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| Olive trees at Noet Kedumim |
Whether for early Christians or
contemporary ones, a constant question plagues the heart and mind of the
disciple: ‘Will God provide for me when I need Him the most?’ ‘When I have
emptied myself of my dreams and desires in favor of following Jesus, will God
fill the void?’ ‘Will He take over when I promise others that He is trustworthy
enough to surrender their lives completely to Him?’
Today we visited a place which
strengthened our faith that God, indeed, remains faithful and will always
continue to keep His promises.
It is called Neot Kedumim. Haven’t
heard of it? That’s because it isn’t recorded in the Bible nor is it a holy
site regarded by the Church (or any religion for that matter). Neot Kedumim
isn’t like the other holy sites we’ve visited over the past few weeks because
it is a Biblical landscape preserve. Built on 620 acres, it is a reconstruction
of the plants, trees, animals, and ancient tools at the time of Jesus. Though
we learned a lot this day, water and grain harvests were the two major concerns
which seemed to call God’s providential care in question the most.
The replica of an ancient cistern (a water
storage pit dug into the ground up to 30 feet deep) highlighted the constant worry
of the Israelites. In fact, they would pray for rain three times per day. As
our guide said, for the Israelite “the sound of water was the sound of life.”
Even the Hebrew word for Heaven is translated as “there are the waters.” When
God freed the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians, they complained
because they were promised a fruitful land but were roaming in the desert
instead. “Were there no burial places in
Egypt? Far better
for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:11).
Does the lamenting
of the Israelites echo in our voices today? Do we forget how much God actually
cares and provides for us at every moment of everyday?
God not only provided water for His
people but cisterns and wells became places where a love relationship was
established. Some examples include the meetings of Isaac and Rebeccah (Gen 24),
Jacob and Rachel (Gen 29), and Moses and Zipporah (Ex 2). Likewise, it was no
accident that Jesus met the Samaritan woman by a well and presented her with “a
spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:14).
In addition to the cistern, we visited
a threshing floor where we learned the process of harvesting grain. Like the
Eskimos who have 15 different words for snow,
the Israelites had 7 words for harvest
because it was so integral to their daily life. The challenge to farmers was
their lack of seed. The sowing of seed was far from an exact science. Much seed
was thrown on rocky soil or among thorns and totally wasted. Only some seed
would actually fall on the rich soil but good weather and sufficient water were
no guarantees. Sowers had to decide whether to use the seed in the making of bread
to feed their families immediately or to re-plant the seed for the next
harvest. Their plea is gut-wrenching: ‘Lord, what should I do?’ ‘Will You
provide for us?’
Trusting God in moments of trial is an
integral part of discipleship. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be
mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov 3:5-6). However, the psalmist reassures us that our trust in Him will always
be fruitful: “those who sow in tears will reap with cries of joy” (Ps 126:5).
Neot Kedumim combines Biblical
scholarship with botany and zoology to bring the Bible to life. More importantly,
it helps us to recognize how God used Biblical artifacts to speak to the
ancient Israelite culture and encourage them to faithfully respond to His invitation
of discipleship.