On Wednesday morning, Brandan and Becky woke up early and walked down to the shoreline to watch the sunrise.
Brandan recorded himself reading a talk he had written about the Savior a few years ago while we sat in this special setting.
Back at the hotel, we needed one more covid test in order to return home. A testing company came to the hotel and we all got in line to get our noses swabbed. Here we are waiting for our results. This time they used a rapid antigen test and we quickly learned that we were all negative. Yay! Our vigilant mask wearing had paid off.
As soon as everyone was finished testing, we drove to Nazareth and Mount Precipice.
Luke 4 records when Jesus announced His divine mission in Nazareth. Those who heard him were so offended that they led him to the brow of the hill and tried to throw him off. This is the most likely spot where that happened as its the only steep drop off near Nazareth. We had a great view of Mount Tabor and the Jezreel Valley from here. Mount Tabor is the traditional site of the Mount of Transfiguration.
Here's a view of Nazareth which is now a large city, not a sleepy village.
Michael Wilcox taught us about Jesus' 30 years preparation for His ministry that largely happened in Nazareth.
This was another beautiful location, covered in wildflowers. We must have visited in peak wildflower season.
From Nazareth we drove to Mount Carmel, famous for the showdown between Elijah and the priests of Jezebel that is written in 1 Kings 18. Carmelite monks maintain the site and have a monastery on top of the mountain.
Elijah was a powerful prophet, yet very relatable to modern people. We soaked in stories of his life.
Mount Carmel offers incredible views stretching out to the Mediterranean Sea.
This is Helen and Gibson next to the monastery.
The patio surrounding the monastery labeled the surrounding hills and mountains. The one on the right of the photo is Tel Meggido, better known by its Greek name, Armageddon. The Book of Revelation identifies Armageddon as the site of the last battle before the end of the world, This was a little hard to imagine standing on a sunny day, looking at a quiet, fertile valley. Sometimes we felt a disconnect between what we saw in Israel and what we knew was happening out of our view. The scenery was beautiful, refreshing and peaceful, yet our tour guide told us that every apartment building contained a bomb shelter.
After Mount Carmel, we had a rare stop for lunch, this time at a restaurant owned by Druze.
Lunch was underwhelming, but it gave us a chance to learn about a religious minority we had never heard of before. The Druze split off from other Muslim groups in 1000 AD and they no longer identify as Muslim. In 1043 the Druze stopped accepting converts. You need to be born a Druze to be a Druze. There are about a million Druze in the world, mostly in Lebanon and Syria. The Druze in Israel supported the Jews in the war of 1948 and have good relations with Israel's government today. Druze are known for blending in with the communities they live in while maintaining their own culture.
Our last stop was Caesarea on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. There were lots of towns named Caesarea in the ancient world since it was never a bad idea to flatter the Roman emperor.
We started our tour on the seats on an ancient hippodrome, the location for chariot races.
Chloe sang If You Could Hie to Kolob. This tour was unusual for the singing talents of George, Garrett and Chloe and their gifts added to the meaning of the sites we visited.
Michael Wilcox spoke about Peter and Paul and the rapid spread of Christianity across the world from this spot. He also paid tribute to Ilan, his friend and fellow tour guide for many years.
Ilan led the historical part of the tour. Caesarea was one of Herod's major building projects. He built himself a palace next to the sea with an indoor swimming pool. The palace is gone, but this is what is left of the swimming pool. Some of the mosaic floors remain, showing some of the grandeur of the palace.
The city also had a theater which has been refurbished and is used for modern shows.
Caesarea must have been an impressive site 2000 years ago. The ruins are quite beautiful.
This is an aqueduct Herod had built to bring fresh water from springs that were about 10 miles away from Caesarea.
We had a short time to enjoy the beach which was covered in seashells and sea glass, two of our favorite things to collect.
Helen couldn't resist jumping in the sea. The water was warmer than the ocean off the Oregon Coast, but still chilly.
We drove from the beach to the airport, one of the most fun drives of the trip as Garrett sang songs on the bus microphone, accompanied from the back of the bus by Helen, Gibson and Emma.
It felt too soon to leave the beach and it was! We got to the airport in Tel Aviv 6 hours before our flight left. We found ourselves in the awkward and uncomfortable spot of passing through the first security checkpoint, which was intense and involved personal interviews with an Israeli soldier for each of our tour group, and not being able to advance past the baggage check in point. Our airline didn't open their services until 4 hours before the flight was scheduled to depart. We waited in space between the security line and the airline counter for the counter to open. Helen and Gibson played cards with some tour friends. Left of Gibson are Jane, Paul, Lorin and Kelly.
Once the airline opened we quickly got checked in and had several hours to wait for our flight. We had our last meal in Israel in the airport. Becky, Helen and Sofi had smoothie bowls and Brandan and Gibson had crepes. We had a long day of travel and landed back home about 30 hours after we left Tel Aviv.
Egypt was great fun, but we fell in love with Israel. For Brandan this was the trip of a lifetime. Becky hopes it isn't the trip of a lifetime because she would like to go back. Helen enjoyed walking around Old Jerusalem and visiting the Mount of Olives. Gibson enjoyed seeing new places and is looking forward to new adventures.
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