With everyone rubbing jet lag out of their eyes Monday morning, we arose and devoured a large buffet style breakfast. Ori joined us to serve as our tour guide. Everyone gathered by the edge of the Mediterranean Sea as Joe gave a short devotional. May we enter this journey with eyes to see and ears to hear. Then we sang “There is a God” as we stared across the waters of the Mediterranean.
The first bus stop took us to an amphitheatre.
From there we stopped at Herod’s Aqueduct which originally stretched 13 miles and provided irrigation for Caesarea. After dipping our feet in the Mediterranean, we drove up to Mount Carmel. After strolling through a canopy of low growing trees, we arrived add a more open area of boulders overlooking the Jezreel Valley.
Joe spoke about Elijah and his contest with the prophets of Baal. Elijah lived his life with courage and passion. Do we walk in obedience with God so that He can accomplish anything through us? In Elijah’s discouraging valley experience afterwards, God spoke through a still small voice. When we come to a silent place in life, God can speak and through us change the world.
We also took a tour through a Nazareth village, stopping by a wine press in which Jesus likely participated as a child. An older lady demonstrated her process of dying wool, spinning it into thread, and weaving it onto a loom. Fascinating!
Two other stops took us to an olive press and synagogue. One of the highlights of the day was hiking up the side of Mt. Precipice to an incredible outlook. Strolling around the top of the mountain, one could see for miles, more than 180* around. The significance here? This was the mountain in which the Jewish leaders had attempted to push Jesus over the edge and stone him.
We could also see the Mt. of Transfiguration in the distance. What a gorgeous sunset we witnessed as the sun silently slipped beneath the horizon. We then headed back to our hotel for a hearty supper and soon settled for the night.
Written by Betsy Stoltzfus
Walk the Text 