Great Field Trip!

Joseph and Katrina listening to Ellie explaining how the Almond Tree is the first tree to blossom in the winter. Thinking about Numbers 17:8 ​“And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.”

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.” (Jeremiah 1:11-12).

Ellie points out a play on words in Hebrew between “hasten” and “almond.” Just like the almond tree is the quickest to bloom, so too will the Lord quickly fulfill his words.

Katrina and Rebekah help reenact a scene of biblical Rebekah drawing water from the well for Abraham’s servant.

Ellie shared about the importance of water in modern and ancient Israel:

“And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil” (Deut. 11:13-14).

We practiced shepherding. There were many shepherds in the Bible — Abel, Moses, Abraham, David and many others. We can learn leadership lessons from shepherding.

We next talked about the seven species in Deut. 8:8 — “A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey.”

Ellie talks about how in the verse “honey” refers to date honey...delicious!

Rebekah and Kate crush some hyssop together. This is one of my favorite parts of this field trip. Why hyssop? As this site explains,

When the Israelites marked their doorposts with lamb’s blood in order for the angel of death to pass over them, God instructed them to use a bunch of hyssop as a “paintbrush” (Exodus 12:22).

David also mentions hyssop in Psalm 51:7: “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” David does not refer to physical cleansing—rather, he is asking God to cleanse him spiritually as he confesses his sin.

Hyssop also appears at Jesus’ crucifixion, when the Roman soldiers offered Jesus a drink of wine vinegar on a sponge at the end of a stalk of hyssop (John 19:28–30). This was, in fact, Jesus’ last act before He declared His work on earth finished and gave up His spirit. While the hyssop stalk may have been used for purely practical purposes (i.e., it was long enough to reach to Jesus’ mouth as He hung on the cross), it is interesting that that particular plant was chosen. It is possible that God meant this as a picture of purification, as Jesus bought our forgiveness with His sacrifice. Just as in the Old Testament blood and hyssop were part of the Passover, Christ is the true Passover lamb.

We enjoyed seeing several succoth and talking about what makes them kosher or not kosher. The kids loved the idea of eating and sleeping inside them. We will have to build one in our backyard next fall.