Castles, Cities, and Syria

Day 4

We left Tiberius today and detoured around the normal route outside the city due to a marathon in the area. It ended up being awesome because we drove through a BEAUTIFUL area of mountains and valleys. I was in my glory with my nose pressed to the window. We made our way to the very north of the country. En route, Uri (our tour guide) gave us interesting information, as usual. We passes by the Hula Valley, where a massive swamp used to exist. In the 1950's, the government drained the swamp (against advice given by conservationists), and it was a bit of an ecological mess. The ground under the swamp was peat, and after a few years the ground just began burning and turned into dust. Apparently this happens when peat doesn't have any moisture in it. They had to let some of the water back onto the land, and it is all in much better shape now.

We stopped first at the Dan Nature Preserve, a lush, green area along the Dan River, which feeds the Jordan. Psalm 42 was likely written in reference to that spot because of the geographical locations it mentions in verse 5. What a pretty area! We went for a walk that eventually led to the high place used by the city of Dan. The tribe of Dan was given a piece of land in The southern regions, but because of constant attack by the Philistines, they decided to take over a city way up north. When they moved, however, they brought their own priest (not a Levite) and ended up worshipping idols (read Judges 17 and 18 for the whole story).

The high place that we arrived at (high places are referenced numerous times in the Bible for worship of gods) was nothing like I had envisioned when I read about them. I always thought it would be on top of a mountain. Instead, it was the highest place of the city, which wasn't really all that high compared to the surrounding area. I loved it. 

When Israel split into the Northern Kingdom and Judah in 930 BC, Jeroboam became king of the Northern Kingdom. He built a temple for his people to use so that they would not feel the need to go to Jerusalem to worship because was afraid that would lead to them switching allegiances (check out the story in 1 Kings 12). His worship, though, was to golden calves that he had made. The ruins of the temple were there, and we were able to stand on them. They are so old!!! From the time of Judges! There was also a "newer" temple that  King Ahab built a little behind it 100 years later.

The temple by Jeroboam

Right next to the temples were Israeli trenches left over from wars with Syria in the mid-1900's. Uri gave us a really great history lesson on that time. And...Val and I ran through the trenches and bunker. Elizabeth joined us for a photo:

We moved on through more remains of the city of Dan, which was quite a big area. Eventually we made it to the city gates. There were two sets: the original gates, built in the 11th century BC, and the "newer" gates built when they expanded the city in the 8th century BC. 

First set of gates

The city gates are where kings and elders would sit to offer advice and make rulings, and I really enjoyed seeing how it was set up in relation to the city.

Queen Val and her subjects

GFrom there, we headed to Caesarea Philippi, which is one of the locations Jesus visited with His disciples. It is the headwaters of another of the rivers that feeds the Jordan, and where it came out of the rock wall steam often arose from it due to warmer water. As a result, people referred to it as the Gates of Hades (Hell). Next to the water source were built multiple temples. I thought I had a picture on my phone of it, but it's on my camera. Here is the spot where the water used to come out of (it comes out at a different spot now).

The Gates of Hades

The city back in the 1st century was crazy. Caesarea Philippi worshiped the god of Pan, the half man half goat, and they did some pretty sick things in their worship. I won't go into detail here, but it involved hundreds of men, women, and goats. The word pandemonium came from their times of worship because people would get into such a frenzy. It was at this location (and highly likely during a time of worship) that Jesus and His disciples arrived on scene.

This is the exchange that took place as they were in the city, likely looking on at all that was going on from Matthew 16:13-19.

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked.“Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

The Gates of Hell (Hades). They were standing next to a steaming spring that was called that specifically! What?! There is so much more meaning going on in the Bible that we don't pick up on! Jesus had a reason for everything He said, and he used the visual picture available to Him in that moment to make a point....as he was talking to Peter (the rock) standing next to a giant rock that was pouring out water and steam called the Gates of Hades. Ahhhh! I love it!

After that mind-blowing experience, I noticed a sign that said "Nimrod" and pointed up a trail. I asked our guide about it. Here is our exchange:

Me: "What is Nimrod?"

Guide, excitedly: "It is a freaking awesome castle with dungeons and turrets and dragons. It is absolutely amazing."

Me, also excitedly: "Are we going there?!"

Guide: "No."

Me, hopeful: "Can I run up quick and check it out?!"

Guide: "No. You need to come back and do a trip where you backpack the trail that goes from the northern part if Israel to the southern end! Then you can check all this stuff out."

I was disappointed after our conversation, but kept a good attitude.

But...that wasn't the end! I told Val about it, and she brought Nimrod up to him later. She said if he didn't agree, we could always stage a coup. He admitted he was totally fine with us deviating from the schedule a bit. We would just have to push lunch back another hour, which was why he was hesitant. You could tell he wanted to go. So we did!!! We were not disappointed. That castle was AMAZING and so massive. I can't even describe it in words.

It was built by the Mamelukes in the 13th century, and is the biggest Crusader-era castle in Israel. No one knows why it was built,  but the structure was so fun exploring. Val, Elizabeth, and I ran around ducking in every available passage and room. Our trip had been moving at a really slow pace, so it felt so good to blast around and race up stairs. Uri (the guide) had such a good time, too. He loves the place and actually thanked me for pushing to get us there. He hadn't been there in a few years and just enjoys it. I really appreciated his flexibility and the obvious love of his job. 

Our final stop of the day was to the mountain of Ben Talk. From there, you can look down into Syria which is only a couple of miles away. Uri explained that in the town that we were looking at, people were getting killed daily. It was a sobering moment. From the top, we could also see Damascus. It is along the stretch of road we saw leading to Damascus that Paul experienced his conversion.

Today is my favorite day so far. Not only did we see some mind-blowing things, but I just had such a good time running around with Val and Elizabeth. This was how I had envisioned our trip being...laughing, joking around, enjoying each other, and seeing the Bible come alive.

Walking where Jesus walked

Day 3

Today, I woke up to this view of the Sea of Galilee:

Our focus for the day was on the region surrounding the Sea of Galilee where Jesus spent the majority of his earthly ministry. Our awesome tour guide, Uri, explained that the area surrounding Capernaum/the Sea of Galilee was not the normal choice of a location for a rabbi to begin his ministry for a number of reasons. 1) During the 1st century, this area consisted of a population mix of half Jew and half Gentile. 2) There were a large number of Romans since the second largest Roman post was nearby. 3) Numerous tax collectors were in the area because of tariffs leveled for nearby border crossings. 4) There are a number of hot springs in the area where sick people visited in the hopes of having their ailments healed by the waters. Sickness back then was viewed as a result of sin. All of these factors meant the area was crawling with "sinners." Why would Jesus go there to gain a following? It wasn't the normal thing for a young rabbi to do. But Jesus wasn't normal. Jesus' goal was to show that God's love and grace extended to all people, even the common sinners of the time. He hung out with the people who needed him the most.

We began the day with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Yes, that's correct: A BOAT RIDE ON THE SEA OF GALILEE! WHERE JESUS SAILED. And walked on water. And calmed the sea. And where the disciples fished. Unbelievable. It was a fun, gorgeous ride. As we chugged away, our guide pointed out various landmarks in the distance, such as the hill the demon-possessed swine ran down, Capernaum, the commonly accepted location of the Mount of Beatitudes, and the coast-line that a lot of Biblical stories took place on.

Sailing!

Our destination was a museum on the coast that held a 1st century boat someone uncovered about 30 years ago. It was cool seeing their design and the size (small), and it was easy to see how the disciples became afraid when the storm arose while Jesus was sleeping. It wouldn't take much to capsize that thing.

We drove from there to the Mount of Beatitudes--the spot believed, according to tradition, to be the place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I was super excited to go, envisioning us sitting on a pretty hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I was quite disappointed to find there was a Catholic Church built on the spot, with multiple buildings and manicured lawns. Not at all what I had dreamed of. Plus, there were approximately one million people there. While I'm glad for the experience, I kept gazing at a nearby hill and wishing that was where we were at.

View from the Mount of Beatitudes bus parking lot. It was a much better view than at the church. This one I appreciated!

The disappointment didn't end at the Mount, though. Other spots had churches built on them. An access point to the Sea of Galilee and the town of Capernaum both had churches and other buildings built on or around the locations and ruins, and both were incredibly touristy. I was annoyed, but I'm still thankful for the chance to be there.

Along the Sea of Galilee, we stopped at a section of the coast that Jesus spent a lot of his ministry years at and walked down to the rocky beach. It enjoyed envisioning the disciples fishing along there or Jesus cooking fish on the beach after the resurrection (the place where he restored Peter...John 21).

Capernaum was next. It was a town that Jesus frequented and taught in often, and also the town where Peter's family lived. While still a tourist nightmare, I was excited to see the excavations that had taken place. A synagogue from the 4th century A.D. that was built on top of earlier synagogues had been unearthed, along with the remains of the town and homes from the 1st century...which was when Jesus was there. And then there was the site of what is accepted to be the spot of Peter's home. What. A very early Christian church had been built on top of the spot where Peter's home had been, so there were the ruins of that remaining. But it was his home. Jesus ate dinner there. It was incredible. But...there was also a church built like a spaceship that was suspended over the site of the home. Thank you 1960's architecture. Bizarre. Oh well. Still amazing.

The site of Peter's home. Notice the spaceship suspended above it.

From there, we continued to the Golan Heights, which is the location of the story when Jesus sent the demons into the swine and they ran off the cliff into the sea (Mark 8:28-34). I can't tell you how wild it is to see where these things took place, to visualize the swine running down the hill into the water. I also just took in the landscape around the Sea of Galilee away from all the developed tourist areas. The rocks, shrubs, trees, grass, and hills were so pretty. I kept wanting to jump out of the bus and just walk through it, to experience the region the way Jesus did in its natural form. Seeing the landscape was much more impactful to me than going to a church building built on the Mt. of Beatitudes because that was much closer to what Jesus saw and walked through. 

Bottom portion of a section of the Golan Heights

Last stop of the day: the Jordan River. Again, there were a million people there, but the water was a gorgeous color, and I just had a blast wandering around with my CA co-workers.

Campus Ambassadors represents

The Jordan River

This trip has been great. Not only have we visited numerous Biblical sites already, but we have learned about many other aspects of Israel as well: more recent history, the steps Israel had taken as a nation, the types of agriculture in the area, and the current make-up of the people. It is all so interesting...and this is day 3!

Archeological ruins and mountain-top views

Day 2

Today was jam-packed. After an amazing breakfast (more food than at dinner the night before!), we were on the bus by 7:45. Our first stop was old Caesarea, which is an archeological site that has unearthed layer after later of cities built on top of each other. Now, I have a thing for old, dilapidated buildings. My brother always makes fun of me for it because every time I see an abandoned house, I say I want to live there. So I was having the time of my life bounding from stone pillars to old foundations. Our tour guide is absolutely brilliant, so he filled us in on pretty much everything. I don't think there is a detail of Israel history (and current issues) that he doesn't know. Needless to say, I drank in the info he gave at each spot. I should have been an archeologist.

See? I love it!

Caesarea was built by Harod in the 1st century as a port town so he could basically make more money. There is a ton more detail than that, but I'm typing on my phone...

Harod constructed a lot of aspects of the city purely so the people (mainly sailors since it was a port town) would have entertainment. He built a theater, a race arena (which was later closed off into an amphitheater for gladiator games/a place to feed people--such as Christians--to wild animals), bath houses, and (likely) brothels.

The theater!

Caesarea was the town that Peter went to in order to meet Cornelius, who was the first gentile convert to Christianity (Acts 10). It was also the place that Paul defended himself at in court before appealing to Rome, where he was eventually killed (Acts 24). I absolutely loved everything we saw there and the time we spent. I definitely could have stayed longer.

The court area that Paul likely stood.

Part of Harod's palace. You can see a mosiac in the foreground. In the background is a fresh-water pool outlined with rocks and surrounded by the salty Mediterranean Sea.

Next, we traveled to Mt. Carmel, the location on which Elijah challenged the Baal prophets (1 Kings 18:20-40). The top was a bit too touristy for my taste, but the view was beautiful. Trees covered the hills, the Mediterranean was off in the distance (although it was too cloudy to see), and the Jezreel Valley stretched off in the other direction. You could envision how Elijah was watching for clouds to form over the sea and blow over to the valley, where the majority of the agriculture takes place (1 Kings 18:41-46).

View from Mt. Carmel

Another really cool archeological site we stopped at was the ancient city of Megiddo. It had been a major city for that region for centuries due to it's geological location. If you controlled Megiddo, you controlled a huge part of the trade route. As a result, people fought over that city for as long as it had been in existence. We saw plenty of ruins there (which I loved, of course), and we even got to go through a tunnel that the city's water source used to run through. It went from inside the city to outside the walled area. Really impressive!

An ancient stairway in Megiddo

The round circle of rocks is an altar used by the Canaanites. It is one of their high places.

A manger! They were made out of stone, not wood, because there is very little wood available.

Out last stop before heading to the hotel was Mt. Precipice, which overlooked Nazareth (where Jesus grew up). Nazareth is very large now, nothing like it was in Biblical times. The view was so pretty, though. Besides Nazareth, you could see Mt. Carmel, Tibor mountain (which is referenced a lot in the Bible, one example being the place that the prophetess Deborah sat), and the Jezreel Valley. Mt. Precipice was the mountain that people sought to throw Jesus off when they became upset with the things he was saying on a visit to Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30). 

View from Mt. Precipice

Modern-day Nazareth

The rest of the evening consisted of the bus ride to our new hotel, dinner, and finally bed!

Cool fact: our guide He explained that when God referred to a "land flowing with milk and honey," the milk is goat's milk, and the honey is date honey.

A long flight.

Day 1

Our first day was pretty uneventful, except for the face that flying for 10.5 hours is a horrible experience. We landed in Israel in the middle of a dust storm. It looked like it was foggy, but the fog was brown instead of gray. By the time we got to our hotel (which was ridiculously nice), it was time for dinner. Boy, was it ever a dinner! More food in one place than I had ever seen, and every bite of it was packed with flavor. I'm pretty sure it was the best meal I have ever had. Our hotel was on the Mediterranean Sea, so a few of us went outside and stuck our feet in the warm water before we collapsed in our beds by 8:30.