Day 6, June 6, Hosea 2:15

Itinerary:

·       Ein Gedi (1 Sam. 23:24-25:1; Psalm 63; Ezek. 47:1)

·       Qumron

o   John the Baptist, Lk. 3:3

o   Dead Sea Scrolls

·       Baptism Site of Jesus (Mt. 3:13-17; Jn. 4:28)

o   Jericho (Josh. 6:26; 1 Ki. 16:24; Lk. 18:35-19:10)

o   Between the Jordan River and Jericho:

§  Josh. 5:3: Hill of Foreskins

§  Josh. 5:9: Gilgal

§  Josh. 5:10: Plains of Jericho

§  Josh. 5:15: Holy Ground

o   The Seven Nations

o   How many times was the Jordan River “divided” around here?

·       Ascent of Adummin (Wadi Qelt, Josh. 15:7)

·       Rimonim Lookout

o   Valley of Achor/Achan (Josh. 7:10-26; Hos. 2:15)

o   On a clear day look for:

§  Plains of Moab (Israel’s camp E of Jordan)

§  Acacia Grove (Israel camp IN the plains of Moab)

§  Mt. Nebo/Pisgah (from which Moses saw the land)

·       Ma’ale Efraim (Jn. 11:53-54)

·       Argaman (Gilgal?)

o   Adam (water of Jordan stopped here, Josh. 3:16)

o   Zeratan & Succoth (Solomon made castings for the temple)1 Ki. 7:46)

o   Brook Cherith (ravens cared for Elijah, 1 Ki. 17:1)

o   Abel Meholah (hometown of Elisha, 1 Ki. 19:16)

·       Tiberias (John 6:1; 21:1)

It was another wonderful day in Israel with some powerful reminders of our hope in Christ.  Our travels are moving us northward and by the end of the day we had arrived at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee.  Here are a few notes along the way:

v At Ein Gedi, David’s stronghold, the ibex were really out in force … lots of young ones.  It was quite nice as we all began our hike from the visitor’s center.  Everyone enjoyed the first falls but in the extreme heat not all made it to David Falls.  How refreshing it must have been to David and his men and how secure they must have felt in this natural “fortress”.

v At Qumron our basic purpose was to watch the movie presentation.  The Dead Sea scroll discovery (scrolls that were copied by the Essene community and hidden in caves when the Roman army was wreaking havoc in the area) are a truly amazing proof of the faithfulness of God in preserving His word for us today.  Many assumed when they were translated they would show significant variations from our modern day Old Testament; those variations were not there. In the movie, describing the Essene setting in the mid-first century, they speak of the presence of John the Baptist in their community for a brief time.  There are many who believe John must have been part of that Essene community as they believed themselves to be the voice in the wilderness promised by Isaiah, and they preached repentance and practiced baptism (ritual washing).  But that is not likely.  John was specifically said to be called by God, from birth, to his ministry.  And unlike the Essenes, John specifically targeted Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, the One whose soon coming demanded people prepare themselves.  I.e. He was not a product of the Essene movement.  The lunchroom at Qumron had a good deal so we had our first falafel/shawarma experience.

v We were not long at the baptism site.  A few folks got their photos in the muddy waters of the Jordan.  On our way back to the main highway we sat and looked over on the Jordan side and talked about the crossing of the children of Israel under Joshua.  By the way: the Jordan was divided three times.

v At Rimonim, at the viewpoint of Eli (properly pronounced “el-ee”), there is an audio presentation involving the story of Achan at the Valley of Achor.  They even speak of “Petah Tikvah”, the door of hope in Hosea 2:15.

v At Argaman there is evidence of a “Gilgal”, a campsite for the Israelites in the days of Joshua.  This one shows evidence the tabernacle was set up there (i.e. there is an enclosure of rocks 50x100 cubits) and of the tower built by the 2 1/2 tribes on the east side of Jordan as a reminder that they too were part of Israel.  It was quite interesting as there was a man there speaking with another group who is a leader in the excavation and was able to explain it to us.  Otherwise we would have been on our own to figure out.  This “moshav” of Argaman is in the vicinity of events of Elijah/Elisha including the hometowns for each and the Brook Cherith where Elijah was fed by God using ravens.

Upon arrival at Tiberias we could not believe the traffic jam and the full camping and picnicking spots along the Sea of Galilee.  Ramadan ended and it was celebration time for Muslims.  Our plan tomorrow is to go around the Sea of Galilee.  We are hoping the celebrants will take off their Friday-holy day; we want a place to picnic as we celebrate many events in Jesus’ life and ministry. 😊