As we left Joppa, we saw the beautiful Mountains of Judah, and the Valley of Ajalon (Joshua 10) where God caused the sun to stand still. Our guide also pointed out the traditional road to Emaus, where Jesus met and walked with the two disciples. He explained how the disciples knew Jesus when He broke the bread in Luke 24:35. The "religious" Jews took the wine, then the bread. Jesus followed traditional Judaism and broke bread, then took the wine. This was quite interesting and proved to be one of many things that non-Jews miss when reading the Scriptures.
In explaining other Jewish cultural aspects, our guide explained that only the city of Jerusalem and the Tribe of Judah focused on exclusive worship of God; while the other cities engaged in "inclusive" worship of a variety of gods. This shed light on how Samson (tribe of Dan) would even consider taking Delilah (a blue-eyed daughter of the Philistines) to be his wife. Again, a simple illustration of what we miss, by not having an understanding of Jewish culture.
The guide continued to explain the Book of Judges from a Jewish perspective. While we think of Judges as if it pertains to legal aspects; the Judges were actually war generals or military leaders. We would probably better understand the biblical period of the Judges if we called it the "Book of Military Leaders."
Our travels next took us to the Valley of Elah, the place where David defeated Goliath (1 Sam. 17:40). We were able to walk in the the brook (now dry) where David picked up the five smooth stones. Several in our group took a rock from the brook as a souvenir. The site has been confirmed by archaeologists after discoveries (including pig bones & pottery) from the Philistine camp.
We continued to Be'er Sheva, to see Abraham's well (Gen. 21). The guide pointed out that the name "Abraham" means "Father of many, but Abraham didn't have any." Abraham was actually a laughing stock among the people, but he believed God in spite of it!
We got a lesson pertaining to desserts. There are actually six different words used in the Hebrew Bible, pertaining to six different types of deserts found in Israel, but our English word "desert" limits our understanding to one type of desert. We got a detailed lesson on the differences between them and were drilled with the fact that the "desert will bloom again" and saw evidences of it.
We concluded our travel day by reaching the Dead Sea at 1270' below sea level, bordered on one side by Israel and the other by Jordan. It is really a "lake," but there is no word for lake in the Hebrew language, so it is called a sea. We ate lunch beside the Dead Sea, checked into the Le Meridian Hotel (one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in) and later swam in the Dead Sea. Justin and Zack swam (floated) out to where we almost couldn't see them and collected bottles full of Dead Sea salt. The lake bottom goes from soft to jagged, due to the salt and mineral deposits. See pictures and read about the Dead Sea here http://www.bibleplaces.com/deadsea.htm
I think most in our group passed on the optional hotel spa treatments, massages, etc.; and after a huge buffet supper, most retired for the night. Justin and Zack found a McDonalds where they could access free Wi-fi, and Flora & I went out to walk and explore the small city. We later met Justin at McDonalds so we could Skype with our girls. Interesting note... we must have seen 12+ cats that night, but have only seen one dog since landing in Israel.
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