En Gedi

I am sitting atop a rock in En Gedi, the place where David hid from Saul and where Saul ran into David, remember? That's the time when David cut the hem off of Saul's clothe and then felt guilty about it. This is a beautiful area in the desert, surrounded by chalk like mountains, some darker, some lighter, and from where I sit I can see one of the beautiful springs that provides water for this area. Pastor Bob reminded us of Psalm 42, the song David wrote about the deer panting for water. In reality, he was referring to the ibex, an animal that lives in this area. In fact our group saw one a few minutes ago, hiding in one of the caves. It is a hot day and they are not stupid.

The springs around here remind us of the words of Jesus. He is indeed the living waters, whose source can never and will never exhaust. One of the other sources of water in the land of Israel is rain, which was collected in cisterns by the people in ancient times. Jeremiah reminded the people that by relying on anything other than God, they were like broken cisterns, which can not retain water. Praise God for the reality of the living, refreshing, ever abundant waters that we have in Christ. In a desert area like this you would understand the value of water. God is our perennial source of joy and fulfillment and we praise Him for the living power of Christ available to us every day.

By the way, we did see the temple mount area this morning, as well as the western wall, also known as the "wailing wall." The impact of the fervent prayers of the Jews, praying, among other things, for the coming of their Messiah, cannot be missed. We experienced, once again, the power of religious convictions. Today was one of the days boys and girls can come and do their bar-mitzvahs or bat-mitzvahs. We heard the prayers, the commemorations, and the recitations of the Torah by some teenagers, whose families could not contain themselves with joy.

From here we go to Masada where a tragic episode in the land of Israel happened between 70-73 A. D.

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade, from the springs of En Gedi
itrindade@woostergrace.org