Today's journey began at Megiddo. In scripture, this place is referenced in Revelation 16:16--where the final showdown between God and Satan will take place and Christ will conquer death for the last time. However, there is so much more to think about and see at Megiddo! It sits in the Jezareel Valley, at the crossroads for major trade--making it coveted land. Because of this, many battles took place here and 26 layers of rock have been uncovered, some of those dating back to Ahab and Solomon.
The mountain in the distance to the right is Mount Tabor--also known as the Mount of Transfigeration.
An alter in Megiddo.
Grain bin in Megiddo. Where wheat was stored during war years.
Where the stables at Megiddo would've been. The stone feeding trough in the middle possibly dates back to Ahab's reign.
Silly boys, pretending to drink from the trough.
Water was a precious source in Megiddo, and when the area was in war the water was guarded securely. It was underground and guarded. We were able to walk through a tunnel where teh water was hidden.
After Megiddo, we headed to Mt. Caramel. Evan did an awesome job sharing the story of Elijah and Baal, then we walked up to the top and looked out over the land.
The view of the Jezreel Valley from the top of Mt. Carmel was amazing (that's why there are so many pictures!) but to stand there and sing How Great Thou Art and How Great is Our God while looking at the same creation (albeit a little more modernized) that Elijah looked at was just pretty amazing.
The men in our group. The one beside Evan is our tour guide for the week, Nadav.
Boys being silly!
We went to the Druze Village for lunch. Oh my, what a spread! Schwarma, several types of hummus, falafel, several different salads...YUM! The food here (for the most part!) is excellent.
From the Druze Village, we traveled on to a replica of a village in Nazareth. This was probably my favorite part of the day. (If I could even pick a favorite!) Our tour guide was a Christian Jew. He was super funny, but explained things so well and spoke with such conviction. I don't think I'll ever read the parables the same way.
An original, 1st century wine press that was uncovered as the Nazareth Village was built.
Our last stop for the day was Mt. Precipice. This is a point of reference for a passage in Luke 4, where Jesus goes to the temple, reads the scrolls, and is rejected to the point the people run him to the edge of town to throw him off the cliff, but he escapes. We had just talked about this passage in the Nazareth Village, so to read it then almost immediately see it was pretty incredible.
This is a close-up shot of Mt. Tabor (Mount of Transfiguration).
One of our students, Reece, reading the Luke 4 passage on Mt. Precipice.
A little video of our group singing in the chapel at Mt. Carmel.
No comments:
Post a Comment