Day Three In the Promise Land
Today we finally set foot on Israeli soil. What a beautiful country! We crossed the Allenby Bridge located just north of the Dead Sea around 10 am this morning. By 11:00 am we were through the security check point and driving north on the west side of the Jordan River toward Mount Gilboa. After passing Mount Gilboa we turned west and came to Megiddo. After lunch our guide wisked us away and took us to Caesarea. There we walked around a theater located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and visited the Roman Aqueducts. From there we drove north and came to Mount Carmel. Upon this Mount we read the history in 1 Kings 18:20 – 46 of Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal, and how God rained down fire upon Elijah’s very wet sacrifice. The view from this mountain is breath taking, and you can see all of the Valley of Armaggedon. Have a look!
“And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his cloths, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Megedon.”
There is an Israeli Air Force Base located in this valley. You can see two prominent air strips shaped like a V. The two airstrips each point toward a prominent Mount which I am sure are loaded with biblical history, but I still have to do my homework on what that might be, as I was busy snapping photos and not paying enough attention to my guide. As you can see this is indeed a very fertile and beautiful valley. It is here that the war to end all wars will be fought. Tonight we sleep in Tiberias, and I am looking forward to waking up and viewing the Sea of Galilee from the balcony of our hotel room. We will head further north tomorrow toward the Golan Heights. God Bless =)