Zealous Faith

We are over the halfway point of our time here in Israel. The days are long and full of incredible experiences, but the week feels like it has flown by! Thank you all for continuing to think about us and pray for our group this week.

We began our morning on a lookout spot overlooking the northern region of Galilee. We start every morning by reciting what is called the "Sh'ma" which means listen and obey in Hebrew. Before doing anything or going anywhere, we first fix our heart, soul, and strength on God and remind ourselves to love others as ourselves. We came to our first site of the day at Gamla, most known for a Zealot hideout northeast of the Sea of Galilee. The Jewish Zealots were very passionate about following the law, but used the sword as the main avenue of advancing the faith. At first glance, this does not sound like something we should strive to follow, but there are some things we can learn from their zealous mindset. They based their lives on unconditionally loving God and not having any idols. Though Jesus would teach some principles that didn't necessarily reflect the Zealot way, He and His disciples did have this somewhat danger and passion in their ministry. We had to ask ourselves, do we daily live out a dangerous faith that is zealous for the Lord and His Kingdom?

Our next stop was Caesarea Philippi, a town far north in Israel. Around the time of Jesus, this was a very dark and evil place, full of worship of pagan gods such as Zeus and Pan. Jesus brought his disciples here to tell them something that would motivate them and propel their ministry influence in the church even to this day. Jesus tells them that He would build His church on the confession that He is the Christ, in spite of all the dark and evil influence in the world. This monumental moment for Jesus and His disciples is also a great reminder for us that His kingdom will prevail and last for eternity!

Our path then led us to the experience the old city of Dan and the topic of idolatry. This place is filled with much history and unbelievable archaeological discoveries. We reflected on what has been referred to as "slippage" throughout this trip (slowly doing what is right in our own eyes and over time getting further and further away from God). We see that this can last through multiple generations as we recapped the story of the Israelites, most notably starting with the tribe of Dan leaving their God-given land to come north to this region. Ultimately, Jeroboam, the first king of northern Israel, would help bring idolatry to this city, and over time it would be a place that was distant from the one true God and His holiness. Whether it is in our community, church, families, or personal lives, this small slippage and idolatry can ultimately lead to future generations that are far from God. We must love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and leave a legacy of zealous faith, so that the whole world and future generations will know that there is a God!

We ended our day by visiting a site on the north side of the Sea of Galilee called Areamos Topos, which means "desolate place". Here we read the sermon on the mount that was preached by Jesus around this area. It was a wonderful way to reflect on our time here so far and the teachings of Jesus as we overlooked the beautiful Sea of Galilee!