Day 03 - Negev: Ein Gedi, Qumran, Lower Jordan, Shabbat Dinner

We started this day visiting Ein Gedi. A short distance down the road we came to Qumran. As we traveled north we pulled into an area of the Lower Jordan, where tradition holds as the place Jesus was baptized.

This trip brings many thoughts and feelings to life. For me the same big picture idea keeps resurfacing. This is real. These are the places where actual events happened.

Ein Gedi. We walked up a trail that both king Saul and King David walked. Water that satisfied these men still flows today.

Qumran. A verification that the records we have, especially the Old Testament, are accurate. The scrolls found in the hills around this place point to the dedication of the scribe’s in this community. Besides a few spelling differences, we learned that the scriptures have not changed in thousands of years.

Last stop of the day was the lower Jordan river. Years of irrigation has made the river a shadow of it’s former self. Yet this river still flows through the heart of history. We visited the spot where it is thought John baptized Jesus. Again, I am stuck that we follow not made up myths and stories, but verifiable history. It happened and we have been to the sites.  

It has been said that faith is a bridge. The evidence however, is what our bridge of faith is built on.

by Todd Van Dahm