... And that first sea was the sparkling Mediterranean and Haifa Harbor, as seen from the top of Mt. Carmel. Haifa is the third largest city in Israel, population 500,000 and is the only industrial port of Israel along the Mediterranean coastline. Tourism in Israel is big and growing -- the Queen Elizabeth embarked from Haifa the day we arrived.
Every day in Israel begins with a grand buffet, as tasty as it is colorful. Ever had slaw for breakfast? How about four kinds of yogurt? Fresh dates? Then, turn the corner and you find pasta with mushrooms and gravy. Not to mention more standard fare such as waffles, eggs, and pastries. We have all suspended our diet for this trip!
Private note to J.L. Morris, who has been teaching us about the prophet Elijah: we rode the mountain ridgeline southeast from Haifa to the site identified as where the prophet Elijah faced off with the 450 prophets of Baal, just as you taught us! Here is old Elijah himself personifying the anger that God expressed when he caused fire to fall on Elijah's sacrifice.
And here are some of your star students on the windswept crest of Mt. Carmel with our backs to the Jezreel Valley mentioned prominently in the Old Testament.
From Haifa, our motorcoach took us to Zippori, "The Ornament of Galilee." This was a significant city in the time of Christ in close proximity to Nazareth, his boyhood home. Although Zippori is not named in the Gospels, we have every reason to think that a young Jesus visited here with his parents. It was thrilling to walk on flagstones of the main street, unchanged since His time. You can still see the marks left by the chariot wheels.
Archeologists have uncovered many beautiful Mosaic floors in this city. These are works of art created painstakingly with small cubes of different colored stones. Perhaps the most striking of these included this facial portrait of a woman whose eyes follow you wherever you go.
After lunch in Cana of Galilee (no wedding and certainly no wine!), we took an interesting side trip to the village of Nain, perhaps known best as the location of one of Jesus' miracles, that of raising the widow's son from the dead (Luke 7). This Greek Orthodox church commemorates that event.
Bougainvillea everywhere!
This scene of an olive harvest between Nain and En Dor illustrates the type of labor that this product of Israeli agriculture requires. The nation's farmers are beginning to reemphasize the production of olives and the other six Biblical crops: wheat, barley, figs, pomegranates, grapes and honey.
...to shining sea, the rising moon over the Sea of Galilee from our hotel.
**Many thanks to our guest blogger, Ron Scarbrough!
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