Deserts and Desserts

The menu for Day 5 was made up of desert, desert and more desert... and okay, yes, a little dessert. From the heights of the rocky mountain fortress Masada to the depths of the Dead Sea (the lowest point on earth), we found ourselves on a wilderness journey much like the prophets and patriarchs. A cold and sometimes rainy wind brought a reddish hue to our noses and even some of our "toeses", but the breathtaking views atop Masada (including a rainbow), the camel ride with the hospitable tent-dwelling Bedouins, and a dip (or rather a float) in the Dead Sea made it worth every minute.

For years, the near-impenetrable Masada sat on top of a massive plateau as one of King Herod's crowning jewels. The military fortress turned economic hub exemplifies the economic and political stability Herod's rule brought to Israel during his reign. After his death, it was abandoned until some 1,000 Jewish zealots holed up there to avoid the impending Roman army. After the much larger Roman army failed to reach the scrappy, rock-hurling zealots with all the conventional fortress-taking methods, they forced 5,000 Jewish slaves to pile rock after rock near the base of the cliff-walled fortress until they had constructed a siege ramp high enough to reach the top of the walls. Rather than be taken as slaves, nearly all 1,000 of the Jews atop Masada took their own lives shortly before the Romans cleared the walls. Despite the sad ending for Jews, Israelis still take much pride in controlling and hiking Masada today. We enjoyed the cable-car ride up the steep side before walking down Roman siege ramp on the other side.

We learned how the word desert or wilderness in our English Bibles can actually refer to 3 distinct types of desert that meant 3 different things to the Israelites. The Hebrew word "midbar" was a mostly uninhabited region with some grass where shepherds could graze their sheep. "Tsi'a" was a deserted region where one could walk all day but arrive an outpost/camp at the end of the day. "Yeshimon" was the most deserted region where a traveler can walk for 3 days and find no settlement or camp. For a sojourning Hebrew, the difference between the three was of huge importance when making travel plans.

Unlike in the United States, the unwritten laws of the desert prescribe that when you see someone approaching your camp, you welcome him in and invite him to stay for at least 3 days. Such is the hospitality that brought us to the Bedouin camp. Bedouins are a nomadic people that have traditionally wandered the wilderness living in tents and living a subsistence lifestyle. While the camel rides brought smiles to our faces, the Bedouin lifestyle (which reflects that of the Jewish patriarchs and prophets like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist and more) brought a challenge to our comfort-loving hearts. In the Bible, God so often met His people in powerful ways while they journeyed through the desert. When David offered to build God a nicer temple to dwell in, God said He was happy in a tent. Would we be happy in a tent? Maybe God brings us to the desert on purpose. We get tested and draw closer to God when we are pulled away from our comfy couch with the big screen TV.

While the Bedouins remained in the wilderness, we hopped back on our heated bus to return to our luxurious hotel rooms, salt water spa and all-you-can-eat hotel buffet. As the evening drew to a close, we thoroughly enjoyed the chance to don bath robes and walk across the street from our hotel to float in the cold salt water of the Dead Sea. We then warmed back up in the hotel hot tub/spa which features clean, heated salt water from the Dead Sea. Yet, as we return to our comforts, we hold them a little more loosely and carry in our hearts a longing for the wilderness, a longing to seek after God as He calls us out to meet with Him.