Israel Day 2

What an amazing day! After a somewhat restful night, we started our day with a good Israeli breakfast. Then we were on the bus and departing by 8:30 a.m. from Ber Sheva. Ber Sheva is referred to in the King James Bible as Beer Sheba. Our first stop of the day was an archeological excavation of an ancient city with its well and underwater cisterns. The well we saw was most likely one of the wells mentioned in Genesis 21 where Abraham and Abimelech had the conflict over the wells. “ Thus they made a covenant at Beer Sheba…”. We were able to see the well itself in its original state as well as the plaster work in the underground cistern that was over 3000 years old. We do not have enough time to share all the biblical



insight that was revealed at this site, but it was a wealth of information. From there we traveled further south through the Sinai peninsula and into the dessert of Paran today known as the Negev. This is where the children of Israel wandered for 40 years. Along the way was saw many Bedouin villages. The Bedouin people are nomadic people who live in tents today in a similar way that Abraham lived. We were able to learn some Israeli history visiting the home of David Ben-Gurion, a former prime minister’s dessert home and then his tomb.



We heard here our first lecture on Tzin before having an interesting boxed lunch. After lunch we set out on a two part hike to the place where Moses supposedly struck the rock instead of speaking to it. One group continued on the second portion of the hike while another group returned to the bus. The group that made the second part of the hike climbed over 500 steps to reach the top of the canyon where we met the rest of the group. I did not go with the first group, because I did not want to leave the rest of the group alone. I was a dedicated shepherd. Ha! Ha! Sis. Rese went all the way! After this experience the Exodus takes on a whole new meaning. There is no way to tell it all here. From this site we traveled further south to the Avdat National Park, an archeological excavation of the city of Avdat. Here we found pottery pieces dating back to 1500 b.c.. Then we were treated to an unexpected event as we were guests at a Bedouin family home. We were served hot sweet tea, flour tortillas, and coffee by the mother and one of her 10 children.




We are now at our final destination of the day a hotel in Mitpe Ramon. Sis. Rese must be living right because she has the opportunity to snorkel in the Red Sea tomorrow (an unexpected addition to the itinerary). There is no way to describe the insight we have gained into God’s word today. Our guide is wonderful and the weather could not be better (65 degrees). Tomorrow promises to be another wonderful day around the Red Sea area and then moving back to the north and east.
Everyone is doing just fine. No one is sick, just tired. Check out the pics. I know there is a lot but it is too hard to sort them out. We love you all and will check in again tomorrow night. As You know it is 8 hours ahead here so we are all getting a little nutty!
Thanks for the comments. I am sharing them with the group. Keep them coming.
Special greetings to our two little babies, Aaron & Claresa. We love you much.
Also Mother would like it here. They have the air-conditioning turned off for the winter in our hotels. Love you too Granny.
Shalom, Pastor Tom & Sis. Rese