Goodbye to the Aussies

It was my last day with the Australians for this tour. We started out on the shore of the Galilee and traveled in the direction of the Mediterranean. Along the way we drove through Cana of Galilee and Nazereth. Our first stop was Megiddo where we explored a fair share of the 25 levels of civilization represented by the huge old mound of dirt.
We continued on through the Armageddon valley until we finally turned and ascended through one of the passes in Mt. Carmel.
The monastery on Mt. Carmel has one of the most spectacular views of the magnificent valley. Unfortunately, it seemed like it also had half of the population of Hong Kong. I instructed the group to take their pictures and then come with me to a quiet wooded place nearby. We gathered under the trees and Kieth presented a moving and challenging message about the faith of Elijah and the widow as well as compelling insights about the confrontation with the priests and prophets of Baal and King Ahab.

Our last stop of the day and my last site with this group was Caesaria on the Seashore. We visited the theater where King Herod held court and later Roman governors used as their headquarters. This is the theater where Paul made his defense before Festus and Agrippa.

But that was yesterday and this is today. I am getting ready to leave again as I type. I'll go get on a different bus and greet a different group in a short while. I know I'll see the folks from Australia again but it was a little sad to say goodbye. I should be used to it by now.

Trees

The war last year when radical Islam hit Israel with thousands of rockets was devastating to the trees. The katyusha rockets cannot be accurately aimed. You aim them somewhat like you aim a bottle rocket. To complicate matters a little, this is a special year on the Jewish Calendar. It is a Shmitta year. During the shmitta you should not plant a crop nor cultivate. You are to allow the land to rest. The trees don't rest though. They will suffer if nobody cares for them. So it is a blessing if a foreign visitor who is not Jewish offers to tend to the trees.

That is what the group did for the morning. They trimmed hundreds of trees.
After the trees, it was time for lunch. How appropriate it seemed to eat fish from the sea of Galilee! The fish are roasted on a charcoal fire and served with a huge variety of salads.


Since we are already on the shore of the Galilee, we visited Capernaum and the place where Jesus met the disciples with fish for breakfast after the crucifixion.






Of course, what day on the Galilee would be complete without a ride on a boat?

North of the Galilee

A short while before we arrived at the Galilee last evening I was informed that a fax had arrived. It was a notice that there was a bicycle event on the road in front of the kibbutz this morning. We scrambled to reformulate our plan for the day. The road would be closed from 7 AM until noon, they wrote. So be begged the Kibbutz to prepare an early breakfast for us and we left before 7 AM. So far, so good...
Our first stop would be on a ramparts overlooking the UN facility at Qunetra. That was the plan, anyway... About 10 minutes before we go to the overlook one of the tourists informed us that he really needed a bathroom...NOW! Fortunately, we are a mere 200 yards for a turn that would take us to a national park at the top of Mount Bental instead of the overlook that was on the plan. Still going fairly well, don't you think? Next stop - Banias.
Banias was known as Ceasaria Phillipi in the New Testament. One day, Jesus was with His students beside the Galilee and he said to them, "Let's go for a walk!" A couple days later, after a tough hike up out of the Galilee basin, they arrived at the foot of Mount Hermon. The city had a horrible reputation at the time and it had an awful nickname to go with it's reputation. The city was called, "The Gates of Hell." This was where the tour group decided to have their morning devotions and worship time today. Nothing like going to the very gates of Hell to proclaim your devotion to Jesus. Good on ya Aussies!
As if that was not enough, we also hiked one of my favorite sites in Israel. Tel Dan is magnificent! Some of us walked the paradise trail and went all the way to the eye of the spring. We also hiked a trail that looked so much like Australia the we started looking for Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. And that still isn't all...


We finished the day on the bank of the Jordan river. 12 members of the group had informed us that they wished to memorialize their baptism with a repeat. There was also one who wanted to do it for the first time. Keith, our leader, was delighted to perform the ceremony.

The Desert and Northern Journey

We found another delightful location for our morning devotions again this morning. What could be better than reading and thinking about King David and his conflicts with King Saul while sitting in the desert near Ein Gedi? Just to make it even better, we found an Acacia tree for shade.

After devotions we traveled on to Nachal David where the spring of Ein Gedi flows. It is a huge nature park and the little antelopes were very cooperative this morning. Since it is a nature preserve, they are not afraid of people and they allowed us to drive the bus very close to the herd of about 50. There were also Coneys scampering around and trees like nothing we had ever seen before.









Our stop at Qumran was short but interesting. This is the room that the archaeologist think was used by the scribes who were copying scrolls.



North from the Dead Sea... We arrived at Beit Shean in time for lunch and a quick tour. We explored the administration buildings of the Hellenized city called Scythopolis. The Bathhouse was very interesting with the heated floors and walls.
The theater was also quite well preserved and sound of a single voice still can fill the place.

The Dead Sea

The day was not over when we finished our camel ride. There was a journey ahead. We traveled by air conditioned coach through the desert and down down down. From the elevation of Arad which is over 500 meters above sea level we descended to over 340 below sea level. Our next stop was Masada. We spent hours exploring the ruins left by King Herod, the Roman army he commanded and the Zealots who attempted to throw off the heavy weight of Hellenism.

Frankly, the tour group was exhausted by the time we had spent a couple of hours in the hot sun on the top of Masada. Time to enjoy the wonders of the Dead Sea itself with a swim in the incredibly salty waters.

In the Desert

Last evening we arrived at an oasis in the desert between Arad and Masada. This morning we awoke with the sunrise. Actually, the sun was shining in our eyes through a gap in the tent and it was difficult to sleep longer on the thin rubber mats anyway. Breakfast was served in an adjacent tent and shortly we returned to our lovely accommodations. Morning devotions in the desert not long after sunrise was another of those experiences we won't soon forget.
We loaded our overnight bags into the coach just a few minutes before another group of tourists arrived on camels and donkeys. The morning was about to get much more interesting! The camels are near cousins from the mob at Alice springs but these are in the desert in Israel. Of course, that makes all the difference too.
We rode the ships of the desert out of the oasis on a journey that would last... Well, not too long really. The camels seemed to want to sing to us in their deep bass voices both as we climbed aboard and when we came back to the oasis. Most of them did not have names but we named a couple of them.