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Israel Study Tour with Calvary Church Los Gatos
January 6-17, 2020
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Following in the footsteps of Jesus
Day 4, we are almost halfway through this journey through the holy land! This group has been amazing to get to know, hear stories from, and learn from these past 4 days. It has been so cool to walk this journey with other members of our Calvary Church family!
Today we went to a lot of different sites. It’s amazing all that we saw and experienced in one day. It started off with breakfast at our hotel and our first stop to Mt. Arbel. It was so beautiful. This mountain overlooks the Sea of Galilee and could have been the location that Jesus went up to to retreat and pray. They also think it may be the location where he fed the 5,000. It was overwhelming to sit there, at the top of the mountain and look out the same way we know Jesus did so many years ago. After that we headed to Chorazin, a city that Jesus spent time in and did mighty works in.
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.
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.
Following that we headed to Capernaum. We got to spend time in the actual city that Jesus did 3 years of ministry. We stood in the synagogue where Jesus taught and we got to see where Peter lived, which is where Jesus lived for those 3 years. It was emotional and unexplainable. There will never be anything quite like those moments that we had in those places. Then we went to the shore where Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of men.
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.
Lastly we got to go on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. The sun was setting and there was worship music on in the background. We had meaningful conversations, alone time with the Lord, and time to process the trip so far. We are experiencing so many incredible and life changing things. We are so grateful to be here and so grateful to get to walk where Jesus walked.
We miss you all back home,
Thanks for following along!
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