Walking Among the Wheat & Tares

Mark Robinson, Ecological Engineer and Environmental Scientist, International Atomic Energy Agency, and Saudi Geologist from the Atomic Energy Research Institute (AERI) at Riyadh, at Bedouin Well-June 2009, 40 miles east of Mecca. Afternoon temperatures were about 128°F. The well was hand dug and ~90 feet deep. Water in the well is suitable only for camels. The area may receive less than an inch of rain in 100 years in contemporary centuries. It is possible that the Children of Israel might have visited this site in their wandering in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33). The children of Israel left chiseled images of their feet all over the wilderness from Mt. Sinai (Jabal Al Laws in NW Saudi Arabia not far from the Red Sea) to the Promised Land, making a record for the fulfillment of the promise of Yehovah in Joshua 1:33. Many of these imprints have been documented through the efforts of Jim & Penny Caldwell (splitrockresearch.org). At the top of the mountain range to the south of the photo location there is evidence of a dry lake with a dam constructed at the mouth of the canyon that drops into this plain. We were accompanied by a number of other technicians from AERI, making a party of 14 all together. When we returned to Riyadh, we had dinner in a traditional restaurant where all sit on the floor around a bowl of meat (lamb or goat) and rice that is eaten with fingers. After the meal I took a chance and gave the Saudi's a dissertation on the parable of the wheat & the tares given by Jesus in Matthew 13:24-30. The Saudi's were very excited to hear the words of Jesus who is mentioned in the Koran, but his words are not documented, and -in fact -reading his words is prohibited in Saudi Arabia.