Some time about half way through my trip to Israel, I found myself becoming increasingly enthused about taking pictures of plant and animal life, especially those mentioned in the Bible. I think I caught the bug on or about May 26th, although the photos were taken throughout the entirety of my journey. So, what follows is a quick tour of some of the plants and animals of Israel. The first picture you see is a close-up of an olive tree. The olive tree is for all intents and purposes the national tree of Israel. They are everywhere (see my previous blog entry on the Garden of Gethsemane to see olive trees from a distance). Note on this photo, the leaves are oblong, whereas the olives are rounder.
We saw a group of camels one morning shortly after we hit the road. Our bus driver and professor were kind enough to allow us off the bus for a quick picture stop.
This is a picture of a fig tree in Jerusalem. I really like fresh figs, so, it was unfortunate for me that it was not fig season while I was there.
This is a bird called "tristram's grackel." It is a pretty, raven-like bird with brown wings (fully brown on the under side). Though not mentioned in the Bible, I was intrigued by these birds because we saw them all over the desert region.
"The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats" (Psalm 104:18). We saw several ibex, or wild goats, in the desret region, or wilderness, of southern Israel. By the way, one thing I learned on this trip is that when the Bible talks about the "wilderness," it is not talking about places like Tennessee and Kentucky back in the early 1800s where Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone hung out. The wilderness of Israel is a dry, pasty-white, hazy, barren land, as you can see in this picture. Experiencing this area gave me a better apprecitation for biblical accounts such as Jesus' fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-2).
This tree is known as the Atad tree, and is mentioned in a parable in Judges 9:15 (called the "bramble" in some translations). The parable uses the analogy of different trees, and the point of the parable is that although Israel
thought they wanted a king to rule over them, this was not the best for them. The parable relates how the olive tree, fig tree, and grape vine were too busy to be king, so the Atad offered its shady services. However, as we learned, the Atad is a deceptive tree. It offers much shade, but with its shallow roots, nothing will grow underneath it (as this picture shows). Get it? Israel wanted the "shade," or benefits, of having a king, but was doomed not to prosper in such as situation. God Himself was supposed to be their king.
We saw sheep throughout the country. These are in Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up. Note that there are apparently two black sheep in this family.
This is a carob tree. You might recognize carob as a chocoloate substitute. In the middle east, the carob pod is used to feed pigs. It is the carob tree that is referenced in Luke 15:16 in the parable of the Prodigal Son. After the son had squandered his inheritance, he "longed to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate."
This is a papyrus plant, important in ancient times because it was used to make paper.
"Coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their homes in the crags" (Proverbs 30:26). One day while milling about at a biblical site, I turned a corner and found myself being stared down by a mother coney (like a large badger) at a distance of about twenty feet. She had four babies behind her. After the initial stare, she went back to her business, so I quietly proceeded to sit down and experiment with the zoom feature on my new camera. They were very interesting looking, and very cute little creatures. I felt fortunate to have had this encounter, because our professor had told us that we probably were not going to see any coneys on the trip.
Close-up of a few of the baby coneys.
This is a picture of an Acacia tree. They are very pretty. Joshua 2:1 says that Joshua sent two spies out from a place called Shittim to investigate Jericho. Now, I remember as a child everybody snickering at that word since it sounds like a bad word in English. However, "Shittim" is the plural for "Acacia tree" in Hebrew. I've noticed some translations now say that Joshua sent the spies to Jericho from "Acacia Grove."
"Even the stork in the sky knows its appointed seasons" (Jeremiah 8:7). It was difficult to get a good photo of a stork. This is my best one. The stork here is on the banks of the Jordan River.
"Bulls of Bashan" are mentioned in the Bible (see Psalm 22:12 and Amos 4:1, for example). We rode through the area of Bashan in northern Israel, and sure enough, there were cows and bulls seemingly every one hundred yards.
Some time about half way through my trip to Israel, I found myself becoming increasingly enthused about taking pictures of plant and animal life, especially those mentioned in the Bible. I think I caught the bug on or about May 26th, although the photos were taken throughout the entirety of my journey. So, what follows is a quick tour of some of the plants and animals of Israel. The first picture you see is a close-up of an olive tree. The olive tree is for all intents and purposes the national tree of Israel. They are everywhere (see my previous blog entry on the Garden of Gethsemane to see olive trees from a distance). Note on this photo, the leaves are oblong, whereas the olives are rounder.
We saw a group of camels one morning shortly after we hit the road. Our bus driver and professor were kind enough to allow us off the bus for a quick picture stop.
This is a picture of a fig tree in Jerusalem. I really like fresh figs, so, it was unfortunate for me that it was not fig season while I was there.
This is a bird called "tristram's grackel." It is a pretty, raven-like bird with brown wings (fully brown on the under side). Though not mentioned in the Bible, I was intrigued by these birds because we saw them all over the desert region.
"The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats" (Psalm 104:18). We saw several ibex, or wild goats, in the desret region, or wilderness, of southern Israel. By the way, one thing I learned on this trip is that when the Bible talks about the "wilderness," it is not talking about places like Tennessee and Kentucky back in the early 1800s where Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone hung out. The wilderness of Israel is a dry, pasty-white, hazy, barren land, as you can see in this picture. Experiencing this area gave me a better apprecitation for biblical accounts such as Jesus' fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-2).
This tree is known as the Atad tree, and is mentioned in a parable in Judges 9:15 (called the "bramble" in some translations). The parable uses the analogy of different trees, and the point of the parable is that although Israel thought they wanted a king to rule over them, this was not the best for them. The parable relates how the olive tree, fig tree, and grape vine were too busy to be king, so the Atad offered its shady services. However, as we learned, the Atad is a deceptive tree. It offers much shade, but with its shallow roots, nothing will grow underneath it (as this picture shows). Get it? Israel wanted the "shade," or benefits, of having a king, but was doomed not to prosper in such as situation. God Himself was supposed to be their king.
We saw sheep throughout the country. These are in Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up. Note that there are apparently two black sheep in this family.
This is a carob tree. You might recognize carob as a chocoloate substitute. In the middle east, the carob pod is used to feed pigs. It is the carob tree that is referenced in Luke 15:16 in the parable of the Prodigal Son. After the son had squandered his inheritance, he "longed to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate."
This is a papyrus plant, important in ancient times because it was used to make paper.
"Coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their homes in the crags" (Proverbs 30:26). One day while milling about at a biblical site, I turned a corner and found myself being stared down by a mother coney (like a large badger) at a distance of about twenty feet. She had four babies behind her. After the initial stare, she went back to her business, so I quietly proceeded to sit down and experiment with the zoom feature on my new camera. They were very interesting looking, and very cute little creatures. I felt fortunate to have had this encounter, because our professor had told us that we probably were not going to see any coneys on the trip.
Close-up of a few of the baby coneys.
This is a picture of an Acacia tree. They are very pretty. Joshua 2:1 says that Joshua sent two spies out from a place called Shittim to investigate Jericho. Now, I remember as a child everybody snickering at that word since it sounds like a bad word in English. However, "Shittim" is the plural for "Acacia tree" in Hebrew. I've noticed some translations now say that Joshua sent the spies to Jericho from "Acacia Grove." 
"Even the stork in the sky knows its appointed seasons" (Jeremiah 8:7). It was difficult to get a good photo of a stork. This is my best one. The stork here is on the banks of the Jordan River.
"Bulls of Bashan" are mentioned in the Bible (see Psalm 22:12 and Amos 4:1, for example). We rode through the area of Bashan in northern Israel, and sure enough, there were cows and bulls seemingly every one hundred yards.
Great pictures!!
ReplyDeleteSeeing these animals and plants definitely enriches the experience of being in the Holy Land. I especially like the Bashan Bulls !