MT. TEMPTATION, JERICHO , QUMRAN & THE DEAD SEA

On our way to Jericho, the terrain was bare our tour guide pointed out the Hills of Gilead. Immediately I recalled the story of Gideon, the timid young man who hid in the cave to escape from the Midianites. Yet God enabled him to lead in battle (Judges 7). Jericho was the first city conquered by Joshua and the Israelites after crossing the Jordan. Joshua succeeded in breaking the walls down of Jericho (Joshua 6:12-21). In Jericho, our guide pointed to us an old (about 800 years old) Sycamore tree and we remembered (in Luke 19:1-9) the story of Zacchaeus who climbed the sycamore tree (not this one) to have a look at Jesus and his life changed forever after that encounter.

We dipped our feet in the Jordan River. Jordan River, though not impressive, is a life line to Israel and Jordan. I remember the story of Naaman, the commander of the army for the king of Aram, who was offended when prophet Elisha sent him to wash 7 times in the river to be healed of his leprosy. "Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than the waters of Israel?" (2 Kings 5:8-13).

Baptism in Jordan River. On the opposite bank is Jordan. Israel share the river with Jordan.

The stark hills are arid dessert of Mount of Temptation, where Jesus was tested.

 

Many of us succumbed to the temptations here!

From Jericho we drove to the Dead Sea. According to our guide, the term Dead Sea is a misnomer for it should be called 'The Sea of Life". Indeed, the minerals found in the sea have proven useful for commercial, agriculture and industrial purposes. The air in the Dead Sea area has 10% more oxygen than anywhere in the world. It is now a popular tourist resort as people flock here to dip in the water and spread mud all over their bodies!

Surprisingly, after cleansing off the mud, the skin feels moisturized. The mud has some kind of mineral oils. Of course we could not resist floating in the water!

Qumran National Park is just at the vicinity. It was just dessert settlement until some Bedouins found hundreds of scrolls from the Second Temple period - the now famous "Dead Sea Scrolls". The scrolls are now kept in the Shrine of the Books in Jerusalem.

Some of the products from the Dead Sea.