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The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops, Timothy 2:6

Every year the farmers of the Holy Land pick the olives in the middle of October. During the same season, they cut (prune) some of the branches.

People in the Holy Land respect the olive Trees, and never cut them down.

The pruning idea is to open the tree to let the sun well lights the fruits and the foliage inside.

In the Holy Bible, Jesus spoke of pruning that, there might be stronger life.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes [15:2 The Greek for prunes also means cleans.] so that it will be even more fruitful. --John 15:2

When two olive branches touch each other they will both become weak but when you prune one and leave the other it will produce the same amount of olives as two  branches, and the tree will remain healthy and will live longer!

Pruning Methods: The pruning  of olive trees must be done with hand saw not electric because the smoke that come from the diesel or gas saws affects the taste of olives and the olive oil and even makes the tree weak.

It is said that the olive tree once spoke to her farmer one day and told him...Keep my brother away from me and take his share from me!

After the olive tree is trimmed her branches are kept for a few years inside Bethlehem caves. The Caves are ideal to dry the olive wood because the temperatures of the cave stay the same year round and there is no moisture or humidity so the wood dry without splitting or cracking and becomes dry and ideal for carving and spinning. 

You can estimate the age of a particular piece by examining its grain. Very old trees have a dark grain while younger trees exhibit a lighter color.

The dark lines inside this olive wood trunk tells how old is the tree  the more lines the wood have the older the tree.

The dark grains inside the trunk of the olive wood is called the heart of the wood or the jewels and the white creamy part is called sap wood.

The Farmers of Bethlehem Till their fields at beginning of each spring so the air will go to the soil and the trees can get enough oxygen its a give and take relation between the farmer and his land and trees. The Wheat Farmers of Bethlehem.

During the Olive harvest Season the People of Bethlehem Pick their olive trees They squeezed some and make some into jarred olives to eat. From the Olive Oil they also make the  Bethlehem Holy Land olive oil soap

The olives are crushed into olive oil.

Holy Land Bread & Food

Livelihood

A Farmer his wife and donkey are returning home from a day of labor at Bethlehem fields.

For the Olive Tree farmers, their land, families, and olive trees are everything. Yet the resent war has often led to the uprooting of olive tree orchards the sole source of income for many farmers.

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." II Corinthians 9:10

Prayer: God of Resurrection: In remembering how Jesus chose to associate with the outcasts and the lowly, we  pray for all those who suffered , whose livelihood and future have been affected. We pray that by your Spirit the long night of tragedy may be overcome by the breakthrough of a new dawn for the People of the Holy Land , and wherever others in like ways suffer. Amen.

Old pictures from the first of the 19th century

Photograph of Holy Land women carrying baskets of olive wood, early 1900s

Olive Trees are protected by the Holy Land law as well as by the Holy Bible since the ancient times.