"The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD'S anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD'S anointed" (I Samuel 24:6).
The top picture is of the fortress Herod the Great built on the desert mountain top called Masada. Herod spared no expense in the building of it. Its accomodations were luxurious in every respect. There were pools for swiming and for bathing. The bathing pools were heated. Just getting water to the pools required hot and cold running slaves.
During the Jewish rebellion beginning in AD 66, Masada became the last holdout of Jewish resistance. The Romans would not tolerate even the symbolic resistance that was the last hold out at Masada, so they brought their war-machines there. As can be seen in the picture, a huge ramp was constructed by the Romans to push their tower and battering ram up. The Jews ended up committing suicide rather that to be crucified or sold into slavery.
The second picture is a picture taken in the same desolate, desert wilderness. This is a picture of the engedi where David and his men hid out from King Saul. Saul went into the cave where David and his men were hiding to relieve himself. David could have killed Saul but he had great respect for Saul because he was the LORD'S anointed. It is a reminder to me as to how I am to treat every Christian because they are all the LORD'S annointed.
The picture of the engedi is a wonder because it is so dry and desolate--it is truely an oasis in the desert!
We were off early again on the morning of January 19 because we wanted to be the first to reach Masada before the other tourists arrived. We weren't quite the first ones to arrive, so the first gondola to the top would not haul all of us at once. Each one holds about 80 people. So about 20 of the younger folks in our group decided to hike the trail to the top. I would have done it too, but I had an ill-fitting shoe that eventually caused me to lose a toe nail--my foot was really hurting. Our college kids made it to the top okay, but they were really tired the rest of the day.
In the Holy Land 3 Christmases are celebrated, the last one being the Armenian Christmas on the 19th. What we did to celebrate was to go swim in the Dead Sea. It was cool that day, like swimming in Iowa's lake Okaboji on Memorial Day--but very enjoyable. The Dead Sea is loaded with bromide, a major tranquilizing ingredient, so after a half an hour swim one starts to feel really good. You cannot sink in the Dead Sea! It is like floating on an air matress, but do not get any water in your eye!
From the Dead Sea we went back to see Jericho in the day light--it did not improve my opinion of the place from seeing it at night. The Palestinians are in charge of this site--they do not do as good as the Israeli's at presenting an archeological site. If the Israeli's weren't there I believe that there would not be very much archeological work actually done. The Muslims do not appear to be very interested in archeological truth.
Grace&Peace,
Tom
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