Stronghold

Yesterday we were in the lush green of the coastal plain and the Shephelah but today we went into the Judean Desert. We learned the word “desert” means “place of the word.” It is the root word for Holy of Holies. The desert is where people come to hear God speak. God shapes people in the desert and He says it is where My Word is closely heard. Isn’t that the truth? Whenever we face a trial, or a traumatic event has shaped our view of life, we have gone through a “desert.” Today as we headed into an actual desert we learned about 3 layers of a story concerning this desert place:

1. This desert was the place David lived in for years and where he ran and hid from Saul to save his life. David wrote 80 Psalms and many involved this desert place. One was Psalm 18:1-3. David lived in this rocky place and said, yes, these rocks are strong but God is my rock, God is my strength.

2. After learning about David we started a climb, approx. 5,500 steps straight up to Masada, winding up the ancient path of Biblical times! As we reached the top of Masada, we were standing in the Palace of Herod the Great that was built starting in 37 B.C. Talk about an amazing experience! Herod was a man caught in two worlds, the Romans on one side, and the Jewish people on the other. He wanted to please both and it showed in his palace. We saw Roman baths and a Jewish Synagogue, he had store rooms for food and cisterns for water and even an Olympic size pool! As a group on top of Masada we experienced some awesome moments; 1) A group of Korean women were walking towards us and they were singing. As they got closer we heard they were singing, “How Great Thou Art,” so we began singing with them. Here we were in Israel, on top of Masada and Americans and Koreans were singing to God! Then, an Israel fighter pilot was flying his plane over top of us and he dipped his wing in honor of this Jewish holy place. What an honor to witness that! Then, as we made our way down into a cistern there were a group of young men down there singing many songs such as “Amazing Grace.” We joined in singing praises to our Lord Jesus Christ! And finally, a Jewish scribe was there in a “hidden room” writing out the Torah by hand. He asked me what my name was and when I told him it was Jan, he wrote my name and my husband’s name in Hebrew with a heart around our names on a piece of paper and gave it to me. These moments were amazing. A day I’ll never forget.

3. The third layer of this story brought us to 70 A.D. under the leadership of Nero. The Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed and some Jewish Zealots had escaped and they made their way to this place, Masada. Roman soldiers came after them and after much fighting the Zealots ended up having to slit their own throats in order to not be captured by the Roman soldiers. This is why the fighter pilot tipped his wing in honor of the Jewish people that lost their lives on top of Masada.

As we left Masada we made our way back down the mount and had a lovely lunch awaiting us. We boarded our bus and headed to the Negev region to an ancient city called Arad. It is also called Tel Arad and we viewed the ancient home of a family where 45-75 family members would have all lived together. From there we headed over to a structure that would have been a distribution center of goods. This space also had a Jewish Temple constructed that replicated the Temple in Jerusalem with the court yard, the area for sacrifices, and even the Holy of Holies. The only problem is God said His Temple was only to be in Jerusalem and His people needed to travel 3 times a year up to Jerusalem to make their sacrifices for their sins. So, when King Hezekiah reigned he destroyed the temple in Arad because the people had disobeyed God’s Word. After this time at ancient Arad we were brought to a place that had a stunning view of the desert, a place where Abraham and David probably roamed. A place where we could reflect on our own “deserts” in our lives and decide what we wanted to believe. Is the world a rocky place, full of hardships, or do we have a God that is so big He can crush any rock before us? I choose to believe my God if for me, He is my stronghold!