Israel 2. The Long Day Part 2

My choice of food for breakfast was obviously a mistake!  It’s possible the way I began feeling was due to exhaustion, but whatever the case, a volcano began rumbling in my stomach, and every bubble of gas that erupted upward tasted like that horrible, awful, pickled fish.  I spent most of the day feeling like I’d probably need the plastic bag that my sweaty hands were clutching.  But thank God, it never came to that. 
  

Pickled herring.  

That’s not the way you want to start a trip, but other than that, the day began on a very bright note.  Our tour guide spoke excellent American English.  We hadn't been sure what to expect on that front.  I’m pretty certain that some Israeli guides have a Hebrew or Arabic accent, and it might take a little work to follow along.  But we were fortunate.  He introduced himself as Mickey, and said he has been living in Israel since the age of seventeen.  Ah, so that explained it.  An American-born Jew who spoke our native American English.  Just like the nice man next door.  Nope.  Not so fast.  Mickey went on to explain that he was born in Russia into an ethnic Jewish family.  His native tongue is Russian.  His last name is Nikolaev.  He learned Hebrew in Israel, and learned English at university in Israel.  He had become a Christian while attending university, and that’s a story for later.

Leaving the hotel, we headed north, driving the highway that runs along the lovely Mediterranean Seacoast.   Our first stop was the ancient seaport town of Caesarea.  There, we examined the ruins of Roman architecture, including an aqueduct, an amphitheater, and other columned edifices.  It was impressive for most of the group, I suppose.  I tried to enjoy it, but found myself wandering around, keeping the restroom within easy striking distance.  

The thing about Caesarea, if you remember chapter ten in the book of Acts, it’s the place where Peter was called to visit a Roman Centurion named Cornelius.  It sure wasn’t Peter’s idea to go.  God had to give him a vision as he napped on a roof-top in the seacoast town of Joppa.  Today that town is known as Jaffa—a suburb of Tel Aviv—about thirty miles south of Caesarea.  It’s a great story, and as gentiles we need to really appreciate the significance of what happened there.  This was the moment when God made it clear to the Jewish disciples that salvation was for ALL people.  And here we were, standing in the very place where Cornelius had no doubt walked, and prayed, and gave honor to the God he did not yet completely understand.  

The next stop was Mt Carmel.  Getting to the top of it was an interesting journey of twisting roads and switchbacks.  On any other day, when pickled fish were not part of the equation, I would have really enjoyed this.  However, under the circumstances, it was nearly unbearable.  

But this mountain—this was the very place where Elijah had a little contest with the prophets of Baal.  Four hundred and fifty of them.  You know the story.  It is described in 1 Kings 18.  After the prophets of Baal had worn themselves out, cut themselves, and just in general made fools of themselves, their fire still wouldn't ignite.  Then Elijah prepared his sacrifice, and watered it down really good just to make sure that spontaneous combustion was out of the picture.  Then he prayed, and I’m pretty sure he quickly moved back from the sacrifice, because a moment later God sent a blast of fire from heaven that burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the water.  Now the people knew who the real true God was.  And it was all over for the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.  Not one of them got away.  

The thing I liked about Mt Carmel was how far you could see out over the valley.  It gave the illusion of being on top of the world.  It was a lovely place, and one could easily see why this was a good spot to offer a sacrifice, or get struck by lightning.

Then it was time for a stop at Tel Megiddo.  Think Armageddon.  Yes, THAT place.  

This is a very historic hill where at least twenty six layers of civilization have been uncovered.  It is located at a very strategic place, overlooking the Jezreel valley, as well as guarding a mountain pass that was used as the main trade route linking Egypt in the south and biblical Assyria in the north.  This is the location where many, including our guide Mickey, believe that the last great and final battle will take place.  The Battle of Armageddon.  Revelations 16:16.

This is also a place that was ruled by King Ahab in the 9th century BC.  And the interesting thing he did was to dig a shaft approximately 100 feet down into the bedrock of the hill, then a horizontal shaft more than 200 feet long that led out to a cave in the hillside where there was a spring.  This could be used as a source of fresh water for the hill-top city, and would be especially handy if ever the city was under siege.  We walked through this tunnel, and it was amazing to think that people could carve a walk-way through solid rock with hammers and chisels almost three thousand years ago.

   

The water tunnel on Tel Megiddo

          Next on the agenda was lunch.  As we headed north-easterly from Tel Megiddo toward the Sea of Galilee, we stopped at a restaurant in Afula where the group could go in and order whatever they wanted.   From my seat-of-affliction on the bus, it appeared that everyone was enjoying a wonderful meal of pita bread, hummus, finely chopped salads, falafels, and shawarma.  

Following lunch, our route took us past Mt Tabor.  We didn’t stop, but the events that happened there are well documented in Judges chapter 4.  It’s one of the more interesting stories that I remember from childhood.  It’s the place where Deborah—Israel’s prophetess and leader—told Barak (not Obama) to take ten-thousand Israeli soldiers to the top of the mountain.  This was a trap.  The enemy, a Canaanite Commander by the name of Sisera, and his army, came after them, but Barak and his men charged down the hill and killed them all.  All but one.  Sisera took off like a coward running for his life and ended up in the tent of Jael, a woman.  He was very thirsty, so she gave him milk, covered him up, waited until he was asleep, and drove a tent peg through his head.  I liked that story when I was a young Mennonite kid.  I shouldn't have liked it, I suppose.  It didn’t quite fit with our theology.  But we were taught the story anyway, and the next Sunday the lesson might have been about loving your enemy.  God was sort of confusing then, and I’m not sure I have it all sorted out yet.  But this much I am convinced of;  when scriptures seem to disagree, Jesus is the referee.  And we know what He said about our enemies.  And speaking of Jesus, Mt Tabor is also the historically traditional  spot where the transfiguration took place.

 

This is Mt. Tabor

Moving on, our next stop was Kibbutz Ginosar, which is a town located at the place where the New Testament town of Gennesaret used to be, along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Here, we visited a museum that houses a 2000 year old fishing boat.  It was dug from the mud in 1986 during a drought, and is like the ones that Jesus and the disciples would have used.  

Then one final event for the day was a boat ride on the sea of Galilee that took us from Ginosar to the city of Tiberias.  It was getting dark by now, and the waters were calm, but one could imagine ferocious winds roaring around the mountains and across the water, stirring up waves that could terrify even the most experienced fishermen of Galilee, until they cried to Jesus, “Wake up! Don’t you care that we are about to drown?!”

Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee

And then we pulled into a dock at Tiberias, and were taken to our hotel for the night—the Leonardo.  Following a delicious supper buffet, in which I could participate, it was finally time for our bodies to get horizontal.  We didn’t stay up to fellowship or watch the news.  No games.  No romantic walks along the shore of Galilee.   No.   It was 7:30 PM , more than fifty-three hours since seeing a bed, and sleep was coming on.

Halle..lu….. z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z.