According to tourist Israel the city is thought to have seen more battles than any other location in the world. Fortified cities were built upon the 10 acre summit of Megiddo Hill rising 21.33 meters above the valley.
At its prime Megiddo was ruled by King Solomon in the 10th century BC and visitors can see the remains of Solomon’s Gate (photos below) and what is believed to have been his stables.

A deep trench (above photo) was cut by the archaeologists in order to explore the different layers of Tel Megiddo. There are a total of 26 distinct layers of the city - starting from the Neolithic period (8300-4500 BC) on the hill's bedrock, up to the last layer of the Persian period (586-332BC). Each layer raised the height of the ground, thus increasing the height of the Tel from period to period.  ​
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An Iron Age underground waterworks system from the 10th century is evident with a 30 meter deep shaft and 70 meter long tunnel.  This was built to protect the water supply from an army laying siege to the city. A large pit (photo LL) with 183 stairs leads down 36M to the 70M tunnel (photo LR) that connected the city to the spring under the bedrock.  See photos below.

God placed Israel at the centre of the nations.  He intended Israel to be a kingdom of priests. He told them about his intentions shortly after they had gone out of the land of Egypt.
On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  Exodus 19:1,5-6 (ESV)

They were to take a mediatory role among the nations. However, Israel’s central position among the nations proved to be a double-edged sword. As world powers would travel through the land on the Via Maris, one of two things would occur:

• God’s people would either influence the nations for the Lord.
• The nations would influence Israel toward idolatry.

Any student of the bible knows that the latter happened.  God’s people were swayed by the very nations God intended them to influence.  Here is God’s lament about this. 
“Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. Ezekiel 5:5-10 (ESV)

​TAKEAWAY
OUR LOCATION IS NO ACCIDENT
God has placed us where we are for His sovereign, deliberate purposes. We have our own Via Maris.  Tel Megiddo and this highway remind us of our own opportunities and challenges.
We cannot even imagine what opportunities God’s providence has prepared for us today: Whom will we meet?   Where will we go?

We need to ask ourself:  Who is influencing whom?

============================================================ADDENDUM: FACTS CONCERNING MEGIDDO

• Arabic name - “Governor’s Hill”
• Guarded the Megiddo Pass
• Place of the dividing line of the Via Maris

                  a. The break to the north went to Tyre, Sidon, Baalbek and Ugarit
                  b. The road east went to Damascus

• The king was killed by Joshua - Joshua 12:21
• Given to the tribe of Manasseh - Joshua 17:11; I Chronicles 7:29
• The Canaanites retained control - Joshua 17:12; Judges 1:27
• In the Fifth Solomonic District - I Kings 4:12
• One of the three fortified cities of Solomon - I Kings 9:15
• Here Ahaziah died after being smitten by Jehu - II Kings 9:27
• Josiah killed - II Kings 23:29-30; II Chronicles 35:22-24; Zechariah 12:11
• It will serve as the main area for the gathering grounds of the allies of the Antichrist in the Campaign of Armageddon - Revelation 16:12-16

Here at Caesarea Maritima we received the first glimpse of this paradoxical historical figure. After his introduction, I felt compelled to ask, “What made Herod build a harbour and city that would grow to have an estimated population of 125,000 despite the availability of water, food supply, natural fortifications and proximity to a main road?” 
Aron shook his shoulders and said, “Who knows? Can anyone really understand who Herod was? Can anyone comprehend how that tortured creative mind worked and what compelled him to build all that he did?
Then he went on to tell us how Herod overcame each of the lacking components.
The water problem was solved by an aqueduct built by the Sixth and Tenth Legions to bring water from the Shuni Springs 7.5 km north at the base of Mount Carmel.

The hippodrome was also the location of one of Herod’s last, and most cruel acts when he ordered that one person in every family should be slain so that the whole kingdom would be forced to mourn at the occasion of his death.

The Jewish historian Josephus records:
He commanded that all the principal men of the entire Jewish nation wheresoever they lived, should be called to him.
Accordingly, there were a great number that came, because the whole nation was called, and all men heard of this call, and death was the penalty of such as should despise the letters that were sent to call them.
And now the king was in a wild rage against them all, the innocent as well as those that had afforded him ground for accusations.
And when they were come, he ordered them all to be shut up in the hippodrome, and sent for his sister Salome, and her husband Alexas, and spoke thus to them:—“I shall die in a little time . . . but what principally troubles me is this, that I shall die without being lamented, and without such mourning as men usually expect at a king’s death.” . . . .
He took care, when he was departing out of this life, that the whole nation should be put into mourning, and indeed made desolate of their dearest kindred, when he gave order that one out of every family should be slain, although they had done nothing that was unjust, or against him, nor were they accused of any other crimes [Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 17:6:5-6].

​Small wonder that some have described him as a “a total moral monster!”
Archaeologists have found prison cells in Herod’s praetorium (palace).  They are located underneath the grill seen in the picture below. It seems that Paul spent at least two years of his life in Herod’s Palace and he may have been in these cells. 
He (Felix) said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's praetorium. Acts 23:35 (ESV)
The palace, theatre and Hippodrome are in close proximity to each other.  We only walked a few minutes to get from one to the other.  Undoubtedly, at times, sounds of the chariot races and the crowds’ responses would have drifted to his cell. 

To the pagan mind, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld, where fertility gods lived during the winter. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld, the gates of hell. The pagans of Jesus' day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves.

​In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats. ​

Since Caesarea Philippi was like a red-light district in the world of the disciples, the disciples may very well have been shocked to be brought to this area since devout Jews would have avoided any contact with the despicable acts committed there. Standing at what pagans considered a literal "Gate of Hades," the disciples may have been amazed at Jesus' statement to Peter.. They had studied under their rabbi for several years, and now he was commissioning them to a huge task: to attack evil, and to build the church on the very places that were most filled with moral corruption. Yet it was here in this pagan setting that Christ was to present a clear challenge and statement of power.  The church of Jesus Christ would be a church that would be capable of overcoming the worst evils. The church was not to hide from evil but confront it.
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Sitting in this location, I thought of how different these words would have sounded in Jerusalem or the Galilee where the population was primarily Jewish. The impact of the church on pagan culture would have been lost.  As well, the church would have been seen  as Jewish in nature. But here, the church was clearly presented as a solution for a pagan world. Christ brought his disciples here so that his words would have maximum impact. The church was for all people - Jews and Gentiles. 

"Think small"
 "Adjust your mindset in terms of distance"
"Don't think Canada in terms of size"
Ongoing reminder from our tour guide and an ongoing process of adjustment for us.  After all you can put Israel on the same sheet of paper as the whole Okanagan or all of British Columbia or even all of Canada.  It is a matter of scale. So what did I learn as I adjusted to issues of scale.

GLOBAL MULTI-CULTURAL IMPACT GROWS OUT OF VERY LOCALIZED FOCUS
Part of the adjustment of scale included an understanding of the area of Jesus ministry.  I did not realize that Jesus spent the majority of his ministry time within a small triangle at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee.  The triangle is formed by three cities: Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Biblical scholar Daniel W. Casey (1) suggests that the total ministry time here was as high 80%.  All 12 of his disciples, with the possible exception of Judas were from the Galilee area.  This verifies the label given to the disciples in Acts 1:11 and 2:7, as "men of Galilee" or "Galileans". The Nelson Illustrated Bible Dictionary estimates that 18/33 of the recorded miracles were performed in this small area and 25/33 in the general Galilee area.  

Jesus made his home in Capernaum, probably in the home of Peter.  What struck me is the believed proximity of Peter's house to the synagogue.  Even if it is not as believed, things would not have been far apart since Capernaum is thought to have only 1500 people at the time of Jesus. The house is close to the water which makes sense for a fisherman.  As everywhere, people build on the ruins of the past. The synagogue, whose ruins are from the 4th century, is believed to have been built on the ruins of the synagogue present at the time of Jesus.  A 5th century AD church was built over what the Christians at that time understood to be St. Peter's house.  Today a modern church stands on top of it but built in such a way that a part of the original building can be seen.  

Despite the surmises made, the reality of Jesus living in a city (town by our standards) among people became more real to me. The proximity of Peter's house and the synagogue to each other and the sea where Peter caught his fish and ran his business allowed me to envision Jesus being part of everyday life.  On the Sabbath, the synagogue was an important place for him as indicated in the following passage. Yet at the same time he transitioned so naturally and quickly into the cares of every day life
And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 3“Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.  And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

​And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. Luke 4:31-39 (ESV)

The more I study this, I begin to see Jesus's strategic plan.  For three years, he will be the Rabbi (teacher) for twelve men he has chosen.  He will live among the people in a small geographical area and call one place—Capernaum—his home. Certainly at the end of Christ's life it seemed that little had been accomplished. The cities he focussed on rejected him. One of the twelve betrayed him and the other eleven did not stand with him in his hour of greatest need and trial.  Of course the resurrection was a great victory but only a few seemed to have believed.  Yet it was to explode with the dramatic addition of 3000 when the disciple were empowered with the Holy Spirit..

COMING TO GRIPS WITH THOSE WHO REJECT THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST
Even after seeing all these miracles, the citizens of these cities rejected the Son of God.  I find that amazing but obviously had not read passages such as Matthew 11:20-24 and Luke 10:13-14 with the kind of understanding resulting from 'being on location'.  My mindset—where Jesus was present and did great miracles, people believed. But NOT SO! In fact the rejection was so strong that Christ denounced them and warned that judgement on the rest paragons of wickedness—Tyre, Sidon, Sodom—would be more "bearable" at the Great Day than for them. This rejection puts contemporary rejection around us into perspective.  Although we need to witness with wisdom, creativity, passion, clarity and integrity, we also need to realize that at some point, certain people, in their blindness and sinfulness, will reject the truths of Christ, no matter what. We need to feel no more guilt than Christ did at that point.

WE WILL ALL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT WE ARE GIVEN
On the other hand, we need to feel the weight of responsibility concerning what we are given.
I echo George Robinson's observation.
It is a stunning warning to any who have seen first hand the goodness of the Lord and grown numb to it (He. 6:1-6). (3). It should be an arresting thought to covenant children who have never known a day that they were not aware of the manifold grace of God in Christ (Lk. 13:34, 35). And it should be a halting consideration to all ministers of the Gospel who can grow cold in their handling of holy things (Ja. 3:1).

BE FAITHFUL WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED
Sometimes I have longed for a more wide reaching ministry than what I was given. But over the years God has quietly and repeatedly reminded me that I am to be faithful where he sends me and leave the rest up to him.  I thank God for social media and other encounters that give me enough of a glimpse of what God is doing with what I gave him to be at peace. And I thank God for the present ministry which allows me to 'go deep' with a few key individuals and churches in Canada and Eurasia​.  

Almost the first fact our tour guide Aron mentioned on our first was, "Forget Canada when thinking of size".. Israel is SMALL!  Average driving time from north to south is 6 hours and 1 1/2 to 2 hours east to west in central Israel (Tel Aviv - Jerusalem - Jericho)
Israel stretches 424 km (263 mi) from north to south, and its width ranges from 114 km (71 mi) to, at its narrowest point, 15 km (9.3 mi).

From a Canadian perspective Israel is .7 of Vancouver island! Or the graphic shows the size of Israel in relation to Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley.  Population is 8.8 million which is roughly the combined population of Toronto and Montreal.  21% of the population is Arab (1.7 million).  

Interesting, but the vertical span more relevant.  The Dead Sea is 378 metres below sea level which for those gathering trivia knowledge tidbits this is 128 metres lower than the maximum depth that submarines operate at.  So as you join others by the Dead Sea you are together with the lowest humans in the world. Jerusalem is 754 metres above sea which makes for a difference of 1132 metres or 3714 feet!
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Now Jericho is 250 metres below sea level which means that when Jesus went up to Jerusalem (assuming he took the Jericho route), he would have climbed approximately 1000 metres (3280 feet).  That, together with all the other travelling we did, has given me a new appreciation for all the walking that Jesus did. Some suggest that Jesus walked 3,125 miles (5,029 km) during his ministry and a total of 21,525 Miles (34,640 km) in his life. That is almost the distance around the world at the equator.  I take these figures with a grain of salt but they do underscore the fact that Jesus walked a lot.  When the bus when up to Jerusalem from Jericho - climbing, climbing, climbing - the simple phrase "up to Jerusalem" took on new meaning.  The phrase occurs a number of times in relation to Christ and approximately 25 times in the Scripture.

During my time as conductor of the Ambassador Choir, one of our programs was based on the Psalms of Assent (Ps 120-134). Many believe these psalms were sung as the Israel people went up to Jerusalem for the feasts three times a year.. Quite the journey and the road must have gotten crowded the closer you got to Jerusalem.  You might say it was the first century version of the hundreds to tour buses that are seen in Jerusalem during the tourist season.  We read these psalms, sung portions of them, recited them but now they have new meaning to me - especially the following verses  In my mind I can see and hear the pilgrims encouraging one another on the steep climb.  In my imagination I see Jesus among them, as a young boy, then as a man on his final ascent to face death for us.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. Psalms 121:1-2 (ESV)

Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together,
to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord. Psalms 122:3-4

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,  so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time forth and forevermore.  Psalms 125:1-2 (ESV)

For the Lord has chosen Zion; 
he has desired it for his dwelling place: Psalms 132:13 (ESV)