Biblical Landscape Reserve? Super cool? Yes Indeed

Today was a field trip to a site in between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv it is called "Neot Kedumim" A guide there took us through a brief tour of the site but they still gave me some insites in to the plant analogies that are presented in the Bible. They showed us some of the mentioned Flora and Fauna which are from the bible. Among them are these:

Almond - It grows on trees here and is Triple protected by it's shells which definitly gives added meaning to Jer 1:11-12. Because beforehand there would have been no meaning for me.

Cistern - I did not know that a Cistern is different from a well. But now I know - It is a false well. They use the rainwater to fill a man made "Cemented" oval cavity. It seems like a well from the outside but it is not.

Hyssop - This plant is very interesting and is used in comparitive terms in 1 Kings 5:13 "From the Cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the rock" Cedars - tall, big, arrogant; hyssop - small, grows out of rocky places, humble. Hyssop is used in two very prominent places in the Bible. It is used to wipe Lambs blood over the doors of the children of Israel so that they may be Passed over by the destroying angel - And it is offered to the Lord while on the cross by the roman soldiers with vinegar all over it. And throughout it refers to purity.

Sowing - some clarity was given me concerning the Parable of the Sower and how easily the seeds could get planted in bad ground. The landscape would be terraced fields (steps up the hill) because of the terrain.

Sycamore-fig tree - It's mention in Luke 19:4 could be more typological than sometimes we suppose. The man climbs the tree to see above the multitude but perhaps he is telling the lord something while doing so (or the writer is trying to tell it's reader something about the man) because that man was ready to be changed and this tree is know for its being able to be cut down and regrow with no issue.

Pomegranates - is actually known as one of the species of Ex 28:33-34. It has 613 seeds sometimes which correlates to the number of commandments in the Torah.

Also at the end we got to see a Torah scribe writing the book out with his own ink that he made from plants in the area. An interesting thing was that in the numbering of the tribes in Exodus it comes to 600,000 men which scholars agree is way to many - the thing is the number of hebrew characters in the Torah is 600,000. He made the ink in front of us, it was cool. He did not speak english and he graced us by reading the Torah in three styles (sounded sing - songy very cool).

Oh yeah! and we got to herd a bit. This group of sheep we had to as a group circle a flag and then get them to the other side of the pen it was pretty cool. And we got to make our own Pita for lunch. Also there is this type of lamb here with quite an enlarged tail here Brother Skinner a instructor here has informed us that is actually accumulated fat and that is what is reffered to in the scriptures as the "Fat of the lambs".

Have a good one!