Day 04 - Ein Gedi, Qumran, Jordan River (Baptisms)

We started today looking over the waters of the Dead Sea; we ended by looking over the waters of the Sea of Galilee. Today was full of emotions for all of us as we celebrated 7 of our group being baptized in the Jordan River.

Ein Gedi

Our first stop today was a true oasis, called Ein Gedi. Since we went so early in the morning, we saw a lot of animals. Ibex greeted us when we got off the bus and hyrax (small mammals related to elephants!) peeked over the wall at the welcome center. As we walked through, Yehuda pointed out various caves in the limestone walls that towered over us. He told us that Ein Gedi was so valuable as an oasis that it was even given to Cleopatra as a gift from Marc Antony. And yes, THAT Cleopatra!

Steve recounted the story from 1 Samuel 24, when David used Ein Gedi as a hiding place while on the run from King Saul. Those caves we had been staring at? It’s possible David hid in a very similar cave. Steve also reminded us that many of David’s psalms that he wrote were probably penned during this time in David’s life. Psalms 104 even mentions ibex and hyrax by name.

We traveled up the path a little further and were able to see a waterfall fed by the spring that allows Ein Gedi to be a green spot in a brown desert. Pastor Ralph told us about a phrase in Hebrew; “mayim chayim”, which means “living water”. There are many references from the Bible that refer to God as our living water.

Yehuda taught us that the water we saw coming from the falls was rain that fell in the mountains. It takes 20 years for that water to emerge in Ein Gedi as “living waters”. Yesterday, we reflected on our desert experiences. Today, we learned that you may walk though the desert now, but God was preparing your Ein Gedi years before you ever needed it.

Qumran

After saying goodbye to our furry friends, we traveled along the Dead Sea to our next stop. Qumran is the location where the Dead Sea scrolls were found by a Bedouin in 1947. Every book of the Bible, except for Esther, has since been found in these caves. The scroll that they found of Isaiah is over 22 feet long! The texts date from 300-100 B.C. and are mostly written in Hebrew. What is remarkable about them is that when compared to our standardized version of the Bible, the texts match! Most of the material is written the same, even over 2000 years apart!

Jordan River (Baptisms)

Our last stop was a baptism site close to the Sea of Galilee, along the Jordan River. The Jordan River is significant to the nation of Israel as it was the crossing point into the Holy Land.  The Jordan is also where Jesus was baptized and is the starting point of his ministry. 7 of our group decided to recommit their lives to Jesus and we are all so very proud. Tonight, we celebrate! Tomorrow, another day learning about the history of the Bible and Jesus.