Neot Kedumim

On Sunday, July 13th, a few of us went to Neot Kedumim near Modi'in between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Neot Kedumim is 640 acres commonly known as the Biblical Gardens. Neot is Hebrew for "pastures" or "places of beauty". Kedumim is "ancient". One of the major themes of Neot Kedumim is the seven species Moses describes just before the Israelites leave the desert for the land of Canaan. "Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat (1) and barley (2), of vines (3) and fig trees (4) and pomegranates (5), a land of olive oil (6) and honey (7); a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. Deuteronomy 8:6-10. Below is a grapevine.

None of us had ever been there before and were not sure what to expect. Below is an olive tree.

No need for me to write a scripture, I took the photo of Job 14:7-9.

We had a guide at Neot Kedumim who explained the background of the Biblical Gardens in addition to informing us of all we were seeing. In the photo below, the figs that are dark were ripe. Our guide encouraged us to pick one and eat it. We did. It was very good. Neot Kedumim is a "hands-on" environment that encourages you to taste the fruit, draw water, thresh wheat, etc.

Below is a fig tree that refused to be "king of the trees" according to Gideon's youngest son. "Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us!’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, And go to sway over trees?’ Judges 9:10-11.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve chose leaves from a fig tree to cover themselves and their sin (scripture below). However, we cannot cover our own sins. Only God can cover our sins with the blood of the Lord Jesus. Just as blood was shed by slaying an animal in the Garden of Eden to cover Adam and Eve. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Genesis 3:.21.

As we were walking several pigeons flew into this cistern where is was cool. This one must have been on guard to see if there was going to be further danger. I wanted to look closer but did not.

Young pomegranates not ripe enough for eating. When Moses sent the twelve spies into the land, pomegranates and figs were also brought out besides a big cluster of grapes. Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. Numbers 13:23.

Below are dates up high in a palm tree. Dates are very prevalent in Israel and are considered a fruit of the land. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. Deuteronomy 7:13.

Olive trees near the threshing floor.

A Byzantine church used to be here. Below is the mosaic floor complete with a cross.

Below is a young cedar of Lebanon. The trees of the LORD are full of sap, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted ... Psalm 104.16.

Neot Kedumim also hosts outdoor weddings. Below is a Chupah (hoopah) for the wedding couple to be used later that evening. ... And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you. Isaiah 62.5

Neot Kedumim followed the scripture below from Ecclesiates to make pools of water. In Texas, we would refer to it as "digging a stock tank".

This prototype water wheel uses pottery jugs to retrieve the water.

Jacki, from New Zealand, "volunteered" to demonstrate how it works. As she walked in the bigger wheel, the water from the jugs emptied into a trough.

A type of ancient water well below.

From the scripture below, Jacob may have removed the stone to well very similar to this when he met Rachel.

Kim, from Alabama, my cohort in accounting, draws water from one of the wells. The bucket was full and heavy.

Below is a small threshing floor. King David purchased a much larger one where his son Solomon built the First Temple. Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. II Chronicles 3:1.

With 640 acres to see, it helped to drive. You still cannot cover it all in one day. Neot Kedumim hosts many large groups and also does some fun "team building" exercises. In the fall, we may return to herd some sheep.

It was a hot, summer day in July, but is always a privilege to see something new in God's Land. The Land does belong to Him. ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. Leviticus 25:23.