Fighting For Christ

Monument to the soldiers killed at Biet Lid

Day three of our trip was as amazing as the previous two.  We started at Biet Lid where a Palestinian suicide bomber, disguised as an Israeli soldier, took the lives of twenty Israeli soldiers and one civilian while waiting at a bus stop in 1995. We continued our drive up Carmel Mountain to a Druze village where we met the parents of one of the soldiers killed and enjoyed a meal in their home and visited the area where Elijah stood as a strong man of God against 450 prophets of Baal.  We also visited an army base that welcomed us and shared their story of how important it is to protect Israel’s borders. 

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Monument of Elijah on top of Mt. Carmel

Two views from the top of
Mt. Carmel

          

                     Additionally, a visit to King Herod’s castle in Caesarea Maritime, unearthed by archeologists in the early 1990’s, proved King Herod’s incredible intelligence!   It’s my understanding he would have had the equivalent of an engineering degree!  (I will admit it never occurred to me “degrees” were given that far back in history!  For some reason, I associated that with a much later time period, even though I knew men studied and were educated!)  I was fascinated by the king’s eighteen foot deep, Olympic size pool, as well as, the aqua duct he designed that allowed fresh water from nearly ten miles away to flow into the city.  Additionally he had constructed a theater accommodating 3,500 people, and a Hippodrome which was an arena used for chariot races and his version of the “Olympic Games.”  This is also the place where Paul tried to reason with the king, requesting an appeal to Caesar while pleading his case as both a Roman and a Jew, after being accused of desecrating the temple. 

A section of King Herod's palace grounds

Theater

Remains of King Herod's pool

Hippodrome

            What strikes me about this particular day is recognizing how Paul tried to reason with the king for his life because there were those who disagreed with his message of Christ.  There were those who would take extreme measures to see Paul imprisoned, or worse, if possible, even killed.   We have Elijah who proves his God is the God of Israel when challenged against Baal, a false god, who many at the time, chose to believe.  Add this to the suicide bomber taking the life of others  because he didn’t agree that Jews are the chosen people of God and decided he had the right to choose who would live or die, including himself.  And then there is Herod who wants to make his mark in history by using his excessive wealth and power, even building his version of an Olympic stadium for games for gladiators and chariot races, which set the stage for a fight to the finish often causing death of one of the competitors at the hands of another, in this case as a form of entertainment.  Sound familiar?  

God’s people want our world to go back to being a God fearing country, while there are those who would choose to demoralize our world to the point of non-recognition! We have those who choose to kill out of hate, or choose to steal our rights as Christians to pray or worship via the court system; and others who choose to make their mark like Herod with wealth, who because of their political or Hollywood status, degrade, demoralize and attempt to disintegrate all that is good and holy.  Christianity is fighting for its life and if we as God’s people don’t stand up for what is right, Satan’s foothold is going to entrap more and more.

Aqua Duct

Another section of the Palace grounds

We have many “Herod’s” in our world, much hate and many who are so hardened to God’s word and love they choose to follow the evil spirits and principalities of the underworld.  Are we ready to fight for Christ?  Paul stood up for the God he called his own.  Elijah stood tall for God against a mighty force of unbelievers.  The Israeli soldier stood up for his country and as the chosen people of God.  Should we not follow these examples?  Should we not be so deep into God’s word and strong in our beliefs that when the world tremors and shakes all around us, we stand strong regardless of the earth quaking beneath our feet?