Lessons through Nature

“The first group will herd all the sheep and goats into that circle over there.” For a split second, I thought he was joking, but as our guide, Yair stared at the group sitting on the other side of the bench, I realized that he meant what he said. I was glad he didn’t choose our group first. I wanted to see how this would turn out.

About ten other students started walking towards the grazing animals, who seemed focused on nothing but eating the grass before them. There were between twenty and forty sheep and goats wandering around the pen. After some time, they finally pushed, lead, and even carried all the creatures into a ring about ten feet in diameter. Then it was our turn and I realized why the first group took so long. The sheep and goats were slow and liked to eat, but surprisingly they would go where we wanted if we were persistent. We learned to lead them from behind. If we led them from the front or raised our voices, they would be spooked by our shadows and would turn away from us. Shepherds need to be firm yet gentle leaders. 

Neot Qedumim is a large biblical landscape reserve. In fact, it is the only reserve of its kind in the world, preserving 625 acres of plants and animals from the time of the Bible so visitors can experience for themselves the nature that is so prevalent in the scriptures. Yair said this place is a photo album of biblical times.

From the time of Adam, people have lived in this region by working the land. God’s blessings often involve a plentiful harvest and enough rain. Thus, one of the most important resources is water. But besides the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, there aren’t many natural, year-round water sources. The people were dependent on the rain. The rainy season is less than half the year and, in that time, rainfall varies from five to fifty-five days in a year based on the area. Every year, the people prayed for God’s provision of water. The Hebrew word for heaven, “Shamaim,” literally means “there, water.”

Ancient Israelites took advantage of the rain in several ways. One method was through digging cisterns. Underground cisterns are a foreign concept for most of the modern world, but for ancient cities and villages, they were as common as bus stops are today. A cistern is a large hole dug out of the rock and plastered on the inside to hold water. Some cisterns are so huge, they could host a wedding celebration inside. They were built in strategic locations so that when it rained, the water would run into them and fill them for the dry season. Hopefully, the water would last until the next rain.

Yair sat us down before a restored cistern so we could see the same sight as the Israelites. From our perspective, it was a low rock with a square hole in the middle. He had one of the students raise some water up with a bucket and pour it into a collecting pool outside the cistern. With each bucket load, the water level rose in the pool and eventually flowed back into the cistern. We heard the lively sound of splashing in the darkness below.

The scriptures are full of imagery about water, especially “living waters.” Cisterns do not hold this living, flowing water. After a few weeks, it begins to be stagnant and stale. The best water came from wells or even springs, providing water that is flowing and full of minerals.

We continued moving through the nature preserve. In the distance, we heard the popping of guns from a practice range for the IDF (Israel Defense forces). Much of this land has been held through constant fighting. Even when the children of Israel came from Egypt it was only because the Lord fought for them (Exodus 14:14). One of the most memorable stories from the time of the Exodus was the first Passover (Pesach) which Jewish people continue to celebrate each spring. One of God’s commands to the people before they left Egypt was to mark their doorposts with blood, using a branch of hyssop. Yair showed us the actual spice called hyssop or Za’atar in Arabic. This plant is still used today to make a spice mix for food seasoning.

Another fascinating plant we saw was called the Jujube tree (scientific name, Ziziphus Spinachristi). It was a short tree, the ones that we saw were between 5 and 15 feet tall. It had thin branches and sparse oval leaves. The branches were lined with thorns, some of them sticking straight out and others curved backward toward the base of each stem.

The sparce yet spiny branches of a Jujube tree

The Jujube tree is also thought to be the tree from Jotham’s parable in Judges 9. This parable comes after Abimelech, son of Gideon, kills all his brothers except the youngest, Jotham, who escapes by hiding. The leaders of Shechem make him king over them so Jotham approaches them and tells a story of how all the trees go out to anoint a king over them. They go to trees like the olive, fig, and vine, but each tree won’t leave its produce to reign over the others. Finally, “the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me, king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon’” (Judges 9:15, ESV). I’ve always been confused about what this parable meant, but we learned some details that show the significance of Jotham’s story. The Jujube tree has a shallow and thick root system. Other trees won't thrive under its shade since they don't have any room to put roots down and all the water is sucked up by the Jujube. It also burns with intense heat, hot enough to quickly burn any other wood. Later in Judges, we learn how Abimelech’s relationship with the people of Shechem turns bitter. Several skirmishes end with Abimelech setting fire to the tower of Shechem, burning every soul inside. Jotham’s parable came true with shocking precision.

As suggested by its scientific name, the Jujube tree is probably most famous for being the supposed tree that Roman soldiers used to make a crown of thorns for Jesus before his crucifixion. Apparently, these thorns naturally protected the plant from animals like sheep who love to eat its tender shoots. If this plant was actually the one used for Jesus’ crown, the Lamb of God was willingly pierced by thorns meant to ward off sheep.

Our time at Neot Qedumim was over soon. We barely even saw the first part of the reserve. But before we left, Yair took us to see one of the most important plants in Israel. This plant is so much a part of the land, that it has almost become synonymous with the nation. The olive tree is short and unimpressive next to tall cedars and oaks, but it can live for a long time, and its fruit gives it such great value. It doesn’t have deep roots, so it survives the dry season much like people do, by storing water. But rather than under the ground, the olive tree stores water at the base of its trunk in food tanks that give the olive trunk its ancient, wrinkled look.

The most valuable resource from an olive tree is its oil. As we looked at one of the old trees, we also saw an olive crusher and press. Harvesters put whole olives into a circular, stone container and drive a donkey attached to a stone wheel that crushes them. They then take the mash and press it to collect the golden juices. They don’t pit the olives because the pits have a little oil in them and a preservative that keeps the oil from spoiling for about a year. Before refrigeration existed, people used to preserve cheeses and other perishables in oil.

An old olive tree, with an olive crusher and press to its left.

God has provided for His people in Bible times through many means. In times of prosperity, he gave them just enough rain for their crops and not too much that it would wash the soil away. He provided for the shepherd and sheep and lead them to the good land of His promise. Most importantly, perhaps, was God’s use of His creation to teach them about Himself. In the Old Testament, there are too many lessons to number where God uses some element of the land to teach Israel how to follow Him faithfully. Jesus ultimately exemplifies this as he calls Himself the Good Shepherd. Rather than shying from His shadow, He says His sheep know His voice and follow Him. 

Acknowledgments:

Thank you Ana for your editing help <3