Megiddo's Layers

No one can travel to Israel without being introduced to the land’s layers.  This is not simply a geological history, like the exposed layers the Grand Canyon reveals.  These are layers of civilization.  One of the first places we were exposed to the depth of Israel’s layers was in Megiddo.
Meggido is starkly exposed as a high plateau where several civilizations built a fortified city.  The question becomes which civilization should you excavate because there are 26 layers.  That’s the problem with layers.  The one we uncover provides some answers and amazing treasures, but to go deeper means to destroy the layer we stand on. 

Perhaps the most remarkable remains was the 70 meter tunnel  Ahab built leading to a 25 meter shaft that connected to an underground spring. 

This is a view into the shaft to the spring.  Think about the men with hand-held tools that chiseled their way down.  Consider the engineering it took to start the 70 meter tunnel at opposite ends and meet in the center only a little off!   What drove them to persevere?  Water!

The Megiddo layers tell the story of several civilizations that made use of their crucial placement on a trade route between Egypt and Syria.  I had forgotten that it is Megiddo that gives way to the story Michener tells in his book, The Source.  (By the way, two American books caught my eye among the picture and history books tourists could buy in the gift shops:  Michener’s The Source  and Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad.)

Many battles occurred at Megiddo and more than one civilization ended here.  Joshua conquered the king of Megiddo in his move to Promised Land. (Joshua 12:7, 21)  Solomon fortified the strategically located Megiddo to protect his kingdom against attack. (1 Kings 9:15)   It was at Megiddo that the Northern kingdom was deported and Josiah, the last righteous king, was killed. (2 Chronicles 25:22-24).  Closer to our time, in World War I, the British won a decisive battle using the same strategic control that Megiddo offered anyone who staked a claim to her.

The Bible draws our attention to Megiddo in Revelation 16:16 about the last battle that will draw all the kings to Armageddon.  Trying to make sense of this once mentioned name, many believe it is a corruption of the Hebrew word for mountain – har- and Megiddo or Ar-meggeddon.  Revelation talks about the seven bowls of God’s wrath,  gathered kings,  flashes of light, thunder, a massive earthquake, and enormous hailstones.  It speaks of an environmental catastrophe. Lots of speculation surrounds the where, when, and how of this place, whether metaphorical or literal. 

Megiddo forces me to take a look at my layered life, the layers that I build upon and the layers that are still buried.  I am my childhood, my adolescence, my young adulthood and beyond.  What I don’t remember is still there, sometimes waiting to be discovered.  God knows my layers.  He was present in every one of them.  He has no buried memory.  Then, self-discovery must involve more than digging up layers by myself.  Self-discovery makes God my archeologist, the only truly compassionate One who can unearth whatever He knows is valuable for me to know. I will remember Megiddo for her layers as I allow God to be in charge of my dig site.

Deborah's Mountain

I found my mountain in Israel.  Actually, I found two mountains with messages for me, but you’ll have to wait until the end of the trip for the second one.  This first day of touring, we went to the top of Mt. Carmel.  I’ve already told you about the summary our guide made that transformed the our panoramic view into a different way to read the Bible.  When he pointed across the valley to a mountain, he identified it as Mt. Tabor.  It was where Deborah led the army because Barak would not proceed unless Deborah went with him.

If I could go back to Mt. Carmel with this picture in my mind, I would have been able to see the rounded mound bulging on the other side of the Jezreel Valley.

I look at the mountain he points to in the distance.  This was Deborah’s mountain.  This is my mountain.

“If you will go with me, I will go,” Barak says. Then Deborah brought the troops down the valley to Jael.  Here Deborah found her voice and sang her song.

I wish I could fly to that mountain, compose a song and sing it with all my heart.  It would be a song about the unexpected journey of being called for special combat.  It would be about an undying and undefeatable belief that God will give ultimate victory.  It would be a soul-deep song of gratitude for wisdom at just the right time, for  strength I never could have gathered for myself, for  help that often seemed to come from nowhere.  I would sing at the top of my voice and it would not matter the key or harmony or musical strength because it would be my mountain song, my Deborah song, the song of my life.

Portland has a Mt. Tabor in the SE part of the city.  Our Mt. Tabor is an extinct volcano, one of 4 in a city in the United States.   And yes, it was originally named after Mt. Tabor in Israel.  A gathering of pioneer Methodists in 1857 wanted to name their church and surrounding area after a mountain in Israel.  They settled on Mt. Tabor because of its historical and biblical importance.

So maybe I’ll have to visit Mt. Tabor in Portland sometime soon.  But I promise not to sing very loud.

Caesarea-Herod's Genius

CAESAREA

Our first major place to visit was Caesarea; a Roman city built by Herod the Great in 37 BC. Herod was Jewish by heritage but Roman by political ambition.  He was appointed governor in Galilee and had a 33 year rule. What I learned about Herod the Great made me realize how I had underestimated his contribution to this land.  Herod was a builder, an inventor, an engineer.  Named for his patron Caesar Augustus, Caesarea showcased Herod’s skill set magnificently. 

It took Herod 12 years to build this city of planned roads and structures.  It was one amazing feat after another.  First we learned that he created a harbor where there was none.  The engineering involved is mind-boggling.  

The Harbor

He ordered the building of a complete breakwater into the Mediterranean Sea by lowering volcanic ash-filled crates.  The ash would harden to cement when mixed with water.  They built up the breakwater using these cement-filled crates, providing  200,000 square meters of protected space—one of the largest harbors in the Roman world at that time.

 

 

Located on the Mediterranean
Sea where the blue of sky
meets an intense blue of Sea,
Herod created magnificence
where there had been ordinary.
He built a palace on the finger of land jutting into the sea complete with a fresh water pool where an inner courtyard would have been.  It meant that he brought in fresh water from the springs at Mt. Carmel some 10 miles away using the extensive aqueduct he also had built. 

 

 

Herod’s Palace on the
promontory point is gone
but we can still see

the remains of the
inner pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The city had an amphitheater for 10,000 spectators and a theater for 4,000.  (Do you know the difference between the two?  Amphitheater circles the staging area.  A theater circles half-way.)  He introduced water games to the theater with another ingenious engineering feat that allowed the ground space between the first row of seating and the stage to be sealed and receive water from the aqueducts.

 

The theater with its

numbered seats.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Herod’s aqueduct, a true
marvel that anything
 still remains.

 

 

 

 

An elegant bathhouse, an elevated temple dedicated to Roma and Augusta, a hippodrome for 40,000 to watch chariot races, markets, and residential areas— all made Caesarea a magnificent full-service metropolis.

We find the biblical connection to Caesarea in the New Testament.   It was where Peter shared the Good News with the Roman soldier Cornelius that resulted in his conversion and  opened the way for Gentiles to hear the Gospel.  Also, Paul crisscrossed Caesarea in his missionary journeys.  He was imprisoned here for two years, gave his defense before King Agrippa here before going to Rome.

Herod, who never called himself The Great, left his mark on the land.  He became an important thread that we kept hearing about.  And what’s left of his work?  Ruins.  We may marvel at his ingenuity and innovation, but we cannot ignore that he put far more emphasis on what he did instead of who he was. 

Lesson—lasting legacy always involves passing on to people what can’t be destroyed. 

 

Language Lesson

The first day of our tour begins with a language lesson.  Shimone, our sun-tanned, straw-hatted commentator, writes the following on paper and shows us:
                Yeshua
                Yehoshua
                Ishaya
                Yoshiya
                Hoshea
                Elisha
They are, of course, the Hebrew names for Jesus, Joshua, Isaiah, Josiah, Hosea, and Elisha.

“What do these names have in common? he asks. 

 We see the  similar suffixes:  forms of ua and ya.

He explains that Yeho  is from the Jeho in Jehovah used to identify Lord God and Ya is the word for savior.

 Then he talked about names ending in “el,” the word for God.

                Daniel—Dan means “judge,” “el” is God.  Daniel means to be judged by God.
                Gabriel --Gab means “taken over.“  Gabriel means “ to be taken over by God.”
                Nathaniel—Nathan means “given.” Nathaniel means given by God.
He tells us that his Hebrew language has something English does not have.  God is alive in the Hebrew words and names.  Most names end in some form of God, yah or el.

The lesson exploded with meaning inside me.  God left his name in Israel through the names of people and places.  His people  are an extension of his name. 

My given name is Deborah, a good Bible name.  In Hebrew, Debor means bee.  I’ve know that for a long time.  But I never knew that my name had God in it.  I am God’s bee.  I am God’s spreader of pollen.  I am God’s maker of honey.  I’ve never thought of myself that way. 

Unfortunately, many of our names are layered with other languages we do not know.  If our names have meanings, we have to look them up.  What if our language made us hear God s name when we are called by name?  What if to say our names we also had to say God’s name?  Would we begin to understand in a new way how much God wants to live in us?   Revelation 24:4 says that when we see God face to face, His name will be on our foreheads.   I’m not convinced that it will be a stick-on label.  I think it is something more indelibly connected to the identity he has formed in us. 

But I have to also ask myself if people could see God’s name on my forehead or hear his name contained in mine, would there be a disconnect? 

O God, write your name on my forehead in a way that I know it is there.  Help me live within the love and compassion, grace and respect that your name stands for.  May I never be guilty of misrepresentation.  May I never forget that Who you are will always take me farther than who I could be without you.

 

Tel Aviv-Netanya
Wednesday, May 22

We made it.  We survived 10 hours in a cramped airplane, sleeping in small increments. Airplane coffee and a hot breakfast prepares us for landing in Tel Aviv at the Ben Gurion Airport.

A sun-tanned man with a straw hat and sign that reads "Pilgrim Tours" welcomes us.  We find our luggage, move through customs, get stamped “okay,” get on the bus. 

Our hotel is The Seasons at Netanya, 30 miles north of Tel Aviv. It claims to be the only 5-star hotel in Natanya.  We walk into a suite!  To the right is a sitting room, to the left a separate bedroom, and in between a spacious bathroom.  A front hall connects them. 

Shower-refreshed, we forget that we had breakfast before landing and prepare for our first dinner experience in Israel.  The buffet is daunting.  A salad extravaganza, some I cannot identify.  A separate entrée station also overwhelms.  A quick survey of desserts reminds me to save room.  If this is a precursor of what is to come, it is not going to be a low- calorie tour! 

 We are in Bible land Israel.  My sleep-deprived mind is having trouble assimilating this upscale hotel and its manicured beach promenade with visions of Abraham, Moses and Jesus’ three years.  I don’t know if I like enjoying this plush experience or if I would prefer something a bit more Spartan that connects me to my Sunday school stories.  I decide that comfort is worth a lot after my 10 hour-little-sleep plane ride. I'll take the hotel.

After dinner and our quick meeting to organize for the next day, Mark and I join others who walk the promenade.  We are trying to stay awake until a decent time to sleep.  However, the mild temperature, the gentle sweep of Mediterranean waves, the atmospheric lighting, the beautiful garden beds were just enough to make us more than ready to claim the biggest award of this long day--sleep!

On Being a Pilgrim

Perhaps it is no accident that the company who organized our tour to the Holy Lands was called "Pilgrim Tours."  One dictionary generically calls us people who “travel on a long journey.”  Ten hours overnight on a packed plane was a very long journey.  Circling Israel by bus was another long journey.  Walking who knows how many miles required a comfortable set of shoes which I wore out!  

 

I found another definition of a pilgrim that called pilgrims people “who journey to a sacred place for religious reasons.”  Sacred place is a good way to summarize the land we saw.  God called people here.  He warned people here.  He blessed people here.  He named people here. He gave us Jesus here.   I will never forget the words of our tour guide as we stood at the top of Mt. Carmel and overlooked the Jezreel Valley.  He swept his hand across the panoramic view and said, “Here, I serve you the Bible on a platter.”  The land became the pages we have read over and over.  He pointed to Mt. Tabor where Deborah and Barak strategized a military offensive and where Jesus met with transfigured Elijah and Moses.  Then, he moved his point to Mt. Gilboa where King Saul was killed, then down the mountain to the spring where Gideon chose his warriors.  The land does not allow an easy chronological retelling for this is layered land.  The stories are built one upon another, here, on this land.

 

Another part of our pilgrim journey was company.  A pioneer may travel solo but pilgrims love company.  We were 21 strong.  We came from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Arizona, and Alaska. The source of our bond was Northwest University.  Mark and I were seamlessly grafted into this alumni group.  Support of the sponsoring university was more important than graduation year. So was love for the journey.  From our introductions and reunions at SeaTac to our bleary eyed touch down in Seattle at the end, we traveled as community. 

 

By now I have unpacked clothes and souvenirs, finished the laundry, and put the suitcases away.  But I'm not finished unpacking my heart.  That's what I will do here.  I invite you to join me on my journey.  My footsteps left no mark on Israel but Israel left its mark on me.  Follow my footsteps through a storied, layered, complicated, unfolding land.  Perhaps we will become pilgrims together.