Day 02 - Desert: Makhtesh Ramon, Masada, Dead Sea

Life has never been about getting out of the desert.

Too often, we section our life into “seasons.” We see the high points as rolling hills of luscious grass next to still water, and we see the low points as endless deserts filled with rocks and sand. What if we saw both as the path that God had laid before us?

Just past 7 am this morning, we began our day by hiking through the Wilderness of Zen (near Makhtesh), where two million Israelites spent 40 years wandering over 3,000 years ago. Their deliverance from centuries of slavery was a wondrous display of the power of God, but the goal was not just to get the people out of Egypt. God wanted to get Egypt out of the people.

We hiked for about four hours, traversing down a mountain and winding through the same desert in which God’s people had wandered. A story we had all heard dozens of time suddenly became more real for us. We bore the heavy weight of the sun. We experienced the desperate need for water. We felt the desire to grumble and complain. We saw wadis (dried out riverbeds), craters, and enough rocks to fill the Mediterranean Sea. Only God could have caused so many people to thrive in conditions like this (Deuteronomy 8:4). The same God that had given his people an opportunity for faith so long ago is the same God that provides through us today. He allowed his people to wander, and he often allows us to wander in “deserts” of our own. These aren’t times to shy away from but to embrace. They help us understand that our life is not our own and that this Earth is not our home. Our strength and hope lie in someone greater.

Our journey brought us back to the road, where we hopped back on the bus and traveled to a Bedouin where we ate lunch and then got the opportunity to ride camels! They are calm, large, and very loud at times. We then entered a tent where tea, bread, and coffee were provided for us. As we sat on comfortable, red pillows, we learned about the hospitality of Abraham in Genesis 18. He served three angels of the Lord with no questions asked, remaining faithful when he was told that his promised son would not be born for another year. The service was something we had not seen coming, but it was refreshing and a total blessing. True hospitality is when you don’t gain anything from it, and our time being served and diving into the text gave us a true picture of that today.

We finished the day at Masada, a massive fortress built on a mountain on the edge of the Dead Sea. The structure was a sight to behold, with a winding staircase of rock leading us from where we parked to the top. The fortress had once been a warning place for Maccabees, a palace for Herod the Great, and a final stand for zealous Jews against powerful Romans. Most of what we learned was not in the Bible, but the history was rich and surrounded key events in Scripture. 

A gondola (that all 56 of us squeezed into) took us down from Masada, and our bus then brought us to our hotel for the night, which sat a baseball throw away from the Dead Sea. Our final activity for the day was to float in the salt-filled sea. We probably looked more American than ever shouting and hollering about the way we were floating, but it was insane. It is truly a sensation that one must experience to understand.

What a day! Through the literal desert or a salt-filled sea, God’s providence and provision ring true.