Holy Land — Day 3
Today things started early. From the 6 a.m. wake-up call until now, things have been going non-stop.
First we went to Bet-She’an, a relatively newly discovered archaeological dig. Although we saw great pillars, a remarkably well-preserved theater, and detailed flooring, the most popular room was, of all things, the restroom just off the theater.
Yes — the restrooms. It was funny seeing people wanting to sit in them, but struggling with the idea of such images being posted online. Who would post such things online? Me.
Luke 4 tells of Jesus being taken by force to a hill in order to be thrown from the precipice. While at Nazareth, we stopped and visited the only hill in the area that would be good for such brutality. While the plaque at the site said Jesus leaped from this cliff, the Bible tells us he disappeared from their midst — less dramatic, but more accurate, no doubt.
We went from there to Zippori, a village across from Nazareth.
The village was long ago buried under the sand, but excavations have unveiled some amazing things, among which is a mosaic floor depicting the pagan goddess, Dionysus. One of the faces is known as The Mona Lisa of the Galilee. The Jesus connection is that there is a chance that the boy Jesus carried his father’s lunch to him here in Zippori as Joseph may well have been working at this site.
There has been a lot more archaeologist’s work done at Tel-Megido. But the most amazing part of that site remains Ahab’s tunnel. We walked through it and tried to recreate the photo I had taken 13 years earlier. It’s a bit blurry, but it was a good effort.
As we headed to Mount Carmel, our guide said, “Hey — let’s go up this road! There’s a newly discovered tomb with a stone in front of it that would have been just like the one that had been rolled away from Jesus’ tomb!
Sure enough, our drive wheeled around and traveling up the narrow road, we were able to locate the tomb and take pictures.
From there we went to the highpoint of our day — Mount Carmel, or as I like to call it, The OK Coral! Upon ascending the mountain, we looked east toward the Mediterranean and imagined a cloud, the size of a man’s hand on the horizon. I spoke there on the three miracles that God performed on behalf of Elijah in this place, emphasizing that he still does miracles in our own lives.
After all, Elijah was a man just like us (James 5). Looking down into Harmegedon, it was amazing to think of blood being as deep as the horses bridles.
Every day has been incredible on this trip, but today was the best.
Tomorrow a couple dozen people will be baptized in the Jordan. Then a devotional on a boat in The Sea of Galilee! The devotionals have been going well. Thanks for your continued prayer support.
I probably won’t get to post this completely for a few days.