May
25
In the Wilderness: Day 5
The view from Herod's palace at Masada
We saw a lot in our first few days. I forgot to mention some great details about Bethlehem and scripture. First and foremost is the name Bethehem itself, or Beit Lechem, which is the Hebrew transliteration. It means "house of bread" or even "house of food" (as lechem can be translated generally or specifically, just like the Old English words brot and hlaf, which wound up swapping meanings). But let's stick with the most common understanding—"house of bread." Jesus is born in the "house of bread" and placed in a manger, a feeding trough. He later refers to Himself as the "Bread of Life" (see John 6). And He is also the Lamb of God, the Paschal sacrifice, which must be eaten for the memorial to be complete.
We saw a lot in our first few days. I forgot to mention some great details about Bethlehem and scripture. First and foremost is the name Bethehem itself, or Beit Lechem, which is the Hebrew transliteration. It means "house of bread" or even "house of food" (as lechem can be translated generally or specifically, just like the Old English words brot and hlaf, which wound up swapping meanings). But let's stick with the most common understanding—"house of bread." Jesus is born in the "house of bread" and placed in a manger, a feeding trough. He later refers to Himself as the "Bread of Life" (see John 6). And He is also the Lamb of God, the Paschal sacrifice, which must be eaten for the memorial to be complete.
