More on Israel

Our fourth day we went to Caesarea, where King Herod built one of his palaces. This was one of my favorite tour spots. There was an ampitheater, that is still used today, and vast ruins of this old port city. It was beautiful. From there we went to Mt. Carmel and saw where the Prophet Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. The real God will burn up the wood even though it is soaked. Of course, the Lord God, the true and living God, showed His power and burned up the wood. The view on Mt. Carmel was amazing. You could see Nazareth in the distance, which is a very small village. I think I heard that in Jesus' day, Nazareth would have consisted of 10-15 families. It was also situated off of the main travel highway used in that day, so it was basically secluded from anything major. No wonder people asked, "Isn't Jesus just a carpenter from Nazareth? How could He be the Messiah?"

Afterwards, we wen to a village and had lunch-falafel, shwarma, salads, hummus, and baklava. All you could eat! It was excellent!! It was here at one of the shops that I saw a series of pictures of the NYC skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge! I had to take a picture of it...it was too funny.

That evening, we landed in Tiberias, where we stayed for a couple of nights. I loved Tiberias. Our hotel was right on the Sea of Galilee and it was gorgeous! While the Mediterranean was warm and salty, the Sea of Galilee was a little cooler, no salt, but rocky. I thoroughly enjoyed my swim in the Sea, surrounded by the Israeli mountains. It seemed smaller than I imagined but learned its about 12-14 miles long and I think 7 miles wide? You forget how far you can see when mountains are involved. My friends and I had to keep reminding ourselves that we were in Israel, on the Sea of Galilee! Jesus walked on water here. The disciples fished here. These thoughts were sometimes too much to comprehend. Pastor Mark reminded us constantly that there is nothing holy about these lands. We do not worship these lands, we worship Jesus. This was an important reminder. Being there doesn't make you closer to Jesus or more holy.

More to come...