Negev Day 3

     Once we were all packed up and ready to go, we drove up the Aravah towards Timnah. The Aravah is Biblically known as the area along the Jordan River South of the Sea of Galilee.  In modern Israel it is more commonly associated with the southern region from the Dead Sea and down.  Across the Aravah is modern day Jordan.  It once was the territory of Edom, the descendants of Esau.  Timnah is a national park in Israel that once was used “in antiquity” for copper mining. It hosts a life-size model of the Tabernacle as well as other natural wonders and left overs from the mining days.  There are arches, pillars, left over mines, and a temple to the goddess of the miners. The main highlight was walking through the Tabernacle model. 

     Our tour guide was very helpful in widening our view of the Tabernacle.  Just as the Bible describes, there is only one entrance in.  He compared the one entrance to Jesus who is the only way to the Father.  There was a four-horned altar that would have been used for daily sacrifices and others: Jesus is our everlasting sacrifice.  Next was the laver used for washing of hands and feet: Jesus washes away our sin with His blood.  Five pillars support the front end of the Tent: possibly representing the five books of Moses, and beyond that only priests can enter.  Priests were direct descendants of Aaron who were able to go into the Tent and preform sacrifices, where as the Levites were care takers of the Tabernacle and looked after it when traveling.

     It was really neat how our tour guide directed things back to Jesus and the promises made to those who believe in Him. For example, only priests could go in, and he reminded us that we are a holy priesthood. (1 Peter) Inside the Tent was a Menorah, Table with bread, a small gold altar for the special incense and models of priests. With the Menorah and the bread, the tour guide reminded us that Jesus is both the light of the world, and the bread of life. Then there were four pillars sectioning off the Holy of Holies, with a curtain behind them.  The curtain separated the people from the presence of God. Only once a year could a priest go in.  But when Jesus died, the curtain was torn in the middle signifying complete access to God.  

     

It was also interesting that when someone dies, a symbol of mourning and grief is for one to tear his garment, the tour guide connected this custom with the tearing of the curtain as well. In the Holy of Holies was a model of the Ark, carrying the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s staff, and manna. Everything in the Tabernacle had symbolism pointing back to Christ!  I never realized how many parallels there were.

     We saw some of the other sights to see at Timnah including Solomon’s Pillars and Hathor’s Temple. After Timnah we went to a zoo!  There were not too many animals in there, many of them looked sad, and one even had rabies possibly! There were snakes, foxes of all sorts, turtles, owls, wolf like dogs, hyenas, leopards, and vultures! On the bus ride up to Masada we played a brutal game of Mafia where our own professor nearly conquered and killed everyone!

     After dinner we took a walk through the dirty, chalky, chaffy dunes by the hostel. It was dark and we had to help each other with our lights, and there was a part where we had to run up the side of a dune as quickly as we could before the sand caved beneath our feet. It was messy but fun! When we got to one spot we sang songs and had some minutes of silent prayer.  It was really cold so we wandered back to our dorms to get some sleep before the big hike of the semester…Masada!