Tuesday and Wednesday night, the group stayed at the Ramos Hotel in Tiberias. Loaded on the bus at 7:30am, we began our day at Capernaum. A large part of the ministry of Jesus was centered around the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum was his base of operations. Much of the city has been excavated and you can see the layout of the city. As we walked through Capernaum it was interesting to dwell upon the biblical accounts that took place there. I had the privilege of speaking to the group on the shores of the Sea of Galilee just outside the city walls. I spoke on Mark 2:1-12. That account is about the man in need of healing that was let down through the roof of a house where Jesus was preaching. As I spoke I thought of the city and mostly the house that stood in that day had a foundation still standing today. What a privilege to see. Our next stop was in Tiberias at The Ancient Boat Museum in the Yigal Allen Center located in Ginosaur Village. This is the home of the “ancient boat.” The is a 2000 year old boat found of the shores of the Sea of Galilee buried in mud. The restoration was extensive but the result is a boat that was used to fish during the time of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. Mostly the frame was all that is left but just seeing the boat that sailed 2000 years ago was amazing. Those shore we see today were the same shore that boat sailed by. We then went to the boat dock and got aboard a boat that carried us around the Sea of Galilee. We went past the town of Capernaum, past the cliffs of Gadara (yep, Matthew 8) and returned. The Sea of Galilee is the only “sweet water” lake in Israel and is about 13 miles long and 8 miles wide. It is fed from the Jordan River and empties back into the Jordan River. Leaving the Sea of Galilee we begin our trek north to Caesarea Philippi. This is where we find one of the three sources of the Jordan River, Banian River. This is also the location where Jesus took his disciples (Matthew 16:13) to ask them just one question… "Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?" From there we traveled to Tel Dan. This is the most northern tip of Israel and borders Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. This is also the place where the ancient town of Leshem was before it was conquered by the tribe of Dan and renamed “Dan” (Joshua 19:47). from there we can look over into Lebanon. The land of YHWH. Thankful to be here. Thankful for you.
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AuthorGary W. Hall, Pastor of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church. Archive
January 2021
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