Trip to the Holy Land (Part 5 - The Sea of Galilee and Mt. Hermon)

After crossing the Jordan river into Israel, the atmosphere seemed to be a bit more relaxed.  We were safe and it felt like home.  It was indeed the land of milk and honey where all the available land was used in an efficient way to maximize the available land resources and keep Israel as a self-sufficient country.  They can't count on any neighbors to any great extent so efficiency is at a premium.  The roads along the Jordan were solid farming communities dedicated to every imaginable crop including bananas.  Contrast this to the opposite side of the river in Jordan where half completed buildings and communities littered the valley.

Tiberias would be our hub for several days.  The ancient city, named for the Roman emperor Tiberius, sits on the Western shore of the Sea of Galilee and our hotel had a magnificent view of the sea and Roman ruins everywhere.

We started with a boat ride to take us to the northern edge of the sea.  While on the boat, we took the opportunity to read many of the scriptures related to Jesus teaching his disciples about being fishers of men and the story of Peter walking on the water.  

I took a moment to peer over the edge and wondered if I had the courage or faith to do what Peter did and step out of the boat.  My swimming skills are not that great, but had to be better than Peter's.  In his day, swimming was almost non-existent and the most hazardous part of of a fisherman's work was drowning.  Drowning was one of the worst forms of death - sinking to the bottom of the unknown sea.  And yet Peter stepped out and walked on his own until he panicked.  I always assumed the answer Jesus gave to him, "Ye of little faith" meant Peter's lack of faith in Jesus, but another interpretation could be that Jesus was encouraging Peter and expressed a bit of disappointment in Peter's lack of faith in himself.  He had enough faith in Christ to step out, but lacked faith in himself to continue.  Well, he still got further than I did.  

We boarded a bus and headed north to the Golan Heights to see the head waters of the Jordan River and get a glimpse of Mount Hermon.  The debate continues on the site for the Transfiguration of Jesus.  Some believe it happened on Mount Tabor near the southern Galilee while others claim Mount Hermon.  After seeing Mount Tabor at 1900 feet in elevation and comparing it to the snow covered caps of Mount Hermon at over 7000 feet I am leaning toward Mt Hermon.  From a distance it is a beautiful mountain and I could see why a couple of disciples wanted to build 3 shelters: one for Elijah, one for Moses and one for Jesus.  

Another reason is the significance that this is the headwaters for the River Jordan.  The river starts as a wide stream and seems to come right out of the base of the hill and continues into the Sea of Galilee before exiting and continuing south to the Dead Sea.  It seems surreal that the river starts a bit above sea level and by the time it hits the Sea of Galilee it is already 700 feet below sea level and ends 1400 feet below at the Dead Sea.  But the river symbolizes life and what better way to connect the Transfiguration.  Even the tree seen in the photo is growing right out of the hill following the start of  the river Jordan.  This photo is looking downstream standing at the base and just above where the river spills out of the rock.  I'm not a scholar, but the dots seem to connect.

We made two other stops.  One to the site of the Sermon on the Mount and the other to Capharnaum, the likely home of Peter, James, John and Andrew.  Both are on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee.  It was hard to find a spot where the Sermon may have occurred, but a church is located at a beautiful setting above the lake and it was easy to envision Jesus talking to many people in this lovely setting.  

Close by, we took a short bus ride to a church located near a rock that Jesus used to lay out the 2 fish (along with the 5 loaves of bread) to feed 5000 people gathered at the time.  (See Mark 6:30-44).  Jesus could not send a group of people away hungry and performed one his many miracles.  After all ate and were satisfied, the disciples were instructed to clean up the area and they gathered up 12 basketfuls of extra bread and some pieces of fish.  No one left hungry.

 

The church is called the Heptapegon which is the Greek word for "the place of seven springs."  The number 7 pops up a bit in Christianity.

An altar was built over the rock and the church contained several beautiful works of stained glass art.  

At the end of the day, we witnessed a beautiful sunset over the Sea of Galilee.  

Trip to the Holy Land (Part 4 - Petra & Mt. Nebo)

Crossing borders is a nightmare.  We left Mt. Sinai and drove along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (aka Gulf of Eilat if you are in Israel) which happens to be a gulf off the Red Sea.  At one point close to Eilat, it is possible to see four countries (Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia).  In order to get into Jordan from Egypt, we had to cross into Israel which took 2 hours, spend the night in Eilat, then spend another 3 hours leaving Israel to get into Jordan.  I hate standing in lines.

After several hours traveling though pretty rough country in a bouncy, bouncy bus we arrived at Wadi Musa (which is translated as the Valley of Moses).  From the city, the view is spectacular.  

The Bible tells us that Moses did not take the direct route into Israel from Mount Sinai, similar to us.  Moses was almost to Israel and did not receive permission to travel through the land of Edom (border crossing issues in that day I presume) so he back-tracked through present day Eiliat and up through Wadi Musa headed for Mt. Nebo.

If you look in the bottom right side of the panoramic photo, you will see a winding trail which is the entrance to Petra that leads into the narrow canyon of rose colored rock.  Petra was at the center of a trading route and was influenced by many cultures.  The "city" is carved out of rock and the buildings take on a look of Greek and Roman buildings.  These structures where not homes, but rather tombs.

One could spend several days exploring deep into the canyon and wander in many different directions.  Unfortunately we had only a few hours and every step we took toward the center of the canyon was down a gradual slope.  Unfortunately that also meant we had to retrace our steps back up hill to return.  It was possible to rent a horse taxi for the journey, but we chose to walk.  One of the hazards was that the horse drawn carriages yielded to NO ONE... so you had to jump out of the way.  Whenever you heard the clopping sound echoing through the canyon over the Roman roads, it was time to hug the walls.  While along the wall, it was time to admire the handiwork of carved water channels that directed fresh water to the center of the city.   Each side of the canyon wall had a 12" wide trough carved into it which was covered with stone slabs to keep the water fresh.

One of the most famous tombs is called the Treasury.  Many people know it from Raiders of the Lost Ark since the building was used in some of the scenes.  

The photo on the left was the first glimpse of something spectacular we were about to see as the narrow canyon was opening in front of us.

And a few moments later the sight on the right was visible until the rock opened to reveal the entire "building" in the photo below.  

This section was the main attraction and a gathering point prior to exploring more of the canyon.   All the tombs were hand carved and not sure how long one of these would have taken to finish.  Here the Greek influence can be seen from the style, but our guide pointed out that other buildings are copied from all around the Mediterranean.  When these were carved, someone had to develop plans from various buildings they had seen, sketch them and instruct the workers to carve the intricate ornamental features.

After exploring, we drove another few hours along western Jordan through the desert headed toward Mt. Nebo.  At this point I can see why the Israelites were disappointed and impatient.  They had almost reached the Promised Land, yet they were still walking through this miserable desert and rough country... we had it easy in a bouncy, bouncy bus yet I could see their point.

We know at about this time the Israelites started complaining against God and Moses that he had brought them all the way from Egypt only to die is this desert.  (We weren't quite to that point, but indeed it had been a long day for us too).  Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among the people and many died and soon they realized they had sinned against God so Moses prayed for the people.

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.'"  Numbers 21:8

To the left is a sculpture of the bronze snake at the top of Mt. Nebo. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake (sin) and looked at the bronze snake (Christ), he lived.  God is the master at foreshadowing.


The picture below is the top of Mt. Nebo where God showed Moses the whole Promised Land before him.  On a clear day, it would be possible to see all of Judah from here, but on this day it was hazy and we could barely make out the Jordan River.  The mountain is also where Moses died since God would only allow him to see Israel and not enter it.  However, we would be in Israel by night fall... that is after passing through one more border crossing which took another 2-3 hours.  Should've brought one of those venomous snakes to get people motivated to stamp a passport.