2013 - The Year of Restoration and Recovery
Joel 2:25-26 - And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. Recently I was remembering my trip to Jerusalem in 2008. While I was in Israel, I visited Masada. Masada is on top of an isolated rock plateau (akin to a mesa) on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. The site of Masada was identified in 1842 and extensively excavated between 1963 and 1965 by an expedition led by Israeli archeologist Yigael Yadin. Many of the ancient buildings have been restored from their remains, as have the wall-paintings of Herod's two main palaces, and the Roman-style bathhouses that he built. The synagogue, storehouses, and houses of the Jewish rebels have also been identified and restored. I took the picture on the left while I was in the Synagogue. It is a picture of ancient art and cups that were restored. Yadin went through