Friday, July 1, 2011

Armageddon and Mount Carmel

This is a picture of Armageddon, we didn't stop there, but it looked interesting.  The battle in the last days is supposed to be held here.  It has been a sight for many previous battles as well.  Michael Wilcox told us he didn't think the actual end all battle would be here, but that Armageddon is a state of affairs that will have to do with the whole earth warring against the followers of Christ.

It was so beautiful in Israel, as we traveled around the area, we fell in love with it.  These pictures are on the way up to Mount Carmel

Of course, on every Biblical site, there is a church built, here is the one atop Mount Carmel.

The story that happened on Mount Carmel was when Elijah was searching for a way to convince the Israelites that there is one God and one Prophet, not the hundreds of Gods they worshipped and the hundreds of prophets they had.
The prophets of Baal built an alter and called to their Gods to set it on fire, they prayed and prayed, then Elijah had them pour water around his alter to make it more difficult for God to light it.
When God had lightening from Heaven light the alter, all the people rejoiced and believed Elijah that we should worship one God.  But it didn't last very long.
We talked about how God teaches in the Bible through dramatic stories, winning battles with just a few men, like Gideon and the Middonites, or lighting the alter with the prophets of Baal to witness it, trying to show them He is the One true God.  These stories are hundreds of years apart in the Bible, yet when we read it, it seems like miraculous things happen all the time.
We can apply this in our own lives, like the grain of mustard seed--we cannot move a real mountain, but with a little faith we can move a mountain or trial in our own life.  With a little faith, we realize God can show us He is the One true God, who will be there for us when we need him.

There was beautiful gardens surrounding the church and monastery.


Looking at the valley surrounding Mount Carmel.




It is so amazing to ponder all those Bible stories really happened right here, and we are here to see this land where Elijah, and Jesus actually walked and lived.

2 comments:

Dusty And Mandi said...

Beautiful pictures!

Jody Neeley said...

That is a really good point. Sometimes it seems like miracles were endless in biblical times, but they really did occur so far apart! Love the pics, I think this is the prettiest place so far on your trip.