This morning we turned west to the Mediterranean Sea. Our focus shifts now to the Apostles Peter and Paul as we discover Caesarea. Here the Roman centurion, Cornelius, became the first gentile convert to Christianity and Paul related his account of his journey on the road to Damascus to King Agrippa. We visited the picturesque old Roman aqueduct and ruins on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. We concluded our visit to Caesarea at the Roman theatre, and hippodrome where chariot races were held. We then continued on to Bethlehem where we remembered the wondrous account of the Savior's birth as recorded in Matthew and Luke and retold each Christmas. We walked through the Church of the Nativity and sang Christmas Carols in the court yard. We had time to shop in the best olive wook store in Israel, Nissan Brothers in Bethlehem. The day concluded at the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem, where we spent the next four nights.
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| early morning and we are all packed and off again |
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| our drive had many different scenes throughout the trip |
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Caesarea and The Hippodrome
CAESAREA
PONTIUS PILATE
HEROD AGRIPPA (ACTS 12:19-23)
AMPHITHEATER
CORNELIUS
PAUL (ACTS 23:22-26:32) |
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| Layton loves to look for seashells |
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| Roman theatre and hippodrome where chariot races were held |
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Here we were given more history and then all the men sang "Ye Elders of Israel" to the women. It was awesome!
Some notes taken:
Mediterranean sea is where Peter is truly converted to Christ. Christ came to save people from death and sin. Roman centurion ( Cornelius) & Jewish fisherman ( Peter) - Act 10 Jopa is 2 miles to the south of here. God is no respecter of persons. He came to save the romans too. Book of Mormon and bible all started in the Jewish nation. Harrods palace is RIGHT HERE! Paul & Festus had their talk to each other before Paul's trial.
King Agrippa said "Almost thou persuades me to be a Christian" (here) |
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| Roman well |
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| This is the original "private swimming pool" for the king |
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| This is a ancient vault....wow |
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| All of these things are originals found in this area |
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| A view of the Roman theatre- from the bottom |
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| Ross and Claralyn are pretending to watch a chariot race ;-) |
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| concerts are held here regularly |
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| awww, MickyDee's |
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Here we stopped at the Valley of Samson & the Philistines then on to the Valley of Eliah
where the battle of David & Goliath was fought.
Palestinian left bank & Israel R Bank. |
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| A little warm breeze in the Valley |
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| Now we drive into Bethlehem |
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You can see part of the wall dividing the city really well in this picture
(Jewish & Palestine) |
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| It was just so fun to see all of the different doors along the way to St Katherine's Church of the Nativity. All the sites and sound coming in to play. I couldn't believe we were there so I had to take as many pictures as I could ! |
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| wow, ironic? |
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BETHLEHEM
RUTH & NAOMI (RUTH1,2)
NATIVITY (LUKE 2:1-19) |
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Going into St Catherine's Church, you have to go through the door of Humility. It used to be huge and over the centuries, they made it smaller to remind you of where you are about to walk ( I think that is right anyway)
ST. CATHERINE MONESTARY
BURNING BUSH (EXODUS 3:1-4)
TABLETS BROKEN (EXODUS 31:18; 32:7-19; DEUT. 10:2)
GOLDEN CALF (EXODUS 32:1-8) |
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| This is the first thing you see inside. They have recently discovered an original floor that dates back hundreds of years and they are working on uncovering it. It was amazing. |
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| Rather than wait for 1 hour in the line to go down inside the cave under the church, our group went over to the other side of the church that is owned by Catholics where they were holding a mass. There is a door to the other side of the cave that we were able to go down inside of. It is believed to be the place where Mary had Jesus. The church is built over the top of the site so you must enter through one of the churches to get to it. |
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| Here we are in the courtyard of St Katherine's church and are finding a place to have more insights and then to sing Christmas Hymns. We filled this courtyard with music and tears. |
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| Now we move on to Nissan Brothers in Bethlehem to buy a few pieces to take home that are quality olive wood. We bought 2 pieces here but sadly no nativities. What were we thinking? |
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| These are the pieces we bought and we got a better deal if I would give the owner and his nephew a kiss. Obviously, I did. ;-) |
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| our gorgeous olive wood carvings |
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| Our hotel |
