Today, we headed east over the Mount of Olives and into the Judean Desert. I was floored by how fast the terrain changes into pure desert. Just over the Mount of Olives, the rain fall drops to 4 inches per year. So many stories of merit took place in the Judean desert and my mind was racing all day. The first, of course, is Jesus when he fasted and prayed. While, I have a better appreciation, it kind of overwhelmed me. Looking at the mountains of rocks piled, it makes so much sense why the devil would have tempted him to “turn these stones into bread”. The hunger gnawing his body and no food in sight.
The second thing that kept coming to mind was the prophecy “comfort ye my people says your God. A voice crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill made low.” I kept singing the tenor aria from the Messiah while I was out there. What a picture of John the Baptist’s role. There are some big hills and some huge valleys.
The next journey of the day was towards Jericho. I couldn’t help remembering the “certain man that was walking from Jericho to Jerusalem” in the Good Samaritan as we drove. The picture I had of that parable was forever changed. That’s dangerous territory! I thought about the Samaritan and how much danger he was in by taking care of this man. First of all, I’m sure the Samaritan gave the man his water that he had. Whoa! I was just out there for thirty minutes and I was “dying of thirst”. Secondly, he lost valuable time on a very difficult trip uphill to Jerusalem. Thirdly, he would have been a sitting duck on that road with the Samaritan with him. I guess when I learned this story in Sunday school, I always pictured the inn within a few miles. That’s probably not the case. They walked a long way, uphill to get the beaten man to the inn.
Yes, we walked around Jericho. Then we headed to Bethlehem and finally to the Herodian. One thing is for certain, if there is a flat part of this country, I have not seen it yet. When you read “the hill country” in the Bible, don’t think foothills, think really big hills!
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- On top of the Herodian
