Graphic from: https://www.touristisrael.com/ein-gedi-nature-reserve/5529/  (All I had was a video of this area) 

 “En-Gedi” means “spring of the goat” or “spring of the kid.” It gets this name from the fresh water spring located there and from the many wild goats which live in the area. This place with a fresh water spring and waterfalls is literally an oasis in the desert. It is only a few miles down the road from Masada. This area is mostly a dry, barren desert. But En Gedi was well watered and green. Such a contrast. You can see why both animals and people would seek this area out.

1 Samuel 24:1 (NIV)  After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” In this area, David and his men hid from Saul in a cave where David spared Saul’s life. (See the picture below of caves above En-Gedi)

I would encourage you to read Second Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 where David sings a song of praise to God for delivering him from Saul and in verse 2 calls God his rock, stronghold, and deliverer. Interestingly, the Hebrew word translated “stronghold” is מְּצוּדָה (metsudah), which is the same word used to describe En-Gedi in 1 Sam 24:22
 Christian Locatell, “En-Gedi,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

David was probably in the area of En Gedi when he wrote these songs of prayer and praise.

God is our fortress, our rock, and our place of deliverance. Remember to praise Him and thank Him even when you feel oppressed or when you are afraid. He wants us to seek Him as our refuge. He is our stronghold in life when we feel weak. Even when we want to hide from what life is throwing at us, we can praise Him as David did.

MIkvehs

This is a mikveh. It is a pool designed for ritualistic cleansing. They are found all over Israel.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about mikvehs: Mikveh or mikvah (Hebrew: מִקְוֶה / מקווה‎, Modern: mīqve, Tiberian: mīqwe, pl. mikva'ot, mikvoth, mikvot, or (Yiddish) mikves,[1][2] lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism[3] to achieve ritual purity.  Most forms of ritual impurity can be purified through immersion in any natural collection of water. However, some impurities, such as a zav, require "living water",[4] such as springs or groundwater wells. Living water has the further advantage of being able to purify even while flowing, as opposed to rainwater which must be stationary to purify. The mikveh is designed to simplify this requirement, by providing a bathing facility that remains in contact with a natural source of water.

In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered to; consequently, the mikveh is central to an Orthodox Jewish community. Conservative Judaism also formally holds to the regulations. The existence of a mikveh is considered so important that a Jewish community is required to construct a mikveh even before building a synagogue, and must go to the extreme of selling Torah scrolls, or even a synagogue if necessary, to provide funding for its construction.

Fortunately we don't have to dip ourselves every time we want to be considered pure. We do that once by putting our faith in Jesus and uniting with Him in baptism and  we are cleansed once and for all. We are clean and forgiven by His death.
 
Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV) 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Hebrews 10:22 (NIV) 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

“On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

By Susanne Matteson

When Ray and I drove with our tour group to Masada, we traveled along the Dead Sea. The shoreline we followed looked alien to me. There were no sandy beaches, no dunes or beach grass, no seagulls and seashells. Just barren ground with craters in random places. We learned that because the Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea, had such high salinity, around 30% verses oceans that have 3-4%, that the salt frequently will bind with the shoreline soil. That creates patches of salt rock formations which are extremely dense initially. But when rainfall and drainage run over and around those formations, the salt crystals melt, leaving thin shells of soil that are hard to perceive until you step into one. Then you’ve formed a crater with yourself in the bottom. These formations are not just human-sized. Vehicles are swallowed up in them. Bridges and highways fall into sinkholes. We saw a painful example of a failed roadway. Life may not have been lost, but large sums of money disappear.

You know where I’m going with this. The foundation of our lives, our beliefs, our priorities has to be rock solid to weather the storms of life. When David was fleeing for his life from King Saul, he knew the hazards of trusting Saul’s words; he put his trust in God. That trust took him to the wilderness we traveled that day. He didn’t depend on his popularity with the community of Israel, with his status of son-in-law to Saul, or even the deep love and loyalty of Jonathan, Saul’s son. Those options were built on sinking sand. So while caves and mountain strongholds did not compare to the king’s court, David found safety and deliverance from his solid Rock, the
Lord God Almighty

Psalms 31:1-2 (NIV) In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

Susanne and I (Ray) got to share a presentation on 4/30/23 during Sunday School highlighting some of the amazing places we visited while in Israel. We only got about half way through the presentation. There is so much more to share. Hopefully we will get a chance to finish what we started.

The first day we were there we visited Masada. It was once a get away built and developed by Herod the great. He spent what today would be millions of dollars for yet another palace. After it was abandoned, it became a place for some sects of Jews to go and get away from Rome and the world. They used it as a way to isolate themselves and live a life of devotion to God. Later the Romans spent 3 years seeking to conquer the people of Masada. They held the Romans off during that time, but eventually it was clear they could no longer do so. It is widely believed that the Jews ended up committing suicide rather than be conquered and killed by the Romans. That is one story. There are other theories as to what really happened.  What ever the case, we can learn some important lessons from these Jews who devoted themselves to seclusion.
1) Yes, as Christ followers, we are called to be holy and separate, but not to the point that we completely separate ourselves from society. We are called to be in the world, but not of the world and we are to be a source of light and love to this world so they can see Jesus.
2) Are we willing to be wholly sold out and committed to the point that we are willing to truly lay down our lives and take our our crosses and follow Jesus? Say what you will about the people of Masada, they were committed to their cause. Are we? Are we serious about following Jesus?

Mark 8:34-36 ESV / And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.