Third Day of the Journey (Part Two)

We left Tel Aviv and headed toward Galilee. On the way we went through the Valley of Armageddon. Revelation 16.16 "And He gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue: 'Armageddon'" Man's final battle before the Messiah comes to redeem the world will be fought in this Valley. Here are the crossroads of the world. A very fertile valley, it is also called the "Breadbasket of Israel". We stopped the car and got out. There has always been an eery sensation as I have gone through this valley, realizing that human history, as we know it, will end there. On the way there we picked up our first soldier, Zach. We dropped him off before we got there. It is common courtesy to pick up Israeli soldiers and give them a ride. I learned this the first time I was there.

Continuing on the way to Galilee we went by Mount Gilboa where Saul and Jonathan were slain. We came to Bet'Shean. Here the Philistines hung the bodies of Saul and Jonathan.

We walked around the ruins of Bet'Shean. Biblical Archeology Review had an extensive article on the work which has been taken place here. So much has been done in the past 6 years. Distances are something that come into focus while in Israel. Time and time again I realized how close things were. Mount Gilboa is not far from Bet'Shean.

Climbing the Tel at Bet'Shean I experienced thirst like I ahd never had before. I had begun to dehydrate. I got a little dizzy. When we got down to the bottom I drank 2 liters of water. The thrist was in my belly not my throat. I understood how significant Jesus's words to the Samaritan woman were and how when He spoke of the Spirit as a stream of living water coming out of the depths of man what that must have meant to the people living here.

Leaving Bet'Shean we made our way up the Jordan Valley. On the bottom of the Sea of Galilee we picked up another solider named, "Nissi" In Exodus 17.15 we are told that Nissi means, "My Banner". I asked him about the peace process. This would be a question I posed to all the soldiers we came in contact with while there. He was straight forward. He was opposed to it.

Arriving at the youth hostel we unloaded our car. Then we got into bathing suits and headed to the Sea of Galilee for a swim. We got in where a bus was parked. There was a boys school from Ashkelon there. These young Israelis were very friendly and came over and began to talk to us. We met a boy named Shi who had just arrived from Russia. There was another boy named Shamon who spke very seriously about the peace process. They were in favor of peace but in their words, "Not the way we are doing it."

We arrived back at the youth hostel and then went out for fish on the Sea of Galilee.