The solid rock and Hospitality

This morning, we woke up at our hotel in Mitzpe Ramon and headed out into the wilderness. We were certain we had a full, amazing day ahead of us and were expecting to meet with God in clear ways as we put ourselves in the context of His Word.

We filled up our packs with water, as always, and headed down the trail into the canyon desert of Makhtesh. It was empty, quiet, and still, and went on as far as our eyes could see. Along the way, we stopped several times to read Scripture and make observations about the geography of where we were. Throughout the morning, our discussions covered the long journey that the Israelites made as they left slavery in Egypt to go into the wilderness, pressing closer and closer to the promised land flowing with milk and honey (which by the way sounds amazing hiking in the desert even only for a short time).

There were a few things we took away from this morning. First, living in the desert but having freedom is always better than living comfortably, yet in slavery. This is easier said than done, as we would quickly figure out first hand and see from the biblical text. The Israelites had to learn to daily trust God for provision, follow his guidance, and obey his commands while wandering in this region. As we made it to the bottom, we stopped in a wadi or valley that had evidence of previous water flow. We observed the passage in Matthew 7 where Jesus encourages everyone to build their house on the rock that stands firm, not on the sand that washes away when the rain comes. Do we hear the Word of God and obey it so that we build our houses on the solid rock?

Next we were reminded of the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. We were challenged to honestly consider our lives and how we relate and treat the people so close in our influence and passing every day. Are we making it a priority and sacrifice to treat our neighbors as ourselves like Jesus did and commanded us to do? After about 4 hours of hiking through the desert, we arrived at our bus and made our way to Tel-Arad, where we ate lunch and explored a replica of the Jerusalem Temple Mount. We dug deep into God's covenant with Abram found in Genesis 15. This mind-blowing picture that we saw of the cross and the sacrifice that Jesus made to complete the covenant was incredible to reflect on.

Then, we stopped off at a site further north where we gathered under a tent and discussed hospitality and the importance of making an effort to show this to our neighbors. This is something that we may not think about often, but we see examples of groups who live in the desert who are extremely hospitable to those in need of water, food, shelter, etc. Our situation may not be that extreme, but this was a good lesson for us to be reminded of in our culture that is so often self-centered, and sometimes lacking true, loving hospitality.

Our next stop of the day led us to a huge site called Masada on the south-eastern point of Israel next to the Salt Sea. The long, steep hike up this mountain was worth the view once we reached the top! We witnessed remains of civilization, storehouses, and even one of Herod’s palaces that he built. We learned about the rich Jewish history of this site, and the influence that it made on many cultures and nations including Rome! After hiking back down, we headed to our hotel, which is located right next the Salt Sea. We all checked in, quickly changed, and headed out to get in the water and float around! It was such a fun and refreshing experience for our group to do together. We are at the lowest point on earth!

We can definitely see some great unity already being made within our group and it’s only been 3 days. People are encouraging one another, helping each other out, telling their stories to one another, and just having a great time together. It’s been a remarkable trip so far and we have much more ground to cover. Thanks again for continuing to keep up and pray for our group each day! We miss all our family and friends, but know that we are having some life-changing experiences over here in the great land of Israel!