Seeing the Greatness of Our God

This morning as we left Tel Aviv, Pastor Matt Montgomery from Pennsylvania shared with us from Acts 12 where Herod Agrippa was struck dead by an angel of the Lord because he tried to make himself equal with God. We also saw how Elijah the prophet demonstrated over the prophets of Baal that God is the only true God. We are headed to Caesarea Maritime and Mount Carmel today. Pastor Matt reminded us to see the theme of both places is the greatness of our God.

Our first stop of the day was Caesarea Maritime.  I have always loved history and when I became a Christian at age 20, history became even more meaningful to me. I loved learning that God has always had a plan and a purpose for all history and all people.  

Sitting at the ancient theater built by Herod the Great we heard from our guide about the background of Caesarea Maritime and of the importance of this seaport city beginning in the first century BC. Caesarea was the home of Cornelius the centurion from Acts 10.  Again we see the sovereignty of God as Cornelius was told in a vision to send men to Joppa to find Peter (where we visited yesterday). Cornelius obeyed and sent for Peter. The Lord gave Peter his own vision, preparing him to also obey God and take the gospel to Cornelius, a Gentile.  Up to this point the gospel had only been presented to the Jewish people, not the Gentiles. But it was always God’s plan and promise to bless the nations thru Israel (see Genesis 12:3). And at that moment, Peter took the gospel to the Gentiles. And as a Gentile, the roots of my faith are from the Jewish people, and I am thankful for them.

Caesraea Maritime is along the Mediterranean Sea, just as Tel Aviv and Joppa are. The Mediterranean is beautiful. Even though I’m excited to see more of Israel, I am sad that our tour guide said that this is the last time we’ll be on the Mediterranean.

We headed north to Mount Carmel which is about 1700 feet above sea level. We learned that during the reign of Ahaz of the northern kingdom of Israel, the people were adding to their worship of God. The pagans would worship specific gods such as Baal who was the god of weather. They would set up altars on high hills such as Mount Carmel. It is on this mountain, as detailed in 1 Kings 18, that Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal as to who the true God is.  

At this time in Israel, the people hesitated to answer Elijah’s question of who they would follow. They didn’t want to commit to only one God. We too are like the Israelites following God and (fill-in-the-blank): God and our jobs, God and our entertainment, God and our families, God and our wisdom. But our God is a jealous God and will not share His glory with another. God demonstrated that day on Mount Carmel that He is the one true God and the people fell on their faces & recognized Him as the one true God.  May we also be reminded to not follow the ways of the worldly system and to follow the Lord God.

Our last stop of the day before heading to our new hotel on the Sea of Galilee was Tel Megiddo.  We walked to the top of and saw an amazing view of the Jezreel Valley. There are 26 cities built on top of one another on this site. Because of its 360° view, it’s easy to see why it was a popular site. Being there really brings to life the many events from the Bible that happened in this spot. Battles were fought here in the time of Joshua, the Judges, and Josiah died here in a battle against Pharaoh Necho. From Megiddo we can see the layout of the roads passing between Mount Carmel and the Samaritan mountains. It’s easy to picture how this was the trade route from Egypt to Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization.  There is also a future battle taking place here, the battle of Armageddon where God is going to defend His people and fulfill His plans that they will then be the ones leading all people to worship the Messiah in Jerusalem.

We ended the day at the Nof Ginosar Kibbutz at the Sea of Galilee. We are able to unpack a bit since we’ll be here for three nights. Looking forward to another full day of touring tomorrow!

Links to where we visited today:

Caesarea Maritime: https://www.bibleplaces.com/caesarea/

Mount Carmel: https://www.bibleplaces.com/mtcarmel/

Tel Megiddo: https://www.bibleplaces.com/megiddo/