Israel Trip - Day 5

Today, we were at En Gedi.

En Gedi is an oasis in the desert, not far from the shore of the Dead Sea. It is the one place we've been in the wilderness that is bursting with life. As we walked, we saw marmots and ibexes, along with many birds and plants around the small river and pools that form at En Gedi.

The tallest fall we saw

This is mayim chaim, or living water, to the Hebrews because God made it. It comes naturally. When rain falls in the hills of Bethlehem/Hebron some 18 miles away, it will soak into the limestone. Over a long time, that water makes its way through the limestone layers, being absorbed over and over again . . . until it hits a chalk line which won't absorb it. Then it follows that line to its next available point of limestone. Eventually, at En Gedi, some of the chalk lines end in the walls of the canyon and the water simply drips out in the form of over 1,000 natural springs that create the river and the waterfalls we saw. This whole process takes somewhere between 1,500-2,000 years to unfold, so it's very likely that rain from when Jesus walked the earth provided the waters we played in today. How cool is that!

The first part of the morning was just about experiencing the joy of finding a stream, a pool, or a waterfall around every bend after so much time in the desert . . . understanding biblical metaphors in a new way. 

Another of the falls where we refreshed ourselves

We stopped at a particularly large waterfall to receive our meatiest teaching from RVL, and he said that like we are to be City Gates, Standing Stones, and Broom Trees for others in their desert times, we are to be En Gedis as well. We then did a powerful re-enactment from Jesus' day. As I mentioned yesterday, between the days of the ancient Israelites and Jesus' time, the various feasts and sacrifices became highly ritualized.

Succot, sometimes called the Feast of Tabernacles, happened in the fall and was one of the Feasts that would bring pilgrims to Jerusalem, swelling the size of the city to 2 million. On Succot, Jews remember God's provision and the harvest, and it was also when the temple was dedicated upon completion.

The people were to take a palm branch, a myrtle branch, a willow branch, and an ethrog (large green fruit) . . . bind them together and waive them, shouting "Hoshana!" (or God save us). It's where we get Hosanna. For six days this would happen once each day in the temple open court area. The priest would come to the altar and pour out an empty vessel into it, with the people shouting. He would then go down to the river outside the city walls, fill the vessel with living water and bring it back to the altar. With the people ever shouting, Hosanna! the priest would pour the now full vessel into the funnel of the altar that received drink offerings.

On the seventh day of Succot was the Hoshana Rabbah or the "great hosanna." On this day, the priest would march around the altar 7 times with the water, letting the screams and the palm-waiving build to a fever pitch. We did this together at the pool, yelling our hosannas as RVL walked to the water and then circled around in our midst. At the conclusion of the 7th circle, the crowd would fall silent, waiting for the priest to pour out the water reminding everyone that God is faithful, and He will provide.

It is in that precise moment of silence that Jesus asserted himself from within the crowd. We read in John 7:37-38:

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water!'"

From within us will flow living water. 

Not from a stream. 

Not from a waterfall. 

But from inside each of us because of the very presence of God! This is how we can be En Gedis to other people going through desert times in their lives.

It was just another powerful moment of seeing scripture come to life in a whole new way . . . in an experiential way, rather than just an intellectual one. I know that will be something all of us take home from this trip.

I was unable to go on the afternoon hike today that continued on another ridge overlooking a different stream because the desert got to me. I was feeling pretty woozy from the heat. But it gave me a chance to be thankful for small En Gedis like a picnic table to rest my head on and sleep, an air conditioned bus, electrolyte-infused jelly beans, and the care and help of others. I'll put away my feelings of guilt and instead give thanks for experiencing the kind of relief that David felt and that Jesus promised: the living water that flows from within each of us when we dedicate our lives to Christ.