Jerusalem!

We began ascending to Jerusalem, the Holy City, where Jesus Christ died and raised again, where He will come again. There was a camel at sea level that we were supposed to have the opportunity to ride, but the camel’s vaccinations ran out but he couldn’t get his vaccinations because the owners permit ran out and the owner couldn’t get a new permit because the camel’s vaccinations ran out. Anyways, the Lord knew best. There were camels everywhere eating by the side of the road. We came to a check point where officers question our bus driver in Hebrew. All of a sudden officers were running and shouting with their guns drawn. Apparently some car tried to go through the check point without stopping.

We drove past the Walls of Jerusalem that King David had built. There are twelve gates that lead into Old City Jerusalem. The Old City has a road that runs around the inside of the city. Everywhere else in Old City was only accessible by foot or bike. There were people everywhere walking the streets, mainly Muslims. It was so much to take in; this is Jerusalem where Jesus will reign for a thousand years.

There were two major architecture projects being built while we were there. One was an Am Track and the other was a bridge that was designed to look like David’s harp.      

We drove to our hotel, the Dan Panorama. Just a block behind us was the world famous King David’s Hotel. When we arrived there was a lady who personalized jewelry in silver and gold. Many of us bought necklaces with our names in Hebrew or rings with Bible verses in Hebrew. We were all tired and cold. Coming from the desert to Jerusalem’s “winter” season was quite the change. That night after the sun had set; we took a walk down the streets of Jerusalem.

                                         Camels with the edge of Jerusalem in the back ground.

                                                            The City Walls of Jerusalem

                                       The front enterance to our home for the next three nights.

Masada's Story

At Masada, Susan Marcus walked us through the ruins. Every part of this place had a story to tell. There was a home that was specially built for King Herod, but there is no proof that he was ever lived there. And since the king had to be carried everywhere by people, it is probably safe to say that he was never even in the home because the Snake Path would have been impossible. Kind of sad due to all the work that was put into this master piece.

        There were also several water cisterns that allowed the Jews to never thirst while the Romans had their water carried form many miles away. Marble was in style at this time, but marble could not be carried up the path, so they made imitation marble. There was a synagogue as well. All Jewish synagogues face Jerusalem. Here, in a side room, Ezekiel chapter five was found. As we walked around we noticed a pile of big round stones. I’m not sure how long it took the Romans, but they devised a plan to get up and in to Masada. They built a ramp of stones and sand. After the ramp was built they hoisted a battering ram up it and slowly knocked a hole in the wall. But by the time the 8000 Roman soldiers got into the town, it was too late. All 800 plus Jews – thinking they were the last Jews on earth – had slit each other’s throats. Beside each body lay a cup of water to show they hadn’t thirsted, some type of food to show they hadn’t starved, and a weapon to show they could have fought. The Romans, disgusted at “cowards,” turned around and went home. But the Jews had won. The children died before they could be used as slaves. The women died before they were abused. And the men died free.

        Today, Masada represents the Jews’ valor. Before any soldier can join Israel’s forces, he must march through the desert from Jerusalem, run up the Snake Path, (It is much safer today, but still very treacherous.) and finally be given his weapon and a Bible, vowing to protect God’s chosen people and country.    

                                                                   The imitaion marble

                                                         Mosaic tile for the kings house

                                                           The ramp built by the Romans

                                                 This is the room that the chapter of Ezekiel

Moving on to Masada

                                        On top of Masada looing over the Dead Sea to Jordan.

                                                                    The Snake Path

The next morning, some of us went down to the Dead Sea for a morning swim. The hotel’s private beach had a large area of the sea sectioned off; I think that way the tourists would stay in Israel. The country’s line went right down the middle of the sea, half Israel’s and half Jordan’s. The water was a little cool and felt like “baby oil.” There were little balls of salt on the floor and a few rocks that popped up from the floor, but they were not slippery. They were rough kind of like sand paper. Our tour guide told us that the Dead Sea is one-third salt and it is the lowest place on earth with the lowest point being 1,240 feet deep.  As I floated out, the whitish bottom dropped down below me and a slight fear came over me, “What if something comes up after m….wait! I’m in the Dead Sea.” This was one of my favorite places: swimming between Jordan and Israel, in the lowest place on earth, pondering on everything that I had just seen. After a shower, we loaded back on the bus and headed to Masada. There were so many stories and facts about this mountain that it was impossible to take it all in. I came home and did a little research on this mount. The Jews were in revolt against Rome and fled to the top on Masada and held off the Romans for many months. The Romans gathered stones and built a ten foot wall all around the fortress. Over 800 Jews were “trapped” on top of the safest place in the world at this time. The only access to the top was the Snake Path. In the daylight, the Jews could protect the path by rolling rocks down onto the soldiers that were brave enough to climb the difficult terrain, and climbing it in the dark was like committing suicide. They were safe and the Romans were baffled and drying up in the desert.

Descent to the Dead Sea

After Bet Shean we loaded on the bus for a long drive south. Leaving the lush terrain behind, we watched the hills turn into mountains and cliffs, and grass turn into sand. We were heading for the one and only Dead Sea. While we were driving, I noticed there must have been hundreds of green houses, the farther we drove I decided there were thousands of green houses and the longer we drove I finally assumed there were millions of green houses in this little country. Plus, there were millions of orchards; you name it, they grew it. Dates were very popular; each tree produced an average of 500 pounds per tree…did I mention there were millions of trees? The Lord has truly blessed this country’s agriculture. The closer we got to the Dead Sea the saltier the dirt got. Every twenty years, the farmers will “flood” the land to wash the dirt clean of the salt. In some areas, farmers dug down twelve feet and laid cement slabs down, put the dirt back and then planted their trees; this prevents the salt from coming up so they would not need to flood the earth. If they would not go to these extents, then the salt would burn the roots and the trees would die. We stopped briefly at a little museum and saw some of the actual Dead Sea scrolls.  Moving on, we arrived at our five star hotel that had its own private beach on the sea. That evening, we went down to go swimming but the water was to rough and we were not allowed to swim, so we waited until morning. In the meantime, the hotel had a normal outside pool and an indoor/outdoor pool of saltwater. We floated! It took great stomach strength to keep our legs underneath us. After we played around awhile, some of us went into the normal pool. It was so wired to go from sinking to floating and floating to sinking. We enjoyed a huge buffet for supper, one of the best meals we ate while in Israel. And tomorrow, a few of us would tackle the Dead Sea itself.