Benjamin Field Study

Ok, so this is over a week late, but I still wanted to share these pictures from last weeks field study with you. I also decided to paste in my reflection paper from this study below:

Desolate Awakening

The howling sound of complete silence- sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? My face becoming clearer as I look at someone else's-is this possible? This was my day, this is my life, this is a small window into what I have learned...
Our first stop was to view the vast expanse of Judean wilderness. The rolling hills of the senonian step land were mostly smooth with a scattering of dry tufts of dessert grass that help keep the animals alive. From our look out, we saw no one, the only signs of life were the few birds in the sky. Our entire group became still and silent as we tried to envision what it would have been like to reside in a place like this, alone, and with no protection. The silence pounded in my head; it was unreal. I was impressed with the fact that this is where Elijah fled from Ahab and Jezebel. This is where the Israelites came as they began to journey into the actual promise land. And this is the wilderness where Jesus was tempted by Satan. The harsh beauty of this place will not soon be forgotten as I now have a better understanding of the geography where certain biblical narrations took place.
On a completely different note, in Deuteronomy 32 verse 10, Moses not only talks about the barren wasteland described above but also how God keeps us as "the apple of his eye." This is better translated as "the small man in his eye" or less literally "in the image of God" and can be better understood by looking a fellow human very closely in the eye. I did this, and saw a very clear image of myself. This is an example of God and us. As we look to Christ, we see ourselves because we are molded after him and as Christ looks at his creation, he sees himself for he has made us to be like him. What a beautiful picture of his joining us to himself. May we strive to please Christ more so that the reflection we see is becoming more and more like the reflection Christ sees.

A Bedouin man offering camel rides to the tourists
The Juedean wilderness- note the tiny tuffs of grass- this is all the animals have to survive on during this time of year. They are provided just enough to get by.

This is the Mountain of Temptation where tradition says Jesus was tempted by Satan.

We then went to Jericho, the oldest city in the world. And here I am touching the oldest man made structure in the world! This tower is 10,000 years old, twice the age of the oldest structures in Egypt!

Bedouin tents in the wilderness.

This is an ancient well and water trough. The age is unknown, but apparently they haven't changed much through the millennium. Picture, in Genesis, Rebekah watering her animals here...

The favorite thing for us today after hearing all the history of ruins is to climb all over them. This was the hardest column to climb, but super sweet. (me, courtney, ashleigh, and stephen)