Living Water

We started this day off by doing something that most of never thought of doing - a camel ride at a Bedouin village! It was fun, a bit uncomfortable and we were glad we had patient camels! Maybe we can put "camel riding" on our bucket lists just to cross it off? We also learned about Bedouin hospitality by trying their coffee (strong and bitter), sweet tea and pita bread. It's an interesting group of people who speak Arabic and were once nomadic, but who mostly live in villages now.

Theirs is the land of Abraham. It's a hot, dry land and Abraham (Abram) was called by God to live there. It's truly amazing to picture Abraham and his family inhabiting that land. Where did they actually live? Where did he almost sacrifice Isaac?

We then travelled to Tel Arad - an ancient excavated city that is the only city from the Canaanite time with wall. We stood and looked down a huge, deep ancient cistern. Pastor Gordon spoke to us about this verse from Jeremiah 2:13: "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns; broken cisterns that cannot hold water." We are continually learning that water is everything in the desert and it explains why there are so many references to water in the Bible. It takes a study tour, where you hike the land, to gain a small understanding of why water is so important.

Then it was off to Qumran and the fascinating story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they were found!

As we headed north along the West Bank of the Jordan River we learned about modern Israel and its complex and ever evolving relationship with the countries surrounding it.

Tonight we are staying in cabins on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. We are in Jesus' stomping grounds! The first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee was a bit emotional. It's where Jesus called his disciples, where he walked on water after feeding the 5000, where he restored Peter! Tomorrow we explore the area around the Sea of Galilee. We are excited to see what God teaches us!

The Hebrew word of the day: Maim Chaim ~ living water. Seems appropriate for today.

Shalom!