Emphasis Preaching Journal

It was a familiar site in every village through which Jesus and his disciples walked: The conical clay ovens, fired with wood, in which the women of each household would bake the daily ration of bread. These ovens were located out back, behind the houses, to offset the risk of fire. Early each morning, the baker-women would sweep out the ashes from the day before and stoke the ovens with dry sticks. They’d light the fire and direct a child to keep feeding dry branches into it, until the required temperature was reached.