In the Land of Milk and Honey

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Caesarea Maritima

Caesarea was build by Herod the Great

one of his 10 major building projects

He wanted to be remembered

It had a theater with marble seats

The great acoustics came from the Mediterranean sea

Herod used 2.000.000 Granite & marble columns in his building projects

imported from Greece & Italy

the columns weighed so much

we have no idea how he got them here

Ceasarea was a magnificent city

a 26 acre palace complex ( Caesar in Rome had a 9 acre palace)

Hippodrome with 350.000 seats (2nd largest had 60.000 seats)

light house

a temple to Caesar Augustus

Arena

and a harbour in the area known as "death for ships"

in 2007 we had a faith lesson by this sarcophagus

picture from the web, to show the palace and hippodrome

Herod could see the horses turning from his palace

The Hippodrome and the harbour

The harbour was 400 acres 20x the next largest at the time

self cleaning, didn't fill with silt

footings made with poured concrete in salt water

100' deep one mile out into the Mediterranean

Nobody really knows how he did it

walking down to the ruins of the palace

The apostle Paul was here

He wrote "prison letter" here

When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.

he started his teaching tour from the harbour here

Luke put the lives of the apostles

and the Herods often beside each other

"that the world would know there is a God"

As usual King Herod built a swimming pool

as part of his palace complex

Around the pool was seating for 1200 people

Everywhere you can find pieces of marble

you have to look for them and some

like Moria are better at finding them

We put this big piece back where we found it

Herod was likely the richest man who ever lived

In the desert we'd been near En Gedi to visit a building

It looked strange

with a pit on the outside

and rooms not connected with doors but holes to pass

things from one room to the next

When the archeologists found this, they were not sure what it was

residue in the vats was found to be balsam

a family patent recipe for the Herods

balsam is an aphrodisiac

in ancient times it sold for $1.000.000 an ounce

To ship the balsam all over the world the Herods used

the harbour of Caesarea

we walked around Ceasarea, to get an idea how big this place is

we are here half way the original hippodrome

What happened to Herod the Great's dream to be remembered?

most people only know that he killed the babies in Bethlehem

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Mt Carmel

Moving day, we say goodbye to the Galilee

First stop Mount Carmel

Devos in the morning

we do not serve a God of coincidence

Mount Carmel

Sunday morning, so Todd sat us in "pews"

The saying is:

Once something gets into the Jezreel valley it will go into Israel

Jezebel slithered through the Kishon (in the Jezreel valley)

and brought a very bad way of Baal worship to Israel

she leaves the door open

Eliyahu from Tishbe, an inhabitant of Gil‘ad, said to Ach’av, “As Adonai the God of Isra’el lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither rain nor dew in the years ahead unless I say so.

where God had intended living water to flow, everything dried up

A long time passed. Then, in the third year, the word of Adonai came to Eliyahu: “Go, present yourself to Ach’av, and I will send rain down on the land.” When Eliyahu went to present himself to Ach’av, the famine in Shomron had become severe.

Elijah who's name means Adonai is God

has a contest with the prophets of Baal and Asherah

Ach’av sent word to all the people of Isra’el and assembled the prophets together on Mount Karmel. Eliyahu stepped forward before all the people and said, “How long are you going to jump back and forth between two positions? If Adonai is God, follow him; but if it’s Ba‘al, follow him!” The people answered him not a word. Then Eliyahu said to the people, “I, I alone, am the only prophet of Adonai who is left, while Ba‘al’s prophets number 450. Let them give us two young bulls, and they can choose the bull they want for themselves. Then let them cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other bull, lay it on the wood and put no fire under it. Then, you, call on the name of your god; and I will call on the name of Adonai; and the God who answers with fire, let him be God!” All the people answered, “Good idea! Agreed!”

the prophets go first - no rain

They took the bull that was given to them, prepared it and called on the name of Ba‘al from morning till noon — “Ba‘al! Answer us!” But no voice was heard; and no one answered, as they jumped around on the altar they had made.

Elijah repairs the altar of the Lord

brings water up from the Kishon river

a picture, Lord we need Living Water

Eliyahu took twelve stones, in keeping with the number of tribes of the sons of Ya‘akov, to whom the word of Adonai had come, saying, “Your name is to be Isra’el.”

Then he said, “Fill four pots with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”

Then, when it came time for offering the evening offering, Eliyahu the prophet approached and said, “Adonai, God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Isra’el, let it be known today that you are God in Isra’el, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, Adonai, hear me, so that this people may know that you, Adonai, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back to you.”

Then the fire of Adonai fell. It consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust; and it licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “Adonai is God! Adonai is God!”

The Lord answers

850 prophets are going down to the Kishon River to die

Living Water comes down and flushes all the Baal stuff out of Israel

Eliyahu said to them, “Seize the prophets of Ba‘al! Don’t let one of them escape!” They seized them; and Eliyahu brought them down to Vadi Kishon and killed them there.

But Fire at Mount Carmel did not persuade Jezebel

Elijah is discouraged

What to do when your passion is low:

- Hazak, take another step

- Pray,

- Find someone who is hurting, spent time with them

- read the text

-community

- visit Horeb, the mountain of God

- pray together

Obedience brings passion

Don't be like Obediah, go for total commitment

God gives Elijah a disciple 350 miles to the North

in Damascus

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Megiddo

^{Megiddo is a tell with 77 layers}

^{This altar is from the time of Abraham}

^{The Canaanites practiced a fertility religion}

^{sympathetic magic}

^{they would do on the altar what they hoped their gods would then also do}

^{sexual acts and also human/child sacrifice}

^{By the size of the graveyard they estimate 8-9.000.000 babies died}

^{They did not destroy the peoples
    as the Lord had commanded them,but they mingled with the nations
    and adopted their customs.They worshiped their idols,
    which became a snare to them.They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to false gods.They shed innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was desecrated by their blood}

^{They defiled themselves by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted themselves.}

^{Baal & Asherah worship}

^{Language is alive}

^{Asherah later became Istar and still later Easter}

^{the worship symbols were eggs and rabbits}

Why would people stand by and do nothing?

If growing up you get taught that this is normal

and if you don't you will have nothing to eat

On the other hand it links very strongly to our age

we also have millions of babies offered

their life cut short because the pregnancy is not convenient

Alexander the Great got rid of this kind of "worship"

because "man is the measure of all things" and humans were worshiped

Megiddo is 77 layers because it is in a very strategic place

the Jezreel Valley

whoever controlled Megiddo controlled the trade route

Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife

the stables of Salomon where here

According to historians there were more battles here and

more people died in this place then anywhere on earth

The bible talks about the final battle in Revelations and places it here

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

and what do you need when you build a city?

water!

we walked down into the shaft

walked on the bottom of the water tunnel

to the well

driving back we saw fields in the foreground, lined by walls

field are very small, it was often bread supply for the family

not farming for profit

A big stone quarry

At the Kibbutz is an authentic first century fishing boat

go in this one with 13 people, now that would be scary

Because we were home early we had time to explore

This was on the floor where we stayed

Our room

Marc and I walked around the Kibbutz

there were signs you could follow to do your own tour

See the banana plants

another group climbed Mnt Arbel again, would have been fun too

But we'd done that already

and we hadn't seen anything at the Kibbutz yet

Near Nazareth

Morning Devotions

Rabbi + the Soapmaker

We get off the bus just outside of Nazareth and walk at the edge of a field

Ripe grain

Don’t you have a saying, ‘Four more months and then the harvest’? Well, what I say to you is: open your eyes and look at the fields! They’re already ripe for harvest!

So interesting that you can just do that

walk on the path between fields

to experience the parable:

A sower went out to sow

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell alongside the path; and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky patches where there was not much soil. It sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow; but when the sun had risen, the young plants were scorched; and since their roots were not deep, they dried up. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. But others fell into rich soil and produced grain, a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as had been sown. Those who have ears, let them hear!”

Some seed fell in rocky places

We are the field We need to be cultivated, and

stones removed so we can receive the seeds

in a way that there will be a rich harvest

In the back of the picture are rocks

Todd led us in a loop to see this part,

but because we were socializing the loop became a straight line

and most people missed it.

Todd reminded us without mincing words that we were not on a social tour

but on an ^"Israel in Depth" tour, where we are to follow exactly

that's what disciples do

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

He led us back to the place most missed,

an ancient quarry between Nazareth and Zippori

Joseph Jesus' father was a Tectan (carpenter, stone mason, builder)

Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Miryam?

Herod Antipas gave orders for every tecton to work in Zippori

It is possible that Jesus went to this quarry

and on from here to the city Herod Antipas was building

From the quarry we could see Zippori

to the left of our bus

(The bus should have been hidden so we wouldn't know)

Met some cows on the way

What do you need to build a city?

after so many days we all knew the answer:

water, and lots of it

We'd been on this A B C tour

Another

Blessed

Cistern

Actually, I think it's pretty cool to walk through all these cisterns

It was the life line in ancient times

and by walking through we remember

This one was large

21.000.000 gallons, sections were added over time

This city was build by Antipas, he is in the bible

wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle

Herod was delighted to see Yeshua, because he had heard about him and for a long time had been wanting to meet him; indeed, he hoped to see him perform some miracle

Jesus talks to all kind of different groups in their language

to Pharisees He talks Remez (clues in scripture)

to Pagans he talks angels and demons

to Romans authority

to Herodians Kings

We learned that the Romans & Herods together

crucified 100.000 Pharisees

Herod Antipas about 5.000

Jesus calls Antipas fox (weasel)

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.

This was a Greek theater,

no backdrop so you would look into the countryside

theater was mission, all the plays were about the gods

Jesus knew theater

“Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!

something to think about-

How much do you need to know to have report with people

Shape your message to the audience