This week's trip to the Sea of Galilee was less well planned than I am accustomed to. It started out as other recent trips have--a trip in a local bus across Jerusalem to the central bus station and an intercity bus for a couple of hours. But we (David Sandberg, who is visiting from the states and I) only had a rough outline of where we would be going and we had a long list of what we wanted to see. We ended up hiking a lot less than expected--I don't mind hot weather but David wasn't doing too well in it--so we saw the sites on our list more quickly than anticipated.
We arrived in Tiberias Monday evening, did some shopping and walked around town. The next morning, we hopped on rented bicycles for a little less than 10 mile ride to the Christian sites on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. It turns out that the bikes, aside from being heavy mountain bikes, had some minor technical problems that made the trip a bit more of a challenge than it should have been. But we managed to get first to a church that commemorates the Beatitutes and then to one commemorating the miracle of multiplying the loaves and fishes and finally to Capernaum. At each site, we read scriptures that went along with the site.
By the time we were done seeing the sites, we were in for a ride back to Ti
berias in hot weather. That afternoon we took a bus to Beit Shean--a small Israeli city around 25 kilometers south of the Sea of Galilee. We checked into a small bed and breakfast, after being told that there were no rooms available in the hostel, and relaxed--I started reading and before long was ready to sleep--it was 7:40 p.m. The next morning, we visited Beit Shean's archaeology park. It features the very interesting remains of a Roman City--the capitol of the Decapolis. The most interesting features are a Roman style theater, Roman bath house, mosaics, and a Roman bridge over a river. The city was located at a strategic point along the Jordan Valley and the Jezreel Valley so it was fought over many times and there is a tall tel with many layers. I also took note of the story of King Saul's demise at the nearby Mount Gilboa and the connection with Beit Shean noted in 1 Samuel:
Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together. And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
After Beit Shean, I felt like we should go to Nazareth. As we got off the bus near the Basilica of the Annunciation, I asked a young lady and her mother where they were from (I had noticed that they spoke english). They are from Logan, Utah. We visited a few churches together in Nazareth. My favorite was the simple "Church Synagogue." The current building was built in the 12th century but it was supposedly built over a synagogue where Jesus' family likely worshipped as Jesus was growing up and where Jesus first publically suggested that he is the Messiah (Luke 4:16-30):
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To
preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
We arrived in Tiberias Monday evening, did some shopping and walked around town. The next morning, we hopped on rented bicycles for a little less than 10 mile ride to the Christian sites on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. It turns out that the bikes, aside from being heavy mountain bikes, had some minor technical problems that made the trip a bit more of a challenge than it should have been. But we managed to get first to a church that commemorates the Beatitutes and then to one commemorating the miracle of multiplying the loaves and fishes and finally to Capernaum. At each site, we read scriptures that went along with the site.By the time we were done seeing the sites, we were in for a ride back to Ti
berias in hot weather. That afternoon we took a bus to Beit Shean--a small Israeli city around 25 kilometers south of the Sea of Galilee. We checked into a small bed and breakfast, after being told that there were no rooms available in the hostel, and relaxed--I started reading and before long was ready to sleep--it was 7:40 p.m. The next morning, we visited Beit Shean's archaeology park. It features the very interesting remains of a Roman City--the capitol of the Decapolis. The most interesting features are a Roman style theater, Roman bath house, mosaics, and a Roman bridge over a river. The city was located at a strategic point along the Jordan Valley and the Jezreel Valley so it was fought over many times and there is a tall tel with many layers. I also took note of the story of King Saul's demise at the nearby Mount Gilboa and the connection with Beit Shean noted in 1 Samuel:Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together. And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
After Beit Shean, I felt like we should go to Nazareth. As we got off the bus near the Basilica of the Annunciation, I asked a young lady and her mother where they were from (I had noticed that they spoke english). They are from Logan, Utah. We visited a few churches together in Nazareth. My favorite was the simple "Church Synagogue." The current building was built in the 12th century but it was supposedly built over a synagogue where Jesus' family likely worshipped as Jesus was growing up and where Jesus first publically suggested that he is the Messiah (Luke 4:16-30):
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To
preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, We caught a sight of the cliff from which tradition claims the folks of Nazareth wanted to toss Jesus to his death as we and trekked down a long street, around a corner and up the hill to catch the bus to our next destination.
David and I then decided to backtrack a bit in preparation for visits to Mount Tabor and Megiddo the next day. Mt. Tabor is a candidate as the site of the Transfiguration. The hike was very steep--pretty much straight up (and later straight down) so we decided to hit the dirt roads and make it longer but less steep. It ended up being a reasonably long hike. Upon reaching the top, we read the account of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13):
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a brig
ht cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afriad. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
ht cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afriad. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.Reading a handful of verses about a scriptural event while you're at a site where it happened, or at is commemorated, has an amazing effect. I wasn't in the mood for the church though. It was built in the 20th century over remains of a 4th century Byzantine church and a 12th century crusader church. Before descending we sat down again and read the verses more carefully.
Then we were off to Megiddo--an archaeology site of an ancient strategic outpost and the future battle of Armaggedon. The sites has a great view of the valley (but it was a dusty day so there are no good photos to show) including Nazareth and Mount Tabor to the northeast. There are remains of various buildings but I took note of the city's gate, the grain storage pit, water system and horse stables. The scriptural connection I took note of was 1 Kings 9:15-19:
And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of J
erusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife. And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
Then we were off to Megiddo--an archaeology site of an ancient strategic outpost and the future battle of Armaggedon. The sites has a great view of the valley (but it was a dusty day so there are no good photos to show) including Nazareth and Mount Tabor to the northeast. There are remains of various buildings but I took note of the city's gate, the grain storage pit, water system and horse stables. The scriptural connection I took note of was 1 Kings 9:15-19:
And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of J
erusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife. And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.While the the mentioned tax is more important in connection with the building of the Temple, I took note of the cities for his chariots--one of which was Megiddo. We dragged ourselves down to the main intersection and waited around 10 minutes for the direct bus to Jerusalem. I took out my mini Israel map and followed along as we passed arab villages and cities, some on Israel's side of the wall and some on the other, to the east of the highway. Before long we were back in Jerusalem to rest before a few last excursions before my role as David's tour guide in Israel comes to an end.
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