Page 2

     Day 2 found us again on the road by 8:00 AM. Our first stop was the traditional site of Jesus' first miracle - the wedding at Cana. Here is a picture of Ed & Nancy, our friends from here in Kansas as they renewed their wedding vows at the church built to commemorate this event.

On a lighter note, here is a shot of Alice taking due notice of the 'Silence' sign which greeted us at so many of the sites we visited. So much for 'make a joyful noise unto the Lord.' Often those who wish to justify such homage point to places in Scripture such as the one wherein God told Moses to remove his sandals at the burning bush because he was on holy ground. My only response is that Moses knew where he was. While this church is located in the oldest part of Cana, there is absolutely no way to be certain that this is the exact location of the house in which Jesus' first miracle took place. However, as the Lord directs us to submit to the authorities placed over us, and we had voluntarily come to this site, we did in fact honor their request. But that does not stop us from pointing out the high level of 'reverence' which Christians in general have given to specific physical locations. I personally find this interesting, especially in light of Jesus' comments to the Samaritan women in John 4: 19-24 along with Ro.12:1.

From Cana we drove to Nazareth to visit the Church of Annunciation. For purposes of information, here is a shot of the interior. Tradition holds that the grotto behind the altar in the center is the place where the angel announced to Mary that she was to become the mother of Jesus. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I have mentioned this particular site because it points out the tension between the Muslims and the government of Israel which lays  just below the surface, and permeates the atmosphere of Arab - Israeli relations. This next picture shows a street scene in modern Nazareth. The sphere of the Church of Annunciation can be seen in the background. However, the Muslims want to build a very large mosque to the left of the white building located near the left center of this picture. Its location would impede both access to the church, and the already limited visitor parking.  As such, it is a point of conflict. This is especially true in light of the fact that there is no particular reason for the mosque being located in that exact spot.

From Nazareth we drove west and south to Tel Megiddo which is located in the Jezreel Valley. The 'Valley of Armageddon' gets its' name from Megiddo, which was itself the location for the winter palace of many of Israel's kings. Here is a model of how Megiddo looked at the time of King Solomon. The lighted area below the wall on the left portion of the picture provides a good example of how one city was built on top of the ruins of the previous one. The lighted area represents the modern excavation of an earlier city.

From Megiddo we drove still further east to Mt. Carmel, the traditional site of Elijah's confrontation  with the prophets of Baal. The first picture is of a statue of Elijah on the summit, and the second was  taken from the roof of the church which is built on the spot which tradition says is the actual stone upon which Elijah built his altar. This shot looks back towards the east and the Jezreel Valley. 

     Our final destination for the day was the city of Caesarea located on the Med. coast. This was the Caesarea where Cornelius lived, and whose house Peter visited all as recorded in Acts Chapter 10. Here is a picture of the ruins of the Crusader's fort located there.

Caesarea itself dates from about 22 BC. As there are no natural freshwater springs located anywhere near the ancient city, the Romans built an aqueduct to supply water from the north. The remains of this aqueduct still stretch for miles along the coast.
 
 

On our first day of site seeing we saw the sunset over the Sea of Galilee. Today we saw it set over the Mediterranean.