Day of Geological Discovery

on October 21, 2010

This morning I began a journey with our 90 people to lands I have not visited in my previous 18 trips to Israel. We headed due south from the Dead Sea to Solomon’s Mines in Timna. These mines are located 12 miles from the Red Sea. Our group both walked and crawled through these mines, which are literally thousands of years old. The Egyptians used these mines to provide copper for their military equipment.

This was Dr. Andrew Snelling’s day as he excitedly described the geological significance of this part of the world. At one location he surprised us all as he touched one layer of stones and declared it a creation stone and with the other hand touched a layer that was a post-Noahic-Flood stone. The post-Flood stones were filled with fossils, and the creation stones had no fossils. The evidence for a global flood was seen and appreciated by all of our AiG travelers. As we stood beside these gigantic towers of stone, etched by time and water, we felt so very dwarfed and insignificant.

The tabernacle of God in the wilderness was moved 42 times, so it was appropriate that out in this desert, with less than one inch of rain per year, we would find a correctly dimensioned wilderness tabernacle. All the items in the tabernacle were in place, and we all had the privilege of walking into the Holy of Holies. Our Messianic Jewish guide gave us a spirited and exciting recital of the events and equipment in the biblical tabernacle.

As we turned northward, we saw Makhtesh Ramon, which is the Israeli version of the Grand Canyon. 90 people stood together on a cantilever platform to view the world’s largest erosion area, which was caused by the global Flood. Even in its cursed condition, this area was magnificent to view and spoke to us of the great Creator God.

As always, Dr. Snelling took the complex geological information about this region and made it so understandable and exciting for all of us amateur geologists. The average person on this day took 200 pictures, which means that we shot about 18,000 pictures today. We are very thankful for digital cameras.

Tomorrow it’s onward and upward to Masada—one of my favorite spots. I will then have the privilege of leading our group into Jerusalem. As Jesus said, “Let us go up to Jerusalem.”