God in the Dark

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We stopped midway through a Judean Desert cave, and Allan turned off our only light. We stood for a few minutes, and it was still totally black. I couldn’t see my finger an inch in front of my eyes. It was eerie.

We were guests of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, and Allan was our guide for a Jeep excursion into the desert. I hadn’t looked forward to this stop. My mind imagined meeting lizards and snakes, scorching heat, and a cloak of dust.

We piled into Allan’s dusty Jeep and drove to a Dead Sea beach concession stand for lunch. Wendy’s would have suited me, but the falafel was quite tasty, with its authentic Israeli pocket bread stuffed with chickpeas, fava beans, herbs, and spices.

Next, at a roadside water hydrant, we filled a few dirty two-liter plastic bottles for the Jeep’s radiator, I presumed.

“Great!” I thought. “He expects his Jeep to overheat in the middle of the desert. We’ll die of dehydration or sunstroke.”

A Different World

Back on the road, Allan soon turned off the highway, and we seemed immediately to enter a different world. Rolling plains were often broken by steep crags and deep gorges that appeared to stretch into distant nothingness. It was mesmerizing.

We rolled to our first stop beside soaring, sheer cliffs layered by centuries of the Earth’s activity. Huge boulders menaced with knife-sharp edges. Allan was instantly animated as he began sharing the history and character of this stunning wonder of God’s creation.

We moved along beside a deep gorge created by centuries of flooding. “More people die in the desert by drowning than by dehydration,” Allan explained.

“But we’re in the dry season now,” he continued. “So drink up!” With that, he stopped the Jeep and distributed the grimy water bottles he’d filled at the beach (for the radiator – remember?) It was one step short of force-feeding, but he was adamant that we stay hydrated, and I was afraid not to obey.

This vast land still looked lifeless, but Allan was ready to prove me wrong. At the next stop, he pointed to a cluster of small, obviously dead bushes.

“Plants grow here,” he began. “This is a jointed anabasis.” He rubbed a few of its dead brown leaves between his hands, then spread his open palms. They were covered with moisture. “It’s like a cactus,” he added, “storing moisture for the dry season.”

I was hooked, my ignorance washed away. I became an eager student.

He assured us that animals thrive there as well – wolves, jackals, and ibex (a huge-horned goat). I was grateful for no face-to-face encounters.

A Dark World

Finally, he led us through that dark cave. We ducked, twisted, and tripped along close behind him and his bright cave light. Then came that “total darkness” experience. After we exited at a second opening, he announced that one of us must lead the return trip – without the light. I was elected. He had us form a human chain by joining hands, one arm stretched forward, the other backward.

In reality, Allan guided me from behind me. Grasping my hand, he moved it left or right. Each move of his grasp indicated the degree or the angle of the turn I should make.

Hand pulled toward the ground? Duck! Only a couple of slight bumps, and I exited with no bloodshed.

As we left the desert behind, the late afternoon sun draped the landscape in translucent lights and shifting shadows. I didn’t want to leave. Allan told us that overnight camping trips can be arranged. Wolves or no wolves, I was ready to pitch a tent. If only I’d brought a falafel or two – and another bottle of water.

A Disciple’s World

In afterthought, my mind turned to how God guides us through His Word. Fortunately, we don’t have to walk in darkness.

I thought of Psalm 23:4:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me.

One major Old Testament prophet wrote:

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17).

Of course, God’s New Testament writers give Jesus’s own words of direction, guidance, help, instruction, challenge, and teaching on how to seek Jesus for salvation, then follow Him as a disciple. And one day, we’ll live in His disciples’ new world, the new earth He promises in His Word.

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