Time in the Desert

I have a feeling this may be a short post. We have been wandering in the desert for the last few days and it has been absolutely amazing. The trip has been eye opening and promise-fulfilling and I am pretty well tired. Not exhausted, but very tired.

Yesterday began in Arad, where we learned how ancient covenants were cut between two men. G-d made his covenant with Abraham and walked the blood path for his part of the agreement, and then walked through again for Abraham's part. That moment condemned Jesus to die when we failed to live up to our end of the bargain. Arad also has a smaller version of Solomon's temple. We learned the layout. The temple here is strange for a couple of different reasons. First, it is a temple to the Lord that is not the Jerusalem temple. This already should throw up a flag or two and questions should be raised why sacrifice and worship of G-d was happening here. The second peculiarity, and the much more alarming, is that two masabot, standing stones, were found in the Holy of Holies. The second stone is thought to represent Asherah as the Lord's wife. This was scary to think about as we stood there staring at the stones. Lunch was with a group of Bedouins and it was an amazing experience to feel the love and hospitality from these people that have next to nothing. The day finished at Masada, one of Herod's strongholds. We explored part of Herod's story and heard the story of the final days of the final zealots to fight against Rome 70 years later.

Today began at Timna. The place is stunning and imposing. We learned much of the Israelites wanderings and the 40 year road of recovering from centuries of slavery. We explored where we are still enslaved personally and communally and asked our Father to free as as he did his children then. Finally, we hiked down the Wadi Zohar. Again the terrain is breathtaking. We talked more about slavery, and explored more deeply the idea of G-d's overwhelming love and power and will to take people out of it.

The desert has been amazing thus far, and we still have a little more time in it. G-d dwells in the desert and it is his. When we experience desert times in our lives he is holding us, shaping us, and growing us. At the end of the desert is a promise. It could be the promised land as with the Israelites, or it could be something else deeply powerful and personal for us. It is a gift from G-d and a promise that we can trust will be good and would probably blow us away if we realized his true intentions and will for us.

Thank you, Father, for forming and defining us in the desert. We would not be who we are without it. Thank you for when we emerge from the desert. Thank you for your promise at the end.