Northern Israel
In the fall of
2014, I am leading a tour to Israel. Back in 2010, I made my
first pilgrimage there, and I have many fond memories of that trip. In the next
few weeks, I want to share with you some of my memories of Israel.
Northern Israel
This map shows the
area where spent the first three days of our trip. After some weather-related
travel delays, we arrived in Tel Aviv, and drove to the northern part of Israel, also known as Galilee. Our one stop that day was boat
ride on the Sea
of Galilee.
A beautiful, sunny warm day on the sea and you could just imagine Jesus and His
Disciples joining along with us. The boat ride began with, believe it or
not, The Star Spangled Banner, being that we were all Americans. Then we
had a devotion and prayer led by a pastor from one of our tour group. We
then got to meet Daniel, who sails the only Christian tour boat on the
sea. He showed us how they would cast nets into the water in Jesus’ day,
but his catch was not so good. The nets they used were so the scales of the
fish would get caught in the net and be pulled in – reason being that in
Leviticus, we are told that fish without scales are unclean.
We saw a 1st
Century boat that was excavated about 30 years ago. It was found in the
mud along the shores of the Sea of Galilee during a year of severe drought. It
was pretty cool to see a boat from Jesus’ day. We drove past the town of Mary Magdalene (Magdala), the
location where Jesus cast the demons into the swine, the home town of Peter (Capernaum) and other
places. All of these are around the shore of the sea, as is our hotel.
Our first
full day began with an Israeli buffet breakfast including salads, rolls,
yogurt, strong coffee and fruit. It was great to wake each day
overlooking the Sea of Galilee, and know this is
where Jesus called his disciples to come and follow. We traveled further north around the Sea of Galilee to Taghba, to the
Church of the Multiplication – where Jesus fed the five thousand with five
loaves and two fish. An old Byzantine Church from the 5th
Century was discovered some 80 years ago, with lovely mosaics in the floor
depicting the fish and loaves. A lovely church, organ music playing, and
a beautiful site.
We then traveled
southeast to Tel Megiddo (“tel” meaning mount or mound) where some 25
civilizations have inhabited over the past 7000 years. Each layer (20
layers) were built on top of another, and the rich history from the Egyptians
to the Israelis to the current day are wrapped up in this wonderful
location. For history buffs, this is a great place to visit. To
envision the people who lived there, the fortresses they built and the
inventions that they created are wonderful to see. One of the most
incredible is an aqueduct system built so the water could be attained from
inside the fortress by going down a tunnel to a pool built to gather the water
from the springs. We traveled down a couple hundred steps to get to the
base, and were amazed at how this system was created some 3000 years ago!
Tel Megiddo is the
location mentioned in Revelation 16 where the last great battle on earth will
occur – the great battle where all soldiers will be killed and the valley will
be filled with their blood – Armageddon comes from the Hebrew word for Tel
Megiddo (Har Megiddo). The valley is HUGE – and to envision this area
from the Tel was quite moving.
On the road we passed by Mount Tabor where Jesus was
transfigured on the mountaintop before Peter, James and John, and was joined by
Moses and Elijah. The mountain is quite tall – I imagine the other
disciples said, “Too high of a climb for us, we’ll stay down here and wait for
you!” There is a monastery on the top of the mountain that looks out over
the valley.
We then headed to Mount Carmel, where the prophet Elijah
faced off against the prophets of Baal (450 of them) and won! Read 1
Kings 19 for that story. The site from Mount Carmel was incredible – from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee, even to the land of Jordan. The weather was
perfect for that! We then stopped for
lunch and had our first Falafel – pita bread with ground chick peas, deep fried, with vegetables and sauce on top –
delicious! What a great lunch. We sat outside on a patio and
enjoyed the warm breezes.
Our final stop of
the day was Nazareth – the little town where
Jesus was raised. A town of some 400 in Jesus’ day, it has now become a
bustling city – we spent a good amount of time on the streets of the town
during rush hour! The YMCA in Nazareth has taken over about 6
acres in the middle of town and created a 1st Century village as it
was in Jesus’ day. They had found some remnants in that area of a wine
press and fields that could be from that time. There were actors and
animals, a synagogue they figure to be the size of one in Jesus’ day (remember
how the people listened to Jesus in the synagogue and were so moved by his words,
they were ready to pitch him off a cliff?), a watchtower, a house, a carpenters
shop and other things.
I had to laugh
(remember we were at the YMCA) when the guide said, “Let’s go see the Village
People.” I was expecting men in a police outfit, Indian headgear, a
construction worker, etc. – wrong village people! Our guide, Rani,
married a girl from Texas – he was a great guide and
did a wonderful job!
Speaking of guides,
our guide, Micah, is wonderful. He has been leading tours for 25 years,
and is very knowledgeable, but not speaking over our heads. Just as
wonderful is our driver, Elijah (Eli) – who has taken that bus in places I
would be scared to take a Smart Car. On the way back
home to our hotel, we passed the city of Cana, where Jesus turned water
into wine. We could visualize where Jesus walked from Nazareth to Cana to the Sea of Galilee.
Our second full
day, we awoke to the sun rising above the Sea of Galilee. We took a VERY short drive
to Yardenit, where the Jordan River flows out of the Sea of Galilee towards the Dead Sea. This MAY be the
place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. A lovely area has
been developed for those who wish to be baptized or affirm their baptism in the Jordan River. Each of the participants are given white robes to wear, and pastors
from our group assisted in the service. There are flowers and trees, and
the river slowly flowing. It was beautiful!
After spending some
time in the gift shop, we got back on the bus and headed to the Roman ruins of
Bet Sh’an – ‘Bet’ meaning ‘house of’ and Sh’an is someone’s name. The
city was first built in the 2nd Century AD and had been built up through the
6th Century, when an earthquake in 749 destroyed the city. At that time,
it was a city of some 40,000 people. Amazing technology was used to
create an incredible Roman city. Bath houses, an amphitheater,
hippodrome (horse races) and coliseum, as well as market place, sewer system,
homes and roads were expertly created. It wasn’t till the 1930’s that the
city’s remains were discovered, and archeological digs continue to this
day. It was a great site to visit, and we were all in awe of its beauty
and size.
Next week, I will
share with you some of our experiences in the southern part of Israel, including the Dead Sea and Masada.If you are
interested in joining me on this tour, let me know and I will get more
information to you.
Peace
Pastor Charlie
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