The theatre at Ceasarea. You can see that some of it has been refurbished.

Standing on top of Mt. Carmel. I don't know if you remember the message I preached some time ago, but I talked about how Baal was the god of the storm and that he was worshipped on Mt. Carmel. When Elijah came and contested the prophets of Baal, they cried to their god Baal but he did nothing, then God sent lightening (fire) from heaven to burn up Elijah's sacrifice, proving that he was the true God of the Storm, he then followed it up by bringing rain into the land after there had been a seven year drought. As I stood there on Mt. Carmel, thunder was rolling overtop my head and flashes of lightening peered through the thick haze. The true God of the Storm still owns Mt. Carmel!

The Temple of Hercules in Amman, Jordan.

The Temple of Zeus, in Jerash, Jordan.

Recognize this? This is Petra, an ancient Nabatean city in the modern day Kingdom of Jordan. This building is called the "Treasury," but it may have been used as a temple by the Nabateans before the Romans came through and conquered them. Yes, that entire buliding along with dozens less extravagant than it was carved right out of the side of the mountain. If you look on the edge of the building you might be able to see lines of holes in the wall where the ancient architects may have hung scaffolding to do their work.

If you don't like that description, just continue to believe that the holy grail is in there somewhere and that Indiana Jones went there to find it! I think I'm going to stick with this story!

A boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. One night I was standing at the shore as the waves were crashing out on the sea and I read the story from when Jesus calmed the storm--I won't lie, it was powerful.

A replica of an Egyptian stela found atop Bethshean from when the Eygptians ruled there (before the Israelites came in). Sorry, I won't be translating this one for you--out of my league at the moment.

Bethshean was a large Old Testament city. A Greek city was later build beside it. I am standing on top of the Old Testament city looking down on the Greek city (Scythopolis). In the far back of the city you can see the remains of a large theatre.

Qumran, the place where archaeologists found scrolls of the Old Testament that were 2200 years old--the oldest copies we have. Caves like this one pepper the area. In May Liberty University will bring a team of students to this site to continue digging here. The people who lived in this area were purists who had left Jerusalem because they felt that the Pharisees and other there were hypocritical and corrupt. The Essenes, as they are called, had a strict set of rules in Qumran. As an example, here are some of the rules archaeologists have found on scrolls:

All of the following sins would result in 1/4 food reduction for 3 months.

"Falling asleep in assembly, missing a vote, spitting in the assembly, exposing one's genitals, laughing loudly and foolishly."

The En Gedi Springs, on the southewestern shore of the Dead Sea. It's amazing what a little water can do to a barren land. Everything around this area was extremely dry and dead, but the stream found here had Ibexes and rodents and birds--life was everywhere. When you read imagery in the Psalms about greenness and water, this is an appropriate image to harken to.

Masada, Herod the Great's fortress overlooking the Dead Sea. Herod was known for his ability to defy nature by bringing water to places that had none and building mountains where there were none. The three large steps you see each had parts of his palace on them. It was very impressive.

The Holy of Holies of a Temple in the Arad fortress. The Israelites were worshipping the LORD on their own terms. The small incense altar on the right corresponds with a small standing stone in the back. The same is true of the larger altar on the left. The large stone in the back (which you can't see here) probably represents the LORD, while the smaller stone in the back probably represents his consort or wife (probably Asherah). Isn't this exactly what the Bible says? The Israelites did what was right in their own eyes.

The Israelite fortress at Arad in the Eastern Biblical Negev.

Lachish. The right side of the hill is actually a manmade seige ramp built by the Assyrians so that they could climb to the top of the Israelite city and conquer it. There is a famous relief that was found in Assyrian depicting this seige.

Beth Shemesh, an important city in the Old Testament. Go to www.blueletterbible.org and search "bethshemesh."

It reads "the beginning/birth of Christ." There were several paintings like this in the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of Jesus' birth, in Bethlehem.

A threshing floor on a hillside. Remeber the book of Ruth? The wind coming over the hill would cut through the cast barley and remove the chaff. Boaz was out sleeping on his threshing floor when Ruth came to him.

There is a group of orthodox Jews in Jerusalem that has been rebuilding the furnishings for the future Temple. This manorah would go in the new Temple when the messiah comes (of course, they don't believe Jesus is the Messiah).