Today we visited a site important to Judiasm,  Seppora or Zippora, ancient capital of Galilee,  not mentioned in the Bible but possible the home of Jesus grandparents,  and possibly where Joseph worked.   The magnificent mosaic floors show the wealth of the community.

We traveled then to Mount Carmel and heard the stories again of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.  Elijah challenged the prophets to call on their god to light the fires under their sacrifices,  but all day they called and their gods did not answer…. no fire!    But Elijah called for water to be poured on his sacrifice,  alter,  and all the wood, not once but  3 times.   He flooded it!  And God answered Elijah’s prayer and sent fire from heaven.  It it lapped up all the water and consumed the alter, sacrifice and burned everything!  A bonus of visiting the top,  of course,  is the view of Armageddon, our 2nd angle.  

We traveled next to the Mediterranean Sea, to Caesarea,  where we learned the story of Herod’s life.  He was paranoid and killed his wife and 2 sons thinking they were trying to replace him.   His grandiose plans for that first Deepwater port were amazing and what remains of the city dedicated to Caesar are still evident.

On our way back to Tiberias we visited Mount Precipice,  perhaps not the exact place,  but a representative location near Nazareth,  where Jesus may have been threatened by his on hometown people with blasphemy and was to be thrown off the cliff.   It is a 3rd location to see the Valley of Armageddon and to be amazed by how immence it is!   You can see the old city of Nazareth from there and the church of the Annunciation,  celebrating Mary’s message from the angel that she would bear the Messiah.

https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Zippers-Mount-Carmel-Caesarea-and-Mount-Precipice-