Fellowship United Methodist Church

The country of Israel is so vastly different from one end to the other. We started our tour in the north at the Sea of Galilee, a region that is lush and beautiful. Next we went up to Jerusalem (one always goes up to Jerusalem) where it is still green but has many more mountains. Today we went from almost 3000 feet above sea level at Jerusalem to almost 1200 below sea level at the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea area is rich in Jewish history. It borders the Moab Mountains, home of Biblical Israel’s enemies the Moabites. It is also home to the palace of King Herod where John the Baptist was taken to be condemned and beheaded. This area also is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the early 20^th century.

First we visited Qumran and walked in the place where the Sons of Light lived their monastic life believing that only they walked in God’s light and everyone else was in the darkness of sin. Their primary gift to humanity is the recording of the biblical writings which were placed in clay jars, sealed up and stored in a dark cave on the shores of the Dead Sea. There they stayed for roughly 2000 years until they were discovered by a Bedouin boy who was searching for lost goat.

Next we visited Masada, a fortress built on a 1800 foot butte by King Herod. After the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 AD the Jews fled to here and held up until they were besieged by the Romans. It took the Romans three years to build a ramp of dirt and rocks so that they could burn, batter and breach the wall. When they got inside they discovered that all the Jews had killed themselves, preferring death to slavery. This is the place from which the Jewish Masad special forces take their name.  To honor this heritage today, whenever a new class graduates they all run to the top (seriously tough) where they take a vow to fight for their country and never be slaves to anyone ever again.

We ended the day by swimming in the Dead Sea. Now that is a trip! I have never floated in water a day of my life; my body just will not float. But in the Dead Sea if felt like I was literally laying on top of the water like laying on a bed. I could even float straight up and down without treading water or sinking. Don’t get any of it in your eyes though cause it really hurts.

We have one more day of touring before heading home tomorrow night. We will visit King David’s tomb, Jesus’ tomb and celebrate Communion together. Look for a report after I get home.