Don’t follow the crowd

Ein Gedi
Today we visited Ein Gedi (Crags of the Wild Goats (Ibex)), desert cliffs divided by a stream lined with lush green trees - David’s cliff cave hiding place from Saul’s pursuit to kill him. David realized that Saul had been anointed by God, and it would be wrong to kill him, even though his men wanted him to. According to Psalm 1:6 our take-away lesson is to stand firm, as tall trees sending our roots deep toward the source of life - Living Water - because the Lord watches over the way of the righteous - don’t follow the crowd. Don’t compromise - stand firm!

- Brent and Cookie, grandparents of OCS students

Qumran
At our second stop, Ronen took us to Qumran, home of one of the greatest archeological discoveries ever. We walked through the remaining ruins of a community dedicated to preparing themselves for the Messiah. In 1946 the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in Qumran by shepherds. Isaiah was the oldest book found & the one with most copies. It dated back to 1st century B.C. The Essenes who copied these scriptures were anticipating the coming of the Messiah, which is why the book of Isaiah was the most copied book they found because it emphasizes the coming Messiah.

- Dave and Cristii, parents of 2 OCS alumni

Jordan River
At the Jordan River we read out loud 3 Biblical stories about significant events at the Jordan river:

1) Joshua 1-3 - We learned how the Lord (Ark of the covenant) led Israel across the River and how it dried up so they could cross over to the promised land. They set up 12 stones for the 12 tribes as a memorial.

2) 2 Kings 2 - Elijah took Elisha to the Jordan River to remember how God led Israel and then Elijah was taken up to heaven.

3) Mark 1 - John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus and baptized people in the Jordan River with a baptism of repentance. Jesus Himself was baptized here and God spoke identifying Jesus as His beloved son whom He loves and said to listen to Him.
We were reminded of the phrase “Remember, don’t forget.” as we need to constantly remind ourselves of what God has done and to not forget Him.

- Bri Bair, OCS alumni

Jericho - Temptation Mountain
Our final stop was to stop at the base of a mountain called “Temptation Mountain.” This is believed to be the mountain that Satan took Jesus to at the end of His 40 days of temptation. We were reminded of the way that Satan tempts and how God has always and will always overcome. We were also able to observe the differences between the Israeli and Palestinian cultures as this site is within a Palestinian-controlled area.

This day concludes our time in the desert and we ended our day driving to Galilee and are already enjoying the incredibly lush contrast from the desert. We’re already looking forward to experiencing the stories from Jesus and the New Testament in the coming days.

- Scott Bair, married to OCS alumni and previous Hume Lake employee