Today was a slower day, naturally, as it was Shabbat, but yet it was chocked with so much goodness!

We traveled to the close-by Kiryat Yearim, which is an area that the Ark of the Covenant was kept (anyone else hear John Williams in the distance?).

We had a great lesson from Arie, who does such a great job bringing context and relatability to what we Christians call The Old Testament.

Dave and I had our ice cream of the day again today!

On the grounds of Yad Hashmona, there is a Biblical Garden, which has replicas (and some originals!) of different places included in Jesus’ teachings.

This is a recreation of the road to Emmaus (which actually runs parallel to the real thing!), where Jesus walked with two of His disciples and shared with them the best Bible study ever (Luke 24: 13-35).

Yad Hashmona was gifted a sculpture enacting Joel ripping his clothes as a sign of despair and repentance.

Arie shared how to repent meant “to turn”, which was indicative of turning to a different direction to worship! Different religions faced different directions (Egyptians towards the Nile, Israel towards the Temple), so to repent is to turn away from the god previously worshipped to the one true God!

We then sat in a recreation of a synagogue found in Golan Heights (volcanic rock is abundant there, so it was used for building the synagogue).

Arie had some of us dramatize Mark 3:1-5, which is the story where Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. Ryan was the narrator, Jimmy was Jesus, and Chris was the man with withered hand.

Arie had to play director a couple of times to provide guidance on what would be happening in that moment. It really did help bring context and relatability to the text!

We then stopped at the watch tower and discussed some misconceptions about Song of Songs that personally blew my mind!

What makes Arie a great teacher is that he is also a great student. He has studied the Scriptures with such tenacity and dedication that he is able to draw things out I’d never noticed! He also encourages us to not take his word for it and move on, but to also be students of the Scriptures as well. Certainly both encouraging and convicting.

Our last stop was a vineyard! There is still so much on the grounds, but this was all we had time for.

He used Chris, Rusty, and Jeff to demonstrate how a vine grows and is tended. If a branch grows up, it’s pruned. If a branch grows down, it is cut.

Tonight is our last night with Arie as our guide and at Yad Hashmona. Tomorrow, we are off to Galilee, where we’ll be staying for the rest of the trip!

I’m certainly open to returning again one day and hearing more of Arie’s perspective on the Scriptures!

I’d heard from others who had done trips with him of how wise and kind he was, but now I can affirm it myself!