Monday February 28th Part Two

From here we continued on to Nazareth, which is a city that is large and predominately controlled by the Moslem population of the area. The traffic in the old city was very difficult, but our driver eventually go us to the site of a synagogue which was also built over the site of the synagogue that was in operation when Jesus was growing up there. Just outside of town we saw the mound and ruins of the town where Jonah was born according to 1 Kings 14:25. We entered the valley of Megiddo often referred to as Har- Megiddo. Sound familiar? You guessed right- the valley of Armageddon from Revelation 16:16. This valley is 20 miles long and 10 miles wide. The name actually comes from the city of Megiddo further down the road. This was a city that was occupied by Canaanites until the city was destroyed. Many years later Solomon had the city rebuilt as a military outpost in the north for one of his chariot units. The spring that God used to test the men of Gideon for battle was along the road. God used the spring Herad to see how many of the men would remain to fight with Gideon. Those who lapped the water like a dog were sent home and those who cupped it in their hands to drink while still holding their sword were kept. Three hundred men were left from 32,000 so that the battle could be won by the Lord and it would be a miracle that would bring Him glory. We arrived at Mount Carmel and had the opportunity to go up to an observation level to see the main area of the valley of Megiddo, or Armageddon.   Right in the middle of this vast valley in front of us was a landing field for Israeli fighter jets. We were told that the landing field “moves” so that it is not a stationary target. The jets do not take off from that field either. In the interior of the hillsides the jets emerge full speed into the air. This is a beautiful agricultural area just like the rest of the Galilee region. But the Word of God says that it will be the most horrific battlefield in history. The description is given as having blood in the valley to the depth of the bridles of the horses. Our guide is convinced that the time is short. One of the requirements is that the Euphrates River by dried up so that the kings of the East may come. He said that the Moslem nations have already build a dam and may dry up the Euphrates at will. He also believes that the Kings of the East do not include China (usually included because of their enormous army). He believes that the army foretold will come from the Islamic nations that have more than 600 million citizens in the neighborhood of Israel already. That would mean that the changes in the middle east area preparing the area for leadership that will once again move for the annihilation of Israel- a radical Islamic promise. Certainly we will have much more to talk about, but it is the end of a very long day as Liz and I sit in our hotel room at the Ramada Inn, in Jerusalem.