Day 04 - Lessons from the Desert : Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran

We woke up to a beautiful view of the Dead Sea and did our morning devotional on the shore. We‘ve truly had an incredible experience in the land so far, but given that many of our group, as I mentioned yesterday, have been battling uncomfortable stomach issues and exhaustion due to the heat, we sang “It is Well” in worship together.

From there we made our way to Masada – one of the incredible fortress-palaces built by Herod the Great. Masada isn’t mentioned in the Bible, likely because it was constructed during the intertestamental period (that is, between the Old and the New Testament writings) and when Herod the Great died in 4 BC, none of his three sons seemed interested in maintaining it. So, for decades it was largely abandoned.

However, Masada was later occupied by Zealot revolutionaries during the first-century Jewish Revolt against Rome. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, thus essentially crushing the revolt. There was, though, still a pocket of Zealots camped out at Masada.

So, under the leadership of the general Vespasian, the Romans laid siege to the fortress. The siege lasted from 72-73 AD. According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, there were about 960 Zealots hiding out atop Masada and, when they realized they were to be defeated, agreed to commit mass suicide rather than succumb to the Roman forces.

When Israel once again became an independent state in 1948, the slogan, “Masada shall never fall again,” came to mean, “the Jewish state, likewise, shall never fall again.”

We then headed further north along the Dead Sea to Ein Gedi. Ein Gedi is an absolutely beautiful oasis tucked into one of the desert canyons.

Matt, one of the pastors with us, led us through the story of when David hid from Saul in this very canyon. He reminded us that the desert, for David, was a blessing. It was the place where God provided for and protected David when Saul was seeking to kill him.

Ein Gedi, this oasis, is such a beautiful picture of God’s provision for us. In the middle of this dry, barren places, this spring bursts forth with fresh, living water. One of the passages we read comes from the book of Psalms.

                Singers and dancers alike say,

                     “All my springs are in you.” (Psalm 87:7, ESV)

That is, “God, you are the source of my refreshment. You quench my spiritual thirst. You give me life.”

We hiked a little further in and got to dip our toes into a pool of water that collects at the bottom of a powerful waterfall. That’s the beauty of being in the land. We get to see the stories and experience the lessons – not just hear or learn them.

From there we once again made our way north to our last site for the day – Qumran. Qumran, like Masada, is not mentioned in the Bible but was the discovery place of one of the most – if not the most – important archaeological discovery of all time. The Dead Sea scrolls.

The first of the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1947 by accident when a Bedouin shepherd was herding his flock through the valley. There are two versions of the story. Either the Bedouin threw a rock into one of the caves and heard a pot shatter, or one of his flock wandered into the cave and, when he went to retrieve the wayward sheep, discovered the pots containing the scrolls. Regardless, this Bedouin reported his discovery and soon there were archaeologists excavating the surrounding caves.

All of the books of the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) were discovered at Qumran, save for Nehemiah and Esther.

The reason the Dead Sea Scrolls are so important is that, prior to their discovery, the oldest copy of the Hebrew Bible we had was the Aleppo Codex, which dates to around 920 AD. The Dead Sea Scrolls, however, date – at the earliest – to the first-century BC. In other words, the Dead Sea Scrolls gave us a copy of the Bible a thousand years older than we had previously.

Here’s why that’s significant (well, one reason, anyways).

There were and, admittedly, still are those that are skeptical that Jesus fulfilled earlier prophecies concerning His birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection. Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, such skeptics could claim that the prophecies that Jesus seemed to fulfill were simply added to the text later to make it look like He’d fulfilled them.

However, the Dead Sea Scrolls predate Jesus. In other words, those prophecies weren’t added later. They were written and recorded long before Jesus was ever born.

Isn’t that incredible? Archaeology once again provides evidence of our faith.

We left Qumran in the late afternoon and headed up to Galilee where we’ll be for the next several days.

It seems as though most of our crew is on the mend from whatever we’ve been passing around, but there are those that still aren’t at full capacity. It’s also supposed to be unusually hot in the Galilee, so we would appreciate your continued prayers for recovery, rest, and energy.

There are good days ahead!