"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
They are ABUNDANTLY SATISFIED with the fullness of Your house..." PSALM 36:7-8
On our first day, we stopped in Haifa for lunch! It was sooo yummy! We had this delicious soup...it was so flavorful and yummy! Then, we stepped outside and enjoyed the view and gorgeous weather! Haifa is a port city that sits on the Mediterranean Sea. The water is just glorious to look at! I could have sat there for hours enjoying the breeze, sunshine and the view!
Liz
Richelle and Jackie
Stephanie
Anne-Marie and me
Liz, Alison and Jackie
Melanie and me
I was amazed that they had these statues made of Anne-Marie, Liz and me! :-)
There were some beautiful gardens that overlooked the city....if only we had more time to really explore these gardens...
We went back to Haifa later in the week to meet with Dr. Pokroy who told us about the work going on in the local assembly there. It is so encouraging to hear how the Lord is working in and through the believers in Haifa! Pray for them!
We drove through the Jezreel Valley...a beautiful, fertile land in that area. We drove past Megiddo (I really wish we had stopped there!) and continued on towards Mt Carmel.
Here is a picture of us driving up Mt Carmel...its soo beautiful (minus the reflection in the window...I was still perfecting my take-pictures-as-we-ride-in-the-bus technique!!)
We were greeted by a statue of Elijah...
Geography of Mount Carmel....(sadly the day was hazy and the visibility wasn't ideal)
Mediterranean Sea is to the west
Mt Tabor and Nazareth are towards the east (and a little bit south)
squint and you can see Mt Tabor in the distance!!
Megiddo is towards the southeast Samaria/Samaria Mtns lie south of Megiddo
Megiddo is down below...with the Samarian mtns in the distance!
The Lord Jesus would have spent about 27 years of His life in Nazareth and when He headed towards Jerusalem, He chose to go through Samaria--"...as He went to Jerusalem..He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee..." Luke 17:11. It was there that He encountered the ten lepers with only one returning to give thanks.
I Kings 18 describes a time when Samaria was under a great famine. Ahab and Jezebel ruled during this time, in the area of Megiddo and Jezreel. Ahab blames Elijah for the drought and so Elijah challenges him to bring his prophets of Baal to Mt Carmel. The children of Israel gathered and the prophets of Baal numbered 450. They each prepared their altars and put no fire under it. The prophets of Baal cried out to their gods...at noon Elijah mocked them, telling them to call out louder..perhaps their gods were sleeping. They continued to cry out, dancing and cutting themselves with knives until evening.
Then Elijah prepared an altar to the Lord. He placed 12 stones upon it to represent the tribes of the sons of Jacob...and then he had 4 pots, filled with water, poured upon the alter...repeated 3 times. It is thought that they may have gone to the Mediterranean Sea to get the water. The altar and trench surrounding it were filled with water and then Elijah called out to the Lord. He called out and the Lord answered with fire from heaven that consumed the offering, altar, stones and licked up all the water. And the people fell on their faces and said "The Lord, He is God!"
As I stood on Mt Carmel and heard the account of this event, I couldn't help but look up and wonder what it must have been like to see the fire come down and consume the altar in its entirety! The people reacted by falling on their faces. They obviously recognized that Elijah served the true and living God. And yet, we know, that Ahab and Jezebel never repented of their ways. They never turned their hearts towards the living God. How is that possible after seeing such an awesome act of God!?
It reminded me of a passage in Revelation 9 where the fifth trumpet is described. The locusts and scorpions from the bottomless pit are given power. They are commanded to harm "only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for 5 months...in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die and death will flee from them." Revelation 9:4-6
What a horrid place to find mankind! A place of despair beyond measure...and yet we read that they, "with the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands...they did not repent." Revelation 9:20-21 They will turn away from the One who can give them Life and turn towards the very one who caused such pain, agony, despair! They refuse to repent of their ways, just like Ahab and Jezebel and the prophets of Baal.
And then I turned to look at my own heart. How often do I allow my own fleshly desires to rule rather than recognizing the power of the living God in my own life? I am thankful that our God has been patient and merciful with me. He could rain down fire from heaven and consume me and yet He patiently guides and directs me, helping me to see the error of my ways. May I look back on Mt Carmel and be reminded that my God is great and powerful, that He is the same God Who I serve today. May my heart bow to Him, "The Lord, He is God!"
Amman, Jordan...what is significant about this place? Well, this would have been the place that one of David's mighty men was killed....Uriah...have you heard of him? The Ammonites were from this region. Petra is here....and Pella, the city where the christians fled following Stephen's persecution. Do you remember the story of Naboth's vineyard from I kings 21? Yep, that occurred in Jordan as well! Obviously, a lot of history occurred here and I'm sure we barely scratched the surface!
We flew into Amman and spent the first night at this hotel...
...we had breakfast at the hotel...here are Liz, Melanie, me, Andrew, Anna, Richelle and Anne-Marie
We had a two hour drive to the border...I don't have many pictures since my main goal was to keep my breakfast down.
Later we stopped at this tomb along the roadside. This tomb, with rolling stone, is similar to what the Lord's tomb would have been like...more pictures of that to come in a later post!
Here is a picture of the Jewish villages we saw...the villages were beautiful, sitting along the hillsides!! The country is just gorgeous! Sadly pictures don't capture it but hopefully this will do!
Next stop....Mt Carmel....one of my favorite places we visited!
Anne-Marie and I left from KC early on March 11th. We were saving money on our plane ticket by arriving to Chicago early. Our flight left for Istanbul, Turkey at 9:30 pm and we arrived in Chicago around 3:30 pm. We had brilliant plans for those hours...go shopping...get a pedicure...get a cup of joe in chicago somewhere...and then we arrived....and realized we couldn't check our bags in at Turkish Airlines until 6:30 pm. So much for our great plans! So, we sat outside the international terminal for a little bit...there was this great array of flags from all around the world....I had to snap a few pics....
I look tired....and the trip hasn't even started yet! Good thing I had a 10 hour flight to look forward to...all that time to sleep sooo comfortably (note sarcasm regarding the comfort of sleeping on a plane!)
Anne-Marie...catching up on calls before we leave the country.....suitcases can do more than hold your clothes...they make great seats, too! :-)
Our group members trickled in throughout the afternoon and evening. We all eventually met up at the gate, got our name badges (that became a permanent fixture around our necks for the remainder of the trip), and enjoyed one another's company until departure. The flight was long but we made it to Turkey and then had a short lay over before flying to Amman, Jordan.
Anne-Marie and Liz at the Istanbul airport, waiting for our flight to Amman.
Alison and Thomas (and a little of Michael, too)...killing time, waiting for the next flight!
We stayed in Amman overnight and then took a bus across the border into Israel the next morning...I didn't fare that bus ride so well....nearly lost my breakfast right in the middle of Steve talking about the Jordan River. Thankfully, our bus driver in Israel was much much better!!
I am definitely guilty of blog negligence since I haven't posted since September! I certainly had my reasons. Life gets busy, other things take precedence, and it just seemed like the things the Lord was teaching me were too personal to be placed out in the blog-o-sphere for all to see. But for now, I'm back for a short stint.
I can't think of a better way for me to record my trip to Israel than my blog...to savor the moments and enjoy putting the pictures and the history together, side by side. I never anticipated that I would enjoy Israel as much as I did. In fact, I was emphatic that I wasn't going. But, I'm so thankful that I did. So thankful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the places the Lord Jesus Christ may have walked and to see scripture come alive before my very eyes. And, I want to record it in such a way that I can go back and enjoy it for years to come and perhaps you can enjoy it, too! So, come! Walk with me through Israel...at least the parts of Israel that I got to see! :-)
