Our next stop was Tel Megiddo, 25 times built & destroyed. King David built the 16th layer. The waterworks & stables were built by King Ahab for his many horses & chariots. British General Edmund Allenby conquered the Turks during a WWI battle here. The War of 1948 ended in the extensive plains of Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley, where many believe the battle of Armeggedon will take place. (Revelation 16:16 & 19:11-21) It was thrilling to contemplate, as believers will participate (v.14)! We took a photo of the site from the Tel. The landscaped farmland belies the Apostle John's revelation of blood as high as the horses' bridles.
We then drove to Nazareth and sat on a high overlook on the edge of town, over the Jezreel Valley. It is here that tradition says Jesus was taken by the crowd to be thrown down, and he ultimately walked right through the throng of people and went on his way (Luke 4:16-30). And sure enough, something quite good came from Nazareth. I took a photo of Nat on edge of the precipice.
On to Tzippori (Sepphoris) which governed as the capital of the Sea of Galilee until Herod Antipas moved the capital to Tiberias. We visited a Roman mansion which had lovely mosaics. And we saw ancient Cana in the distance. (No photos)
We drove up, up, up to the Turon Ridge and climbed, climbed, climbed a lookout built during the 1948 war. It provided an excellent view. We were not the only ones there though. An Arab family had apparently gone there for a picnic. They cranked up their music, the young started dancing, the men sat on a blanket and smoked their elaborate water pipe, and "Mama" fired up the grill! Well, that's all the JUC kids needed to see. One by one, they climbed down from the lookout and joined in the fun. Our bus driver, Hani, was delighted and broke out some snacks of his own. Soon it was one big party! After about an hour, we headed back to Ein Gev for another delicious meal and good night's sleep.
Day three started at Rosh Pinna in the Huleh Valley, an agricultural region in northern Israel. Rosh Pinna was founded in 1882 by thirty immigrant families from Romania, making it one of the oldest Zionist settlements in Israel. We then went to what remains of Tel Hazor (photo of Nat in front of part of the ruins), where Joshua defeated the king (and his kingdoms), ". . .not sparing anything that breathed, and he burned up Hazor itself." Joshua 11
We drove through Kiryat Shmona (no photo), on the western slopes of the Huleh Valley on the Lebanese border. The city was named for the eight people, including Joseph Trumpeldor, who died in 1920 defending Tel Hai (where we will return to this next weekend with another class field study & stay at a kibbutz). Kiryat Shmona's location close to the Lebanon border makes it a rich target for cross-border attacks. In the years 2000-2006, the locals enjoyed relative peace but suffered from loud explosions every few weeks because of Hezbollah anti-aircraft cannons fired at Israeli Air Force planes flying across the Israeli-Lebanese border. During the 2006 Lebanon War, the city was again the target of Hezbollah Katyusha rocket attacks. Approximately half of the city’s residents had left the area, and the other half who remained stayed in bomb shelters. During the war, a total of 1,012 Katyusha rockets hit Kiryat Shmona.
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