We had breakfast at the hotel and got on the bus to head to Masada. Masada means "fortress" in Hebrew.
As we traveled on the bus, our bus guide, Ophir, told us about the mountain goats, called ibex, that you can see as you travel around Israel. He told us the ibex have very large horns that seemingly are not needful for anything...probably just for show.
Just a little interesting nugget: Nancy McDaniel, reminded us of the story about Jael. Jael means ibex! If you remember the story of Jael, she drove the stake into the enemy's temple (Judges 4).
We made a pit stop first, at the wonderful retailer that is Ahava. (Ahava means love.) Ahava is a line of skin care products that use the mud and salt and water from the Dead Sea. These products are wonderful to use--first of all, because they are made in Israel and purchasing them blesses Israel and it's economy! Second of all, the products are great themselves. One of the ladies on our bus told me that she loves the mud bars and uses them all the time. So, I bought some bars and I bought some Ahava body wash. They do make my skin feel good! And it makes me feel good to use them because I feel that I am supporting Israel by doing so. It says produced in Israel right on the packaging! Also, I just discovered that the retailer here in the United States, Ulta Beauty, sells Ahava products! I am so very happy about this! Now, I can purchase Ahava in support of Israel anytime I need to! :)
Alright: back to the trip...
We finally arrived at our destination: Masada.
Masada is awesome! There was grandeur in this mountain view! We climbed to the top of Masada in a cable car. It took us way, way, way up! But, not to worry to all those who are afraid of heights...it was a smooth and calm ride up to the top of the mountain. There is also another way to ascend the mountain...you can take about two hours and climb up the "Snake Path" to the top. It is a very steep climb! You can see the traces of the Snake Path in this picture:
Masada, historically, is a place where King Herod the Great built a fortified fortress atop of this mountain plateau. Then, later in history, a sect of Jews called the Kanai, took refuge in Masada for a short seven years. The Romans came to conquer them, but instead of letting themselves fall into the hands of the Romans, they made a group decision to commit mass suicide. It is an interesting story. I encourage you to look up info about Masada and read more about it.
When we got on the top of the mountain, we gathered as a group with our bus. We sang "The Name of the Lord is, a strong tower..." and "Blessed be the Name of the Lord". The Generation's Group on our bus brought up a banner that said "Outrageous Grace" along with a flag with a roaring lion and fire. This was the Lion of Judah! PRAISE!
It seemed very fitting that we sang "The Name of the Lord is a Strong Tower". There was a watch tower at the top of Masada! A few of us were able to climb to the very top of the watch tower.
At the top, I gave a shout and tried to jump for joy. But the vastness of the place. The awesomeness of the view! It was too great for me.
I stood in reverant awe of that place. On top of the watch tower on top of Masada, you can look around and see for miles and miles.
You can see a good portion of the Dead Sea along with other mountains in the far distance. This is part of what our awesome Creator, God, made! The vast expanse of the surrounding desert. The grandness of the mountain. The view. The Holy Awesomness of it all. The view on this mountain reminded me of how Great and Majestic and Grand the Lord God Almighty truly is!
After we descended Masada, we got back on the bus and headed to Qumran--the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were "accidentally" found in the caves.
This location is very dry. They have flash floods that come one or two times a year or less that fill the cisterns and midahs that are located at Qumran. Migdahs are ritual baths. Jews would take migdahs to help purify themselves throughout their lives and before they would enter the Temple in Jerusalem. Authentic migdahs still exist here in Qumran. The tradition is that men could not physically pour water into the migdahs. There had to be a natural way for the ritual baths to fill up with water with the help of aquaducts. So, this place in Qumran that received flash floods occasionally was a perfect place to build several migdahs and aquaduct systems for regular use.
After the hot climb at Masada, we loaded up on the bus and headed to the Dead Sea. The trek to the Dead Sea was very winding and mountainous. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the whole earth! We descended very so quickly so that the pressure change in the atmosphere caused our ears to pop. When we arrived at the Dead Sea, it was much like a beach setting. All kinds of people from all over the world were there in there bathing suits (some unfortunately in less than that--boo to speedos! Ugh.) There was a sign with rules for swimming (or floating, rather) in the Dead Sea.
No splashing! No horseplay. The salt content of the Dead Sea is VERY concentrated. If you get the water in your eyes, which I did, it burns pretty badly. So, when you get into the water in the Dead Sea, you have to be very careful and calm about it. When you get into the Dead Sea, your feet hit the mud at the bottom. It is quite a feeling! Very squishy and gooey mud. It is not very pleasant. Zabrina was not pleased at all about the mud! The water is not very clear at the entrance place where many people were getting in. But, once you get past that bit of unpleasantness, you find a place, lay back, and the low altitude and denseness of the water pushes you up like a buoy. You do not have to try very hard at all to float. The water pretty much floats you. It really is a neat experience. I highly recommend experiencing the Dead Sea for yourself!
And that concludes the events for Day 4 in Israel!
More to come soon...
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