To see photos from Day 3 of our trip you can view them here:
After staying at the Dead Sea for several days, on our last morning I seized the opportunity to catch the sunrise coming up over the Dead Sea with my drone.
These were the main stops we made along the tour on our 3rd day:
Ein Gedi: We started our day in Ein Gedi listening to Pastor Matt describe the scene where David cut off Saul’s Robe while he was “pooping” in a cave. A short hike led us to a beautiful flowing stream that David would have encountered. Listening to David’s words from Psalm 1 and Jesus’ words to the Samaritan women will never be the same.
Qumran: We drove along the Dead Sea, and toured the community of the Essenes at Qumran. We learned of their dedication to the scriptures and their ritual purity practices. The highlight of the time was seeing the caves where several of the Dead Sea scrolls were recovered. We learned from pastor Matt about the historic significance of these finds that verifies the accuracy of our current translations of the Old Testament.
Lower Jordan: Next, our guide Ronen brought new insight into familiar scriptures as we sat by the Jordan River reading through the stories of Joshua, the Israelites, Elijah, and Elisha who all crossed over the Jordan River. Some theorize that John the Baptist, and then Jesus, returned to the same spot in the Jordan to usher in salvation in Jesus. As we listened to groups worship near us and watched some be baptized we were struck by the magnitude of this specific water to our faith.
Jericho: Our two last stops followed the path of the Israelites to the city of Jericho and the path of Jesus to the mount of temptation. These were two different but pointed reminders of God’s faithfulness and determination to rescue His people.