside of you?”  Drawing our sustenance from the Living Water, we can grow like the acacia tree – strong on the inside and outside.

We concluded our day’s hiking activities by visiting Qumran, the site where the Essene community lived for three years beginning 150 years before Christ.  The community consisted of mostly priests, with some women and children.  They were disgusted with the secularization of the temple and left everything – their wealth, their stature, and the comforts of their lives to move to this desert home.  Why? They wanted to get back to their roots and give themselves wholeheartedly to God.  They came to learn and meditate on the text of the Torah and to walk in the path God laid out for them.  We, too, are called to inhabit the world in a passionate way for God.  Perhaps the most valuable contribution of the Essenes to the Christian world was the creation of what is now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.  This discovery of these scrolls in 1947 in jars in caves included over 900 carefully preserved scrolls of the Old Testament.  They provide the oldest documentation of Scriptures that have ever been discovered.  God waited for the perfect time to reveal them to us.  We now have the technology available to be able to properly preserve them.  To learn more about this amazing discovery you can go to this link (http://www.deadseascrolls.org).

A two hour bus ride brought us to the city of Retanya . After our most strenuous day of hiking, we enjoyed a fabulous swim in the Mediterranean Sea, and as always, delicious Kosher food served at our hotel before retiring for the night.