Jerusalem, September 2, 2009:
We traveled to Masada, Engedi, Qumran and the Dead Sea. All of these are on or overlook the Dead Sea. Jerusalem is 3,000 feet above sea level and the Dead Sea is 1,200 feet below sea level, so there is quite a rapid elevation change and a 25-30 degree change in temperature. The drive to Masada was about 1.5 hours southeast of Jerusalem. We passed David’s refuge of Engedi (visible from Masada) and Qumran (where the Essenes wrote and stored the Dead Sea Scrolls), on the way to Masada. At Masada, we packed into a cable car to ascend to the top of Masada – quite a fun experience. We could have walked a steep and narrow trail as an alternative, but we didn’t have all day for that adventure.
Masada is one of nine desert fortress palaces constructed by Herod Antipas. He was half Jewish on his father’s side, but the Jews would not accept him as a Jew because his mother was Nabatean. The Bible says he was a descendent of Esau – an Edomite. He was one of the richest men in the world at the time, but was also delusional and paranoid. On a comparative scale, the guide estimated his wealth as five times that of Bill Gates. His wealth was made in the cosmetics trade. To this day, minerals from the Dead Sea, which are used in cosmetics, are the largest source of income for Israel.
Herod had his fortress palaces stocked with wine from his favorite vineyard in Italy and fish sauce from his favorite restaurant outside of Rome. Money was no object and he used the finest architect in the world to construct his incredible palaces. This is probably the same Herod who ordered the children of Bethlehem killed when he learned that the Messiah may have been born there. He also killed his Jewish wife and his children, because he feared they were plotting against him.
Herod built his palace at Caesaria to protrude into the ocean. He wanted to wake up in his bedroom and see nothing but water – to feel like a fish. His bedroom at Masada hung suspended on the side of a cliff – about 1,000 feet straight down. He wanted to wake up and feel like a bird.
Masada was designed with intricate small aqueducts and cisterns that captured every bit of water that fell on the plateau. He had enough food stored there to live for about a year with 800 soldiers and his family. He also had elaborate baths, steam rooms, kitchen facilities and everything that the richest man in the world could want in that time period.
His desert fortresses were built as places of refuge in case there was a mass revolt against him. He had all of the finest and nicest things in this life, but lacked happiness or peace. He is undoubtedly suffering horribly in eternity.
Masada has become a symbol of Jewish defiance and independence. In the first century A.D., around the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, Jewish Zealots fled to Masada. After a year siege by about 10,000 Roman soldiers, they finally killed themselves (i.e., men killed their wives and children and then themelves) rather than become slaves to the Romans.
We next drove to Engedi. Engedi is the “Wadi” (a wash for seasonal flooding/rivers). Engedi still has year round springs of water. David would frequently hide here with his men. He probably wrote a number of Psalms from this place. This is where he was hiding in a cave when Saul went into the cave to relieve himself. There are many caves in the area. We took photos in the pools of water. We could imagine David hiding from Saul in this area.
One of the interesting things we learned while at Engedi, however, is that the trees there are Acacia trees. Acacia trees tend to grow and survive in harsh desert conditions. The Ark of the Covenant and Table for the Shewbread (both of which were covered in gold) were made from Acacia wood.
The interesting thing about Acacia trees is that they have extremely thorny, spindly branches. They are called “Christ-thorn” and some people believe these thorny branches were used as the crown of thorns around Jesus head. If that is the case, then the First Covenant used Acacia wood to host the presence of God and for the service needed for the cleansing of sins. The Second Covenant likewise was sealed by Jesus with a crown of Acacia thorns on his head, perhaps symbolizing the completion of the First Covenant and the end of the painful toil required to accomplish the remission of sins year after year. We took photos of these nasty thorns.
We next moved on to Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. Masada, Engedi and Qumran are in a row along the hills overlooking the Dead Sea, with Masada being furthest from Jerusalem. Qumran is where the Jewish monks, known as Essenes, pursued their daily ritual bathing, daily communal chores, and daily copying of the Holy Scriptures. For unknown reasons, perhaps because they feared that the Romans were going to kill them or destroy their Scriptures (this was in the first century just before the destruction of Jerusalem), they hid the Scriptures in sealed ceramic pots in difficult to access caves. The Scriptures were written on rolls (scrolls) of cow skin. The reason that we have 1 Kings and 2 Kings and the other multi-volume books of the Old Testament, is that they couldn’t fit any more on one scroll (one length) of cow skin.
John the Baptist is thought to have either been an Essene who left the commune, or someone whose ministry influenced the development of the Essene community, because what he taught and what they practiced had key similarities. They submersed themselves in ritual baths two times each day for the purpose of physical and spiritual purity. They had a strong ethic of holiness. John took the principle of baptism for the forgiveness of sins to the masses. We saw the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1947.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were written in the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D. Prior to those scrolls, the earliest manuscript that we had of the Old Testament was 1,000 years newer. The scrolls have small differences with the Old Testament that we use, but nothing that is significantly different.
We next drove to a Dead Sea resort, where many people from the tour group went into the Dead Sea, primarily to cover themselves in Dead Sea mud. We have some amusing photos. It was about 105 degrees at the Dead Sea.
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