Wow. What a day. It was hard to believe that we were there today- Mt. Carmel where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal, the Valley of Jezreel where many wars have been fought and where the final war will be waged, Megiddo where King Solomon had a home, Caesarea which was a Roman outpost and where Peter had the first convert (Cornelius). To actually be there, to see it and to experience it is so awesome, so amazing.
Some things that stood out today:
1. It is somewhat more easy to see why the children of Israel would be tempted to engage in Baal -worship. They were absolutely dependent on the rain for there crops and hence for their survival. Yes God had provided for the, as they came out of Egypt but where was He during the drought at this time. The people north of Mt. Carmel were gentile Baal and Ashteroth worshippers. This cult was all based on fertility and new life. The people south of Mt. Carmel were Jehovah worshippers. Which direction would the country go? Would they fall to Baal worship because he could send the rain? Or would they worship the one true God? Elijah, it seems, was very confident and knew exactly what God would do. He had faith in the one true God. Am I sometimes on the edge, debating whether to follow the one true God vs following my own reasoning or power?
2. My. Tabor is the hypothesized location of the transfiguration. We drove past it and it is a larger hill/mountain. If that is the actual location, it would have taken Jesus, Peter and John more than a day to climb it.
3. We were at a Hippodrome in Caesarea. What's a "hippo"? The word hippo means a horse. The word "potomic" means water ( as in the Potomac in Washington DC, or meso- potamia - "between the rivers" Hence a horse in the water is a "hippopotamus". Anyway we saw a hippodrome today which is a horse racing arena. They also used it for gladiator contests. Caesarea was a Roman outpost so there was a lot of Roman type architecture there. Pontus Pilate had a home there which we saw the remains of. There was a stone that spoke of him which was rather accidentally found when they were digging up the area. Turns out he fell from power and a later builder used that commemorative stone to just build seating for a later structure. The point? His power and influence was brief and ours will be too unless we invest in that which lasts (God's Word and the souls of men and women.)
David Phelp's singing has been powerful and inspiring as has Chuck Swindoll's teaching. Each smaller group has a Bible teacher who goes with us and ours is extremely good. He is the British voice for Insight for Living.
David
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