In Galilee and its Surroundings

This week we went to Galilee.  In contrast to last week’s trip south to the wilderness, this trip took us through the lush growth of the North.  This area is the headwaters for the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee.  Dan has the most water of any place in the country.  For this reason it was one of my favorite spots.  While up there we also visited Caesarea Philippi where Peter made his Messianic confession and Christ was transfigured.

 We also stopped at the famed Caesarea Maritima—the man-made harbor that Herod the Great had made.Here Paul spent two years in house arrest before going to Rome.

We spent a significant amount of time traveling to sites around the Jezreel Valley where God worked miracles many times from Deborah and Barak to Gideon to Elijah on Mt. Carmel, to Elisha bringing the boy back to life to finally Jesus raising the widow’s son.  We also visited the “Jumping Cliff’ right outside Nazareth where the crowds took Jesus to push him off.  This was one of my absolute favorite spots on the trip as I sat and looked at the view of the Jezreel Valley Jesus’ grew up seeing.  For one of first times on the trip I was able to connect to Jesus directly the geography I was seeing.  The picture above is of the Jezreel Valley from Mt. Carmel.

 After a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, we visited the museum where a first century fishing boat discovered in 2000 was displayed.  The above pictures are from that.

Around the Sea of Galilee, we visited Capernaum and saw the first century basaltic ruins of the town where Jesus spent so much of his time.  I enjoyed the site as I reflected on the miracles Jesus performed there—walking on water, healing the paralytic, and healing Simon Peter’s mother in law. Below is a picture of the synagogue at Capernaum.  The black rock at the bottom is the foundation of the first century one in which Jesus often taught.  The picture on the right is looking at the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum. 

On the left is a picture of Kelsey and me with Mt. Hermon in the background.  It is the tallest mountain in the country and if you look closely you will be able to see snow on it. 

I thought this bench and tree were just lovely, so I wanted to share it with you.  It was from our stop at Gergesa where Jesus cast the demons out of Legion.

We also visited Sepphoris, and I was so excited to see the “Mona Lisa” of Sepphoris.  I was surprised at how small the mosaic of the woman was.  However, from I have heard, the Mona Lisa itself is smaller than most expect, so perhaps this is appropriate!

We saw other sites as well such as Mt. Carmel, Megiddo, Gamala, Golan Heights, Mt. Arbel, Gergesa, Jezreel, and Beth-shan.

Another wonderful part of this trip was our stay at the En Gev resort.  We had cottages around the Sea of Galilee and every night we took the opportunity to swim in the Sea and watch the sun set on the mountains surrounding it.  Our first night we arrived just in time to see the sunset before going to dinner, and then right after when we were swimming we saw the full moon rise from the opposite side of the lake.  It was spectacular!

I have enjoyed receiving your comments and messages.  I have loved being in Israel, but this last week I was thinking a lot about home, family, and friends.  Know that you are missed and loved. 

We have had a few ill this past week and some scrapes and bruises.   Please pray for their healing so that this next part of the trip will be as enjoyable as possible for them.  Please also pray for endurance through the constant traveling we have ahead of us.  It has been nice these last few weeks to have a “home base”, and I am going to miss it.  We fly out of Israel bound for Turkey tomorrow night.  We will be there until Wednesday when we leave for Greece.