Ceasarea - Day 2

We got up the first morning in Israel to a dazzling sunrise and fabulous breakfast.  It was a fabulous breakfast in the same way it was a fabulous dinner the night before.  Apparently in Israel they eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast as they do lunch and dinner. It was all high quality, tasty, healthy Mediterranean-style stuff.  No hash browns and bacon here.  They did make a concession to our western tastes, I did find some pancakes, served with "date" honey, a little different but very good.

Quickly and with anticipation for the day we board the buses for a short, 14 km ride to Ceasarea.  Ceasarea was one of the places Herod the Great (remember the guy who tried to kill the baby Jesus in Bethlehem? Really not such a "great" guy.) built a summer palace.  Even in its ruined state, it impresses.  What a beautiful setting.  What opulence this palace must have displayed.  This summer home must have been quite a stunner in the year "0".  

The first thing we do is assemble in the amphitheater which has been refurbished to useful status after they completed all of their archaeology assessments.  It is the first time we will be sitting on "rock" but not the last time for nine more days.  It is an impressive place that was built facing west, towards the Mediterranean Sea.  It is a beautiful view.  It is obvious from all of the places that we toured that Herod the Great built, that he had a real talent for building.  For instance, the "stage" area below could be flooded with water to enact naval battle dramas, and there are trap doors where animals could be placed on stage.

As we were to have a devotional in the amphitheater, we all gather close to the center. The center itself has a special platform spot that is like where you might set a spotlight to shine on the stage below.  I doubt that is what they used it for, but that is what I would use it for.  I think, maybe after we are done with our devotional, I'll go stand there and check it out.

Our speaker that morning, Dr. George Wood reconstructs one of the most notable events to ever happen in the amphitheater which is recorded both in Acts 12:20-23 and in Josephus Flavius' work Antiquities (Josephus Flavius was a Jewish historian during the 1st century who was eyewitness to the land of Judea in the same time frame of Jesus and the apostles.  Whenever his accounts and the New Testament overlap, it is always with great accuracy to the scriptures, sometimes with additional information.)

Getting to the punchline here, Herod is looking to make an impressive show to the people of Tyre and Sidon (both cities on the coast of Israel but north of Ceasarea).  From Josephus' writings, he describes the garment Herod wore on that day.  It was completely woven from pure silver.  It was dazzling.  Think before Hollywood and all of the dazzling things we have around us today, a garment of shiny pure silver must have been quite a sight!  Well, it had its anticipated affect on the crowd who really want to get back into Herod's good graces after offending him in the past.  Acts and Josephus both record the flattery of the crowd toward Herod as he gave his address:

Acts 12:22 (NKJV)  
    And the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" 

Well, you can imagine the effect such sentiments would have on the kind of guy who wears silver lame` even before it is invented.  He loved it.  But that wasn't the kind of response God was looking for so:

Acts 12:23 (NKJV)  
    Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. 

Ow.  No wonder our mothers told us to stay humble!  It is very interesting that Josephus Flavius also corroborates on the details of this.  The Acts version of events is kind of "Readers Digest" in its brevity.  Apparently for the next two years, Herod dies a very slow death of agony culminating in his entrails coming out and him finally for everyone's benefit, expiring.  Kind of makes you want to stick with the Readers Digest version.

One of our tour guides is giving us some archaeological insight to the event.  Herod would have spoken from the "rostrum" of the amphitheater to address the gathering.  In the time past, when the amphitheater was still in it's ruinous state, they did not know where the rostrum was located.  But, we are told "now we know where the rostrum is!"  I am on the edge of my seat and very curious, scanning the place for the "rostrum".  I am thinking down on the stage area on one side or the other, or maybe a little elevated place down by some statuary.  Our tour guide in what I now think is a calculated, dramatic move says, "and it is right there!" As he points authoritatively to that little special place I was thinking of putting a spotlight!  

Lol! It was so funny that everyone who was sitting next to this little spot (including myself), instinctively recoiled away from it, like worms might just do us in too for sitting so close.  "Ha Ha!" we say.  "Ha Ha! He sure got us on that one!" we say. "Ha Ha! That was silly to jump like that!", as we nervously kind of "scooch" over a little ways from "the rostrum."  I used to think "rostrum" was a kind of old word for what we might call a "pulpit" or "lectern". I now know that rostrum means: a place where someone got worms and died. I do not go near the rostrum.

We get a little more information which really helps you see the event in your mind and "feel" the event.  Just like when someone says, "hey, you have a worm on your leg!" and your whole body feels like it has worms on it.  (you know, just an example.)  As Herod addresses the crowd, it is morning, the sun is just rising.  Remember which way the amphitheater is facing?  Yes, west.  So, as Herod has figured this out in his genius mind, he will be facing the crowd (he is facing east).  Just as the sun breaks over the top of the amphitheater, sun beams splash him in brilliant light all over his tunic of pure silver right in the middle of this crowd.  It must have been an incredible special effect!  Add a pretty terrific speech and there you have it, the crowd declares him to be a god.  

Wow, this was just the start to our day! It is only morning!  We have only climbed about 50 stairs so far.  We have just vividly brought to life a passage of scripture. We quickly walk to the palace itself, shaking out our clothing as we go.  There was much more to come.