Israel Day 6: Galilee

Stop 1: The Sea of Galilee

 

This morning started off with a boat ride across the Galilee!!! The crew hoisted an American flag and played the American national anthem, which seemed a little sacrilegious to me. The pastor’s wife agreed and said that it’s so like Americans to go somewhere else and establish the fact that we’re Americans. It was a pretty emotional ride for a lot of people.

Half-way across, they shut down the motor and turned off the music and gave us 10 minutes to ourselves to pray or journal or read our bibles and I could hear a couple men sobbing and people wiping their eyes. I kind of felt bad that I wasn’t getting any of that, but maybe my moment hasn’t arrived yet. I don’t want to try to force an experience from God. I know He’ll reveal Himself when the time is right. I know He hasn’t forgotten me.

The boat docked at the museum where the “Jesus boat” is on display. It’s a 2000-year old boat that was found and recovered from the Galilee. No one knows for sure if it’s THE boat Jesus sailed on, but… it was made from 12 types of different wood from different parts of the country and hull was preserved in whole so… I’m just gonna go ahead and believe that it quite possibly could be a miracle.

Stop 2: Mt. Arbel

We then went up to Mt. Arbel, where the crusaders made their last stand against the Arabs. It was a good vantage point from which we could see the whole upper Galilee region. Mt. Arbel is above Tiberias (which Herod built on top of a cemetery so the Jews would stay away -because it was unclean), and from there, we could see Magdala (where Mary Magdaline was from), and Capernaum (where Jesus spent over half his ministry), among other cities like Chorazin and Hippos.

 

I’m just ready to physically be at places that Jesus was physically walking. I’ve literally been waiting this entire trip for that. Then we read Matthew 9:35, where it says that Jesus went to ALL of the towns and villages in the area and to their synagogues. So he, at some point, went to all of the synagogues in Galilee (which wouldn’t be too crazy to think of; apparently back in his time, there were only about 3,500 people living in the entire Galilee region).

Stop 3: Chorazin

Even though I had never heard of Chorazin before, I was glad to be there because… it has a synagogue! Jesus was literally here!

I wanted to sit and take that in but we moved out of there to our next stop, which I was bummed about. Before we left, though, I got a nugget of wisdom about repentance: Rather than thinking “turn away from sin”, think “turn towards God.” Doing that naturally turns you away from sin, and puts the attention on God rather than sin. I liked that.

Stop 4: Capernaum

We arrived at Capernaum next. Of course it was a huge tourist stop and there were people everywhere. It wasn’t very chaotic though, surprisingly. Capernaum is where Jesus called Matthew and where he lived (with Peter in his mother in law’s home). We visited the synagogue there as well, which was built over the foundation of the synagogue Jesus taught in. We went to the room Jesus would teach in, and the pastor gave us about 10 minutes to go take pictures but me and a few people just lingered there, finally being able to take in the fact that Jesus once stood in or walked on the ground we were on. So crazy.

We also saw the remains of what’s probably Peter’s mother-in-law’s house and where Jesus lived while in Capernaum. There’s a church built right on top of it; just hovering.

Stop 5: Tabgha

We then went to a spot called Tabgha. This is where Jesus calls Peter and Andrew to drop their nets and to follow Him. It’s also where Jesus calls out to the disciples after his resurrection in John 21 and grills them fish and mana. And some say this was where Jesus fed 5,000 men from a little boy’s lunch.

We learned that the meal the resurrected Jesus shared with His disciples was mainly a peace meal, representing that Jesus was communicating to Peter (after Peter had denied Jesus 3 times), that Peter was forgiven (and restored) and that they wouldn’t speak of the incident again. It gave me a strange sense of peace in knowing that whatever guilt Peter must have been feeling for denying Jesus, that Jesus was telling him that it was forgiven and that they wouldn’t bring it up again; like it never happened. That’s how Jesus sees our sins (or don’t see) when we repent. So awesome.

Israel Day 7: Decapolis

Stop 1: Beth She’an

The first stop today was Beth She’an. This was one of the 10 cities of the decapolis in Jesus’ time; pagan city states. We took a hike up the back side of the city, so when we arrived at the top of the mountain, we saw the ruins of the city, which as you see in the photo, was pretty impressive. It was really neat to come up over the crest of a hill and see a city of ruins revealed. It was like staring into the face of history and being taken back in time, which I LOVE about traveling.

We did tour the site for what seemed like forever (92°, little shade, humid), which I found a little bit disappointing because we spent maybe two times more time there than we spent in Capernaum.

Stop 2: Break/Lunch

The second stop was to a watering hole that was pretty populated. It was more like a park; green grass and BBQ’s, umbrellas and towels/blankets everywhere. I unfortunately forgot the bottom of my swim suit at the hotel so I stayed in the picnic table with a few people and snacked and chatted with them. Before we left for our next stop, I went inside the market to buy an iced coffee before we headed out. The guy at the cash register asked if I wanted a “real” coffee and pointed at the espresso machine behind him. I said it was too hot for real coffee and he pointed at a cup full of ice. I asked “can you make an iced coffee??” And he said “I was going to make one for myself, but if you’d like one, I can make for you.”

Listen, when a cute Israeli boy offers to make you an iced Americano (which wasn’t even on the menu to order) so you don’t have to drink a canned coffee, you say yes and thank God for the little things!

Stop 3: Tiberias

At our third stop, we ended up in a Byzantine-era synagogue. This one was indoors though, someone having built an air-conditioned building around the ruins. There was a zodiac in the mosaic floor so there was this big discussion about “when does compromise become too much” and tied it into the current day church and stretching into current culture to attract more people and at what point does it go too far?

Stop 4: Susita

Our final stop was Susita, or Hippos. This is the area where Jesus sent the demon(s) Legion into 2,000 pigs, that jumped off a cliff and drowned in the Galilee. When the farm people saw it, they ran up to the city to tell everyone; we were in that city, and we could see the hill where the pigs jumped off the cliff. Ironically (or not), the 10th Roman LEGION was stationed in Susita at that time. We were allowed a little time there, so I read out of Mark 5 until we had to leave. I literally could have sat under the tree all evening reading the Bible in complete peace, overlooking the Galilee.

Israel Day 8: Golan Heights

Stop 1: Qatzrin

Today started with a trip to a re-created 1st century village in Qatzrin. We went into a replica of a home and sat in the main room and got an idea of what it might have looked like when Jesus was teaching in a home when the four men lowered their paralytic friend down through a hole in the roof. We also saw what would be an upper room; so where the disciples were sitting when Jesus appeared out of thin air. Both rooms were tiny. We also got to make our own mana!!! That was kinda fun (and tasty). I have to note, the guy helping us with the baking part had beautiful green eyes!

Stop 2: Gamla

The next stop was to Gamla. Jesus was here too! It was the home of zealots, and this particular town is known because it’s where Emperor Nero started his campaign to demolish Israel. We hiked down and took a look around the synagogue before we were led to the cliff where 5,000 people leaped to their deaths, rather than to become subjects to Rome. But it reminded me of a certain population (Okinawans) that did the same thing under Imperial Japanese orders, so I went back to the synagogue to be alone and got like 3 minutes to start reading my bible in the only piece of shade in the ruins before I got called back to the group to head back up 60 flights to the top of the mountain again. I wish we had more reflection time to experience Jesus!

Stop 3: Computer Synagogue

I can’t remember the name of our last stop, but it’s a new site that was discovered. Long story short, the synagogue was destroyed in that same 749AD earthquake that leveled the decapolis, but because it wasn’t repopulated and no one messed with the site, they were able to use technology and computers to determine based on the size of the earthquake, distance from the epicenter, etc, where the stones on the ground were in relation to the synagogue. So they are rebuilding the synagogue using the same exact stones that made up the synagogue in the first place. Like a 3D puzzle. That is wild!

We had our lecture and discussion and someone said something that kind of made me pretty angry and then after I calmed down, I felt sorry for him. All I’m gonna say is I hope everyone repents, accepts Jesus and gets to go to heaven. Everyone. I’m not sitting here thinking “I hope Bob never gets into heaven.” All I’m sayin’.

We got back a little earlier than usual so a bunch of us went out and swam in the Galilee!!! The water had funny cool and warm spots, but was definitely refreshing! I can’t believe I got to do that. Apparently people in Idaho don’t spend much time in the water because they seemed to be pretty impressed with my handstand skills haha… Also, I’m one of the few people who don’t have heat rash, sun burn or aches/pains. So yay Southern California and yay CrossFit! Haha…

Israel Day 9: Northern Galilee

Stop 1: Dan

We started the day at Dan. This was where when Lot was kidnapped, Abraham chased them all the way up from the Judah desert to Dan. What I found interesting here, is that the tribe of Dan never settled in their inherited land, which was further south next to Judah. We got to see the gate where Abraham likely entered Dan. That was kinda cool to be standing where Abraham was.

Stop 2: Caesarea Phillipi

The next stop was Caesarea Philippi. It started with a beautiful hike down to a waterfall. Apparently, it’s the largest in Israel. I’m guessing it’s the largest by volume of water that pours out, because the David waterfall was definitely taller.

Anyhow, we had lunch and continued our walk to where the Temple of Pan was. Apparently, this was a place where babies were sacrificed and people had sex with goats. They’d have crazy parties and parades and that’s where we get the term “pandemonium.”

This was near the most logical place for Jesus’ transfiguration to have happened. I can’t remember where it was said, but the Jews believed that when Messiah came, the Hebrew bible would proclaim it, and that Messiah would be seen with Moses and Elijah. So then the pastor referenced Matthew 17:5 where Jesus is transfigured with Moses and Elijah, and God says “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” That phrase is found in different parts of the Hebrew bible; in Psalm 2, Isaiah 42 and Deuteronomy 17. The Law, the Prophets and the Writings respectively. So as Peter, James and John witnessed Jesus, Moses and Elijah, they also heard the Hebrew bible recited by God. I thought that was pretty awesome.

Stop 3: Omrit

Our final stop was to Omrit. The Damascus Road passed right by this town (like, we saw the Damascus Road), so we know Paul walked through here. We got a lecture about how Paul has a bad rap and is misunderstood by most. I think most people picture him as a dude that hated Christians and just wanted them all dead. When in reality, he was on one extreme of the Jewish faith (just like we have radical Christians and radical Islam, there’s radical Jews), and felt that Christians were getting in the way of people worshiping God. And then Jesus confronted Paul and the rest is history. His message being; gentiles don’t have to be Jewish to follow God.

The story continues at Israel Part 3: Jerusalem.