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Israel Study Tour - Scott Heare
June 17 - July 1, 2014
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Kingdom Living
Shalom from Jim and Janet Reever,.
We are on day seven of our GTI adventure with Scott Heare. We hiked and climbed the Orthodox Triangle on the north end of the Sea of Galilee. The themes for today were Insula, Marriage and Jesus seeking Talmud.
Our first stop was Mt. Arbel. After a quick heart pounding ascent, we rested at a sheep fold. Scott had us all follow him into a low, small cave and squat down to be quiet. After everyone settled down, we realized we were in deep and the smell was “sheepish.” This gave a new meaning to “the smells of Christmas.”
Mount Arbel
Mount Arbel (Hebrew: הר ארבל, Har Arbel) is a mountain in The Lower Galilee near Tiberias in Israel, with high cliffs, views of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, trails to a cave-fortress, and ruins of an ancient synagogue. Mt. Arbel sits across from Mount Nitai; their cliffs were created as a result of the Jordan Rift Valley and the geological faults that produced the valleys.
When we burst forth from the sheep fold (ask us when we return), we continued around and up Mt. Arbel. The challenge was whether we ever prayed as hard as we worked to climb this mountain… hard enough to have to pace yourself? At the top we met a group of Swiss brothers and sisters waving colorful flags on the ridgeline. Each flag was a personal prayer from the flag bearer. It was interesting to instigate instantaneous international insula in Israel. More seriously, insula is an intergenerational community sharing everything in common, a picture of “Kingdom Living.”
After descending the mountain, we traveled to Capernaum, another section of the triangle. Here we talked about how Talmid, which typically asked to follow the rabbi, would be told when selected, “Lech Acheri” meaning follow me. Jesus turned this upside down and chose his talmidin.
Capernaum
Jesus made Capernaum his home during the years of his ministry: “Leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum” (Matt 4:13).
Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen living in the village. Matthew the tax collector also dwelt here.
Capernaum is one of the three cities cursed by Jesus for its lack of faith.
Then Scott correctly calculated our course to Corizen, causing us to consider closely how we can live out insula today. As we saw the physical structure of the insula courtyard and rooms, we were challenged to think out the implications of insula living. In another part of Corizen we talked about the betrothal process, which includes the bridegroom offering the bride a cup of wine. If she accepts, the marriage contract is sealed. Consider this the next time you take communion. After the cup was shared, the husband went back to his insula and built a room for his bride. Does this sound familiar? “In my father’s house there are many rooms. I go there now to prepare a place for you. I will come back to take you to be with me. “ John 14:2
Day seven ended in Bethsaida.
Respectfully,
Jim and Janet
Chorazin
The synagogue at Chorazin is a typical “Galilean” style synagogue. These synagogues are characterized by 1) a basilical shape with three hallways separated by two rows of pillars; 2) three doorways and the central one is the largest; 3) benches around the interior walls; 4) a stylobate to support the weight of the arches.
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