Taste of Honey (Leadership Study) Day 3

We’re enjoying Israeli cuisine on this trip. The hotel had buffet suppers and breakfasts for us. Such a variety of unusual (to us) foods, as well as familiar staples, such as scrambled eggs.

At Tel Arad we saw the remains of a temple that dates back to the first temple era. It may have been a substitute temple for Israelites worshiping in between the annual pilgrimages to the Jerusalem temple. I measured the width of the altar and found it precisely five cubits wide.

We saw the rebuilt ruins of a house of Abraham’s time. Joe talked about Abraham’s hospitality to the three strangers. He also discussed the meaning of the father’s house, and redemption. What are we doing to bring the marginalized back to the Father’s house?

At Tel Sheva we saw a well, possibly the one where there was an oath between Abraham and Abimilech.

For lunch we had fallafel.

In the afternoon we drove deeper into the Negev Desert. We hiked a wadi (valley) that may be the Wadi Zin. This was some of the most awesome scenery we’ve seen yet on our trip.

We saw a tamarisk tree.

Tamarisk tree

There were some flat parts of the trail, but mostly it was steep up hill. There were sections of narrow steps cut into the rocks. There were a couple of vertical ladders. We all completed the hike (climb?) with flying colors.

We climbed the cliff in the background

Stream in the desert

We saw some ibex, a desert goat species.

Featured Participants

Bert and Mary Kline hail from Holmes County, Ohio. Delbert was recently ordained bishop in the Midwest Conference. He has a siding installation business. They decided to fulfill a longtime dream and came to Israel with their daughters’ encouragement. They enjoyed the walk in Abraham’s area today.