In the previous post I shared some of things we experienced in Hebron, and in the previous one, some of what we did in Jerusalem.
On our third day there we traveled to the Northern parts of Israel, driving up the eastern side in the Jordan River valley.
The Jordan River is the boundary between Israel and Jordan, and it is flat, arid, and a source of dry farming such as the vast array of date farms.
We passed through the ancient city of Jericho. The mountains in the background reminded us of the barrier that Joshua and his army faced as they entered the land when God told them to go in and take the land.
While the modern city is built on the plains, the ancient part of Jericho is in the foothills of the mountain range and must have looked like a formidable task. What must have they thought when God said, in Joshua 6, 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days.
They did...and at the end on the seventh day they marched around it seven times and the walls fell down. Driving through Jericho there were no walls!
We had to pass through the checkpoint when we reached the northern Galilee area.
Checkpoints are a normal part of life in Israel. They serve to separate the Jewish areas from the Arab Palestinian areas.
Palestinian Arabs cannot enter into those areas without permits. Jews cannot enter into Palestinian Arab areas without permits. They serve to keep things separated so that they can hinder chances of violence.
Once in the Galilee area we came to the edge of the Golan Heights. From the top of the hills we caught our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee.
It was a beautiful site to behold. The Sea of Galilee is the biblical words to describe this lake. It is fed from the run off of waters coming from Mount Hermon in the north as it flows down to the lake in the northern part of the Jordan River.
In Scripture it is also called Kinneret, and the Lake of Gennesaret. It is about 14 miles long and about 8 miles wide at it's maximum.
There are so many biblical events associated with Jesus in Galilee. He spent the better part of his three years of ministry in Galilee. We visited several places, but today I'll focus on just one and pick up the others later.
The northern side of Galilee is where you find the ancient ruins of Capernaum.
Matthew tells us in 4:13 that Jesus ..."leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
Capernaum was an ancient fishing village at the source of the Jordan coming from the north into the Sea of Galilee. It was a crossroads for traffic coming from Damascus on the way to either Jerusalem or further on to Egypt.
Luke 4:31-32
31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath,
32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.
The picture on the right is the ancient synagogue where Jesus would have come to and taught. It was here that a demon possessed man was confronted and the demon expelled. It was here in Capernaum that Jesus healed the Roman centurion's son by just telling him to go home because he was healed.
The ancient synagogue is only part of what is there.
There have been several archaeological digs that have also unearthed the foundations of many of the homes and buildings that made up this small fishing village which seems to have been a few hundred citizens.
There is also a Catholic shrine present that is built over the remains of a home that was said to be Peter's home. While it might not be accurate that this was Peter's home, it's clear that Peter and his brother, Andrew fished for a living when Jesus first came to their village and called them to follow him. Matthew 4:18-19, 18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
On our third day there we traveled to the Northern parts of Israel, driving up the eastern side in the Jordan River valley. The Jordan River is the boundary between Israel and Jordan, and it is flat, arid, and a source of dry farming such as the vast array of date farms.
We passed through the ancient city of Jericho. The mountains in the background reminded us of the barrier that Joshua and his army faced as they entered the land when God told them to go in and take the land.
While the modern city is built on the plains, the ancient part of Jericho is in the foothills of the mountain range and must have looked like a formidable task. What must have they thought when God said, in Joshua 6, 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days.
They did...and at the end on the seventh day they marched around it seven times and the walls fell down. Driving through Jericho there were no walls!
We had to pass through the checkpoint when we reached the northern Galilee area. Checkpoints are a normal part of life in Israel. They serve to separate the Jewish areas from the Arab Palestinian areas.
Palestinian Arabs cannot enter into those areas without permits. Jews cannot enter into Palestinian Arab areas without permits. They serve to keep things separated so that they can hinder chances of violence.
It was a beautiful site to behold. The Sea of Galilee is the biblical words to describe this lake. It is fed from the run off of waters coming from Mount Hermon in the north as it flows down to the lake in the northern part of the Jordan River.
In Scripture it is also called Kinneret, and the Lake of Gennesaret. It is about 14 miles long and about 8 miles wide at it's maximum.
There are so many biblical events associated with Jesus in Galilee. He spent the better part of his three years of ministry in Galilee. We visited several places, but today I'll focus on just one and pick up the others later.
The northern side of Galilee is where you find the ancient ruins of Capernaum.
Matthew tells us in 4:13 that Jesus ..."leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
Capernaum was an ancient fishing village at the source of the Jordan coming from the north into the Sea of Galilee. It was a crossroads for traffic coming from Damascus on the way to either Jerusalem or further on to Egypt.
Luke 4:31-32
31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath,
32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.
The picture on the right is the ancient synagogue where Jesus would have come to and taught. It was here that a demon possessed man was confronted and the demon expelled. It was here in Capernaum that Jesus healed the Roman centurion's son by just telling him to go home because he was healed.
The ancient synagogue is only part of what is there. There have been several archaeological digs that have also unearthed the foundations of many of the homes and buildings that made up this small fishing village which seems to have been a few hundred citizens.
There is also a Catholic shrine present that is built over the remains of a home that was said to be Peter's home. While it might not be accurate that this was Peter's home, it's clear that Peter and his brother, Andrew fished for a living when Jesus first came to their village and called them to follow him. Matthew 4:18-19, 18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Capernaum was truly an eye opening experience. To stand in the middle of the synagogue and realize I was standing in the very place that Jesus would have spoken in 2000 years before was beyond all my expectations. My mind was busy with thoughts of Jesus' walks through the ancient village and the days and nights he spent with his disciples doing ministry in and around this area.
More on this later, but this was a great day.
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