From Elijah to Armageddon

Wow what an incredible day.  Exhausting in demand and scope.  It began several hundred feet from the boardwalk and shore of the Mediterranean Sea in downtown Tel Aviv and ended just a couple of kilometers from the boarders of Syria and Lebanon.  Tel Aviv is modern, secular and western in so many ways.  With Jaffa (Jonah and the Whale) as it’s suburb, centuries later it is still very much a city needing to hear the message of God’s grace.  We were also struck by the striking contrast between rich and poor as we looked out our hotel window onto apartments which seemed to be crumbling      from disrepair.    

After breakfast we head north to Mount Carmel.  As we sit and listen to morning devotions with Pastor Jake and look down the hillside at the Kishon Brook where Elijah defeated and put to death the Prophets of Baal it is a like we are living in an old Sunday school fannelgraph.   Our emotions are stirred as we think about the power of God but are also confronted by the violence of this story and the bloodshed that has so marked the history of this so called place of peace.  You can almost tangibly feel the conflict and spiritual battle still waging between different forces.  

Our friend, Pastor Jake

Statue of Elijah

After two short of a time to really process it all we are again back on the bus heading for  Tel Miggdel and the Valley of Iszael which means planted by God.  We learn that every tree   we see has been planted by hand in the last 50 years since before that time this region was nothing more than a desert of desolate valleys and hills. 

Tel Miggdel is an archeological and historical marvel.  It envelops history from before the time of Solomon and Ehab who built fortifications, passing through the time of Deborah the Judge who achieved a great military victory here and Jesus who allow James and John to witness his Transfiguration on the high mountain in the background.  Then reaching forward to the end of history and the battle of Armageddon which will take place on this plane of ground which is a geographic centre point which physically linked trade routes from all directions in the ancient world - after Armageddon we have lunch - shawarma or falafel?  My heart and head hurt.   

Joseph making a chair

After lunch it is a bit more touristy which actually helps a bit.  We head to Nazareth (Nazrat), the childhood village home of Jesus.  We visit a re-created site which portrays what life was like in the first century when Jesus ran and played in these very same hills.  It felt like a trip to Upper Canada or Black Creek Pioneer Village:  we see a shepherd leading his sheep, a women spinning wool and even a carpenter named Joseph.  It’s just a museum in so many ways but then you are sitting in a synagogue actually listening to someone speak the words that Jesus read, in this same place, from the Book of Isaiah fulfilling them in their reading.  

Hannah spinning wool

The scroll in the synagogue

The afternoon stretches into evening as we drive around the north end of the Sea of Galilee and settle into our hotel which is located in a Kibbutz - a communal village operated by Jewish families committed to living together and sharing everything in common.  The hotel which is located on the Golan Heights and built on the remains of a palace is a beautiful.  But again there are so many contrasts.  From the road to this tranquil place we witness evidence of Israel’s 2006 war with Lebanon and from our balcony we look onto the peaceful, snow topped mountains of Syria which seemingly cloak the violence and civil unrest which is taking place there.  It is so strange to be “enjoying” a resort in the midst of what has recently been a war zone and is one of the most volatile places in the world.   Time for supper - do you  want the chicken or the lamb?

Here we are, smiling with the Mount of Transfiguration and battlefield of Armageddon in the back ground.  I think next time we might go to visit something easier to wrap our heads around, like the Nascar Hall of Fame in South Carolina.