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Israel Study Tour - Bridgeway Christian Church
August 31 - September 11, 2015
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A ‘bus-shaped’ time machine
Summary of Our Day
We spent our Sunday exploring northern Israel moving from the Mt. of Beatitudes, close to Capernaum; into the Golan Heights, visiting Katzrin and looking into Syria; exploring Ceasarea Philippi and Dan and seeing into Lebanon. Richard, Matt and Ronen provided us with descriptive teachings from the Old and New Testaments and modern Israel’s history. Our day was very full placing us in the physical, sociological and political times in which God’s word has been revealed.
Jeremiah Blog
We are on pilgrimage in the Holy Land and we are not alone. Yesterday in Capernaum we listened to a Fijian church group sing a song of praise to our Lord. Today on the Mount of the Beatitudes we heard a Spanish church group do the same. Among our own group we have members who hail from China, the Ukraine, Romania, and of course the States.
Take a moment to really think about that. People from Fiji believe in a Jewish Messiah. People from South America believe in a Jewish Messiah. People from Chine, Ukraine, Romania, and the States all believe, put our hope, and faith in the same Jewish Messiah. It sounds ludicrous and is nothing less than a miracle. A miracle that is revealed and laid plain by the myriad of disciples of Jesus Christ going on pilgrimage to Israel.
Caesarea Philippi
This abundant water supply has made the area very fertile and attractive for religious worship. Numerous temples were built at this city in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Mark’s Blog
Wow, what an incredible day! It’s like jumping into a ‘bus-shaped’ time machine and being shuttled back and forth across the millennia. As we left the Ein Gev Kibbutz on the eastern coast of the Sea of Galilee we headed North and visited the Mt of the Beatitudes where Jesus delivered his counter-cultural sermon that has echoed down through the centuries (Matthew 5:3-11)
We then travelled from Galilee (700 feet below sea level), and ascended the Golan Heights (1500 feet above sea level) which has been under Israeli control since 1967 (The 6 Day War). What had been a rocky wasteland under Syrian control is today a ‘flowering desert’. Vineyards, citrus groves and even mango plantations create a beautiful green belt that contrasts the parched, un-farmed land which is now war torn by civil strife as we were just a stone’s throw from the barbed-wire of the Syrian boarder.
Our ‘time-machine’ then deposited us at the recreated town of Qatzrin, a 2nd century Jewish community where we could enter a typical home and also operate an olive press of that era. A short distance further we were able to spend time in Caesarea Philippi and learned of Jesus’ ministry in the area and his critical instruction to his disciples there. It was here that Peter confessed Jesus as Christ, the son of the living God (Matthew 13-28). Herod the Great had constructed there at the headwaters of the Jordan River, a pagan resort of sorts including temples to Pan, Zeus, and Caesar Augustus.
Our day was completed by a jump back in time to the 4000 year old city of Laish which was later taken over by the tribe of Dan. It was here that Jeroboam built a replica altar of the one at the temple in Jerusalem but instead of honoring the one true God, he lead the Northern Kingdom into idolatry. To see these actual archeological sites brings the Bible into living color!
Katzrin
The ancient Jewish farming village of Katzrin was built around a spring, which still flows. Although there were standing ruins on the site, archaeological excavations have increased the number of accessible ancient buildings. An ancient synagogue was discovered in 1967 and excavated between 1971 and 1984. Other parts of the village were excavated beginning in 1983. Some of the buildings have been reconstructed on their ancient foundations and furnished with replicas of household goods and tools
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.
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