Israel Day Two

We got up early for breakfast this morning and this is the view to which we woke:

That is the Mediterranean Sea.

We headed to Caesarea for our first stop, which is where Herod the Great lived.  He had some amazing buildings built in his time, even building stuff underwater.  It is just amazing how they have still remained to this day:

From there we went to Mt. Carmel, which is where Elijah brought down fire against the Baal prophets and told Namaan to dip himself in the water 7 times to be healed of leprosy. We could see for miles up the Valley of Jezereel (more familiarly known as the Valley of Armaggeddon).
These are a couple of my new friends Zachary and Abby.  That's the Valley behind them.

After Mt. Carmel we had falafel lunch, and then headed out to be what was, for me, the coolest part of the day - Megiddo. It's really a fortress on top of a small mountain, or "tel." Tels were mountains because people would just build houses on top of other houses, thereby building up the land... Our guide said there were 27 layers of houses! We saw some steps that either Solomon or Ahab would have taken to get to the city gate. Yes, at the city gate, we were standing on 3300-year-old stone. We had better views of Mt. Tabor (perhaps where the Transfiguration took place), Nazareth, and Samaria.

These are the steps Solomon or Ahab took to get to the gate.

Megiddo may be most familiar with the idea that this valley of Armageddon (Har="mountain"+megiddo) is where the site of the final battle of this age is to take place.  That is gathered from Revelation 16:16 where John sees the kings gathering at Megiddo.  Yet this interesting thing is that this battle never takes place.  You will see that because after 16:16, John does not describe an actual battle.  Instead he sees the seventh angel next.  He then goes on to describe Babylon in chapters 17 and 18 and 19, up to verse 10.  Then in verse 11, John sees heaven open and there is Jesus.  The final battle never takes place because Jesus shows up.  And when Jesus shows up, it's over!  John says the kings get ready for war (v. 19) but immediately the beast is thrown into the lake of burning sulfur (v. 20 - the very next verse).  The battle never takes place.  When Jesus shows up, we will join in the Hallelujahs that come from the multitudes in heaven: "Hallelujah!  Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments."  That will be a glorious day.  It always is when Jesus shows up!