We started out our day in Nazareth! We got a great lookout over the Jezreel Valley from the North first thing and were able to orient ourselves and see the village of Nain across the valley where Jesus raised a widow's son to life when he came upon the funeral procession
We also got to visit a place called Nazareth Village which is a portion of land in downtown Nazareth that has been transformed into a village representative of the 1st century when Jesus was growing up here. We saw small herds of animals grazing here, an olive press, an original wine press, a synagogue, and many other structures. Almost everything was a reconstruction but it was done very well and we learned a lot about what life was like in the 1st century.
Donkeys grazing
Olive press
A man working as a carpenter and creating chairs using only first century tools
A woman weaving a blanket using a loom. It takes her a week to complete each blanket.
At meals we have seen some pretty extraordinary things, but to me, the bright magenta colored food takes the cake. This is a picture of bright yellow cauliflower and magenta... we don't know what. Matt tried some and it was EXTREMELY salty. Not natural.
Also in Nazareth I got to go inside of the Church of the Annunciation where Mary was spoken to by the angel Gabriel. It's not for sure that this is the spot, but since Nazareth was a small village, it couldn't have happened far from here. It is a first century house thought to belong to Mary's family.
That afternoon, we headed up to the top of the Arbel Cliffs for a climb down. This was a great place to view the Sea of Galilee and get an introduction to what we would be seeing there. We climbed down some very steep cliffs! Thankfully they had a cable attached to the rock face and some steps also attached so that made it doable for novice climbers like me! I was nervous going into it, but it turned out to be not technically difficult and was quite fun! I didn't get any pictures because I left my camera on the bus so I would have two hands available, but others did so hopefully I'll see some soon.
We ended the day at the En Gev Holiday Village on the Sea of Galilee... a beautiful place where our back door opens up to the sea. We took a swim that night and it was refreshing and not too cold.
The next day, we headed up almost as far north as you can go in Israel - right on the border of Lebanon. It was beautiful and green and we got to see some amazing country.
We stopped at the remains of the town Chorazim. These remains date later than Jesus's time but we do know that this city existed in the time of Jesus because in Matthew 11 he denounces the city and condemns it as one in which "most of his miracles have been performed" and yet the people did not repent and believe. There were also two other cities that Jesus condemned in this way: Capernaum and Bethsaida. These people saw Jesus perform so many miracles yet they did not repent and believe. It was a stark reminder that we do not need to be seeking an "experience" from Jesus as that is not what is important. What is important is that we believe.
Me sitting in the wild barley outside of Chorazim.
We also visited the ancient site of Hazor which is the largest Tel in the country and was a city of significance in the Old Testament. In Joshua 11, Joshua defeats that alliance of kings that was against Israel - the head of the alliance was the king of Hazor. Above is a picture of the stables from the city.
This is a picture of the gate to the city with the watch tower on the end.
We visited the city of Dan - often mentioned in scripture when defining the border of the Israelites territory - "from Dan to Beer-sheba." Genesis 14 mentions Dan when Abraham chased Lot all the way to Dan. Above is a mud brick gate from the time of Jacob (around 1800 BC)!
We also visited Caesarea Philippi an the location of one of the sources of the Jordan River. Also, this is a likely location near where Peter proclaims Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Mark 8:27-30).
We then headed to an overlook of the country of Syria. There is a Demilitarized Zone between the two countries where there is a UN base established to help patrol. Here is a picture of the U base. There were literally dozens of Israeli soldiers sitting at this overlook.
We also learned a little bit about the Druse people who live in this area of Israel. They believe that the Messiah has not come but that he will be born to a man. So the older men of this culture wear these special baggy pants so that if the Messiah is born to him, the baby will not fall on the ground unexpectedly!? (see picture above)
We spent the evening back at the En Gev Holiday Village and had a great time sitting on the beach talking as a whole group and saying out with a smaller group reflecting on the life of Jesus and enjoying thinking and talking about him as we prepared for the following day in the region of Galilee where he did most of him ministry. Here are some pictures Matt took at dusk looking over the Sea of Galilee.
One more day of teaching and then a free day in Jerusalem and then it is back home! We have learned so much but are physically and mentally exhausted and are ready to be home with our kids!!
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