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Israel Study Tour - Joshua Wilderness Institute
April 10-22, 2015
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A Great Day in Galilee
Today was the fourth day of our Israel trip! We started out with hiking the mountain of Arbel. It was a very long hike, and challenging at times, but when we got to the top it was worth it! The view was amazing! We could see out over the sea of Galilee and a lot of the land where Jesus would have done most of his ministry. It was an awesome time to just sit and look out and reflect on our trip so far, as well as our year in Joshua.
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.
We then went to Capernaum and got to see where Peter lived, the ruins, and the synogouge of the town. They had a big school attached to the synagogue, so we can tell that education was something very important to them at that time. It was neat to see a small piece of what life would have looked like when Jesus taught there.
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.
Next we had falafel! Scott says, “It was a life changing experience. I never knew that something could taste so good.” It was such a great time with friends, and amazing food!
Chorazin was our next stop! We learned about what it is to be a community, an “insula.” We learned about what their houses looked like and how the families would all live together. It was a cool analogy for how we have been living in Joshua and what we should look out for in our years to come. We need to constantly be searching for community, whether that be at school, or church, or wherever we end up next.
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.
After that we did a small hike to the Mount of Beatitudes. It is amazing to hear Kelsey say all of Matthew 5-7 for us. We could feel how the disciples felt in that moment. It is crazy to see the symbolism from that passage really come to life. We saw the fields—they are really there! It was amazing!
Mount of Beatitudes
The so-called “Sermon on the Mount” is recorded in Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6. The alleged discrepancy between Matthew’s version being on a hill and Luke’s being on a level place is easily reconciled with observation of many level places on the Galilean hillsides. Scripture gives no indication of the exact location of this event, but the Byzantines built a church to commemorate it at the bottom of the hill. Some of Napoleon’s men placed it on the nearby Arbel mountain.
Then we went to Tabgha and Jessy talked to us about the significance of the shore we were sitting on, about Peter and Jesus. He talked about how we are not called just once to follow Jesus. We are given our whole lives to follow Him and even when we are unfaithful He is constantly there waiting. It was a really impacting time to get to sit on the beach and journal our experiences so far.
Israel has been great and we are looking forward to the days to come!
--Meg and Emily D.
Tabgha
Two miles west of Capernaum is what Josephus referred to as the “well of Capernaum.” Undoubtedly a popular fishing spot of the locals because of its famous “seven springs,” Heptapegon (today the name has been corrupted to Tabgha) is the traditional location for several episodes in Jesus’ ministry.
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