Israel 2014 #3

#3 … Tuesday - April 29^th [The Dead Sea region]

After a good night’s sleep we head to the Dead Sea region.   Our first stop was Masada … one of my favorite places to visit in all of Israel. 

First: While Masada doesn’t hold much Biblical significance it is a landmark in Israel, post Biblical history.  The word in Hebrew means “the stronghold” and may be referenced in Psalm 59 and 62.  This was one of King Herod’s might fortresses that he had constructed to help defend the border of Israel and to use as a refuge, should he become the victim of attack or political upheaval.

During the First Revolt against Rome, the rebel forces under Menachem Ben-yuhuda overpowered the Roman garrison at Masada in 66 A.D.  The number of people who came to live in the fortress increased once the city of Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 A.D.

The Jews lived at Masada for two years before the Romans began a siege.  Using the Tenth Legion and thousands of prisoners of war, they first built a wall encircling the mountain to cut off all supplies, as well as eight camps for the billeting of the soldiers.  The ruins of these can still be seen today, nearly 2,000 years after the fact.  The Roman general used the Jewish captives to construct a ramp from the Western side to the walls knowing that the defenders inside would not attack their fellow countrymen.   On the first day of Passover in 72 A.D. the defenders realized that their situation was hopeless.  Rather than lose their freedom and have their families butchered or fall into slavery, they chose to burn their fortress and commit suicide rather than to surrender into the hands of the Romans.

• Today Masada is a symbol of Israel’s determination to not surrender to oppression and to live out their faith in community and freedom.  And decisions like that will always involve a price to be paid on our part.

Second: The Dead Sea region is often associated with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18-19.  It is the lowest spot on the earth’s surface, some 427 meters or 1,401 feet below sea level.  It is situated in the Jordan Rift Valley between the hills of Moab in the east and the hills of the Judean Wilderness to the west.  The Jordan River enters the sea from a plain to the north, another plain south of the sea is called the Sedom or Sodom Plain.  The Dead Sea is about 48 miles long and 10 miles wide, and its deepest point is some 1,500 feet at the northern end.  Depending on the flow of the Jordan and rainfall, the Dead Sea changes its shape and consistency greatly.

Since there is no river exiting the Dead Sea, and because it lies in a region with numerous mineral hot springs and mineral salts, the water has become extremely ‘dense’ with solids; the water evaporates and leaves the mineral content behind.  The chemicals present in the water include salt, potash, magnesium, calcium chlorides and bromide.  Today both Israelis and Jordanians operate chemical plants on the shores of the Dead Sea to extract minerals, mostly for fertilizers and agricultural use, although cosmetic companies also use these minerals for their products.

It may seem hard to believe, but the region used to be a well-watered area – as lush and attractive as the Garden of Eden.  But God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah changed the area’s fertility to a desolate expanse that represented judgment on sin (Genesis 13:10; Deuteronomy 29:23; Jeremiah 17:6).  The evaporation hovering over the Dead Sea gives a constant haze over its surface.  It reminds the world of the furnace-like smoke that rose from the valley after the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 19:28).

Third: A favorite stop for many is Ein Gedi (“spring of the wild goat”), the desert oasis where David hid from King Saul – 1 Samuel 23 – 24. 

The place is first mentioned in the Bible as part of the story of Abraham’s victory against the four Mesopotamian kings (Genesis 14:7).  Another place is when King Jehoshaphat learned of the invasion of Moab and Ammon – 2 Chronicles 20.  After a long hike up the canyons the group will go swimming underneath waterfalls. :)

Fourth: We finish the day by going to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947. These are important because they backed up our understanding of the Hebrew Bible by close to 1,000 years and verified that the copies we had were accurate and reliable.  The Essenes, who dwelt at Qumran, were a religious sect during the time of Christ and were a monkish in their lifestyles and beliefs.     

• You can learn more by looking at this website: http://www.bibleplaces.com/qumran.htm

Here is an artist’s rendering of what the Essene colony would have looked like back in the first century, based upon the ruins found today: