Day 05 - Galilee: Katzrin, Mount Bental, Caesarea Philippi, Tel Dan

Matt 16:18 - 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. That verse summarizes day 5 so well. It was a day of remembering the spiritual battle going on between our Creator, Redeemer God and Satan that shows up in almost every Bible story and in our lives today.

We started by looking at Hippos which is in the region where Jesus cast out the demons from the crazy man (Crazy Larry) and sent them into the swine. The demons recognized Jesus for who He is and were powerless before Him. And the Gospel spread to the region!

Then we had a great opportunity to visit Katzrin and experience 1st century life in a recreated 1st century village. We stomped grapes and made bread. We also studied Mark 2:1-12 where Jesus healed the paralytic man after his friends dug through a roof of a house and lowered him to Jesus. Jesus did heal him, but before He did, He addressed the real problem of Satan’s grip on people by forgiving the man’s sins. This clear statement of Jesus as God and Messiah was not lost on those watching and was a further attack on Satan’s hold. As the man walked out healed, the people were amazed and praised God. The Gospel spread!

We then jumped back to present day as we visited the bunker of Mt. Bental and talked about the challenges modern day Israel faces with so many enemies in the region. Pray for Israel and for peace.

We then travelled to two sites that were somber because of the sin they represented, but also encouraging because of Jesus’ promise. At Caesarea Philippi, we saw the evidences of pagan worship of the god Pan, including what was considered an entrance to the underworld, the gates of hell. The evil and shameless sin of this place was hard to take in. But in this place, Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Jesus then proclaimed that He will give His church His power to not only stand against evil, but to expand the kingdom of God. And this happened at the place of one of Satan’s greatest strongholds of the area. God’s unquenchable church is alive and well and moving forward! The Gospel has and will spread!

We ended the day traveling to Tel Dan where we talked about multiple stories illustrating the damage of sin as compromise leads people further and further from the truth. We talked of the compromise of the tribe of Dan and their refusal to conquer the land God gave them wanting to do what was right in their own eyes. They wanted the beautiful, lush, water filled land we were sitting in. There were streams, trees and plants. It was amazing after being in the desert! But their disobedience and idolatry led to false worship and eventually their destruction. We talked of Rehoboam whose sin and immaturity to listen to peer counsel rather than wisdom of those older divided a kingdom. Jeroboam wasn’t any better on the other side instituting idol worship and veering just farther and farther away from true worship started a pattern of sin that led to the downfall of the kingdom. However, God even prevails in the spiritual battle of this area as we looked North into Lebanon and beyond reflecting on the examples of Elijah and Jesus as they ministered to Gentiles in those regions. All along, the Gospel was to go to the ends of the earth! The spiritual battles we saw today are really no contest. The Gospel spreads, the Church thrives, and God is glorified!

It was a somber, but powerful and incredible day.

Pastor Ron