Sabbath Wrap-Up

Folks back home may think it is strange to be talking about the end of Sabbath, since many will read this even before your Sabbath begins.  Remember that we are observing Jewish Sabbath, which has now ended on Saturday evening. That means tomorrow's breakfast will include hot food.  Yay!

We truly had an awesome day.  The weather was a bit rainy and cool in the morning, but not nearly as bad as Friday.  Our first stop was in Bethlehem, where we visited the Church of the Nativity and St. Catherine's Church (same site).  At this location we experienced the birthplace of Jesus.  That is to say, we entered the cave (stable) where he was born.  Exactly what spot, who knows.  The main thing is that we understand the setting of his birth--and Mary's delivery.  They were truly humble beginnings for a truly humble man.  Thanks be to God for bending low to enter our world.

On the way back to the bus we passed the world famous Stars and Bucks coffee shop.  (No, I'm not kidding.)  After a trip to the Shepherd's Field we had lunch in Bethlehem and then departed for a short trip across the Judean wilderness on our way to Qumran.  We heard the account of the community of people who lived there, those who removed themselves from daily life in the traditional communities of Judaism in order to apply themselves wholly to purity and faithfulness to God.  What they left were incredibly accurate manuscripts of much of the Old Testament that are considered a valuable treasure to biblical archaeologists.  God used these people, whose names will forever be unknown to us, to preserve these scrolls in order to confirm the truth that we find in our bibles.

Leaving there we made our way to Jericho, where we saw the sycamore tree (you remember Zachaeus), and the ancient Tel Jericho.  Before leaving we stopped for fresh fruit and other treats at a local shop.  We were also blessed to see a young boy herding goats, and also a group of wild camels!  (Someone tell me what you call a group of camels.)  Everyone was impressed with the experience of going from Jerusalem to Jericho, to see the wilderness region between the two cities, and to witness the beautiful sites of the Dead Sea, and across into the country of Jordan, the mountains of Moab, and even south toward the region known as Edom (the visibility was really good today).

Tomorrow we will experience the descent into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which will include a pass through Gethsemane, Bethany, and other sites around Jerusalem.

Pictures are uploading to the web very (painfully) slowly, so most of my pictures right now will be shared from my phone during the day.  The better pictures will be coming home with us.  Ana, tell Gabe we are still looking for a train.  Granny says that a camel is as close as we've come so far :-)

Shalom