(View from Northern Israel looking towards Lebannon from location where The Tribe of Dan settled. Note: I also uploaded a new photo of me holding the baby black sheep on my shoulders yesterday at the Jewish Biblical Village.)
We saw the ruins of a Jewish Temple from the times of Old Testament Jeroboam. The pinnacle of the stop was a new archaeological dig of the city taken by the Tribe of Dan called Laisch. Here a Canaanite gate and the Old Testament city wall has been located and uncovered. This is the gate that Abraham charged with over 300 men to free his nephew Lot who had been kidnapped there. The gate is now called "The Abraham Gate." Profoundly powerful. (Genesis)
Caesarea Phillipi, the actual setting for Matthew 16 was our next stop. I was refreshed to recall Jesus' words to Peter and his disciples, "Upon this rock I'll build my Church and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it!" Yes, indeed!
We then loaded back onto the bus and drove south returning to The Sea of Galilee. Fish lunch was the cuisine for, though I decided on chicken. (I ate lots of fish growing up! :) We all ate outside along the shore of the Galilee on the Jewish side of the Lake. I suppose it was 70 degrees today. Great temperature for food , fellowship and fun under the sun.
Capernaum would be our next destination. Here we visited the house of Peter, the place where his mother-in-law was healed by Jesus. We also stood in the synagogue where Jesus taught, as Capernaum was his ministry headquarters after leaving Nazareth.
Our guide also recounted other New Testament stories like the four friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Mark 2, I believe it is. Hallelujah!
Afterwards, we circled the Lake back to the Northwest and arrived at the Traditional site where Jesus Fed the 5,000 with two fish and five loves of bread. Imagine that!
The Mt. of the Beatitudes was next on our itinerary. Here we saturated in The Sermon on the Mount by our Lord. (Matthew 5, 6, 7) It was an encouraging sacred spot as always.
A new site, the New Testament village of Magdala, welcomed us in the late afternoon. This was a fishing village on the shores of the Galilee in the days of Jesus. A synagogue from the time of Jesus has been found there and a new church commemorating Jesus and his convert and friend, Mary Magdalene, and the twelve disciples has been built on this acreage. It may be the most lovely church building I have ever entered. Breath-taking is the word. Can't wait for our Hearts Aflame Discipleship Journey to visit there again in October. It will be added to our schedule. Count on it!
Finally, came the highlight of the day for my soul. Most of you know that my boat captain Dad went to be with Jesus on November 17, 2014. Because of this loss in my life, I was especially looking forward to our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. In all of my previous eleven journeys to Israel, we have never taken this trip across the Lake while the sun was setting, but today we did. My, my! Simply, overwhelming. May I say kind of "heavenly". But a more wonderful surprise would happen. Turns out the Jewish boat captain, Daniel, has become a a Jesus-believer. Yes, after he sung for us two of the most beautiful worship songs I've ever heard in my life, and I must say at my prodding, he boldly gave his testimony. It was powerful!
Having been a boat captain for years, and hearing Christian preachers share the Gospel over-and-over with their Holy Land tour groups aboard his boat, he finally asked Jesus to be his Messiah. Wow! Wow! Wow! He now has his own fleet of two boats and a third in mind. The names of his two Galilee Wooden boats are "Faith and Hope". We sailed this late evening aboard "Faith". The third will be named... what else? "Love!"
Anyway, the singing, worship-filled Captain Daniel touched deep places in the depths of who I am, especially when he sang "Who am I?"
Thanks for reading about my wonderfully exhausting day. I pray your heart is wonderfully warmed. Shalom beloved ones.
(Info for our Hearts Aflame Discipleship Journey can be found at www.HeartsAflame.org ...)
Give away your life...
Grateful
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