"Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3),
Hey
Gang: As I so often do, I got a little
wordy in the last morning message and did not have room to cover blessings two
and three that is etched in my mind from my time at Ir Ovot. At Ir Ovot are two very special attractions that Israeli
elementary school children, and people from all over the world have placed on
their itineraries, since our first visit to prepare the oasis for visitors.
The first is
a well, a very special well, a very old well, a well that archeologist tell us
is thousands of years old. No longer a
working well, but a well that can get deep into your heart and soul. In Bethlehem, Joseph received a vision in the
middle of the night: take his bride and new son and split for Egypt and remain
there until he was told it was safe to return home, because paranoid Herod was
going to seek this new born king and destroy him.
From
Bethlehem to Egypt were two main routes dictated by the availability of water.
The main route was the Roman Road along the Mediterrean Coast; the other was the more direct route that
passed through Ir Ovot. The coast road
would have been more controlled by Roman and Herod's soldiers, and the danger
for intercepting them greater than the more direct route.
"If",
and I emphasize "if" (which happens to be my opinion which, my word
and two bucks will get you a cup of java at most hash houses) they choose the
road less traveled they would have passed through Ir Ovot and, in all
probability drew water from the Ir Ovot well.
Perhaps it was not the route they choose, but just sitting there with my
Sword in hand, drinking in Living Water, and believing I was sitting at the
very place where Jesus and His Mom and Dad might have spent the night, was a
wonderful experience.
The second
picture that is etched in my mind is of a tree.
When we arrived on the oasis for the first time we found a tree, a very
special tree, a very old tree that appeared to be in its final days. It was three fourths dead and even the part
that was alive was sparsely equipped with leaves. In all probability it had not be watered for
many years. We learned shortly after
arriving that the tree is named Spina-christi
-The Tree of Christ. Why this name?
Because it had two inch thorns, and we know the story of the crown of Christ at
His crucifixion. In all of Israel there
are very few spina-christi trees. Some
even suggest that the thorns of His crown came from that very tree.
On day two
of our first trip to Ir Ovot, a crew of
workers were sent into the desert to retrieve sufficient pipe and connectors to
place an extension on the tel’s water supply and watering of the tree
begun. It was interesting to learn from a local tree
guru that we had to begin very slowly.
It was possible that too much water too suddenly would drown the
tree.
In our first
week we noticed a tiny improvement in color and even a few buds but, when we
returned the following year it was green and even the branch that had broken
loose from the trunk was still connected and had begun to produce leaves and
thorns again. We agreed that we were ambassadors
send by heaven from America to restore The Tree of Christ.
Oh, by the
way, the tree is estimated to be more than two thousand years old and would
also have enjoyed having the Lord of Glory enjoy its shade as they drank the
cool waters from the well. Archeologists have said this is the oldest tree in
Israel, which is why school children visit here.
Well, folks,
it is time to move north to the place where Jesus lived His life and did His
ministry, but en route I want to share a story about a lady by the name of
Barbara.
Blessings,
Gramps
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