Day 14: Galilee Field Study (Day 1)

Today began our trip to Galilee! I am so excited! This morning brought back fond memories of the beginning of this trip. Mallory and I decided to share my red suitcase....carrying it down the stairs and along the Old City Wall....definitely memorable. Our morning began bright and early as we had to be at the bus at 6:45 AM.

At 9:00, we made it to our first destination...Bet Shean! Bet Shean was a very important city for trade, and is now a giant tel. The most popular Bible story from this site was when Saul fell to the Philistine army at Mt. Gilboa, which was close in site. Down near this giant tel was a huge Roman and Byzantine fortress. It was definitely quite the site! A lot of the pillars had fallen down, due to a massive earthquake that occured in 729 AD. There were lots of bathhouses, temples, and a giant theater (which would have held 7,000 people!) I really enjoyed walking around the ruins at this site.

Next was our lunch stop at a little restuarant. We had fresh pita with either filofal (fried chick peas) or schnitzal (a breaded chicken with sesame seeds). Delicious.

Our next stop of the day was Mt. Carmel. This was a really powerful site! The main story we focused on was how the Israelites began to worship Baal, the storm god. It was on Mt. Carmel that God came down as fire, showing that He is the Almighty. It was incredible to be here, and the view was beautiful. We sat among these giant rocks and looked out into the Jezreel Valley. Sadly, it was pretty hazy so we were not able to see super far out. The weather was also cooler today. I guess this is what the weather is supposed to be like in January anyway! It was really great to learn about Elijah and how God came down as fire. God works in amazing ways, doesn't He?

On our way to our next stop, we passed a 1st century tomb that had a rolling stone! This would be really similar to what Jesus' tomb looked like. It was a quick stop, but definitely worth a picture!

Then we made it to Megiddo. All the nations of the world passed through here because it was on a major trade route. It remained an important site throughout Israelite's hsitory, and Josiah died here in battle against the Egyptians. It is also possible that Armageddon refers to Megiddo in Revelation 16. Hmm. We walked down another tunnel that was used for water. It seems like every town has one of these. They are always cool! There were a lot of palm trees at this site...that was interesting. I felt like I was on vacation! Well..I really am on vacation.

After Megiddo, we made our last stop at the Nazareth Ridge. It is crazy to think that we were standing where Jesus grew up as a child, and we looked out at the land he "played on." Specifically, we stood on Mt. Sepphoris. We read the story from Luke 4 here, and also saw the church were the angels supposedly told Mary and Joseph that they were with child. Crazy! It was fun to be able to see the town of Nazareth light up as the sun began to set. Every view here is breathtaking.

Nazareth was our last stop for the day, and then we were off to our hostel in Ein Gev! This place is absolutely amazing. It is more like a resort than anything. Mallory, Verity, Caroline, and I are all rooming together in our own little "cottage!" We got served a delicious dinner with lots of food. Oh boy. Our house is right on the Sea of Galilee, and we decided to go swimming in the dark! A lot of people went out there. The water was freezing though! I'm guessing around 65 degrees. I went under the water twice, and that was enough for me. I have no regrets!

So that was Day 1 in Galilee! People are right when they say this trip keeps getting better and better...I love it here!