Day 3 Israel

Sea of Galilee, Mt of Beatitudes, Tagba, Capharnaum, Golan Heights, Jordan River, Tiberias



Good morning all! After spending late last night watching a tremendous lightning show over Tiberias and doing some school work...which never seems to end, I awoke at 5:30 and decided to take a walk along the walkways of the Sea of Galilee. I was in for a treat. The attached photo is of a sunrise on Galilee across from Tiberias near Capharnaum. To the right you'll see some ominous clouds. These were a storm coming in. While basking and praying in this glorious morning experience with God, and getting rained on a bit, I turned around and saw a rainbow over the sky of Tiberias. That was beyond words...to see this promise of God here...what a gift God gave to me this morning. I went back to the hotel to wake mom, have breakfast and then we were all off for a boat ride on Galilee. This was the highlight of my trip, as this is the one place I wanted to visit more than any. We all sang, prayed and enjoyed being on this great lake together. Not a sea, but a lake, it is 9-12 miles long and almost 140 feet deep. When I stood on the top of the boat, I could see fish coming to surface to eat and loons diving beneath the green colored waves to find breakfast. I closed my eyes and could feel the power of this place. I could look out and see Jesus walking on the water with Peter stepping out of a boat, perhaps where I was at that moment, to go to him and sinking. I could see one of the quick moving storms in the area building up into a huge storm and crashing the little fishing boat that Jesus and his disciples were in. I saw the early morning fisherman out and about and could envision Jesus traveling with his disciples to the different towns around the highest freshwater lake in Israel.


This lake is vital to the region, which is predominantly agriculture. One interesting product grown here is that of honey by honey bees. This is new to the region. The honey mentioned in the Bible was not traditional honey that we know and love...it is really homemade from dates and/or carob. There were no bees used when John the Baptist and others ate this yummy substance. The Jordan flows into her from Mt. Herman and then tributaries flow from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea in the southern part of Israel. All bodies of water flow south here. The people here are worried because last year rain fall was down 50% and the water level of the lake is down significantly. Scary when this is your only drinking source as well.

We landed after a bit and drove to the Mount of Beatitudes. This was the spot where Christ actually gave the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. I had the honor and privilege of reading this scripture to our tour group. It gave me chills to do this on the place where Jesus taught the masses. We visited and prayed on our own, searching to hear God's voice. Did I hear it? Yes. But that is something for me. :) The Catholic Society for Aid to Italian Missionaries owns and runs this facility. Although it is private, they open it to tourists and require a strict dress code in order to visit...no upper arms, bellies, and legs showing- no shorts. They do enforce it! The church has 8 sides to it- one for each Beatitude.

We then took off for a little church owned and run by the Benedictine German Order at the bottom of the mount, know as Tabgha. This was determined to be the very spot that Jesus performed the miracle of feeding 5000 with a few loaves of bread and fish. This church has the oldest floor mosaic known to exist and stands as a marker for the miracle that occurred. In fact, this is a composite church, which means it represents a number of different miracles that took place. Built in 4th Century AD by Constantine, it was one of the first open places for Christians to worship without being persecuted. Outside, one still can see the olive presses used for lamp and anointing oil. There is also a grape press, used to make wine. Inside one will find beautiful mosaics of animals and plants. On display underneath glass on the floor one can see the actual foundation stones that were used to build the first church. This was fascinating, but the most interesting of all was a black stone and altar in front of the church. This stone is significant because it is traditionally thought that this very stone was where Jesus laid the fish and loaves of bread used in his miracle.

From Tabgha, we drove to Capharnaum (aka Capernaum). Franciscan Monks own, manage and run the site. They actually are archaeologists on the site. Just south of the city, you can see the Orthodox Greek church, which they were too late to settle on the spot where this famous city stood. So the Franciscans have control of the area. With their work, it has been proven that events thought to have happened in this port city and home of Peter actually happened. When you enter this fishing village, it strikes me as odd to see a statue of Peter, head and all. In a state (country) where it is wrong to show graven images and heads are removed, it is odd to again see a statue that doesn't follow the Jewish law. But it is privately owned by the Catholic church and they can choose to do this. First we saw the industrial area where work was done. You can actually see the black balsamic, volcanic rock from the region that actually existed when Peter and Jesus resided here. Limestone that surrounds buildings here was carted in and carved. Then we went to the home of my favorite Biblical character, Peter. Peter's home actually has been built around it by several centuries of churches, whose foundations are still visible. Cut through the layers and you can still see the walls of Peters home. We tried to envision where the courtyard originally was, but it proved to be too difficult. Our imaginations had to work double time to see it. The house was tiny! Oh my goodness....I had chills knowing I was standing where Peter had once stood. Leaving that spot and walking a total of a block past other home ruins, we come to the synagogue. Now, it was thought that local synagogues were built after the temple had been destroyed, but research has shown through discoveries that this was not the case. Local city synagogues existed at the same time. Walk up to it and the site will take your breath away...not the columns or the size, but looking at the layer of black rock below the synagogue is rock that Jesus actually stood on and taught on! I had to bend down and touch it. Tears still come to my eyes when I think that I am feeling stone that Christ stood on 2000 years ago! I wish we had more time to visit, but after 15 minutes we had to get going for our next stop.

As we head to our next location of lunch, including St Peter Fish- a whole fish, head and all, we pass by the Golan Heights. First though...back to the fish. It is called St Peter Fish because of the incident when Peter caught a piece of fish and inside was found a coin to pay taxes with. This is significant because in this region this type of fish are a live breeding fish. They keep their babies in their mouths. So, a coin is not that far fetched an idea. Golan Heights---if this name sounds familiar, it is because this is one of the strategic military sites constantly fought over by Syria and the state of Israel. Not long ago, Syria had control of these mountains, located on the east side of the lake. They built bunkers with underground tunnels in them. They terrorized those in the Galilee region. On a whim, they would launch artillery attacks on fisherman and blow boats out of the water. They would launch artillery attacks on the local wheat fields, just to set them afire. They tormented kids and adults alike in the valley below. As we drive by, signs are posted on the barb wired fence at the bottom of the hills stating that there are live mine fields on the slopes. Thankfully, Israel was able to gain control of this military region. Not only is it strategic in position, overlooking the entire Galilee valley, anyone in control, such as the Syrians, has the upper hand at blocking the water source that flows into the lake. Without this, the people have no drinking water throughout the region and soon, country. After seeing and hearing about this region, I now understand why Israel needs to keep this mountain range and not let it go. There is another reason why this spot may sound familiar. It is also the place where 2 demon posessed men met up with Jesus and he sent the spirits into pigs and ran them off a cliff.

Our last stop was the most important for many of the day- the Jordan River. Almost 1/2 of our bus, 20 or so, chose to either be baptised, or in the case of mom and I, reaffirm our relationship with Jesus through another baptism. We rented gowns and towels, changed, and joined a line of people from our entire tour to stand in line in a very cold Jordan River and be dunked by 4 pastors on the trip. One of our pastors was from Elkhart, Indiana! I remember when I was baptised in my early twenties and how special it was. That could not compare to this experience! Words can't describe the feeling I had as I left the river. One gentleman in our group wanted to call it surreal, but couldn't because that just didn't fit the bill. We dried off, visited, laughed---all sharing in a celebration that we understand and know with new friends. Unfortuantely, we had to leave.

At the end of the evening, we were surprised with the opportunity to visit a diamond factory. I wanted to go because I knew that Israel is known as a leader in creating diamonds worldwide. I was not disappointed. Did you know that the majority of diamonds purchased by DeBeers in England come to Israel in rock form to be created? Those in this trade in the country are that good. Then, the USA imports 65% of their diamonds!!! Also, interestingly, South Africa is soon to be taken over by Canada for the number 1 spot in mining for diamonds. WOW!!! After a brief tour of the facility and a movie, the factory was closed for the evening, we were taken to their showroom. Oh my goodness! I am not a big fan of jewelry, but this stuff and quality took my breath away!

Again, another busy, crazy day of running. I am finally taking a break to write this before I get to bed...at 1:30 am! Have a terrific day or night where ever you are and I'll visit with you all tomorrow.