We were here in Israel 30 years ago, and the biggest difference I’ve noticed so far is that so much of the land which had been fallow is now being cultivated. The Israelis claim new farming techniques which conserve water (principally drip irrigation and covering with plastic for a greenhouse effect). Sure seems to work. The Jordanians on the other side of the river (Jordan) are using the same techniques. They’ve changed the desert to ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’.
One other big difference - we see a whole lot fewer Palestinians (Arabs, Muslims) than we did 30 years ago. Where’d they go?
First visit, to Bet Shean - a Roman city never visited (at least no visit recorded) by Jesus. When Saul and his sons were killed by the Philistines, their bodies were hung on the walls of Bet Shean. During Christ’s time and until abt. 800 AD, it was a Roman town. An earthquake destroyed it, burying the city and all its valuables, so no one looted the ruins as happened in other cities. So there was a lot more ‘finds’ here than elsewhere. Amazing reconstruction - took too many pictures.
A short drive to Gideon’s Spring, below Mt. Gilboa, where the 2000 were reduced to 300 to demonstrate God’s power, and defeated the Midianites.
Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. Scrolls were eventually found in roughly a dozen different caves. This discovery put the lie to those claiming the Bible (at least the Old Testament) had been changed over the years. The oldest Jewish copy of the OT was about 1000 years old; the Dead Sea Scrolls were transcribed roughly in Jesus’ time, by the Essenes. (They didn’t have the New Testament to transcribe, of course!!!!) The Dead Sea Scrolls are arguably the greatest archeological find (certainly biblical find) of the 20th century - read up on it!
Headline from CNN tonite… THE ESSENES NEVER EXISTED!!! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1885421,00.html?cnn=yes
Any bet you never hear that headline again???
En Gedi - and oasis or fresh water spring due west of the Dead Sea, where David hid in a cave, and could have slain Saul when Saul ‘had his pants down’ (literally). Fascinating spot - flowing water from the side of the hill; lots of caves around. They’re bottling the spring water and selling it all around Israel; they’re using the rest of the water to farm.
The Dead Sea, Northern part, has fallen/ evaporated several feet in the last decade or 2 because all the inflow’s being used for irrigation. But the Southern part has been dammed up, and water pumped from the North to keep it full, so the tourists have some salt water to bathe in, and so the cosmetic industry can continue to sell mud from here, and produce medicinal salts. I’ll leave it to those of the female persuasion to comment on the efficacy of the mud packs.
Tomorrow, Masada, and a swim in the salt lake (lowest point of land on earth).
ps -for mature audiences only - who recognizes this picture of a tree?
Hint... Superstar!!!
(answer tomorrow, if I remember)
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