Mukhrata - 'the spiritual arena'

“Be careful there Stephen”, Aaron my tour guide and Jewish friend said to me while I walked boldly to the spiritual arena.

“You send mortar fire down the plains to consume living things, the security forces and the rabbis will descend on us like ants” he further said to me.

My whole life is dependent on what I do now as a professional and registered tour guide and I would not like it to go down the tubes Aaron said with straight face.

Was it a joke or he meant it? Was it factual or farce that I could command fire from the cliff of the mount down the valley and it shall come to pass. Oh how serious can that happen?

Wow! What made Aaron to issue that warning to me? I looked around; lo and behold I stood at the traditional site of the contest where Prophet Elijah commanded fire from heaven that consumed Baal worshipers.

That alone shouldn’t let Aaron my tour guide and friend ran to warn me. Or there was more to it than that.

Well, I realized I stood right under the giant monument erected to mark the spot of the traditional contest of Mukhrata.

Filled with the Holy Spirit I decided to emulate the great prophet, I raised my hand pointed to the plains and straight up to heavens, brought it down and pointed at the plains again just to degree, declare and proclaim.

Believing I could be filled by the spirit of God which made Prophet Elijah defeated the 5,000 worshipers of Baal it could be possible I might perform same miracle, a new version of the story which might be dangerous so Aaron ran to stop me from emulating the Prophet Elijah.

Having stopped me from commanding fire from the heavens laughter burst out from us which attracted other tourists around the monument to the spiritual arena.

It was time to command fire from the heavens to consume my enemies Aaron. Laughter burst out from us.

There Aaron shared series of testimonies told by tourist after their visit to Mukhrata and commanded fire from heavens to burn their enemies which came to pass.

Mukhrata or the Camel range, rising to 1,650 feet stretches along the Plain of Esdraelon and falls steeply to the Mediterranean leaving only a narrow coastal plain.

The Prophet Isaiah describes “the excellence of Camel” [Isaiah 35:2] which is among the most beautiful and fertile areas of the Holy Land, Israel.

The Canaanite inhabitants worshiped Baal and his consort Ishtar who were adopted by Israelites.

Elijah the prophet challenged the priests of ball to prove whose god was more powerful and when he won, the Israelites abandoned the Canaanite deities and false prophets were slaughtered [1Kings 18].

Mukhrata, the traditional site of the contest, is today marked by a Carmelite Monastery built in 1886.

Are you curious in stepping foot in the arena of the spiritual contest where Prophet Elijah defeated Baal worships, please join Very Reverend Joseph Owusu Atuahene of Ghana Methodist Church of Toronto and his team as they prepare to tour the Holy Land Israel come September 2018.

Pictures: Carmelite Monastery, Prophet Elijah’s monument, The Carmel range or Mukhrata.