Building His Church

Gamla - “Masada of the North”

We began our day with a devotional led by Jordan McDaniel at the
shores of the Galilee. After a 30 to 40 minute drive, we arrived at
Gamla, ancient city of the Zealots. While hiking there, we heard
artillery in the distance. Scott taught us about the history of the
fierce Zealots and their demise. Roughly 10,000 of these people
covered a steep mountain in the middle of a wadi. In the late first
century, a legion of 60,000 Roman troops offered the Zealots a deal.
The Zealots declined and the Romans invaded. Families fled to the top
of the mountain and were eventually forced to be thrown off the cliff
in avoidance of Roman slavery.

Caesarea Philippi

After stopping by an armistice line that separated Israel and Syria,
we made our way to Caesarea Philippi, a beautiful and lush place near
Mount Hermon. Jordan taught us the history of Caesarea and it’s
relations to Pan, a greek god. This was considered to be spiritually
the darkest place on Earth. When Jesus walked the Earth, this was
known as the Gates of Hades, or the Gates of Hell. It was the center
of worship of the Greek god Pan. Pan was believed to be half-man,
half-goat, and was the god of shepherds and flocks/fertility. Caesarea
Philippi is Jordan’s favorite place in the world because it is where
Jesus came and said He would build His church.

Our last stop was at an ancient temple built by Herod near the Syrian
border. We had a fun time exploring the old ruins and finding piles of
pottery outside of the temple.

Blake Bass