Coastal Plains

Today was a big day and we covered a lot of ground! We said goodbye to the Sea of Galilee and headed to the coastal plains which is the western geographical region in Israel bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

Our first stop was Tel-Megiddo, which is named after a word that means "Hill of the Troops” and by which we commonly get the word Armageddon. We discussed the end judgment by God and the reality of the spiritual battle that we live in today. A prominent example in biblical times of idol worship was baal worship, of which we saw an altar that had been discovered in this location. The enemy uses lies and sin to ruin the things that God has designed, and this couldn't be more relevant today. We were challenged to reflect on our lives and the ways that we may fall in to the lies of the enemy and “slip". In the end, we know that God reigns victoriously, but we must be aware and equipped for the spiritual battles that we face and stand firm in Christ. This is only possibly when we love God with all our heart, soul, and strength!

We then traveled on our bus to the next experience which was located on the top of Mt. Carmel. Sitting on the edge overlooking the giant Jezreel Valley, we began to read the story of Elijah where he boldly destroys the prophets of baal by the power of God so that everyone would see that there was a God. In the face of risk and danger, Elijah faithfully put everything on the line so that God could do something incredible. The rest of the story continues, and we were challenged by the boldness of Elijah, yet can relate to the loneliness and depression he faces soon after this "mountain top experience". Will we have bold faith in spite of all the pushback we may receive in our culture? Would we be still and listen to God in the small moments that he may want to speak to us in? Will we seek to make disciples and leave a faithful legacy like Elijah did with Elisha? Following this site, we hiked back to the bus and went to eat!

After lunch, we headed west to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Caesarea! The water was so blue, the weather was beautiful, and the sites were incredible. Like Beth-She'an this ancient city was filled with magnificent structures including Herod's palace, a huge theater, an arena for chariot racing, an incredibly engineered aqueduct, and a temple for Augustus. This elaborate culture definitely reflected the wealth of Herod and the Hellenistic way of life. This was a fun site for our group as we walked through the paths of this old city and imagined what it would have looked like in the first century. What we see in Scripture is that this city was a gateway to the gospel going out to the world! We looked at Paul's life transformation and his influential ministry for the kingdom of God. Caesarea is a place where we asked ourselves what legacy we would leave for future generations? Will we build up our own lives in hopes that the whole world would remember us for our success or will we faithfully throw our stones like David and trust God like Elijah so that the whole world will know there is a God?

Well, it was finally time to hop on the bus and make our way up to Jerusalem. From every direction, as you come to the city you climb up. That was the case in ancient time and is today as well. It was neat to read through the Psalms of Ascent as we traveled to the city. We arrived at our hotel, where we will stay for the remainder of our time in Israel. Nights are a fun time where we eat dinner and relax with one another. There has really been some good community within our group this week. These final two days are going to be incredible as we explore Jerusalem and see what the Lord has to say to us.