Day 3 – Tuesday, March 21: Caesarea, Megiddo, Beth Shean, Precipice of Nazareth, Tiberias
Today was our first full day in Israel. We enjoyed a very nice day of partly sunny skies, with temps in the 60s. Following breakfast at 6:30, we loaded our three buses by 7:20, and departed about 7:30 for our first site.
Caesarea Maritima
We drove north in the Sharon Plain to get to our first site, Caesarea Maritima. It was a city built between 22-10 BC by Herod the Great. We started the the theater where we read from Acts 10, 12, 21, and 26. Peter, Phillip, and Paul were all here sharing their faith in Christ. Among the ruins we saw the praetorium (palace), a replica of the Pilate Inscription found in 1961 in secondary use), and the hippodrome.We then entered the Crusader part of the city where we saw the area of Herod’s harbor. Paul sailed in and out of this harbor several times! Before leaving the site, we also saw a porphyry (purple) marble statue and the aqueduct that brought fresh water into Caesarea from the Carmel Range.
Megiddo
The way to our next site took us through one of the passes of the Carmel Range (or Mt. Carmel). This range separates the Sharon Plain with the Jezreel Valley. Mr. Carmel is mentioned a few times in the Old Testament (Amos 1 and 9, Isaiah 35, Song of Songs 7 and 1 Kings 18 – the story of Elijah). Reaching the edge of the Jezreel Valley, we arrived at Megiddo, an archaeological site that has about 25 levels of occupation that span 2,500 years! We walked to the top of this Canaanite/Israelite site. We saw two Canaanite gate complexes, a 10th century BC Solomonic gate, stables and palace area of Solomon (1 Kings 9:15), a sacrificial altar (Canaanite), and a grain silo. The also enjoyed a great view of the surrounding hills from here (e.g. the Nazareth Ridge, Mt. Tabor, the Hill of Moreh, and Mt. Gilboa) as well as the valley itself (referred to in Revelation 16:16). We left the site through the impressive water system that was designed and engineered to safely bring water into the city.
“Today was our first full day here in Israel, and it was an incredible day. We visited Caesarea, Megiddo, Beth Shean (most impressive) and the precipice of Nazareth. The Bible is already coming to life, and it’s only the first day of the tour!”
Beth Shean
We drove east through the Harod Valley to Beth Shean, the only city of the Decapolis on the west side of the Jordan. This is a massive archaeological site, primarily Roman. Here we saw the bathhouse, the colonnaded street, the public latrenes, and the impressive theater. Most in the group hiked up 190 steps to the top of the Old Testament site where Saul’s body was hung on the walls of the town square (1 Samuel 31, 1 Chronicles 10). The view of the site below and the Jordan Valley to the east was spectacular!
Precipice of Nazareth
We ended the day by driving past Mt. Gilboa (1 Samuel 31), Jezreel (1 Kings 18, 21; 2 Kings 8), the Hill of Moreh (Judges 6-7) and Shunem (2 Kings 4) as we crossed the Jezreel Valley to the area of Nazareth. We ascended towards the top of the Precipice. A short walk took us to a panoramic view of the Jezreel Valley. We enjoyed a good view of Mt. Tabor (Judges 4-5) and the Hill of Moreh. We read from Luke 4 about Jesus’ synagogue teaching. While Nathaniel asked, “What good can come out of Nazareth?” It was Philip who replied, “Come and see!” (John 1). We celebrated Jesus as Messiah here!
We had over an hour drive (because of heavy traffic) to the Sea of Galilee and the location of our hotels here (Nof Ginnosar and Kinar). We checked into our rooms and enjoyed dinner together. Following this wonderful meal with many selections, we walked to the shoreline of the lake for a beautiful night view of Tiberias and surrounding area. We head to the Golan Heights tomorrow.
Day 4 – Wednesday, March 22: Hippos, Qatzrin, Syrian Border, Caesarea Philippi, Dan
