With that out of the way ... I am so excited to tell you all about
Galilee! Last week, we spent the entire week up in Galilee! There are so many
things I'd love to tell you about, but sadly, I am limited by time and space.
So, I want to highlight my favorite sites, memories and reflections from the
entire week! Since we were in Galilee, you would probably assume that we spent
all of our time studying the life and ministry of Christ, but there actually
was still quite a bit of Old Testament history that we learned about too! Being
able to study both was so exciting, and I particularly enjoyed focusing on the
life, miracles and promises of Jesus during His Galilean ministry.
Favorite Sites:
1. Megiddo and Hazor
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| 6 chamber Solomonic gate at Hazor! |
These are two different sites that we visited
on different days, but they have one very interesting thing in common: both
were fortified by Solomon, and have well preserved Solomonic gates! 1 Kings
9:15 says, "Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon
levied to build the house of the LORD, his own house, the Millo, the wall of
Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo,
and Gezer." Solomon had many important building projects, including the
fortification of these important cities. They guarded the international
highway, and monitored different areas of access to the Hill Country, and
therefore to Jerusalem. Megiddo guarded the Jezreel Valley, and Hazor in the
Huleh Valley controlled the northern access to the Hill Country. The gates at
these sites were absolutely amazing! It is just so cool to look at the remains
of those walls and think that they were built under the direction of king
Solomon himself!
Another cool thing about Hazor ... Joshua
conquered it! It was the main city in the northern campaign of the Promise Land
conquest, and was one of three cities that Joshua actually burned to the ground
(the other two being Jericho and Ai).
2. Nazareth
At the end of our first day, we got to spend a
lot of time in Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus! Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
but he grew up in Nazareth. However, as He says in Luke 4:24, "no prophet
is welcome in his hometown." He was rejected by the people who knew him
best, so for the duration of his ministry, he moved to Capernaum. Sadly, the
same rejection of Christ is still rampant today in his hometown. There
were banners hung up at the main intersection, proclaiming Allah and Islam, and
rejecting anything different. Walking around seeing the dirty streets, the busy
traffic and the lost people absolutely broke my heart. I know this is the world
we live in, but seeing the blatant rejection of Christ in the place He once
lived makes this reality so abundantly clear.
There
was a church in Nazareth on the traditional location for where Gabriel told
Mary she’d give birth to the Messiah. But the banner pictured here was hung
right outside of it. There may be a memory, or even a tradition of Jesus Christ
here … but the people have turned from Him in their hearts.
3. Capernaum
This is actually a perfect transition:
Going from Jesus’ hometown as He grew up, to his hometown during His ministry!
As stated earlier, Jesus moved to Capernaum because He was rejected at
Nazareth. However, He also moved there because it was a larger city, located
near the International Highway, so it would allow His message and the news of His
works to spread quicker and further. Most of the miracles recorded in the New
Testament occurred at Capernaum, and Jesus spent a lot of time there, and in
the area. We spent an entire day in the area around Capernaum and the Sea of
Galilee, and it was probably my favorite day! In fact … here’s a brief
itinerary of where we went on this day:
·
Plains of
Bethsaida, where Jesus fed the 5,000
·
Capernaum
·
Chorazin
·
Mt. of
Beatitudes – Sermon on the Mount
·
Tiberius –
major city! Jesus isn’t recorded going there, though it is likely He did.
·
Ginnosar
(which I’ll mention later)
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| Notice the basalt foundation of the synagogue. That's from the time of Jesus! |
There’s so much I’d love to talk about,
but I definitely want to tell you about Capernaum! The most impressive thing
about the site, was that there is a very well preserved 3rd century
synagogue there. However, that synagogue is built on the foundation of a 1st
century synagogue, dating to the time of Christ! The synagogue we stood in was
not the same one Christ stood in, but it is on the exact same location as the
synagogue that Jesus was in. In that synagogue, He spoke the difficult words of
John 6, and called Himself the Bread of Life. In that synagogue, Jesus taught
and then healed a demon-possessed man on the Sabbath. It was an incredible
feeling to be so close and connected to the very sites where Jesus stood and
performed many miracles. Even though Jesus dwelt in Capernaum and performed
many miracles there, the people still did not believe in Him or repent. Matthew
11:20-24 records,
“Then He began to denounce the
cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not
repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe
to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which
occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the
day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to
heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred
in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
in the day of judgment, than for you.’”
Jesus performed most of His miracles in Capernaum, Chorazin
and Bethsaida. The New Testament mentions many in Capernaum, none in Chorazin,
and only one in Bethsaida. However, no matter how many Jesus did in each city,
they still rejected Him. Christ even said that it would be better to go to the
Gentile cities because they would repent! This indicates that the message given
to the Jews was meant for the whole world! Israel was meant to be a kingdom of
priests that received special and personal insight into the person and
character of God, and was therefore given the task of telling the rest of the
world about Him.
4. Caesarea Philippi
This site was honestly revolutionary for me. The district of
Caesarea Philippi is where Jesus went with His disciples, and Peter proclaimed
Him to be the Messiah. Matthew 16:13- 17 gives the account:
Now
when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His
disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the
Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the
prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter
answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to
him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal
this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
The cultural context of this passage gave me such a deeper
understanding for the profundity of these words! Caesarea Philippi was an area
that was totally dominated by pagan worship. There was a temple for the pagan
god, Pan, who was a sort of Greco-Roman nature god, and there was even a temple
for the worship of Caesar. In that same area where pagan worship was so blatant
and even encouraged, the Son of God entered the scene and was proclaimed to be
the One true God! How wonderful is this?! I don’t know how close Jesus and His
disciples were to these temples, but they certainly knew that they existed.
They knew the pagan inclinations of these people, and yet Peter was able to
confidently proclaim that Jesus was the Christ. The Messiah. The Son of God.
The One true God!
In
the next chapter of Matthew, Jesus affirmed His deity to Peter, James and John
during the Transfiguration. Elijah and Moses even showed up as witnesses to who
Christ truly was. And as if that wasn’t enough, God the Father spoke from
heaven, proclaiming Jesus to be His Son. After we visited Caesarea Philippi, we
went up to Mt. Hermon (which is a mountain range, not a single mountain), which
is the most likely location for where the Transfiguration took place. It was
such a wonderful time to focus on the deity of Christ! How wonderful it is that
God became FLESH and dwelt among us! We who are so lowly and sinful and
undeserving … yet He humbled Himself and lived as a man to die as a sinner, and
then be raised victorious over sin and death. We serve such an amazing Savior!
Fun Memories!
1. Camping on the beach!
On
our second night, we actually got to spend the night on Ahkziv beach, which is
on the Mediterranean Sea! The first night we were in a hotel in Nazareth, and
then every night after the camp on the beach, we were in a hotel right on the
Sea of Galilee. This night on the beach was so memorable, and I will seriously
never forget it. Most of the group stayed up on the grass near where our stuff
was all set up, but some people went down and actually slept under the stars,
and only about 10 meters from the water! I slept on the sandy shore with four
other girls, and we had just the most wonderful time. We sat on our sleeping
bags and just sang worship songs for at least an hour. One I particularly
remember singing was “God of Wonders,” and one of the lines goes, “Lord of all
creation, of water, earth and sky.” Just that line astounded me! We were so
close to all three! We could hear the waves crashing, as we were laying on the
earth, looking up at the millions of stars in the sky! It was a beautiful
night, and surprisingly enough, I slept really well! That was probably one of
my favorite IBEX memories so far!
2. Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee
We
ate lunch in Tiberius one day, and then took a boat ride up the shore of the
Sea of Galilee a little ways to a city called Ginnosar. The boat ride was so
fun! The guys who owned and drove the boat mounted an American flag off one
side of the boat (an Israeli flag was on the other side) and played the
National Anthem for us. It was kind of weird … but very sweet. I’m sure they do
that for all the dorky tourists who come their way! We just cruised along for a
bit, and then we stopped in the middle of the water, and meditated on the
miracle of Jesus calming the storm! This is one miracle that would be
absolutely impossible to fake. Jesus reached into creation and changed it. No
one can do that. Only God! Christ is creator, and has complete control over
creation, and He made that abundantly clear on the very Sea we were sailing on.
Speaking
of Jesus and boats … in Ginnosar, we saw the “Jesus boat!” This boat that has
been termed, the “Jesus boat,” is an ancient boat that was discovered in the
mud of the Sea of Galilee during a severe draught when the water level was
exceptionally low. The boat dates to the 1st century, so many have
speculated that Jesus actually sailed on it. There is no way of knowing, but it
is amazing that a wooden boat from 2,000 years ago is now sitting in a museum!
3. Jordan River Tubing!
(I now realize that all of my memories so far
revolve around the major water sources of Israel! So cool!) On Day 6 of our
stay in Galilee, we did a little hike, but then actually got to inflate some
inner tubes and float down the Jordan River! For obvious reasons, I did not
take pictures with my camera, but I did have a disposable waterproof camera
with me, so I took pictures with that. It was such a blast! I don’t even know
how to describe it! There were a few times where people got sucked under trees
by the quicker currents, but for the most part it was smooth sailing. There was
one mini-waterfall that a bunch of us went on multiple times. It was really
fun! The Jordan River is not as wide as you’d expect it to be. I think I’ve
always had the image of a massive, gushing Colorado-type river ripping through
the nation of Israel, but that is hardly the case! Nevertheless, I loved
floating down the River. That is a rare, and very treasured experience.
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| My dramatic, conquering face! (Even though Arbel conquered me!) |
4. Sliding down the cliffs of Arbel
One day, we hiked down the cliffs of Arbel, where
Jewish rebels hid when they revolted against Herod the Great as their king. The
caves at Arbel are really awesome, and as I was walking down from some of them,
I kind of lost control. I jogged down the steep, loose-dirt hill, but my
momentum wouldn’t let me stop! I got faster and faster, until I got to the
path, and then tripped over the stone outline of the path! I got pretty scraped
up and bruised, but it just adds to the experience. ;) Now I can say that I
fully empathize with the Jews of Arbel, because I’m sure they fell, tripped,
slid and stumbled all over this mountain as they were running from Herod and
the Romans. I’m just really hoping these scrapes don’t scar. I’ve got too many
scars!
Some Reflections:
My
favorite thing about being in Galilee was the timeliness of everything I was
learning. The week happened to be a particularly difficult one for me for
reasons outside of school. As I was overwhelmed with lots of things that were
outside of my control, I knew that I was being pushed towards Christ, and my
dependency on Him was being highlighted and my desire for Him was being
heightened. Then, as we went to all the different sites, we learned about
Christ, and I again felt as if I was being pushed towards Christ. As we studied
His life and ministry so carefully, I realized something entirely elementary,
yet completely profound. When Jesus walked on this earth, He promised rest,
comfort, love and care for those who would trust in Him. Those promises are
still applicable today! Just as Jesus wanted to provide healing and care for
the people He was with then, He also wants to extend His care for me 2,000
years later. His promises still apply! His power still applies! His grace is
still effective! This was the most fitting and encouraging message, and it was
exactly what I needed to hear. I can fully trust Christ to handle the burdens
of my heart, and the burdens of other peoples’ hearts because He has proven to
be so faithful with them. My love for Jesus has been deepened in more ways that
I could imagine! I am so thankful that He came to this earth and lived such a
humble life, though He deserved unceasing splendor, glory and praise. I am so
glad He offers grace and peace for those who love and trust in Him. I am so
glad He came specifically to this land and proclaimed His supremacy over the
rampant paganism, and even in light of the unrepentant around Him. I am in love
with His Word and am continually amazed by its richness and beauty. My
experience in Galilee is one I will never forget, and I pray it will continue
to impact me for the rest of my life!
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