From Caesarea to Nazareth.

After days in the desert, we wake up Friday morning to this refreshingly liquid view in the new town of Netanya. Though it did not exist in Bible times I include it for two reasons: One, notice the word “Tanya” in it? How cool is that? But mainly a fascinating history hovers over this town. In 1912, the two richest men in America were Isadore and Nathan Strauss, owners of the Macy’s Store chain. They decided to tour Israel where Nathan was smitten with the dire condition of his fellow Jews. Isadore tolerated a few weeks of humanitarian inquiry and action, but in the end insisted in taking his wife on to London to await their passage back to America. Nathan remained in Israel planning hospitals, schools, and business ventures that would elevate the situation of his Jewish brothers. He was greatly loved and his Hebrew name, Netan, became the basis for the name of his new city, Netanya. It became a major diamond trading center.

Isadore sent an anxious message to Nathan that their ship was soon to sail to the US and would he please hustle on up to England. Nathan and his wife delayed, but finally made a rapid journey to London arriving too late to catch the ship. The Titanic had sailed without them. Isadore and his wife perished, and Nathan was horribly aggrieved. He deeply pondered his survival and the reason for it, and he spent the rest of his life in humanitarian pursuits.

On the lighter side, before leaving the hotel I again had to make a quick pit stop. Another great find! Here is a sign of reassurance for the keepers of Shabbat who would not be able to flush a manually-operated urinal. How do YOU spell relief?

Our first stop in the day is Ceasarea which is a beautiful Romanesque coastal resort, lovely even in ruin.

The amphitheater has been dismantled, scrutinized, and rebuilt. It is actively used for plays and concerts today. The stage is where Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian who wrote from Roman records and personal interviews in the first century, places the demise of King Agrippa. Caesarea was a town of tension between the Jews and Romans. Apparently flattering Agrippa, the people yelled, “This is the voice of a god not a man.” Agrippa ate it up without giving God the credit, and immediately worms ate him up without getting indigestion. Pretty grisly.

During excavation, the archeologists found a stone bearing the inscription of Pontius Pilate who apparently made this jewel of a city his headquarters after Herod the Great was out of the picture.

This is an indoor pool of Herod the Great. He was pretty paranoid; not a Roman, but of Edomite decent. Though he had great wealth and power and was a master builder, he was always making contingency plans and lived in constant fear of being overthrown. He built a series of “just in case” fortresses for saving his neck in a hard time. One was Masada which we will visit on Sunday. Meanwhile, back at the beach, this pool was part of the palace where Paul was likely imprisoned for two years. This palace and elsewhere had pillars of rosy granite from Egypt and white marble from Italy. To order a granite pillar from Egypt took 11 years. The time and cost and labor required to build this dream home are staggering.

Herod wanted to rival the great port of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the world. He used a new technology, cement, to build a breakwater to create a deep water port. Here’s what sailors would see as they docked; gorgeous garden-like grounds and a huge temple. We watched a movie about the history of Caesarea from its inception in Herod’s imagination to its current disrepair.

Apparently, the theater has been having some dress code issues. I didn’t hear if it was the ancient Roman mariners who started coming to shows in Speedos, but it’s gotta stop!

Caesarea was also the site of the beginning of the Jewish revolt of 66 A.D. that lead ultimately to the total destruction of the temple. Those mischievous Romans built a temple that blocked the path of the Jews to their synagogue and offered vile sacrifices there. The Jews appealed to the governor for justice. They knew he wouldn’t rule in their favor without a handsome bribe, so they greased his palm with about $80,000. He was grateful, accepted it, and ruled against them. They were pretty ticked. Then he stole $17,000 of offering money. So the Jews lampooned him by taking up an offering to help his inadequate budget, but that made him mad and things just got really bad.

Back on the bus we traveled back in time as we rolled up Mount Carmel. This is me looking out over the Plain of Jezreel… okay, I WAS looking out, but then Ginger called my name. Anyway, Ahab was trying to secure his position and power by marrying the foreign woman, Jezebel. In the eyes of the commoners she worshiped the “hip” gods from the fertile north, the land of trees and lush farmland, whereas Elijah and the other “fuddy duddies” still worshiped YHWH whom they saw as the god of the boring old desert. From high atop Mount Carmel you can see nearly the whole country of Israel, including Megiddo. Interesting thing about Megiddo is that Armageddon comes from that word, but it means “the mount of Megiddo” and there has never been a mountain there. Some believe that Armageddon, then, is a reference to the battle for the stronghold of one’s mind rather than a physical battle to come. Anyway, the prophets of Baal were dragged down to the plain below, and then they were slaughtered.

Being here thinking about the lives of real people and some of the gigantic risks they took is more sobering than “inspiring.” Before I can think of following their examples of courage, I have to ask whether I am based on such strong convictions. In a way I wish the Bible stories were all fiction. There are such good lessons in them that would work for me whether or not the main characters ever really lived. It saddens me to stand on these sites and think of their sandaled feet slapping the rocky trails and slick limestone sidewalks. I feel sorrow to think of their real place in families and circles of friends, because I know that for many the story ends badly. I wish that it weren’t so. But then, my story is still unfolding, and I go through times of risk and also need the courage to act. Will I ever have to risk all? I don’t know, but if that day comes, it will be an inspiration to know that such strong visionaries have walked the trail before me. It would be a privilege to join them in being a light to the world. And if my story is to end badly, I would take comfort in having such comrades even if separated by millennia.

As we stopped for lunch we met the biggest paper towel rolls ever. No lesson here, but wow!

After lunch we went to the Roman town of Sepphoris. I don’t think it was mentioned in the Bible, but it might change a few Bible notions we have. Consider this; it was a new town that required much stone work. As you can see the streets were all stone. Here are chariot wheel ruts, so the town became well established. Sepphoris was being built in the time of Jesus, and it was only three miles from Nazareth. Nazareth may have had 125 people living in it at that time due to a limited water supply.

Here you see the foundations of some homes they have begun to excavate along one street, not the “cardo” or main street. Now how busy would two carpenters be in a town of 125? Also, we imagine Joseph and Jesus as woodworkers because Bible translators used the word “carpenter” in translating the Greek word “tekton.” Tekton can just as easily be applied to masons and stone cutters. Is it possible that Jesus headed out each day for employment by the Romans in the heavy labor of stone work for Sepphoris? Quite likely. In this environment He would have become better versed in the politics and customs of the world. Also think of His references to the cornerstone rejected by the builders, and the wise builder who dug down to bedrock before building.

In fact, this was an insight for me… a new spin on “digging down to the solid rock.” Think about this: the Jewish people are quite conscious of water that is “living,” that is, still connected to the earth as it is in a stream. Once you put it in a jar, it is good for much, but it is no longer “living.” Similarly, you can connect to the earth through natural stone, but not through manufactured things like clayware. Hold that in mind and add this: many towns in Israel are built on “tels" which are the hills that begin to rise as one town is destroyed and a new one is built on top of it. In a land with such a long history, some towns were destroyed many, many times and rebuilt every time directly on top of the rubble of the old town. In time the town is being rebuilt on a substantial mountain of rubble. Archeologists have a heyday dismantling tels.

Okay, put that all together and think of Jesus, the construction worker (Oh yeah! Sepphoris was built NEXT TO a tel… I walked up it and saw all the potsherds mixed in with the other rubble, and noted that the Romans chose to build their new city on natural bedrock.) So think of Jesus, the construction worker, saying, “You can’t build a life based on the accumulated rubble of past philosophies. Instead, build your life (your concepts) on the bedrock of what I am telling you. Take my reliable word which comes from the eternal YHWH, and put it into practice. THAT is getting down to the solid rock.” Okay, maybe a stretch, but it was a new thought for me.

This is Sarah who demonstrated carding wool and spinning threat as they would have done it in Jesus’ day. Sarah is a character actor in Nazareth Village, an attempt at reconstructing a small settlement as Jesus would have experienced it.

And this is Simon who is dressed as a typical shepherd in Jesus’ time. Simon had a very difficult time controlling this black-and-white goat. We laughed seeing Simon chasing after the very frisky kid. (Teachers always laugh with relief to see someone ELSE struggling with unruly kids. “Glad that’s not me!”)

Oh, and here’s Ginger who hooked up with an adorable and affectionate little donkey. What a cutie pie. I’ve been holding out against a cat, but a donkey… maybe.

This is a synagogue built after the pattern of those found in Capernaum and Chorazim, only sized down for the tiny village that Nazareth was.

Here’s the inside of this cozy synagogue. My wide angle lens makes it look bigger than it was. Thinking of Jesus trotting along (like all the cute little Jewish kids here) with His dad to attend the synagogue is a heartwarming thought. Not so comfortable is the idea of Him standing to read the Scripture on that fateful day that His former townspeople became offended, and tried to kill Him.

Here is Daniel, a very evangelistic Jewish Christian, holding out a scroll similar to what was likely available in that long-ago synagogue. Next to Daniel Dr. Cosaert reads the passage that Jesus read from the Book of Isaiah. Carl is reading on his iPhone as Daniel holds the scroll. It was a shock to see the ancient and modern vehicles for text side by side. What a reminder that the medium is servant to the message. How glorious that the message spoken and lived 2,000 years ago is still a fresh discovery for any thirsty soul.

We closed this very special Friday by welcoming Shabbat on the shores of Galilee under the direction of our tour guide, Aran. He is an archeologist for the State of Israel. He has a soft heart and a dreamy eye focused on a time when Jews will wake up to the rest of the world and learn to share with it in a way that will cause them to become a universal blessing rather than the self-absorbed people they are today. He was moved to speechlessness a few times as he translated Shabbat blessings for this group of new friends from another culture. He’s not sure about how and precisely what he believes, but his openheartedness and his love for all people have a familiar and a blessed feel.

What a day! From a Jew whose life is saved by his philanhropy to the splendor and pride of Caesarea to the blood and conviction of Elijah to the hardscrabble life of humble Nazareth to the kinship of a Jewish brother who also dreams of a world with godly grace.