Rosh HaNikra

The longer I am in Israel, the more I see of it, the more I find myself falling in love with the land. I first loved it for the history, the geography, the connection to the Bible. I still love that aspect, more all the time, in fact. But I've come to love more than that. I think it may help that this is my second spring here. It's a land that is easier to love in the spring, when the hills are all abloom with a multitude of wildflowers, the fields of wheat are fragrant with the coming harvest, and the sky is scattered with fluffy white clouds. It's glorious. In the summer and fall with everything brown and dead and hot and dusty it can be difficult to understand why God ever choose this land. But when those first rains kiss the ground and green again becomes part of the color spectrum, everything seems so much more clear.

With fewer required field studies this year I've had more chances to explore. I still often visit sites of historical interest (indeed, they are nearly impossible to avoid) but I've visited places more off the beaten track, and in addition to a better understanding of the history and geography of the land, I've also managed to get more of a feel for the land: the flora and fauna, the smells, the roads, the deserts and the shores.

Today I visited Rosh HaNikra. It's as far north on the sea coast as one can get in Israel. There the sea constantly throws itself against the white cliffs, eating away at them, forming and enlarging caves where the breakers can dash themselves with deafening thunder. Perhaps there are days when it is calmer, but this was not one of those days. It was a perfect day. Yesterday was gray and the air full of dust but the night wind blew it all away and we woke to a sunny day, scattered with clouds and waves joyfully racing to the shores.

I took hundreds of pictures, but they don't do justice to the feeling of being inside the groto, hearing the wave rush in the opening, seeing the light fade as the entrance is blocked by the foaming water, the joy and splendor or the water racing towards and up the sides of the cave, the surprised wonder when the force of the rush is enough to sprinkle all observers with a good amount of salty blue water. Still, I'll try to give you a taste of the beauty and the drama in this "slide show."



1Chronicles 16:29-34 
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;  tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"  Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!


Job 30:22 
You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

Psalm 42:5-8  

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.  Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.  By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 46:1-3  
To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. 
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

Isaiah 17:12-14  
Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.  At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.


Isaiah 51:15  
I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD of hosts is his name. 

Revelation 1:12-16
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.