Tuesday, August 7, 2012

August 7 We awakened late today. A tour of the Old City of Nazareth began at 9:15, so we had to hurry to shower and eat breakfast before starting the tour. The tour guide, a staff member of the Fauzi Azar Inn, had been doing the tour for almost 3 years and was very knowledgeable. She was from Michigan. One of the goals of the Inn is to bring unity to the community by bringing the clients of the Inn in contact with the people in the community in a way that benefits everyone. It was obvious that the staff has spent much time in dialoguing with the community. They are well liked and greeted by Christian and Muslim alike everywhere they went. According to the tour guide, Nazareth is about 70% Christian (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) and 30% Muslim. There are very few Jews that actually live in Nazareth city limits. Generally the Jews prefer to live outside town and commute. Nazareth is a city of about 80,000 now. The tour guide wouldn’t allow any shopping during the tour, but she encouraged us to return to the shops after we were done. On the tour of the old city we visited a carpenter shop, a fruit market, a spice and dried fruit seller, a coffee maker, a miller, a mosque and part of the Mary of Nazareth International Center. One thing the tour guide was advocating was peace through dialogue and accepting the differences in religion. It had a very obvious one-world religion feel to it. I enjoyed the tour very much. Apparently there are ancient tunnels (no longer accessible) under the old city which connect the churches and mosques. She saw that as a symbol of peace between the religions. The highlight of the tour was going into the back part of the Mary of Nazareth International Center and a place where Christian, Islamic and Jewish old men sit around and play dominos and drink lemonade. A few years back the Mary of Nazareth International Center was digging to plant a garden and hit a few ancient artifacts. The Department of Antiquities was called in and they began digging some more. They unearthed foundations of a first century home that had articles in it that indicated the occupants had been to the temple in Jerusalem. Since Nazareth was only a town of 400-500, Jesus would have known whoever lived there. Who knows, He may have been there. Who knows, it could have belonged to His family. After the tour (noon), we walked back to the spice and dried fruit seller. We got lost on the way (that is very easy to do in the Old City). At one point I turned around and saw “Synagogue Church”. It is a church building erected over a sight that claims to be built on top of the ruins of the synagogue of Jesus’s day. It was a little place surrounded by really old buildings. Interesting. Then we continued on to dried fruit seller. For $2.50 we were able to sample all of the dried fruits and nuts in the shop. It was wonderful. We had figs, dates, raisins, prunes, pineapples, mangoes, pears, apricots, coconut, almonds, cashews etc. Then we walked to the Nazareth Village. It is a ministry of the YMCA. It is a replica, with re-enactors, of Nazareth at the time of Jesus. A quick walk through a little museum (with an explanation of the crucifixion both mechanics and spiritual meaning), led us outside to the village. Outside a shepherd with sheep and goats were in a sheepfold. An actual 1st century wine vat was found there by archeologist. It was terraced for vineyards. Above the vineyard was a watchtower. Behind the vineyard was an olive press. Next to the olive press was a carpenter shop. Next to the carpenter shop was a replica of a synagogue. Next to the synagogue were some replicas of 1st century homes. The guide gave analogies of Jesus as the good shepherd separating the sheep from goats, the need to be watchful, Jesus in the spiritual olive press at Gethsemane and the light of the world, how he was kicked out of the synagogue at Nazareth. He gave a clear testimony that he was born of Jewish descent, but he had chosen to give his life to Jesus because of the great love Jesus had for him. By the time we finished with those tours, it was late. We decided not to go to Mount Carmel, but Megiddo was on the way to Jericho if we avoided the Area c route. We stopped at Megiddo and observed the ruins. At the city gates: I was reminded of how in this city of affluence Solomon built his stables in which to multiply horses (in direct opposition to God’s command). Ahab had a palace here (not far from Mt. Carmel where Elijah called fire down from heaven and killed the priests of Baal). Josiah, Judah’s last godly king, came out to oppose Pharaoh of Egypt as he rode to the Battle of Carchemish. Josiah should have stayed home, but he did not. He was killed by Pharaoh. It seems to me that Megiddo represents the dangers of affluence and how it can draw our hearts away from the Lord. The Megiddo National Park gate literally shut behind us and we were off to the Kibbutz Almog, near the Jordan River, north of the Dead Sea and south of Jericho. We drove over Mt. Scopius in Jerusalem and under whatever mountain it is that is next to the Mt. of Olives. Arriving at the Kibbutz was a little unsettling. The Kibbutz is surrounded by chain link fence and barbed wire. One must pass through a gate guarded by two soldiers with automatic weapons. But I guess that is a comforting sight in a world filled with terrorists. We are settled into our room now and ready for sleep.