With our final Israeli breakfast of fresh vegetables, fruits, sauces, pickled ???, hard boiled eggs and omelets, plus their mystery coffee, we set off right at 8 AM for Cana, the town four miles from Nazareth, where in John 2 where Jesus turned the water into wine. On the Altar of this beautiful, smallish Catholic Church there are six large stone water jars, just as in the scripture event that held the Jewish ceremonial water. When Jesus transformed the water to this best of wine, he was showing the glory of the New Covenant that is fulfilling the Old Covenant. Here we thank Aladin for guiding us to the Friar who led us up front so that Pastor Jim could conduct our planned ‘Renewal of Marriage Vows”. We also learned that Aladin kept other pilgrims (the excited Nigerian Christians) to the rear until we completed the five minute liturgy – thanks!
We had to watch the clock in order to arrive at the Nazareth Village by 9:30 AM, and with everyone’s cooperation and Eddy’s good driving we arrived a few minutes early. This Village is a re-creation of life in Jesus’ time, is a ministry of Arab Christians, and it is housed in a YMCA facility. Some years ago they discovered this hillside with ancient terracing still intact, as well as remains of stone grape crushing and drainage stones. We began with a series of indoor displays that showed the culture and political reality of Jesus’ day in Nazareth under Roman rule. With the help of expert New Testament scholar Dr. Kenneth Bailey, the Biblical parables and teaching tools of everyday life that Jesus so effectively used were developed for all to see and hear as we walk along the pathways. Our guide, along with the people dressed in clothing of Biblical days, showed us the fields, the plows, the hard path, the sheep, the sheepfold, and how Jesus made spiritual points and truths with them. The Synagogue was so carefully built and the explanation of Jesus being handed the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah was reenacted. When he chose to read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news…healing…” (Luke 4, quoting Isaiah 60), the people were amazed, then later offended as Jesus interpreted this good word to mean he was God’s Messiah to bring this good news to Gentiles as well as to Jews. In anger they rushed to throw him over the cliff for his ‘heresy’. The Olive Press building was not only authentic to the first century, but also used seasonally by the Village to actually press and bottle olives. The Woodworker’s House had a ‘Joseph’ character show us how his first century tools worked and a woman carded sheep’s wool and spun it for weaving a blanket. This was so real and educational. At the end of the tour we received a small clay oil lamp to take home. Later at the airport security, these became items of grave concern!
On our way through the Jezreel Valley we were given a blessed surprise by Eddie and Aladin, who turned onto a side road and pulled over for us to see the roadside family cave tomb. This was accidentally uncovered by the highway department a few years ago and we thrilled at this first century era find. We were on our way up the hill to Mt. Carmel on the coast just south of Haifa. This is the site of the famous contest led by the OT Prophet Elijah, who challenged the priests of Baal (endorsed by the Israelite King Ahab and his foreign wife, Jezebel) to a contest showing which was the one true God, Yahweh, or Baal. – I Kings 18-19. As the Lord brought down both fire and later water, Elijah bravely gave witness to God. The view here is wonderful, looking (when it is clear) to the north to see Mt. Herman in Lebanon, across to the Nazareth hills, to Mt. Tabor (the Mount of the Transfiguration) across the valley floor, to the Israeli air force base in the middle, to the Mediterranean Sea to the west. The Carmelite Sisters are based at this site, are devoted to prayer and silence, and have order houses all over the world. At the base of the Mount is a settlement of the Druze people. This is an old and secretive sect broken off from Judaism. They dress with distinctive baggy black clothes, and defy modernity. We lunched at a Druze eatery serving either schwarmas or falafels.
Our final tour stop was to the archeological coastal city of Caesarea. The extensive ruins are showing us two millennia later the lavish life style of Herod the Great. He designed and had this city built in honor of the Caesar at Rome. We started out seeing the existent portion of the Roman aqueduct and playing in the surf. Later we were seated in the excavated and inspiring open air theatre facing the seashore. Scripture was read in Acts about Peter meeting Cornelius in Caesarea to learn God’s lesson about the truth that in the Gospel of Jesus what and who was thought to be ritually unclean is now acceptable and pleasing. The palace foundation was actually built of volcanic rock out into the ocean, and after his death successors continued using this site as the capital and headquarters for their governing – and not Jerusalem. The hippodrome is right along the sea, and it was here that the Apostle Paul had his hearing with Governors Felix and Fetus (Acts 24&25). Paul demanded his citizen right to appeal to Caesar, and was sent off by boat from here, and it is the last we really hear from him. After free time to collect potsherds and shells in the sand and surf, we left for dinner – our Last Supper!
The tour company provided for our dinner together at a family eatery in Tel Aviv, and it was here that we gave our ‘tip’ gifts to Aladin and Eddie, along with notes of appreciation for all they did for us this past week together. This was also a gigantic schwarma or kabob meal and we were stuffed.
At 7:00 PM we entered the Tel Aviv Airport area and had a bus security search, then headed into the terminal area. At this point we said goodbyes to Jim and Lani Gilbert who were staying for a four day extension in Jerusalem to wander around and retrace steps on their own. With suitcases in tow we were placed into a holding area for more security interrogations. The head person interviewed me while other helpers were asking similar questions to others in the group. They were concerned especially with the gifted clay oil lamps from Nazareth Village because they could hold explosives. So we were searched and found explosive-less, and allowed to go on to the next level of security check! After 1 ¾ hours we were finally at the gate, and at 11:50 PM pushed out from the gate and bid our stay in God’s Promised Land a tired farewell. This was another marathon day, and we were blessed to have this experience.
Randy
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