Life in Israel in Jesus’ time

Today was another big day, starting first with a devotion beside the Sea of Galilee. We talked about how Jesus crossed the lake to the non-Jewish side (which we were sitting on) in order to heal one man. In Mark 5:1-20, Jesus goes to the region of the Gerasenes and meets a demon possessed man whom he heals and restores. In Luke 8:40, Jesus tells the man to go tell everyone in the area what He had done for him and when Jesus returned to the area, a crowd welcomed him because they were expecting them. Because of the man’s obedience, all those people were able to be in the presence of Jesus.

Qatzrin was our next stop and was a total blast! We went to a kind of living history museum that showed us what it would have been like to live in Israel in Jesus’ time. We were able to watch a 2,000 year old olive press in action. Most of the oil is actually in the pit so they would use a 1.5 ton stone to crush the olives and pits. After that, they would scoop up the pulp and squeeze it with another kind of press and then collect the oil. Olive oil was used for cooking and baking, lighting lamps, cosmetics, medicines, and anointing oil…it was extremely precious. Then we went into an authentic Jewish home and talked about what it would have been like to be in the house with Jesus when the paralyzed man was lowered down through the roof so Jesus could heal him (Mark 2: 1-5). The stories in the Bible just come alive when you are able to actually see and picture the places where they happened. Finally we were able to see how they made bread and then we got to make some for ourselves…served with fresh green olives, goat cheese and of course, olive oil with hyssop. It was delicious!!

Caesarea- Philippi was established near one of the three streams that feed the Jordan River. It was also a hotspot of pagan worship to the god Pan; in Matthew 16:13-28, Jesus took his disciples there to talk about/predict four things:

1. This was the first time Jesus mentioned His plan for the church
2. He expressed the idea of the great commission and that He was the authority
3. He would suffer and die and so we too will suffer as Christ followers
4. We are to multiply and disciple others

Multiple times today we were able to see the borders of Jordan and Syria; Tel Dan was one of those places. Dan is the location of the main spring that feeds the Jordan River and from it you can see the into the land of Jordan and Syria. The story about Dan is interesting and sad. When God assigned territories to the 12 tribes, the tribe of Dan was originally located much farther south and on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Much later, they decided to move to a different area because the area they were in was too difficult. So they sent spies up to the north to see if they should move their territory and they did just that because they thought it would be easier (Judges 18). Unbeknown to them, their new territory was located right where invading armies would come and eventually wipe Dan out completely. The lesson we learned from this was to trust God where He puts us; if we are abiding in Christ, we will stop looking at the greener grass on the other side. Before we make any big life decisions, we must be sure it is God who is calling us to move or stay put and not just our own desires.

Also at Dan, is Abraham’s gate, which is the most ancient arch ever found; it is dated around 1700 BC and was the gate Abraham passed through in Genesis 14. It was surreal to be standing next to something so incredibly ancient…there is so much of that around here but this was something especially special.

On our way back to our hotel,, we were able to see the sun set over the Sea of Galilee and the mountains to the west, and it was a beautiful sight. Thank you Lord!!

Shalom