When The Messiah Comes...

I don't know much about the book of Revelations.  I know....I know.  I am embarrassed that, once again, I am forced to admit my deficient scripture knowledge.  Honestly, the Book of Revelations kind of scares me.  Beasts and fire and war.  Those aren't my favorite things to think about.  I know somewhere in there, there is a promise that the righteous need not fear so I'm working that angle.

With that admission out of the way, I can say that when our group arrived at Megiddo, an ancient fortress upon a tell, and we were told it will be the site of Armageddon (which is actually a mispronunciation of Har (Mountain) Megiddo.  Say it fast.  Harmegiddo.  Armeggedon.  You see?), I wish I had come better prepared.  It was the first day of our tour and even though I took lots of pictures, it wasn't until we had spent a few days in Jerusalem that I really started to appreciate the reality of the end of times happening in this very land.  Not that it felt dangerous or I was fear ridden, but simply due to the recipe for disaster all of that history, geography, religious strife, economy, pride add up to create.




Megiddo has already seen its fair share of war.  I think it highly interesting that an essentially abandoned area that archeologists say already say has seen 26 different civilizations come and go, will be the site of war once more.  In fact, it was the site of a major battle during World War I when the Ottomon Empire fell to the British.  If you think about it, the British winning that battle and then essentially ruling over the area for the next 30 years during the British Mandate of Palestine facilitated the returning of Jews to Israel.  And, I have no doubt, the Jews being back in Israel is going to play a major part in that great, final battle on earth.

I learned several things about tells, or ancient fortresses built and rebuilt throughout history.  First is there is always a city gate and the gate is usually at the lowest elevation of whichever fortress.  That fact has aided archeologists at excavation sites because they can usually start digging at the lowest spot, find the city gate, and then predict where other notable fortress cites will be because most were built in a similar design.  I felt awfully proud of myself when our guide stopped in front of these stairs and asked the group what we were looking at.  When I answered, "The gate!" she smiled and said someone had been paying attention.  One is never too old to enjoy being teacher's pet:)





The stairs leading to a path up to the fortified walls.



Passing through the gate where the sentinels would be.



At the top.  You can see exactly what these non-excavated tells look like.  The spot we were standing on had ruins exposed and that grassy hill behind Maureen undoubtedly has more.



Megiddo's location is the reason for its 26 different civilizations.  It is located exactly where anyone traveling between Egypt and the Far East or Europe would need to stop.  All empires wanted control of it.



A German archeologist kind of tore up the place in the early 1900s.  He wanted to get to the bottom of it, literally, and sort of blasted his way down as far as he could go.  I'm no expert and looking at the side of that mountain is like reading Chinese characters, but for those in the know, it reveals 26 different civilizations.  Huh.




This ancient altar was found down low.  And see all of those date palm trees?  They think soldiers must have eaten dates and tossed the pit aside.  Some took and, voila!  Date trees!



Advanced water and food storage was also discovered.  During Roman times, each kingdom was responsible for feeding the Roman army for a month.  They would need areas like this, with a stairway going down and another going up, to store large amounts of food.



Do you know what this is?  It's called a manger.  This stone structure is what was probably used to cradle the infant Jesus.  It's the perfect size! Put a little bit of hay in it and it'd be kind of cozy. They are found everywhere.  Remember, Israel is the land of rock and stone.  I also realized, for the first time, that manger is what animals used to feed from.  Manger.  In french, manger means "to eat."  It's just one of those lightbulbs that probably should have been lit a long time ago.



The national park system had some ironworks to help us visualize the history.  Kind of cheesy.



Unless you liven it up a bit.  Giddyup!



Another visual.  A horse eating from a manger.  Or, in french, un cheval mange dans manger!



A bit of history, should you be interested.

So, what does that have to do with Christ coming again?  Well...we know all nations will come to battle against Jerusalem and they will gather at Megiddo. O.K.  I didn't know that but now I do.  And, having been in Jerusalem, I think it's interesting that the assembly, I'm thinking United Nations or something, strategically setting up camp there would block Jerusalem from their food supply.  Or, maybe that's where the defensive base camp will be.

We also know that Christ will return in triumph at the Mount of Olives. I've tried to show in other posts the location of the Mount of Olives in relation to the temple mount, so if you're looking at the model below, and you had binoculars, you could be standing on the Mount of Olives where Christ will stand.



Notice the gate at the bottom of the temple.  It is the east facing gate and the gate many believe Christ entered on palm Sunday.  It was and is called the Golden Gate and also the Mercy Gate because Jews used to pray for mercy at this gate.



Look at the gate now.  It is sealed.  On maps, its area is described as "out of bounds."  Neither the walls nor the gate are original but each of the 8 gates within the city walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt where they were originally located.  When the muslims took control of the city, they sealed this gate because Jewish theology contains a prophesy that the Messiah will enter Jerusalem through the Golden Gate.  Whenever it was in view, I couldn't stop staring at it.

Not only that, but muslims know that the Elijah is prophesied to return to earth to herald the coming of the Messiah.  They've done their family history and know that Elijah is a descendant of Aaron making him a priest and Jewish priests are not allowed in cemeteries.  So, what did they do?  They built a muslim cemetery directly below the Golden Gate.  Maureen and I walked the ramparts of the city walls and this picture was taken from the city wall looking below at the muslim cemetery.  Across the Kidron valley is the Mount of Olives, where Christ will return.



Also on the Mount of Olives is an enormous Jewish cemetery.  In most Jewish cemeteries, the feet of the deceased are pointed in the direction of Jerusalem, where all resurrected are promised to return.




They also believe, or used to believe, that the closer they were buried to the temple, the earlier they'd be resurrected.  Look at that hillside.  It is all graves.  It's a cemetery against a cemetery.

No man knoweth when Christ will appear again on the earth but Jerusalem, Megiddo, Israel, is where it is going to take place.