 Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Caesarea
When we left the hotel is started to rain hard while we were on the bus. For the entire 45 min drive it poured. When we arrived in Caesarea it was cold and cloudy and we all were wishing for sun and warm. We got it when we were in the Roman Theater looking at Acts Chapter 10 and Peter's call to minister the Gospel message to the first gentile convert, Cornelius. This was a great study on how those who pray will be moved by God and then he blessed us with our wish for sun. We never again had more than a few minutes of rain on our trip. This spot is special because it is physically similar to the time of Peter and Paul and the ground we stood on was near that of the original. The trip from Joppa on the bus in the rain was the same as the walk Peter made to come and minster to Cornelius. Much more of the Scripture is now real to us all. Acts 25 tells us that this is where Paul made his appeal to be treated as a Roman in Herods palace where he was prisoner for 2 years.
 Caesarea was built in 29 BC by Herod the Great and lasted in splendor during the Byzantine period of the fourth century until 614 AD when Arabs conquered the area after which it fell apart until the Crusaders in the 12th Century turned it into a major port of entry. By the 13th Century it was taken over again by Mamelukes forces and was eventually destroyed. The photo on the right is a Crusader Citadel built on the ruins of Herod's city using rubble. Right on the sea it is not hard to imagine the splendor of this place during Herod's time.
Education on this trip was almost more than one can absorb and remember. Here we hear from Ronnie about this gate to the old Crusader city. We began to learn about the Byzantine style of architecture seen here. The gate entrance or door is where the photo was taken but all who entered had to turn right at the opening exposing them to archers and slowing down their entry. Many battles occurred in this location. Now we can see why you must visit this place more than one time just to absorb it all. We will now go home and look at the photo album and spend more time in study before our next trip. Now we get back into the bus to see the Aqueduct and then continue on up the coast to Northern Israel. This little place called Caesarea is not populated today but remains one of the most interesting archaeological sites in Israel.
Mount Carmel
 The beauty of this site and its lush greenery that remains all year is know as a symbol of beauty and prosperity. It was windy and cold as we arrived and did our second Bible study of the day from I Kings 18-19. It was our first time to look out over the splendid Jezreel valley below and think how it must have been for Elijah thousands of years ago. The statue of Elijah seen here is at the entrance of the Carmelite monastery that is located in the area where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal thus proving to all that the God of Israel is the true God. Also located on this mountain are two Druze villages. Druze are a people that split from Islam in the 10th Century that are known for their hospitality. After our Bible study on Mt Carmel we left and drove down the mountain and had lunch at a Druze Restaurant. Part of the tour this place is can process a bus quickly feeding Falafel and soft drinks.
Megiddo
 Then we continued on south east to Megiddo which we had just seen in the distance from Mt Carmel. Megiddo lies on the western edge of the Jezreel Valley which is famous for its lush, green fields. This is a key military point in the connection between Syria, Lebanon and points north through the valley and land of Israel down to Egypt. Often the winner of a battle in this area controlled the Holy Land. Biblically this is where the final battle of Armageddon will be tought as all the armies of the world assemble to destroy Israel. Then God will complete his promise to Israel and destroy all of the invaders and bring lasting peace to the nation. This trip makes all of that prophecy seem more real.
Tel Megiddo has been a fortified city for over 5000 years. Excavation reveals more than 20 different layers of civilization including Solomon who made it one of his forts in I Kings 4:12. The photo on the left is of our guide Ronnie Cohen as he tells us about the manger seen here which was part of Solomons stables at this site. Many things we have visualized about things we read in the Bible are based on artist ideas of how it was. Here we learned that mangers were mostly made of stone as we see here. It adds a LOT of context to the things we study in the Bible being in this land.
Nazareth
 After leaving Megiddo on the bus we turn toward the north east and head up the road through Nazareth on the way to Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee. Nazareth is in the hills between the Jezreel valley to the south and the Jordan Valley to the north east. The town is primarily Arab Muslim today. In the north of part of the city is Nazareth Illit which was founded in 1957. This area in the the Galilee part of Israel appears to have had a remnant of Jewish villages there for thousands of years even during period of occupation by other societies. Today this area is very Arab as we see in the photo above. We drove through the town and stopped briefly and looked at some of the town on the side of the hill where Jesus was likely to have lived as a boy.
Scotts Hotel, Tiberias
 Our final resting spot for the night and for the next few days was the Scotts Hotel on the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. This hotel on the hill overlooking the Sea was a 19th Century hospital that was turned into a hotel in 1999. By far the best hotel of our trip the view from our room was spectacular. Built with rocks that follow the heavy Crusader style of architecture of this town of Tiberias the hotel is on the side of a hill on the Sea of Galilee. Tiberias is the largest town on the Sea and has been here since Herod when it was the regions capital. This town had a lot of history in it after Jesus as the Jews developed a great deal of their current law here. We enjoyed a walk along the water front at night. This was our first place to see what life in Israel is like as we walked the main street and visited shops including a candy shop that was packed with people shopping for Purim which was just a few days away. Our hotel was not Kosher so we had a lot of cheese and butter with some great bread at every meal. This would be a gourmet buffet in my description as our dinner and breakfast was spectacular here.
Tiberias - home for three days
Sunrise looking east from our hotel room toward Jordan on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Great way to start the morning.
Near by the Scotts Hotel in Tiberias is this beautiful piece of the old Crusader fortress from the Byzantine era seen here at sunset as the moon is resing in the sky. To the Jews TIberias is one of four most sacred cities included with Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed. It was this town that became the center of Jewish thought after the destruction of the temple. Much of the Mishna or Jewish oral laws were written here. The present city was moved here from its original location to the south after it was destroyed by earthquake and rebuildt by the Crusaders.
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