My Biggest Surprise About Israel

Ken and I were excited about the opportunity to go to Israel back in the 90s. We knew a little about what to expect, but also had a lot of questions.

Besides learning that Israel was a haven for cats — lots of cats — and that their ice cream was smoothly delicious. I had another big surprise — one that was a lot more serious — the location of Armageddon.

Megiddo or Armageddon will be fought within sight of Nazareth. Maybe I knew this before, but it didn’t register until I actually was standing on a lookout, with Megiddo in the foreground and Nazareth in the background. I never thought about how close they were until I was there. (I apologize for the poor picture quality – I could not get it to scan correctly because it was a huge panorama photo – so took a pic of my pic with my phone.)

Here are some facts about Megiddo (Amegeddon)

1. Megiddo has been destroyed at least 20 times.
2. Megiddo is situated in the southwest corner of the Jezreel alley, at the narrow opening of the Eran Pass.
3. In ancient times it was considered to be the most important branch of “the way of the sea” which connected Egypt with Mesopotamia.
4. Was abandoned in the 4^th century BC and never rebuilt
5. Here’s a link to a map that shows how close Nazareth and Armegeddon are. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/36802921924476766
6. They received their water from a spring and when that was blocked, they build a tunnel that would allow access to the spring which showed their great technical skill (probably built during the end of Solomon’s reign.)
7. Important event taking place there: when Josiah tried to top the armies of Pharoah Necoh (2 Kings 23:29-30 and 2 Chronicles 35:22)
8. Was even important in World War 1 when the English were fighting the Turks. Here General Alleby defeated the Turkish armies which is why he was given the name of “Lord of Armegeddon.”
9. Was also important in the War of Indpendence in 1948.
10. On January 5, 1964, Pope Paul visited Israel and was received here by the president of Israel.
11. Largest valley in the country.
12. The Nazareth mountain range is in the north  and at the foot of the hills is the lake of Kfar Baruch mentioned in the story of Deborah.
13. To the west is Mount Carmel.
14. To the southeast are the Mountains of Gilboa where King Saul died.

Show your kids the map and talk to them. Just interesting and key information.