Israel Day Six

Today we left the Dead Sea and we are now in Jerusalem.

[By the way – in my last post I said I was “low.” That was a joke because we were in the lowest part of the world at 1300ft below sea level. I am not depressed.]

I went for an early morning float this morning so I could get picture to actually prove I was in the Dead Sea. I tasted some of it just to see what it was like and I almost gagged to death. It is 10x saltier than any other salt water in the world.

From our hotel we went to the fortress of Masada, which is amazing. Masada was a community of people living on top of a mountain. It is amazing how they got water and how they lived and farmed. The place looked impenetrable but in 73 CE the Roman army led by Sylvas actually laid seiged to it, made it to the top, but found everyone dead. They committed suicide so that they wouldn’t be killed or be forced into slavery. It took Sylvas three years to figure out how to get up there. It is an amazing story – there is a movie about it that is pretty accurate in telling its story. Anyway, you have to see some pics of it; it will astound you. It is even more phenomenonal in person.

It just goes to show that even the most earthly, human-invented forms of security can still be destroyed. The only eternally secure thing is not a thing at all, it is a person! Our security is found in Jesus Christ, whose word is so strong that now matter how much wind and rain come, you can stand. “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matt. 7:24-25) “The Lord is my Rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:2)

From Masada, we went to the Ahava Cream Factory. I will be honest with you – this one was for the ladies… We watched a video (!) about their products and then shopped a bit, ate sandwiches and left. I am still trying to find an “ahava” reference in the Bible!

Our next stop was in Bethlehem, which is actually in Palestinian control. We had to go through a security stop and load a different bus because our driver and guide are Israeli and they don’t allow Israelies to go through. They stayed behind. We went to a shop first, which is owned by some Christian men (most of the Christians live in Bethlehem) and then went on to the Church of the Nativity, which is a church built on top of the area where Jesus was born. In this church, there are catacombs where Jerome lived for 38 years translating the Greek NT into Latin, what we know today as the Latin Vulgate. (a major accomplishment for that time) We sang a couple of Christmas hymns in the church and then went on to our hotel for the night.

I am bushwhacked and I miss my wife and son!