Israel – Days 5-6

These last two days in Israel were filled with a wide variety of sites and experiences.We started day 5 (Wednesday) by loading our bus and heading to Beit She-an, a major Biblical city that most are unfamiliar with. It’s often called the Pompeii of the Middle East because of the spectacularly preserved Roman ruins at the base of the ancient city mount. Not only was the old city an important place in the Old Testament, it became an important Roman city in Jesus’ day and many inhabitants here converted to Christianity in the 1st few centuries AD (called Nisan-Scythopolis during this time).We headed south towards the Dead Sea where the terrain and climate changed dramatically. We viewed what many believe was the site of Jesus’ temptations while he was fasting in the wilderness, shortly after he was baptized by John. We then went to the shore of the Dead Sea and experienced “floating” on top of the water. This lake is nearly 1/3 salt, so you can virtually lay on top of the water, as seen in the title picture.We then went to Masada where we ate lunch and took a cable car to the top of this unique fortress. Masada was the site of Israel’s last stand against the Romans in the Great Rebellion against Rome. For 7 years, a band of about 950 Jews who escaped Rome’s siege of Jerusalem, lived on top of this 1,500 ft. high rock plateau with sheer cliffs on all sides. The fortress was originally built as a military installation, complete with a lavish palace, by Herod the Great, and it is remarkably preserved.From Masada, we headed towards Jerusalem to our hotel, but stopped on the way to see the caves of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.On day 6 (today), we went to the Holocaust and Israel Museums in the morning. The Holocaust Museum is unbelievably sobering. It’s hard to understand the depth of cruelty that human beings are capable of. And we were reminded how much we desperately need a Savior!The Israel museum was a highlight for me. It contains such a wealth of artifacts from all over the mideast and it would be impossible to see it all in even a full day. We only had a couple of hours. But the interesting part for us was to see important finds on display from many of the ruins we had already explored. Outside the museum is a huge scale model of the old city Jerusalem from the time of Jesus’ birth. It helped prepare us for our excursions around Jerusalem for the next couple of days.We then traveled to the Elah Valley and the exact site of David’s victory over Goliath. From the Philistines' camp, we read the story from 1 Samuel 17, identifying landmarks from the text that were clearly visible to us, pinpointing all that happened the day David rose to prominence in Israel.We ended today with a delicious barbecue at the home of one of Israel’s most famous chefs. He prepared the food and his family served us. We were all stuffed and more than one person remarked how the feeling reminded them of our heads and our hearts right now, being stuffed with learning and experience in the very holy place.