Day 8 Megiddo Tue 11/19/2019

MT CARMEL / MEGIDDO / CAESAREA / JERUSALEM

Leave the Sea of Galilee and go west toward the Mediterranean Sea. Drive to the top of Mt. Carmel to visit the Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery, where the Prophet Elijah hid (1 Ki.18:42). Continue along the coast to Megiddo (Armageddon of Revelation - Rev.16:16). See the excavation, King Ahab's water tunnel (no scripture reference, but historical evidence credits the site), and King Solomon's stables (2 Chron.9:25). Travel along the Sharon Valley to Caesarea to visit the Roman theatre and Crusader castle. Caesarea was the resort of Roman officials, such as Pontius Pilate, and was also the place of the prison of the Apostle Paul (Phil.1:7). Go up to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight.

Our first stop of the day is right next door where we visited a museum which held a restored fishing boat from the 1st century.

Amir gives us the historical background for what we are about to see.

This is the 1st century boat two brothers discovered and then contacted the experts to figure out how to preserve it.
And here it is. Amazing!

Our devotion this morning comes from Psalm 121 "I lift up my eyes to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes  from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

This psalm is known as a psalm of acsents.
The people of Israel would sing it on their journey to Jerusalem which was always up.

Our next stop is the city on a hill called Haifa.

A fairly current city. We travel from the Galilee region to the Mt. Carmel region.

We will travel from Galilee to the coast and visit each of the cities/towns shown by the arrows.

Here are some approach shots to the modern city of Haifa...

In the distance is the city of Haifa built on the side of a hill - the beginning of the Mr. Carmel region.

An oil refinery which started with refining oil from Iraq, but ended up sending oil to Britain.

A look back at the city as we make our way to the cave where Elijah hid on Mt. Carmel.

Definitely a port city as you can see by the huge cranes.
The Brits were instrumental in the planning and placing of the railway system.

This spacious garden spot is the headquarters for the Baha'i faith.
There are five faiths present in Haifa - Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Drews, and Baha'i.

Armir gives us the historical significance of this place.
A lot of what Elijah did on Mt. Carmel was initiated by Elijah - not by GOD.
However, GOD did answer Elijah by sending fire.
One of the tasks of a prophet was to "stand in the gap" for GOD's people.
See Ezekiel 22:30 for evidence.
Elijah had a lot to learn as he ran away in fear of his life instead of trusting in GOD with is life.
The next picture shows the cave where Elijah hid from queen Jezebel.
See 1 Kings 18 to fill in the details.

The Catholic Church built this church over the cave. 

Here's a better look at the cave.

Here's a short video taken of the port of Haifi as we make our way to our next stop

Length: 00:00:14 sec.

Our next stop is Meggido.

Here's another map of the location of Meggido.

From the National Park brochure:
During the biblical period Megiddo was one of the most important cities in the country. Its location allowed it to control the outlet of the Iron Valley (Wadi Ara) to the Jezreel Valley and the Via Maris (the Way of the Sea), an international trade route that linked the ancient world's centers of culture and power - Egypt and Mesopotamia. The springs and fertile soil at its foot made Megiddo a desirable place to rule, and therefore, it became the area of frequent battles for its control. A possible echo of these battles may be found in the biblical Song of Deborah: "The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo..." (Judges 5:19).Christan tradition identifies Megiddo as Armageddon, where the great battle of the end of  Days will take place between the powers of good and evil (Revelation 16:16).

Amir explaining the cut out to expose the layers of the tel.

Listen carefully for the explaination of some of the landforms we see in the distance.

Length: 00:00:25 sec.

In case you couldn't hear in the video.
Nazareth is in the middle just to the left of center.
Mt. Precipice you can see just above the quarry - the yellow space on the side of the moutain overlooking Nazareth.
Mt. Tabor is the round mound just right of center on the horizon.

This is a good shot of our group and the Jezreel valley.

From the Nataional Park brochure:
Megiddo's huge water system was hewn during the period of the Israelite kings, in order to bring water into the city without having to exit the walls. To this end, Megiddo's inhabitants dug a gigantic, 36-meter-deep shaft, from which a 70-meter-long horizonatal tunnel extended to the spring, which emerged in a cave at the foot of the mound outside the walls. The tunnel was cut on an incline so the water would flow to the bottom of the shaft and the inhabiitants could draw water while stanidng at the top. The outer entrance to the spring was sealed with a massive stone wall, concealed with earth so that an enemy besieging the city would not discover its location.

The next series of videos will show the route of the water system.

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Coming out of the entrance outside the walls.

Looking back at the concealed entrance.

Our next stop will be Caesarea.

From the National Park brochure:
The Theatre is the most ancient of all theatres found in Israel. Built in Herod's time, it continued to be in use for hundreds of years thereafter. Its location was carefully chosen in accordance with the accepted criteria of the time. It had two cavea (seating areas) and could accommodate 4,000 spectators. The orchestra area was decorated with marble-like plaster and renewed several times. Behind the stage stood the lavishly decorated scaenae frons - a three storey high wall, built with tall pillars - which served as a stage background. Towards the end of the Byzantine period the threatre was converted into a castle, and was deserted after the Arab conquest.

From National Park Brochure:The Herodian Amphitheatre is a huge U-shaped entertainment structure, complete with an arena and hundreds of seats, was excavated here. Built by Herod, it was probably used for horse racing, sport events and entertainment shows during the roman period. The amphitheatre, more than 250 m long and 50 m wide, originally had 12 rows of seats, with place for some 10,000 spectators. Two rows of columns were added to its eastern section at a later stage. The structure was referred to as an amphitheatre during Herod's time (Antiq. XV:341) and might be the stadium mentinoed by Josephus Flavius in Jewish War (II:9,3).

I tried to take two pictures and put them side by side to get a panoramic view.
You have to use your creative side of your brain to see how they fit together.

Look how clear and beautiful the Mediterranean Sea shows off in this photo.

Beautiful mosiac floors in the bath house in the most western wing of Promontory Palace.

Next stop: Jaffa (aka Joppa)

On the way to Jaffa the sun was setting.
This is what happens when the bus stops at a stop light and you want a perfect picture of the sunset.

After the light turned green I did get a nice shot of the sun setting.

Saint Peter's church in Jaffa
Read Acts 10 for more details about Peter in Joppa.

A very nice "river" walk at night.
Tel Aviv is the lights in the skyline.

Toward the sunset. Mediterranean Sea in the background.

What a handsome/beautiful couple.
Pastor Reiner and his wife, Janelle.

Toward the east, Tel Aviv in the background.

Curt & Jan Berg with Carol Koziol

One of the reasons we stopped at Jaffa was to meet Amir's wife.
Here she is.
She will stay in Tel Aviv tonight as we travel to Jerusalem for our last stop of the day.