Legacy

Shalom!

I have to say today was my favorite day so far! After a morning devotion on the beach of the Dead Sea, we drove straight to Masada. Although Masada is not a Biblical place, it has a fascinating history. A group of eight of us decided to hike up to the top on a series of steep switchbacks called the “snake path.” The hike was nothing short of beautiful and difficult. The rest of the group took the tram up to the top and had some beautiful views as well. Masada was originally built by Herod as an emergency get away palace. He was a very bad dude and had a lot of enemies; therefore he needed a fortress for safety. The engineering that was required to make this place work was absolutely genius.

Then in 73 AD, the zealots in the Maccabean revolt fled from the Romans and remained on top of Masada for a year until the Romans could build a siege ramp to breach the walls. When the Romans finally got to the top, all the Jews were dead by their own hand. It’s an incredibly fascinating story and was quite a site to see. After we walked around the top for a couple hours, we actually walked down on the very same siege ramp that the Romans built almost 2,000 years ago. You could still make out the numerous surrounding camps that the Roman soldiers stayed in while they planned their attack..

After Masada, we went to a Bedouin village where we rode camels to a Bedouin tent. When we got to the tent, we were served delicious mint tea as well as freshly roasted and ground Arabic coffee. Bedouins are known for their hospitality and we were challenged to think about our own role as Christians to be hospitable to those “outside” of our tribe. How do we treat the stranger, the refugee, the unloveable, the outsider? When we look to the words of Jesus, He says, “What you did for the least of these, you did unto me” Matthew 25:40. Hospitality is not a gift that is given to some and not to others, it is a calling and a command for all Christians to live out (Romans 12: 9-13).

Next, we visited another Tel called Arad; this was a Canaanite city that dates back to 2900 BC with walls that are 8 feet thick. The city was destroyed and rebuilt throughout the centuries until there were about 12 layers of settlements on top of the original one. There were many interesting things we learned about Tel Arad, but I think the most interesting one was a discovery that was made not too long ago. A pot shard, that dated back to the end of the 7th Century BC, was found with “The House of Yahweh” written on it. Many scholars believe that the Hebrew Scriptures were not written down until the exile in Babylonia, however this pot shard dated before the exile; thus proving that the Hebrew Scriptures were indeed written down in the land of Israel.

A common theme that kept coming up today was the idea of legacy. What will people remember us by? What will be the things that define our life? What kind of legacy do we want to leave behind? Is Jesus evident in our daily lives? Do our lives reflect Christ? These are questions we must all ask ourselves and it can be sobering somethings to take an honest look at our lives. While it may be easy to become discouraged with failure or unmet expectations in life, it is vital to remember that as long as there is life, there is hope. Jesus is not done with us yet and He is the one who can bring life and change.

We finished the day with a swim/float in the Dead Sea. It was a lovely experience!

Pray for continued safety, rest, and transformation.