Saturday 26th Sabbath Day

Last night at 6 p.m. the Sabbath started in Israel. It is strange what happened next. The elevators went into a Sabbath mode so that they would stop at each floor without anyone having to work by pushing a button. Coffee was not available in the dining room for fear that someone would bring dairy near the meat and cause a Sabbath catastrophe. You had to go to the lobby for coffee, and you could not bring it back into the cafeteria. All of the stores closed, or at least all of the stores that wanted to make the orthodox Jews happy. One Jewish man did not have his little cap (I am so tired I cannot remember the word for it right now) so when it came time to pray over the Sabbath meal he put his napkin on top of his head.

We left the Dead Sea resort and drove a short distance to Masada. This was a mountain fortress which was built by Herod the Great. Yes, the same Herod that had the second Temple renovated; the Temple that Jesus visited during His life on earth. Apparently, Herod was afraid that Cleopatra would convince Anthony to come over to Israel and get rid of Herod. So Herod created a fortified city on top of a hill that was over one thousand feet tall on its tallest side. This was one of his palaces, but more like a really great hiding place. When the Jews rebelled against Rome after Christ’s return to the Father, A man named Judah of Galilee brought the rebellion to Masada and wiped out the Roman garrison there. He put his nephew Elizar in charge. The rebellion was religious in nature with the Jews looking for the opportunity to restore the nation of Israel to its former glory. To make a long story short, Rome came to do away with the problematic Jews by destroying Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and then had to finish off the rebellion by retaking Masada. After a long and futile siege, the Romans build a dirt ramp up the 300 foot side of Masada using Jewish slaves that the rebels would not kill. When the night came before the fall of Masada, the group committed not to become slaves or have their children and women used physically so they made a pact that each man would kill his own family and then the other men would kill each other until all that was left was one man who would end his own life. They destroyed everything but the food to keep the Romans from having an easy time re-establishing the fortress. They left the food so that the Romans would know how well God had provided for them. Basically, they robbed the Romans of the very things they were hoping to gloat over and inflict on the people. It is a real hero story among the Jews that have been persecuted for centuries.