Strongholds and Living Water

Today was our final day in the Negev before heading up to the northern portion of Israel. We started our day at Masada, a non-biblical site, but an important site in understanding part of Israel’s history and particularly the first Jewish-Roman war. Masada means “stronghold or fortress” in Hebrew. We took a gondola ride up to the top of Masada where Ronen, our tour guide, explained its significance to many Jews in Israel. Masada was captured by King Herod the Great in the first century BC where he then built three palaces there for himself. We discussed Herod’s exploitation of wealth in comparison to the humble life that Jesus lived and calls us to emulate. Many years later in AD 70 after being banned from Jerusalem in their rebellion against the Roman Empire, a sect of extremist Jews, called Zealots, found refuge at Masada. Romans tried to lay siege to Masada as it was a significant location along their trade routes and in AD 73 the Zealots, not wanting to die at the hands of Romans or be captured and turned into slaves or have their wives abused and taken advantage of, decided to kill one another. To this day, many Israelis and Jews visit Masada and shout at the top in Hebrew “Masada shall not fall again.”

From Masada we traveled up the road to Ein Gedi. Ein Gedi means “Springs of Wild Goats” in Hebrew. When we entered the park, Mike told us about two of the trees prevalent to the area. One was the Acacia Tree (used to build the Arc of the Covenant) and the other was the Egyptian Balsam (which some believe could have been used to fashion Christ’s crown of thorns). We walked a little further and sat under the shade of a tree where Mike had us turn to 1 Samuel 24. David had been chosen to be king, but God had to take him through an intense breaking point in the desert before he was ready. Saul, threatened by David and the favor he was receiving from the people, was pursuing David to try to kill him. David was a fugitive and physically sought refuge in caves and masadas (strongholds) but he was also hiding in his true Stronghold, his Masada, his God! As we discussed God’s breaking of David in the wilderness and as we have seen many times over the last few days, people simply could not survive in the desert and wilderness without water. In Psalm 63 David says “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, in a dry weary land where there is no water.” Just as David would have been walking through Ein Gedi and in the distance heard a beautiful sound, so did we. Shea led us up the path to one of the springs of Ein Gedi. Water was gushing forth from a waterfall, we had not just found water, but LIVING water!! Shea reminded us that in the Old Testament mikveh’s we’re often used for ritual cleansing/baths. It always had to be running or “living” water, not still water. But when Jesus came He cleansed us once and for all, for all of our sins and He became our living water! When we believe in him, we will never thirst again. Shea also reminded us of the beautiful picture we have in Revelation 22 of the new heaven and new earth where living water will flow from the throne of God! Shea then went to the waterfall and immersed himself under the living water and of course, we all did the same! 

Our final stop for the day was at Qumran. This was where the Essenes lived. They were obsessed with the word of God and intense study of God’s word and obedience to Him was of utmost importance. We learned a little history about the Essenes before beginning our hike to the top of Qumran. The mountain was steep and rocky and the climb to the top was not for the faint-hearted. We climbed and climbed until we finally reached the top!! At the top, Shea had us open our Bibles to Matthew 4 which read “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, Man shall not eat by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'.” Atop Qumran we saw the wilderness where Jesus was tempted. Then Shea told us all to pick up stones and lay Ebenezer stones (or stones of remembrance) on top of another pile of stones. We each took a stone and wrote a scripture or a prayer, a way to remember how God has been faithful, and laid these stones atop Qumran to remind ourselves to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. After we made our way back down the mountain we learned that this site was where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found! In the 1940's, three shepherd boys made a fantastic discovery. They discovered ancient manuscripts of Scripture. Every single book of the Old Testament has been found here with the exception of Esther (since it doesn’t include the word “God”). In looking at these manuscripts in comparison to the translation of the Bible we have today, only 4 total letters were different! All the more reason to trust that God is who He says He is, He can be trusted, we can live by every word that comes from His mouth, and He alone is our living water! 

-Courtney Cuthbert