Day 02 - Wilderness: Masada, Camel Ride, Tel Arad, Dead Sea Swim

Today we visited Masada, and while Masada is never mentioned in the Bible, there were some tremendously significant events that happened here. First some geography: Masada is located on the Eastern side of the Judean Mountains by the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea. It is a flat mountain that is fortified by the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) on the East, and by the Judean Mountains on the West.  Once in Masada, you could see enemies attacking from either Egypt in the West, or Moab in the East.  There was only one way up to Masada and it was a long winding path that traversed over 2000 feet of elevation on a winding path called the Snake path. The flat of the mountain meant that you could see clearly on all sides and there was no way to sneak up on you. It truly was a stronghold for anyone who was in possession of it. And throughout Biblical time there were several notable people who would use it to the fullest of resource.

The Maccabee’s would use Masada to defeat the Greeks and claim Israel as a free nation once again.  Herod the Great would use it for a trade center to buy foreign merchandise from Asia and Africa and sell it to the Romans, establishing Israel as a trade center to the Roman Empire, and the Zealots would use it for a final stand against the Roman Empire in AD 70 before killing the last (so they thought) of the Israelites for the sake of never going back into slavery again. Masada was a tremendous stronghold and a very sobering lesson for all of us as we stepped into Biblical history to understand a little more about the nation of Israel and the people who call it home.

Our second stop was The Bedouin Hospitality. We drove to a place in the middle of the desert that had a small oasis where a group of Bedouin people invited us in to a tent, served us tea and bread, allowed us to rest, all while our wonderful tour guide Ronen lead us through scripture through places such as Abram’s hospitality to the three strangers in Genesis 18, Lot’s hospitality in Genesis 19, and Publius showed hospitality to Paul in Acts 28. Ronen also charged us with showing hospitality to others through scriptures such as Hebrews 13:2, Romans 12:9-13, and 1 Peter 4:9.

After our lesson in hospitality, the Bedouins took us on a fantastic camel ride, which cannot fully be explained until you have had a chance to do it yourself. It was exhilarating and terrifying, all at the same time!

Our final stop was to the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) where we covered ourselves in mud and did our very best impressions of flotation devices. I cannot begin to explain how fun it was to float without paddling or treading of any sort. The only trouble was once you were floating, it was extremely difficult to get your feet back underneath yourself and return to standing. I cannot explain it, but if you get a chance, you must try it. It was an incredible day.