I still can't believe I've only been in Israel for 2 full days. We've been doing so much each day that I can hardly keep track. It does not feel like it was only this morning that I woke up to breakfast by the Mediterranean for the second day in a row. But it was indeed only this morning that I last stood in Tel Aviv, before heading out to a much more ancient port city. The "Tel Aviv of historic Israel" one might say. Or did say. Or said something like it. Anywho. Today we went to Caesarea Maritima where we watched a very... interesting animation on the construction, destruction, reconstruction, redestruction, and reconstruction of the city. There might be one or two more in there. The city was first built by Herod the Great (same one who killed hundreds of innocent infants trying to kill Jesus).
The city was built as a tribute to Caesar, hence the name, and was designed to make travelling Romans find a place to feel at home in Israel. It included a hippodrome, aka horse racing track, as well as a lighthouse, Roman baths, a temple to Roman gods, and a prison. A prison which held both Paul and Peter. And we're not talking like house arrest this time. We're talking about a pit. Literally just a deep dry hole in the ground inside the palace. Oh and also, there stands in Caesarea the remains of a Roman theatre, that is actually still used for concerts of very exclusive artists. Remember that a capella group I mentioned? Guess where we had our first performance. Yeah, we're kinda a big deal. Jussayin.
No, but really though, Caesarea is another one of those places that has a very deep significance for any Christian who is not of Jewish descent. It was there that Cornelius, the Roman to whom Peter was sent to speak the gospel, accepted Jesus and was filled with the Holy Spirit. Also, interesting thought about Cornelius... the Bible doesn't often mention specific times unless they have a certain meaning. So when the Bible tells us that Cornelius has this vision of Peter coming to him at a certain time, what it's saying is that he was so "devout" and "God-fearing" that he, a Roman centurion, worshipped like the Jews. Makes you wonder how we got so separated from our roots. Anywho, just a thought.
SO, after Caesarea, we made our way to Mt. Carmel. This is where Elijah had the face-off, or as it's been called, the God-off with the priests of Ba'al. Something you don't think of when you read that story is how high up that location is. When the fire of God came down and consumed that sacrifice, everyone around saw it. Also, can we just talk about how sassy the whole situation is? Ba'al is supposedly the god of thunderstorms, and Elijah's all like, I'ma stop the rain until y'all end up showing the whole country who the REAL God is. We won't even comment on how sassy he was to the priests. Just go read 1 Kings 18:16-45, particularly verse 27. So. Much. Sass.
After Mt. Carmel, we went to Megiddo. Possibly better known as Armageddon. This is most notably the place where the final battle at the end of time occurs. But also, it is a very curious archaeological city. The term "layers of civilization" is so literal. This place was taken over by so many different people in history, until one day they just abandoned it and left us with a gold mine of archeology. And a great place to end the world apparently.
Our final stop for the day was Mt. Precipice. When I saw that on the itinerary, I was like ummm... that's not in the Bible. What is this place? So I Googled it, found out it was near Nazareth, so I was like ok cool. We get there, get off the bus, and first of all the view is breathtaking. From Mt. Precipice you can clearly see the city that was once the ever so tiny town of Nazareth sitting on the hills. But as we made our way to the top of Mt. Precipice, I was struck with a memory. When Jesus came home to Nazareth and preached in the synagogue, He made the whole town mad when He told them that the carpenter's son that they had watched grow up was in fact the Messiah they read about and waited for. He made them so mad in fact that they drove him out of town in order to stone him. And a lot of people say that part of what that entailed was being thrown off a cliff. And as I walked up the path on Mt. Precipice, I realized this was where it happened. This was where Jesus was taken to be killed. This was where He vanished without ever being hurt. And while they say it's just a traditional site and it's not 100% sure that that's where it happened, I could just feel it when I was up there. I mean even if that's not where that one event took place, it's still just across a valley from where He grew up and lived a majority of His life.
So essentially, this was the first place that we went that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus had once been. Beyond that was the view from both Megiddo and Precipice. Which by the way, are actually quite close to each other. From there you can see just a few miles away the city of Nain, where Jesus raised a boy to life. (Also where one of my favorite fictional characters is from - Hadassah from the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. Perf.) And next to that is a perfectly dome-shaped mountain called Mt. Tabor. Aka the Mount of Transfiguration. Now while I am not in any way, shape, or for downplaying the transfiguration itself, I couldn't help but think when looking over there that somewhere at the bottom of that hill took place one of my favorite conversations with Jesus. When the man who had a demon possessed son told the story of my life. "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
So... yeah... after all these places we finally got to our hotel, which is actually a youth hostel, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Like I walk outside my room onto the porch and backyard and there it is. But more on that to come in the next post. Sorry this ended up coming so late. Had a lot to say :) it's 2:30am. I need to sleep. Night.
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