Saturday, January 31, 2009

Hai-Bar Wildlife Preserve

One afternoon in December during the holidays, I went to the Hai-Bar Wildlife Preserve very far south in Israel near the Jordanian and Egyptian borders. At Hai-Bar, their goal is to preserve Biblical and desert animals. This beautiful leopard was resting in the tree limb. On Kay's memorial service pamphlet, one of the verses we used described a few animals behavior during the millinium when the Lord Jesus will reign. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11:6.

I was most surprised by the long, beautiful spotted-tail. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil. Jeremiah 13:23.

These little desert foxes were enjoying the warm sun. Both Matthew and Luke record the Lord Jesus's analogy of not having a home during His ministry and purpose 2000 years ago. And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58.

In another prophetic passage, Isaiah describes the wolf and the lamb eating side by side someday. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the LORD. Isaiah 65:25.

Below is a caracal with those unique ears.

A caracal is also known as African or Persian Lynx, so says Google.

There is nothing to like about snakes. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3:1.

So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. Genesis 3:13.

Below these little desert mice or rats were constantly moving around. One unique building at Hai-Bar was for nocturnal animals. During the day, Hai-Bar keeps the building dark so you can see the nocturnal animals moving about their habitat. Then during the night, the "lights" are turned on so the animals can sleep. It was very dark to walk through and no pictures were allowed. I did enjoy seeing a group of bats flying around plus little creatures known as "hedge hogs". While walking in the extreme darkness, you are counting on all the snakes, bats, etc. to be secure in their cages.

There are actually some wild parrots that fly around The German Colony where I live. They do look like this. They fly and land in very high trees. It is hard to get a photo.

These owls were watching me very closely. There was no need for them to worry about me. I knew that it was not kosher to eat them. ‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: ... the short-eared owl, the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; the white owl ... and the bat. Leviticus 11:13-19.

Ditto for the falcon. ‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; ... and the falcon after its kind; Leviticus 11:13-14.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Matthew 7:15.

Below is a striped hyena. Not sure I had ever seen one before. There are probably many in Iraq near Biblical Babylon. Isaiah recorded a picture of Babylon's defeat. But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, ... The hyenas will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, And her days will not be prolonged.” Isaiah 13:21-22.

Hai-Bar also has a wildlife drive-thru section. Below is a white oryx.

Like any animal park, the time to go is when they are being fed.

These "wild" donkeys are called onagers. God Almighty asked Job “Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the onager, Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the barren land his dwelling? Job 39:5-6.

Below is an addax. In the Tanach that I have with me, Moses described the addax as an animal that you could eat. Many translations have "mountain goat". “You shall not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat (addax), the antelope, and the mountain sheep. Deuteronomy 14:3-5.

A small herd of white oryx.

Ma and Pa Addax? With the mountains of Jordan in the background.

At first glance, this donkey looks like Kay's Boomer, Hannah, or Rachel. However, this is actually a Somali Wild Ass. Look closely at the legs which are striped like a zebra.

Just like zebras, their striped-legs are never the same. Only the Lord knows how many stripes, how wide, and which direction they go on all of them.

A scimitar horned oryx looking at me.

Ostriches are defintely unique birds. God Almighty Himself describes them in detail when talking to Job. “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s? For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust; She forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern, Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding. When she lifts herself on high, She scorns the horse and its rider. Job 39:13-18.

Herd of Addax.

This photo was taken close to sunset in the Ramon Canyon.

An ibyx in the Ramon Canyon.

A sundial in Mitzpe Ramon. It was very accurate for time, date, season, longitude and latitude.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Shepherds, Goats, and Ein Avdat

Late afternoon on Christmas, I saw a Bedouin family shepherding their goats. There are many Biblical verses about sheep and goats. One powerful passage is when the Lord Jesus describes His second coming and establishing His throne. At that time, He will separate the nations of the world like sheep and goats according to their righteousness. "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Matthew 25:31-33.

A Bedouin shepherdess with her flock of goats following her. This is a simple picture that the Lord Jesus described when He stated "I am the Good Shepherd". I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. John 10:14.

The Bedouin Village was actually on the other side of the desert highway. You can see a speed limit road sign of 90 kilometers per hour (about 56 mph). This shepherding family was waiting for the precise moment when to call their sheep "to the other side". Again, very similar to the when the Lord Jesus will call us to the other side at just the precise moment. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1st Thessalonians 4:16-18.

Waiting to hear the voice of their shepherd. Just as we are waiting to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27.
This shepherd was keeping his donkey from going up the gravel road instead of crossing the busy highway. Sometimes the donkey knows best. Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. Numbers 22:23.

In the Negev, just east of Sde Boker, is a canyon called Ein Avdat. This is the road that leads down to Ein Avdat. It is a beautiful setting for a short hike.
The beginning of Ein Avdat with white-walled sandstone mountains on both sides.

The blue sky began to show through the clouds. This was Christmas afternoon.

These are pistachio trees which are rare in this type of climate the book said.

The canyon narrows as you go but it was an easy walk for an old man.

There are streams throughout the canyon. With the severe lack of rain in Israel, I imagine the water level was probably much lower than usual. However, it was my first time to be here so I could not really make a comparision.

My shoes are getting wet with this photo, but not my ankles.

In the center of this photo, you can see a family of Ibyx walking on the other side of the canyon.

Zooming in on the Ibyx with the camera.

Isolating one of the little guys. It's amazing how they walk on the rocks.

You can see how the canyon narrows the further you go.

I did see a couple of eagles soaring over the canyon when my camera was in my pocket. By the time I was ready for a photo, they landed at their nest. Maybe next time.

The Ibyx family was headed to some green shrubs in the middle of the canyon. Plus water.

The sun was just right to catch the mountain's reflection in the water.
More reflection.

Reflections.

This is the waterfall at the end of the canyon. Lack of rain again apparent to me.

Not a tremendous amount of water flowing but a very quiet spot nevertheless.

There is a lower and an upper path to hike in Ein Avdat.

Here you can see other hikers on both the upper and lower paths.

A good view of the canyon from over the waterfall.

Walking back to the car.

You can drive to the top where the upper hike ends. This is looking back at Ein Avdat.

On Thursday, January 22nd, I returned to Sderot to visit families that have been affected by the Gaza Conflict (War?). This sign says "The people have one heart!"

While visiting one family, Israel's Channel One was also there interviewing them. Then they interviewed us, the "Christians from Jerusalem". I thought it would make an interesting photo.

As we headed back to Jerusalem, there was real evidence that Israel has pulled out of Gaza. If Israel had 150 tanks in Gaza, there must be 149 more to move.

148 left to move.

147 left. The tanks even have to stop for red lights.

On Highway 1 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is this 60th Anniversary sign of the Nation of Israel. On Sunday afternoon, January 18th, Highway 1 was closed for security reasons. There were 5 European Prime Ministers in Israel at the same time. England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. If 5 more Prime Ministers had come, Jerusalem could have had a "revived Roman Empire" meeting. “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Revelation 17:12-14.

Geraniums outside my front window looking good in the middle of winter.