Woke up early after my first good night’s sleep! Had a morning devo out on the sea and watched a glorious sunrise over the eastern mountains bordering the Sea of Galilee. After breakfast we traveled south. Visit Bet She’an along the Jordan River which is the Jordanian border. This city was 1 of the Decapolis cities (9 were east of the Jordan, this was the only 1 west). Ancient name was “Skitopolis”, its Hellenistic name. The base of this city is at Mt. Gilboa where Saul and his sons were defeated and killed by the Philistines. Ruins of this city are amazing, planned architecture same for all Roman cities. In 769 AD an earthquake leveled this city. Had worship in it’s theater. Dan sang on ground level and some from other tour groups joined in worship. Pastor Bob runs down and puts a dollar in front of Dan. This was very funny. Then another guy does the same thing. Turns out, it was Max again, my neighbor from the plane.
From here we head through the Jezreel Valley to the base of Mt Gilboa, at the Gideon Springs. A very beautiful oasis with crystal blue water spring. This location was where Gideon’s army was reduced from 32,000 -> 10,000 -> 300 (Jud 7). We have a baptism there. I thought earlier about renewing my baptism, and once there, decided I wanted to do that. So about 10 of us were baptized (my first was at 13). Have about 20 minutes to swim at this beautiful park on the Sabbath, many families there. Even our guide Joeshi came and watched the celebration.
Next we head south and within an hour or so, the terrain grows increasingly barren. Pass through Sheckham (Mt. Gerezim). Along west bank (west of the Jordan River), Jordan directly to the east. Jordan has no natural resources; the only green is this very narrow region between the Jordan river and the mountains of Moab. They are totally dependant on foreign aid. Ruth from Moab. Pass along ancient city of Jericho (now under Palestinian control, need dual citizinship). It is an oasis in the middle of the desert. Reach the Dead Sea and had lunch at Qumran, very busy tourist spot, great food however. Had magnum bar (recommended by David) which is an incredibly delicious ice cream bar. We travel another 30 miles or so to the southern most area of the Dead Sea where our hotel, Le Meridian David, was located. Pete, my new friend, who also was baptized, and I head off for a dip in the sea, well more like a float. You can’t sink in this water. The Dead Sea is beautiful and clear but the texture feels like oil. When you get out, the water evaporates and you are covered in salt. This was amazing to experience. Great buffet dinner at the hotel.
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