Some More of the Trip to the Dead Sea

Here are some more pictures from the Tabernacle model.

After about two hours on the road we came to an area at the southern end of the Dead Sea that is called the Mount of Sodom. Our guide, Avi, told the group that there are no remains that have ever been found for the cities of Sodom or Gomorrah. The area is a waste land, but areas, not to far away, have lush greenery like Sodom and Gomorrah had when Lot chose to go that way for his territory and Abraham headed west. The hotels in the Dead Sea area are also resort hotels and it seems to be a weekend spot for Israelis who keep the Sabbath here by eating well though cooking nothing on their own. In the dining area everything is kosher but delicious. They go to Sabbath services in the hotel. Liz and I went with others to float in the Dead Sea. We did not see them, but Bobby and Gwen Borel also went for a float. We were not able to get Nelda into the water but her sister Pamela did go in. The worst thing to forget when you go for a swim is some kind of foot protection from the rocks on the water’s edge. When you lay back into the water, you might as well be sitting in a floating lounge chair. Bobby said that he went out standing up until the bottom went away and he was still floating upright with the water even with the middle of his chest. He said he was “bobbing”. The water was fairly clear, but seemed like it was oily though it was really minerals that were feeling. The water in the shower helped get the mineral off, but even that water was “salty”. The only drinkable water is in bottles. Jesus is, as the water of life, was reinforced by the surroundings where water was everywhere, but none of the water was “pure”. Pure water had to come to us from outside of our world.