Prayer Mountain

It’s our 3rd full day here in Israel. And it was a very productive day! At first light, we headed a few miles down from our hotel to a boat dock. It was there we would board a ship set to sail to Galilee. Once we were on the water, there were so many details this experience provided. The water had a slight green tint. There was haze on the horizon most mornings. And the sun was absolutely blinding if you were travel west to east on the Sea of Galilee. Sailing the Sea of Galilee also brought a couple of thoughts to mind. This a popular travel route for Jesus. The Sea of Galilee is where the disciples discovered that even nature submitted to Jesus (Luke 8:22-25). Jesus would use the water to teach the disciples trust (Luke 14:22-34). Once we reached the other side, we were whisked away to large building next to the dock for a special treat. This building housed the oldest fishing boat – 2000 yrs old according to carbon dating. It was easy to picture Jesus accompanied by Andrew, Peter, and John heading to Galilee on this boat.

The tour bus met us on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. As we made the climb towards Mt. Arbel, we say the primary trade route in Israel during the times of Jesus – the Via Maris. Mt. Arbel boasted the most breathtaking views of the trip so far. We learned that this mountain was nicknamed the “prayer mountain.” this was due to the commonly held belief by the locals that Jesus went here to pray (Mark 1:35).

After tasting the official food of Israel – the Falafel, we made our way to Capernaum. On the way, we stopped at the best place to fish in the Sea of Galilee. This was also where Jesus invited Simon, Andrew, and James to become "fishers of men.” And also the site where Jesus told Peter to care for the flock after asking him 3 times how much he loved him. And then, we reached Capernaum. This would become a team favorite for one simple reason – Capernaum housed the temple that Jesus taught at in Luke chapter 4.

On our final stop of the day, we found ourselves making the longest hike of the day through a extremely green field. The road would wind itself down the side of hill until it reached a lone tree. It was under this tree that Travis Sybert, Jeff Moors, and rob Morace read the Beatitudes. Then Chris Brown took the experiences of the trip so far and coupled them with the context we had gleaned on culture. This new lens gave the team a distilled interpretation of the Beatitudes. When Jesus challenged his followers to be the salt of the earth, we knew first hand the role that salt played in that time. When Jesus pressed his followers be the light of earth, we now knew he was probably using the illuminated cities as his example. And when Jesus told his followers to build their foundation on rock instead of sand, that sand he would have referred to was sand found in the mountains of Qumran (a place where flash floods are common).

Today was the first day we explored New Testament locations, and it did not disappoint. All and all, it was an exhilarating day as we hit 7 sites, North Coast – We can hardly believe that we've wrapped up 4 days of exploration! As we head into the next half of our trip, we would appreciate your prayers. If you have a moment, can you pray for the team? Specifically:

1. That God would continue to give us spiritual insight as we study and explore
2. That God would give us endurance
3. That God would keep the team healthy