Let Us Go Up To The Mountain of the LORD

Greetings Friends and Family,

This morning we left the shores of the Galilee after just a few days there. I woke up early just so I could spend a little bit of time alone on the shore, like Jesus and His disciples might have before the crowds showed up for healing and teaching. This area is such a powerful place and even standing on the shore I felt like I could almost hear the disciples and Jesus discussing His teachings and His Gospel looking out over the Sea.

We left the Sea for the city of Nazareth, where Jesus spent His boyhood years and young life. The city, which was once a small town for workers who commuted to the capital city of Sepphoris, is now a city of over 70,000 Jews, Muslims and Christians. We drove through the city, but our real destination was the Mt. of the Precipice, the site where the people of Nazareth try to throw Jesus off the cliff because of His teaching in Luke 4. From the Mt. of the Precipice you can see the entire Jezreel valley, where many Old Testament battles were fought including Megiddo (Armageddon), Mt. Carmel, Mt. Tabor, Mt Moriah and the Hills of Samaria. It was a beautiful day and we had a gorgeous view from atop the mountain.

The rocky terrain on top of Mt. Precipice

The Jezreel Valley and Mt. Tabor

A look over the cliff

After coming down from the mount we arrived at Megiddo, a strategic city at the opening of the valley that has seen battle after battle for this prime location. Here there is a 'Tel', an archaeological mound or hill, which has yielded some of the oldest artifacts and buildings in Israel, including a Canaanite temple from 3000 bce. It was really fun to explore and I may or may not have found a piece of ancient pottery to bring home (not sure if I was supposed to bring it with me or not).

Solomon's palace at Tel Megiddo

The Valley of Armageddon (Rev. 16:6)

Riding a chariot! 

From Megiddo we drove over to Caesarea Maritima, a port that King Herod built for Roman ships and soldiers crossing the Mediterranean Sea. It was a beautiful and thriving port for almost 2000 years and the ruins were amazing! There were ruins from the 1st century bce all the way to the 1800s: Jewish, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader and Muslim buildings were everywhere, including a 1st century theater this still in use and a giant hippodrome (for chariot races).

on the shore at Caesarea

standing on the racetrack of the hippodrome

the store rooms of King Herod

Crusade arch

Caesarea is also the place where Paul is put on trial and appeals to Caesar and is sent to Rome, never to return to Israel. It is also the city where Peter converts Cornelius, the first Gentile (non-Jewish) convert to Christianity in Acts 10. I led a devotional at the site and it was a powerful experience to be reading from Scripture in a city where these events actually took place nearly 2000 years ago.

Another bonus of being at Caesarea was to be able to put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea! The water was warm and we wish we had brought our swimsuits and had more time, but we had to leave quickly in order to arrive in Jerusalem before sundown...because here it is Friday evening and 'Shabbat' or 'Sabbath' has begun. Shabbat here is much like Sundays back in the 1950s and 60s in America where stores and everything else shuts down for a day and everyone enjoys time with their family and rests.

Our feet in the Mediterranean Sea

So we went 'up' to Jerusalem. It is difficult to describe what I felt when I first saw the city. I have always dreamed of being here, this city with so much meaning to me and to our faith and to the history of the world. As we were driving to the city, we read these words from Isaiah 56:

"...foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer...for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."

As we came upon the city, I realized that God had fulfilled this prophecy for us...and I wept. The city is beautiful, it is electric, it is sacred. It is bustling with people of all races and ages and there is an excitement here that I have never felt in any other city in the world. When we arrived at our beautiful hotel we had time before dinner and Kealy said, "why sit in the hotel? Let's go exploring!" So her and I went walking from our hotel toward the Old City. We walked passed the Garden Tomb and came upon the entrance to the Old City at the Damascus Gate. What a beautiful thing it is to be in Jerusalem.

first view of Jerusalem with my Dad

The Oregon Team on Mt. Scopus

the Damascus Gate

We had a great dinner and are enjoying time with others from the trip, sharing the things we are thinking and feeling as God works in us in this holy city. Tomorrow we will go to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane and to Bethlehem.

Shabbat Shalom (Good Sabbath),

Ryan and Kealy