ISRAEL PILGRIMAGE –SA- 01/01/11
Woke up to a rainy day. Clouds and rain had moved into the Galilee overnight. At breakfast we decided that we would change the itinerary for today. The forecast called for rain all day in the Galilee and we decided to go south and east today swapping Monday’s itinerary for today.
Dr. Dukes led in Devotional this morning, which we had to relocate to the Maagan lobby. He shared three things followers of Christ do.
Our first stop was Aroma Coffee at the junction, excellent coffee and a quick stop.
We drove down the Jordan Valley to Bet Shean. We were the first group there. In fact it was 8:45am and they hadn’t opened the site yet so we were there to open the site. It is a grand restoration to the Roman era. Dr. David Leavell led in the site devotional at the theater. Gilla our guide led the group through the site including the public urinals.
Our driver Avner does an outstanding job as our driver and he always has ideas about how we can squeeze in the most in our day.
We drove through the Jezreel on Highway 669 to Beit Alfa. It is the ruins of a 6th century synagogue. It has an excellent video detailing how an early synagogue developed their mosaic tile floor and shows how syncretism had crept into religious practice.
Ein Harod was our next stop and it was just up the road from Beit Alfa. We passed through ancient Jezreel and its related facilities plus to our right was Biblical Shunem but we focused on Gideon’s Spring and stopped there. After our devotional we shared some additional details and returned to road traveling to lunch.
Our lunch stop was Kibbutz Mizra which is the only place in Israel that has pork. The actually grow pigs and do serve pork. But they also have many other things on their cafeteria line and I’ve never had pork there.
We missed the rain all day. It rained some when we were on the road but didn’t cause a problem when we were on the site.
Megiddo was our next stop. Dr. Parker shared about the time of Josiah and also gave an overview of all the armies and civilizations that had occupied Megiddo. The site is well developed and significant in Biblical Old Testament times. The key items were the gates, cultic worship area, granary, stables and the water system.
We were racing time now. We wanted to get to the Nazareth Overlook before dark and we made it. Dr. Williamson shared about Jesus and his hometown of Nazareth.
Night comes early in January. We headed back to Maagan, about a 1 hour trek finishing our touring day. Hannah shared about her work with Africa Inland Mission in Namibia. The evening Bible Study led by Dr. Warren continued our study in Acts.
We had dinner, conversations in the hotel lobby and then back to the room. All of us were quite tired. Looking for a quiet night of rest.
Clay Corvin Galilee SA – 01/01/11
ISRAEL TRAVEL
So much packed into to such a small place
Everywhere you turn
Another event in history
Many applying to life and how to live it
The Lord stepped into this little place
A land bridge between civilizations
Even to this very day
Conflict and fear have and are a part of daily life
When I come here
It means so much to me
The Lord speaks and encourages me
I’m reminded of His love for me
What about this place makes it so important
It is only a very small country
With a 3,000 plus year history
A depth of conflict seldom seen
Jesus lived and walked here
He willingly died for me here
Here is where my lineage began
I belong to Him and being here helps me understand
Clay Corvin SA-01/01/11
