Day 7 - Through the Wilderness

Our first stop today was Maktesh Ramon, which is one of the biggest scars on the face of the earth. Much like the Grand Canyon except without the river, and quite a bit bigger.


After that we headed to Avdat, which is a city connected to Petra by the incense route. The Nabateans used to use it on their trading routes.












At Avdat we saw a millstone:

Luke 17:2 (New International Version)

² It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

Even though we find ourselves in modern Israel, we are not yet in biblical israel. As we travel north to the land of biblical Israel we passed through both the Wilderness of Zin and Paran. 

Numbers 20

Water From the Rock

 ¹ In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

 ² Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. ³They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! ⁴Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? ⁵Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

 ⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. ⁷ The LORD said to Moses, ⁸ “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

 ⁹ So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he commanded him. ¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

 ¹² But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

What I learned from one of our guides is that because the soil doen't absorb moisture very well in the desert, when it does rain often time it will get trapped in crevasses and calcify over, creating a pocket of water. 

Shepherds back in the day used to find these spots in the rock and strike them with their staffs and get water for their flock.

This could be the reason God punishes Moses, because he provided for Israel out of his own means, rather than allowing God to be their provider. 

Once we reached the southern edge of biblical Israel, we stopped at Tel Arad, which is one of the only places you can see a ancient Jewish Temple. There is a Kosher alter, and even a Holy of Holies. What is real interesting is that inside of of Holy of Holies there are two vertical stones which are idols to represent gods. It is believed that the taller one represented Yahweh, and the other represented his wife asura.  

It is interesting to see the worship of God along side of the worship of another god. It shows how the Jews were influenced by paganism. 


Arad is also the place where the Israelites first try to enter the promise land and are repelled.