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

Today we started out at Katzrin, an Israeli settlement known as the capital of the Golan Heights. We got to see and experience an ancient olive oil press and the students took turns pushing the original stone to grind the olives. We learned how necessary olive oil was to survival, as it was used for cooking, lighting, cosmetics and skincare, and anointing. This oil press is the only ancient olive oil press that is still used to make olive oil.  The wood has been restored, but the 1500 ton stone was the original stone!  We read through Deuteronomy 8:8 which discusses the 7 crops of Israel: figs, dates, lemons, honey, wheat, barley, and olives. At this settlement, we also saw the remains of a Jewish village and synagogue that was over 1600 years old.  There was an earthquake 700 years old that destroyed much  of the village, but the main, original gateway to the synagogue  was still standing. We then sat inside of an original Jewish home, that had been reinforced over the years.  We were able to visualize what would have been the living room, the kitchen, and the upper room. We noticed that the windows were extremely small and high up.  The rabbi guide explained that this allowed the rooms to stay cool, protected the home from animals or intruders, and it also reflected the culture of the community, which was focused on your family inside the home and giving neighbors their privacy.  We read through Mark 2 where they lowered the paralyzed man down through the roof of the crowded house, so that they could bring him before Jesus.  Sitting inside the home with the thatched roof, it was so meaningful to be able to picture what happened in this story. 

Our next stop was Caesarea Philippi, which was Herod’s capital and a city devoted to pagan worship, mainly of the fertility god of Pan. The great confession and transfiguration of Jesus is believed to have occurred in the vicinity of this city, and we know that Jesus brought his disciples to this place, which would have been known as the sin city of its time, just once.  We read through Matthew 16:13 where Jesus asks his disciples, “who do you say that I am?”, and “on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against this”.  The disciples would have heard this while overlooking this city that was full of every type of worship, including some of the most vile and sinful.  Our team reflected on what it means to be like Jesus where we can be in this world but not of it, and the importance of having a firm foundation in Christ to be able to engage with a broken world.  Going to Capernaum yesterday, where Jesus would have studied and prayed with some of the academic elites of the time, showed that even He spent time in preparation before walking into Caesarea Philippi. Another really cool aspect of this site was that the remains of a Byzantine church were excavated here, and we saw a part of the mosaic floor that must have been built to cover the sites of pagan worship and sacrifice. 

Our last stop of the day was Tel Dan.  This was one of the bigger cities, as it had plenty of water sources.  We were able to walk through the park and see the beautiful streams and rivers.  We got to see the nearly 4,000 year old “Abraham’s Gate”, and it is believed that Abraham may have traveled through this city to rescue his nephew, Lot - who we learned earlier had been taken captive in Sodom.  

We ended the night by watching the sunset on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and playing some intense soccer outside our hotel.  

It has been a great day and we’re excited for another full day tomorrow!  Thank you for continuing to pray for our team!! 

Highlights from students:

Greta Gustafson - A significant memory of the day was visiting Cesarea Philipi. Although Herod enshrined wickedness and chaos into his capitol city’s culture, Jesus took his disciples there to declare that His eternal kingdom is far stronger than any ones on earth. Looking upon the remnants of a Byzantine church which had been built to cover the place of pagan sacrifice, I was in awe of how no evil was beyond the reach of Jesus to be transformed by His redemptive power.

Gwyneth Clark - It was really meaningful to see Caesarea of Philippi today. Knowing the history behind the dark pagan culture and worship that took place there gave me a new perspective on Christ. We often speak of how Jesus was human but don’t always grasp how truly human he was. He was not afraid to be in the world, to touch the dark places of humanity. He proclaimed light in the darkest of places and this is such a comfort. Knowing Jesus fully enters into the sinful chaos of mankind without conforming to the world shows the power of his beautiful redemptive work.

Sara Razzino - Today when we visited the Tel Dan, we ran into a man who we had coincidentally encountered at holy places for the last three days. It was really cool that he saw our group being baptized and rededicated to Christ and was touched by witnessing a young generation of Christians publicly displaying our love for Jesus. It was amazing we were able to cross paths with this man for three days in a row and connect through the shared experience of visiting the holy land as Christians. I think we all saw God through our encounters with this man. Another impactful moment in Tel Dan was when we listened to the story of the Dan tribe in the exact place they lived and learned about the consequences of deciding to move out of the place God called them to be in. This story is an important reminder for all of us to pray about life decisions and trust that God will guide us in the right direction especially as high schoolers who are thinking about which college is right for us.

Zinnia Jones - A highlight of my day would be making olive oil and bread at Katzrin. We were able to see and learn how hard people had work to survive every day! We were given the opportunity to look in a traditional house that people lived during Jesus’s time. While we were in the house, we read the story of the paralytic man that was lowered down through the roof of a house in his community. I was able to visualize the story because we were in house from that time. This will change how I read this story from now on.