מִ֥י זֶה֮ מֶ֤לֶךְ הַכָּ֫ב֥וֹד יְ֭הוָה עִזּ֣וּז וְגִבּ֑וֹר יְ֝הוָ֗ה גִּבּ֥וֹר מִלְחָמָֽה׃
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
Psalm 24:8
Two hundred kilometers south of Jerusalem lies the tiny communal settlement of Ezuz, right on the Egyptian border. It is said to be the most isolated settlement in Israel today and I believed it as I drove south and then east with the setting sun behind me. The road narrowed to a one-lane sealed track and seemed to be heading nowhere. I was quite relieved when I spotted a young girl hitching in the same direction I was going. There must be something at the end of the road. I picked her up and she assured me I was on the right road.
Click on the link below to see a map:
It was the summer of 2016. I had just finished the school year and it had been a tough one. I was exhausted and didn’t know if I wanted to continue at that job so I went off into the most remote desert place I could find for a few days of rest and to seek God.
The sun was setting as I pulled into the collection of ramshackle buildings which is the settlement of Ezuz, a cooperative of various artists and artisans. My first impressions were pretty grim. It was a mess and there was a strong smell of bad drains and goats permeating the air. I wondered that creative people and artists would have such a poor sense of the aesthetic!
I soon however found my lodging which was a big improvement. I was staying at Zimmerbus – a B&B (without the breakfast) made from a converted bus. It was a beautiful example of upcycling! The bus was tastefully decorated with wood paneling, home crafted tiles and turquoise soft furnishings. It was also air-conditioned and insulated with an outside layer of dried mud. It was small but perfectly adequate for my needs. It had the added attraction of a swimming pool fed by natural running water.
After a refreshing sleep I set off next morning to explore. Knowing nothing of the area I just followed my nose. I saw a sign pointing to a farm and thought that might be interesting but soon came across other signs saying “NO ENTRY, BORDER AHEAD” and this was a little off-putting so I turned back.
I came instead to a lookout point where I ended up spending several hours enjoying the view while sitting in the shade. I entered into a long discourse with the boldest, sweetest little bird I have ever met. I think she was a female wheatear – a common desert bird – and I could hear the cheeping of chicks nearby. She wasn’t too happy about having a predator type so close to her nest and was determined to see me off. I was moved by her courage and resolve. This tiny, really tiny, little creature was telling me to go away in no uncertain terms. I had to love her.
The next day I decided to explore the ruins of Nitzana which I had seen on my arrival. On a hilltop, on the site of an ancient Nabatean fortress, is the shell of the Turkish-German hospital built during the First World War, the walls still bearing the pock marks of shelling.
The signs warning of falling masonry and the intense heat that day soon drove me away. Spotting a lone tamarisk tree in the valley below I headed for its shade. Beside the tree an Israeli flag fluttered on an armored vehicle, a memorial in honor of the fallen soldiers of the Battle of ‘Auja (today called Nitzana) between the Israeli armored Battalion 8 and Egyptian forces in 1948. You can read about this battle on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_%27Auja
Nearby were the remains of a Byzantine Era Christian Church, one of three in the area, attesting to the fact that the Nabateans of the region were Christianized during the 1st – 7th Centuries AD. The Nabateans settled along the main transport routes and this town was situated at the junction of two major branches of the Spice Route, the road to Shur and the road to Eilat the Red Sea. You can read more about the history and archaelogical sites in the area on this website : https://biblewalks.com/sites/Beerotayim.html
One of the reasons I love to go off into the desert alone is that you see a lot more wildlife than if you are with a noisy group. If you sit quietly for a while you will almost always see some living creature of interest. Here is a lizard I spotted in spite of its amazing camouflage.
On my last morning at Ezuz I rose early before the morning mist dissipated and went for a walk on the Fields of the Stars on the plateau behind the settlement.
My eyes were drawn to a white, shimmering bush off the side of the track. I knew it wasn’t the season for flowering so I wondered what it was. As I drew near I saw that it was a rather scraggy tamarisk bush, but unlike its neighbours, every leaflet bore a drop of dew shining in the sun.
As I looked at this bush I remembered that the tamarisk is about the only tree that can grow in the salt laden, toxic desert soil. Its long tap roots can penetrate deep to find the water table, but even at depth the water is often full of salts and minerals that would kill any other tree. The tamarisk can survive because it has special gland cells in its leaves that can extrude this salt. I tasted the drops on its leaves. It was horribly bitter and tasted like iodine, and I could not get rid of that taste for some hours. (I don’t recommend tasting these droplets!!)
I felt the LORD was speaking to me through this tree. He had planted me in a toxic workplace but He had given me the way to survive there. I felt He was telling me to go back to work the next year and I did. My hours were cut to 80%, which meant it was less demanding, and at the end of the year, management decided to close the high school and I was laid off.
As the sun rose, the mist dissipated and as I headed back towards my car I was able to enjoy the views and some of the other flora and fauna.
