Neot Ketuvim

This was SUCH a fun fieldtrip!!! The weather was PERFECTION. It is a Biblical Gardens park where they have re-created the look of Israel in the time of the Bible. Our tour guide said that it looked so green, covered in lush and flowers, in contrast to the appearance of the land we saw as we looked out past the boundaries of the park (dry and brush weeds). He said it was because of all of the years of war and contention that wreaked havoc on the land. We got there and learned about plants. Usually a boring topic, but it was super interesting knowing how it applied to the Bible.

 

Above: Red lilies. ~It has been said that these were the lilies that Christ spoke of in Matthew when he said

"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these ^ethings shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take ^athought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the dayis the evil thereof."

Almond blossoms: I cracked open that sucker and ate it. It tasted SO BAD. I thought I was going to die of raw almond poisoning. They're definitely not as good as they appear. 

 

Above: Random pretty yellow flowers.
Purple flowers: I forgot what they are called. But it's said that King Solomon designed his crown after these flowers because they were his favorite. Random cool fact.
The Jujube Tree. It is the tree that has branches with jujube beans  and a lot of thorns. These are the branches with which they made Christ's crown of thorns. I tried to get some close ups of the actual thorns. 

 

Then we ground up Hyssop. It’s an herb (frequent in the Bible- look it up.) that people use for food and teas, but Biblically it is very prominent. It is the weed that they used to put vinegar on and make Christ drink when He was on the cross. It’s also a cleansing herb and it’s what David cleansed himself with after his sins of adultery and murder. It’s also the plant that they used dried to be a brush to put the sacrificial lamb’s blood on the posts and lintels of the homes of the Israelites in anticipation for the Passover. Hyssop represents humility and is a very special plant.

 

Trav and I basically turned that hyssop in to powder.

Then we went sheep herding. Yeah sheep herding. As in, I have officially herded sheep. In a sheep field. In Israel. Ok enough. It was fun- Patrick our tour guide gave us tasks- sometimes we just had to get them in the circle of rocks, sometimes we had to get them around the circle without going into the circle, sometimes we had to get them around the pole and do a figure 8. Skills.

 

Cutie pie Seth (Bro Harper's son) in front of the field in which we herded. And a goat. 

Then we made our own pita in the forest! I felt like I was back in America camping, because the trees were to thick and tall and I was breathing in way too much smoke! We started a fire right up, made dough (flour, oil, and salt) and packed the pitas onto a big iron half sphere thing on top of the fire. It was so fun ~and delicious~.  We also got wheat and roasted one bowl with salt and one with honey. *sweet and salty*

 

 

Sorry to fulfill all stereotypes, but.....girls like to cook and boys like fire. There you go.

This is my best friend, Courtney. He is a cowboy and CONSTANTLY has a toothpick or something in his mouth. He picked a big tall talk of weed and I couldn't resist but capturing it. So Courtney.

Oh how I love Israel!

xoxo

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