Day 05 - Ein Gedi and Qumran

Hello, friends! This morning, after four nights at the Dead Sea, we packed up and headed north to Ein Gedi, where we embarked on a two hour hike into the Judean Desert. We followed a clear water stream that eventually led to a waterfall. It was here that Rabbi Rod taught us about Mayim Chaim, which translated means "living water". When you live in the desert, water is hard to find, let alone, living water - water that moves, water that’s clean, and fresh, and flowing from its source. So many biblical writers use living water as a metaphor for God. Rod asked us the question, “How thirsty are you for the living water of God?” Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

After Rod’s teaching, he and Libby led the way into the cool and refreshing waters, and under the waterfall. It was so exhilarating. And we can only imagine what it would’ve been like to experience that, after days, weeks or months in the desert. David and his men hid in the desert from Saul for 40 months, and almost certainly was refreshed under the same waterfall that we were today.

From Ein Gedi, we traveled a little bit further north to Qumran. Qumran is most famous for being the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found back in 1946. These scrolls were copies of every Old Testament book (except for Ruth) dating back to about 200 BC, and amazingly, were absolutely identical to the earliest copies we had at the time, from 1,000 AD. These scrolls were copied by the Essenes, a group of Jewish priests and their communities, who were fed up with the corruption of the religious systems of the time, so they moved into the desert of Qumran to walk the path of righteousness and prepare for the coming Messiah. 

And fun fact…. It’s possible that John the Baptist was an Essene, and that he baptized Jesus just on the other side of the Dead Sea from Qumran. The final question for us today was, “Who are the modern day Essenes?” People who are committed to walking the path, preparing for his coming, and passing on the word of God for future generations? 

Shalom.