Day 10, June 10, Luke 4:22 (16-30)

Itinerary:

·       Breakfast at Aroma’s 😊 YES!

·       Ein Harod (Judges 7)

·       Valley of Jezreel

o   4 Names

o   7 Passes

o   Several Biblical cities

o   Several Biblical mountains

·       Nazareth Village (10:30/10:45 appointment)

·       Nazareth (Lk. 1:26-38; 4:16-30)

·       Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:17-19:3)

·       Megiddo

o   Strategic location, 22 “rebuilds”

o   Josiah (2 Kings 23:29-30)

o   Armageddon (Rev. 16:16)

·       Beit Shean (1 Sam. 31:8-12)

o   7PM Light Show

Another great day.  It began with breakfast at our hotel that included omelets made by the owner and his wife.  That was very well received by our group!


Then our first stop was right at the bottom of the hillside where our hotel sits (up against Mount Gilboa), at Ein Harod.  I had never been to this place but wow was it a blessing.  So if you wonder if the place we visit are the actual Biblical locations, this is again one of those that we can say: “This is exactly where Gideon brought his army down to a manageable size of 300 men.”  And what a beautiful spring and a very inviting campground associated with it.


We then made our appointment at Nazareth Village.  This place is always appreciated.  It is a “reenactment” (as real as possible including vineyard, crops, synagogue, Joseph’s carpenter shop, a lady spindling thread from sheep shearings that are on-site, and so forth).  You really learn a lot about first century life in Nazareth.


The GPs took us on an adventurous route to get out of Nazareth, which is a large city (55-75,000) that is on a hillside with lots of steep and narrow roads.  It was lunchtime when we got to Mt. Carmel so we first went into the Druze town and found a place where we could get (according to order): 6 burgers, 5 shawarma and 1 schnitzel sandwich.  Very good. Again.


Then it was to Mt. Carmel.  The main thing here (we do not know that this is the exact place where Elijah confronted Baal) is the view of the Valley of Jezreel.  We had a very clear day (compared to all our days so far it was the best) and got great pictures.  And it’s not just Armageddon.  There are many stories that took place in this large valley so we could just stand at the lookout and point out where Josiah was killed by the Egyptians, where Deborah and Barak and Gideon delivered Israel, where dead Jezebel was eaten by dogs, where Saul and sons were killed in battle, and on and on!


Then we descended Mt. Carmel and after a couple of wrong turns we made it to Megiddo.  This ancient city on the edge of the Jezreel Valley also had view of “the Valley” (Ha Emeq) and also a great water system that you can descend into.  We always enjoy this stop.


We went into Bet Shean for dinner and most of the group ate at the Aroma’s restaurant we didn’t go to for breakfast.  As for me I still had half my shawarma sub-sandwich left and finished that before topping it off with an MnM McFlurry.  Yes.  Deal with it.  I hit McDonalds.


Then we went to Bet Shean National Park for their light show.  Bet Shean is in the Jordan Valley and it is very hot in the daytime.  So they make this available after dark meaning it didn’t start until 9PM for English speakers.  There is a 10-min introduction movie shown on the walls of the ancient amphitheater followed by an hour-long guided tour.  It was quite nice for those who went (most of the group opted to go back to the hotel.


So yes. Another great day!  Tomorrow we make our way to Jerusalem.  Hot diggity. Excited to be back in that city where we spent so much time while helping at the Garden Tomb.