Pilgrimage to Israel Day 13

When a Christian group was digging to establish a pilgrim hostel and spiritual center, they found some ruins. Not uncommon in Israel. As they started the excavations, they realized they had found the town of Magdala. Made famous by Mary whom Jesus cured, Magdala was a wealthy fishing town on the Sea of Galilee. No doubt Jesus was here several times as he conversed with people in the synagogue and travelled the area. 

In the synagogue they found a very special stone where a menorah was carved on one side, the first one of its time period found outside of Jerusalem.

Magdala is currently under excavation and will one day be completed as a popular tourist attraction. It was great to see yet another place Jesus had been to.

We met up again with our guide Meir for this last day of site seeing. First stop was Megiddo. The place where many battles were fought and the prophesied location in Revelation where the last battle of the end times will occur. Why was there so much conflict here? It is a high place that controlled a major trade route from Egypt to Mesopotamia. Whoever controlled the area and the mountain, controlled the trade and the economy. Joshua defeated the Canaanite troops here and King Solomon built a great city here. This is what it looked like back then.

There is even a stone dating back 5,000 years which has served as an altar of sacrifice for centuries upon centuries.

Though the remnants of centuries of conquests exist on this site, the future prediction is just as violent. Also known as Armageddon, this may just well be where the final battle on earth will happen. Given its history, it would not be surprising.

Mt. Carmel was the next stop where Elijah had a contest with King Ahab and the prophets of Baal. Elijah challenged the prophets to determine who was the real God. Each built an altar and prayed for their God to light it. Nothing happened on the Baal altar but when Elijah prayed God set the altar on fire at once (1 Kings 18:17-40). All the people worshipped the one true God. 

After winning, all 450 Baal priests went down to the river and were personally slaughtered by Elijah himself. Some prophet!

This is also the same mountain where King Ahab looked down on Naboth's field hoping to purchase it in 1 Kings 21:1-24.  When Naboth wouldn't sell his vineyard, Jezebel took matters into her own hands and had him unjustly arrested and killed. Elijah was not happy with this and told the couple that dogs would end up licking their blood. The prophesy came true, all because one king looked out over these fields and wanted someone else's land.

The Romans may not have created the arch, but they sure perfected it and used it to their advantage. One of their most important contributions to civilizations was the creation of the aqueduct. Water is essential for any village but good drinking water is not always plentiful. When King Herod, who grew up under Roman influence, wanted to build up Israel, he used this technology to transport water to areas where new cities sprang up. The original 2,000 year old arch still stands even after several civilizations have built upon it and next to it.

Our fourth stop was Caesarea, built as a Roman city by King Herod and where he spent a majority of his time. He honored the Roman Empire by naming it after his friend, Caesar Augustus. Herod didn't do anything small scale. He built a manmade port to rival any port of its day. After all, if you controlled the port, you could tax the boats and the trade and become a very rich country. While only a fraction of it remains, the model shows how massive it was.

This was also King Herod's personal place of relaxation.  He built himself a palace with his own pool...

Had his own Olympics and horse races...

And his own theater where concerts still take place 2,000 years later.

Caesarea was built as a Roman city in a Jewish kingdom. It was built to demonstrate the dominance of the Roman Empire over other religions and cultures. Interestingly enough, 2,000 years later that empire has crumbled and the Jews and Christians are the ones who visit these ruins, having survived the past 2,000 years despite the rise and fall of empires. 

We ended the day in Joppa, now known as Jaffa or Yafo, in the southern part of Tel Aviv. Joppa was an important Mediterranean seaport of its day and plays a significant role in two scriptures. First it is the place Jonah runs to to catch a boat in the opposite direction of Nineveh (Jonah 1:3). The old port of Joppa still exists in some form and even though it was a rainy night, the port is still visible.

Of course, Jonah meets a fishy fate as he is thrown overboard and eaten by a big fish only to be spit up on shore three days later. Jonah is then ready to obey God and heads for Nineveh.

The other story involves the disciple Peter. Peter is at Simon the Tanner's house when he goes up on the roof at lunch time and has a vision from God about eating unclean animals. Then some men from Caesarea (where we had just been) knock on the door and tell him that Cornelius is sending for him. Cornelius is not Jewish and the first official Gentile baptism (Acts 9:42-10:8). 

After 13 days, 1,712 pictures, and lots of memories, we leave Israel with full hearts. It has been a surreal time as we traversed the entire country, from the southernmost point of Eilat, to the eastern border on the Jordan river, to the northern area of Tel Dan, and the Mediterranean western shore of Jaffa. We are so grateful for these wonderful experiences and will treasure them always. Israel is an amazing country full of so much historical, political, and religious significance. This pilgrimage has brought the Bible to life, both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospels. We will never read scripture the same again. But even more important, it is a spiritual place, a "thin place" where God was present with us each and every day. Wherever we go in life, may every place be a thin place where we feel the powerful presence of God. Shalom!