Israel Study Tour with Passion Church

November 17-29, 2018

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What Are You Chasing?

Today we had the pleasure of visiting 4 sites that have been equally as impactful as the sites we've seen these past 2 days. These sites continue to prove the validity of the Bible and are shown before our very eyes. We even got to visit the place of the greatest Biblical archeological find yet!

First, come with us to Qumran caves! The greatest archeological find of The Bible was found by a muzzle and shepherd boy throwing rocks. He threw one into the cave and heard the pots breaking back in 1947. He had no idea what he had stumbled upon, the dead sea scrolls.

Why this a significant is because this is now the oldest Bible containing every book of The Bible. The oldest of the scrolls dating back to 3rd century BC to 1st century BC approximately 2,000 years old.

The people who wrote these were known as the sect of the Dead Sea. They were devout people who withdrew from perversion going on in Jerusalem. They believed they were fulfilling the scriptures and Isaiah 35:1-3. They highly valued mikveh, (ritual baths) as John did. These two common facts are shockingly parallel to what John the Baptist claimed.

Qumran

10 miles south of Jericho, Qumran was on a “dead-end street” and provided a perfect location for the isolationist sect of the Essenes to live.

The site was excavated by Catholic priest Roland deVaux from 1953-56. More recent excavations of the site have taken place under the direction of Hanan Eshel.

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At Qumran, they say that John actually visited this site and then began or continued the work of baptizing people and preparing the way for the Lord. Jesus then came on the scene and John the Baptist is the one who baptized Him.

After visiting this site, we went close to the site where Jesus was baptized which is currently Jordan territory. We then drove down to the lower Jordan river where a handful of us was baptized.

All of us had been baptized before but the river had so much meaning behind it. Some of us don't even remember our first baptism and others simply wanted to experience being baptized in the same waters as Jesus. In 2 Kings 5:14, Elisha told the mighty commander Naaman to dip 7 times in the water to be healed of leprosy and he was!

Personally, I looked at the baptism as a way of redemption from my former way of life. I was baptized as a young girl but grew up and strayed from God. I lived selfishly but was never fully satisfied. But God never stopped pursuing me.

The compassion of Jesus is incredible. At our next site, "the hill", Jesus left his followers to go see one man. This man was an outcast of society, demon possessed, and lived in the forbidden area of the Decapolis.

Pastor Steve Ely’s eyes filled with tears as he explained the love that Jesus had for that one man. Jesus has that same love for us that He will leave the 99 to pursue us. He came across the Sea of Galilee to free this man from the demons.

The demons inside the man acknowledged that Jesus was Son of God (Matthew 8:28-29) and asked to be cast out into a herd of pigs nearby. Jesus said “go” and the herd of pigs took off down the side of the hill into the sea. This was the same hill that we were standing on!

This was also most likely the hill that 4,000 men were fed miraculously by Jesus. The geographical position of this hill makes proves that this is the location of where these events took place.

Lastly, come with us to Ein Gedi, the 1st site of the day! This is where David hid in caves from Saul who was pursuing his life. He wanted to kill him. Saul had lost his anointing when he broke God's specific commands to him as Israel's first king.

Bob Ely taught us a valuable lesson from this story about David and Saul. He explained that partial obedience is complete disobedience. Saul disobeyed and lost his anointing whereas David was a man after God's own heart.

We want to be like David. Bob Ely asked these gut-wrenching questions that I want to ask you as well… What are you chasing? Where is all your energy, time, and resources going to? What you're filling up your time with will reveal your heart.

Ein Gedi

En Gedi is the largest oasis along the western shore of the Dead Sea. The springs here have allowed nearly continuous inhabitation of the site since the Chalcolithic period. The area was allotted to the tribe of Judah, and was famous in the time of Solomon (Josh 15:62). Today the Israeli kibbutz of En Gedi sits along the southern bank of the Nahal Arugot.

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“What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” Matthew 16:26

All of these sites today tied to each other in a way and were awesome for all of us. We hope you will continue with us on the journey the next 7 days! We are overwhelmed with the excitement of seeing the Bible come to life here in Israel!

Written by Heather

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