Day 03 - Wilderness: Ein Gedi, Qumran , Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Jericho

The Dead Sea, we were told, is not only inhospitable to life, but is also slowly dying. After the installation of a dam on the jordan river and many of the tributaries that feed it, the water coming in to this beautiful body of water just can’t keep up with evaporation. Our guide told us that it could be gone within our lifetime.

It was against this backdrop we shared our morning devotions and sang “How Deep the Father's Love for Us” before departing for the oasis of En Gedi. After a day or two in the desert, it was refreshing to see streams of living water flowing down several waterfalls as we hiked. We saw acacia trees, planted by the stream, and all sorts of lush vegetation.

And, while our next stop at Qumran was back in the desert, the theme of water continued. We learned that the people who had lived there built aqueducts and cisterns, to ensure a supply of water… both for daily use and ritual bathing. But it was their commitment to study, and copy, the Scriptures that makes them most notable. Like living water, the copies of scripture that they made and preserved is “more than an archaeological find.” As the Word of God it is living and active… and, of course, ‘sweeter’ than the date honey they produced.

Again, as water is central to the Christian story and to biblical history, we were fortunate to visit the place along the Jordan River where it is likely that the Israelites crossed in to the Promised Land, and where John baptized Jesus. Though the river is much smaller today than it likely was then, there was much activity as we got to witness many people from other groups who had traveled from all over the world affirm their faith and be baptized in the water.

From there, it was a two hour drive (with a 30-minute history lesson on modern Israel from our guide, Dan) to our Kibbutz on the shores of the Sea of Galilee… just in time for sunset. Unlike the Dead Sea, Galilee is full of life. Todays journey was a powerful reminder of the transformation God desires to work in each of us: from death to life.

Eric Woods