Galilee 1

Well friends, we just returned from a four day trip to Galilee. It is again going to take a few posts to share with you all the things we did but I'll do my best to be concise. On the first day we stoped at Caesarea where Herod developed a great palace and complex aqueduct. This was probably his favorite palace on the water. However, the people of the land at this time believed that the sea should be avoided at all costs. It was a symbol of death, destruction, and evil. They were a land people and looking out to the ocean was like looking out to a great abyss. So, the Romans built up the land and took advantage of the sea economy. This view of the ocean changes how we read about ocean or sea imagery in the Bible and gives depth to the fear that seems to be attached to the sea found in scripture. Psalm 107 is a great example of this.
We later drove up to Mt. Carmel and talked about the story of Elijah fighting the Baal gods during the reign of Ahab. It was after the fight, a chase with Ahab through the valley, that Elijah met his death wish from Jezebel, and fled to cave where he met the thin silence of God's voice in the wind. At the end of the day we went up to a hilltop on the Nazareth Ridge and looked out onto the valley. We talked about Jesus growing up in the town of Nazareth, his view of the land from there, and how He grew to be the Messiah. Here are the pics:

Theater at Caesarea looking out to the Med. sea

My friends here at JUC! We climbed up on the rocks at Caesarea

Herod's aqueduct

view out to the sea from the aqueduct

Statue of Elijah fighting the god Baal on Mt. Carmel

View from the top of Mt. Carmel

View from the top of a hill in Nazareth