Reliability of God’s Word

Written by Lauren Grimes

Let me just start by saying that my words will never do justice everything we saw and experienced today. Even the most extravagant words in the dictionary aren’t good enough to describe the overwhelming feelings of hearing the connections between the Bible and archeological findings. We started our adventuring today in Jericho, the oldest city in the world. We talked about the transition from Moses leading the Israelites to God calling Joshua to take the lead. We read about the Israelites walking around the walls of Jericho for 7 days, following the Lords’ instruction, in order to knock down the walls of Jericho. We saw the archeological findings of the wall and the city falling beneath it. AMAZING! Next we travelled to Qumran where we got to learn more about the Dead Sea Scrolls and see the caves in which they were all found. We then went to lunch and sat next to the Jordan River where it is believed that Jesus was baptized. We were literally 20 feet from Jordan. We ended the day at the top of the Judean Wilderness overlooking St. George’s Monastery. We read about the good Samaritan in Luke 10 and the temptations Jesus underwent in Luke 4. We saw the paths the people would walk from Jerusalem to Jericho in the Judean Wilderness!!

There are so many highlights of today, I could sit here and write for hours. Let me reflect for a second on being at the top of the Judean Wilderness… to my left in the far distance I could see the outline shape of Jerusalem and to my right I could see a glimpse of Jericho. There I stood in the middle of two cities, with hills of sand/rock surrounding me in the desert where Jesus wandered for 40 days and 40 nights with no food or water. As sweat ran down my face I took a drink of water and sat in awe, this was the first time I could really picture it. I could picture Jesus wandering through the desert with no food, no water, and being so faithful to where God had called him. He said yes to God, regardless of the intense heat and dreadful days ahead he would encounter alone. I picked up a small rock at my feet and held it tight, thinking back to Luke four where satan temps Jesus to turn the rock into mana. After 40 days with no food (AND THE ABILITY TO TURN A ROCK INTO FOOD) Jesus responds with, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

How much do I love and obey the word of God? Do I trust God enough to know that He will provide? Am I willing to turn from my own skills/abilities in order to let God fully reveal himself and receive all glory? These thoughts continue to rush through my head.

I am falling more in love with my God because these stories are becoming alive in front of my eyes. I am no longer just believe this book I’ve known my whole life based off stories I’ve heard but by truth that I’ve seen before my own eyes. Today I saw the fallen walls of Jericho, saw the hiding place of the Dead Sea scrolls that have a piece of every book of the old testimate written on them (besides Esther), and sat on the top of the Judean Wilderness looking at the path that so many people of the bible used to cross from Jerusalem to Jericho. These places scream the truth and reliability of the Word! We don’t deserve this but I praise Jesus for it!

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