Falling back into religion

Our first stop was to Beth She’an, the 3-gated Canaanite city which was strategically built on the road from Egypt to Damascus and used by Egypt as a means of controlling the Canaanites. It was a city that provided the people of the time a chance to talk to the traders and learn any important news to report back to their homelands. Besides the center and acres of opulent homes and statues, there was a 217,000 sq.ft. “Country club” for men only which included a very large swimming pool, massage stations, exercise room, saunas and a barber to name a few amenities. Roman lifestyle was quite different from the more demure, simple Jewish lifestyle.

Next up the long and winding road was Megiddo (AKA Armageddon). This tel (city built upon one or more cities) was built, conquered and rebuilt 25 times and when the Israelites took it over sometime between the 10th and 9th centuries it functioned as an adminstrative center for the fertile Jezreel Valley. They even figured out a way to get water up the mountain and not be seen by the enemy by building an underground horizontal tunnel to the spring which then could be pulled up in buckets. We were able to walk down and through this amazing tunnel. There were also stables for 450 horses which were used to pull the chariots. The oldest and biggest grainery in the 9th century BC was a very important part of this city.

Mt. Carmel provided us an amazing 270 degree view of Caesarea to the west along a sparkling Mediterranean Sea, Megiddo, Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem to the east as well as Beth She’an and Upper and Lower Nazareth.

At Mt. Carmel Pastor Rob reminded us that in 1 Kings 18 and 19, God called Elijah to challenge their false gods because the Israelites had begun to drift into the worship of pagan gods. Also, we must remember the dangers Christians face when falling back into “religion” instead of having faith in what Christ has already done for us.

Finally, the long and winding road down the mountain took us to Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea where King Herod’s dreams and visions of a deep-water harbor for all of his trading vessels was the greatest of the world at that time. Current excavations display the 180 degree half circle theatron which even today is used for entertainment. The hippodrome provided chariot races which were wild and bloody, but were meant to take the audiences‘ minds off their bitter lives.

Pastor Bill reviewed Mark 8:34-38 reminding us the cost of following Jesus and what it REALLY means to “take up the cross”.

We then did a brief run out to the Mediterranean Sea and got a glimpse of the 3 aquaducts - one was saline water and the other two were not.

All of the day’s sights highlighted not only the lifestyles of the early kingdoms, but also the intellect and determination of the Israelites to never give up.