Day 05 - The Church – Galilee

Boker Tov!! (Good morning!)  Today was a great day!  We started with worship and a devotion beside the Sea of Galilee with Pastor Ralph. He asked us to recall some of the key phrases we’ve learned the last few days. Below are just a few, and I encourage those of you who didn’t come along on our trip to ask us the meaning behind these:

·         Vine Valley

·         Don’t let the culture cut your hair

·         Live your life so that no pig bones will be found in the excavation of your life

·         Low as you go (pssst… not a reference to limbo)

·         Throw your own stone

·         Don’t be a Dead Sea Christian

We prayed for the health of our fellow travelers and set-off for our first stop of the day which is a remote Baptism site North of the Sea of Galilee.  We had a healthy hike to THE spot and crossed paths with a church from Michigan aptly named Crossroads! How cool!  Guil led an amazing talk about immersion baptism and commitment (or RE-commitment), comparing it to learning a new language. Several of our team members decided to get baptized. Married couples, friends, and even multiple family members got baptized today and it was special for all of us. It was a joyful time for all of us.

Baptism is an act of obedience where we declare publicly that we are living our lives for Jesus.   It’s a burial and a new birth. For many of us, it was a declaration of recommitting ourselves to living not just for Jesus, but like Jesus.

Our second stop of the day was Tel Dan.  Tel Dan is a truly amazing site! In 1200 B.C., the tribe of Dan headed north to distance themselves from the Philistines. When they reached Laish, they conquered the city, ran everyone out of the town, and renamed the city Dan. Jeroboam had a temple constructed in 930 B.C. to the specifications listed in Leviticus. We could see the outline of the temple, the large altar and steps to the Holy of Holies. It was same size and layout of Solomon’s Temple. Seeing how precise they were in building the temple one might assume that the people of Dan were closely following God. Sadly, this was not the case.

The fact that the temple was built at all was highly offensive because God only ever intended for there to be one temple. But this is not the only place where they fell short. The people of Dan were henotheistic; they had golden calves in the temple and were worshipping other gods. Pig bones were also found during excavation of the temple area. One might argue that the people here were serving God, but in reality, they were serving God on their own terms. God demands to be worshipped the way He says He should be worshipped.

Matthew 16:24

“Then Jesus told His disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Our next stop was very close by at Caesarea Philippi. This is the site of the headwaters of the Jordan River. We saw a massive cave on the cliff-face that once had a river flowing from it. Upon finding this place, Greek soldiers named it Banias (place of pan) after their god, Pan. One of many gods they worshipped, Pan was a satyr (half-man, half-goat). They also believed in the underworld and thought that this very cave was an entrance to Hades.

According to the scriptures, Jesus and his disciples were in Caesarea Philippi, most likely staring at this very cave while Jesus said these words spoken in Matthew 16. Jesus asked Peter, “who do you say I am?” and Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” On the rock of Peter’s confession, not even death will prevail against God’s church. Death has no hold on us when we are in Christ Jesus. Early Christians believed this, and we need to remember this too.

Matthew 16: 13-18

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Ralph explained that Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi in the midst of brokenness for people (sh’ma sighting) to tell the disciples He wanted them to go out into a broken world and build the Church, to BE the church. The gates of Hades are a representation of a defensive weapon and the Church needs to be on the offense, not shrinking back! We need to understand the Church’s role. We need to understand our role. Are we on the offense and influencing our world for Christ or are we retreating and hiding out?

Our last and final stop was the cliff’s edge where Jesus drove out a demoniac into 2000 pigs and sent them over a cliff into the Sea of Galilee.

This day was truly amazing and we are learning so much! We miss you all and look forward to sharing more upon our return. We know our trip has been going great as the attacks of the enemy have become more obvious. Please continue to pray for our security, health, and immersion as we continue to seek and pursue the ways of our Lord.
CIC Israel ‘22