Today we covered a lot of ground and a lot of scripture, especially in the gospels as you will see below. I first want to briefly tell you about our "Land Mines" experience. As you may know Israel has been in war since the Old Testament and still experiences some tension from its neighboring countries today. Two of those countries are Syria and Lebanon. Well, I happened to come with in a few hundred yards of both borders where there are fields full of live land mines. That was kind of crazy. At one point I could see Israel's war missiles on a hillside and in between that was a United Nations base and then on the other side Syria. You tell me why the United Nations is located conveniently between the two. From this point I could see Damascus in the near distance. I saw bunkers and buildings with the sides of them blown out along with scatterd bullet holes throughout its warn down walls. Israel will never have true peace until the Prince of Peace makes his return. I was a little nervous, but more excited than anything. By the way our guide, Israel (that's his name) has fought in 6 wars here in Israel and has been shot twice. He had some unbelievable war stories for us today. Ok, let's move on from war and move to the gospels.
Caesarea Philippi - (my favorite place we have visited to date)
The city of Casesarea Philippi is located about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. This was probably the most northern point of Jesus' journey in Israel. God absolutely spoke to my heart at this place. Honestly, I had to seperate myself from the group because I was choked up at what took place in this cliff side city. You have to understand this is the place that Jesus told Peter "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not overcome it." I saw the rock wall that Jesus was looking at as he spoke this vision of the church into Peter. It struck me in so many ways. This is the place Jesus expressed to Peter that a church would be established that would carry on His message to the rest of the world. This is where we see the intial vision of church planting. And once again the master teacher is using the imagery that nature presents. Understand this there are rocks every where. If you familar with S.C. you have seen table rock. Very similar site but the rock is right infront of you NOT as high as table rock. But here Jesus uses the imagery of the rock and His church. You can look in Acts and watch what happens with Peter and how he leads the church. It is incredible to watch. On top of that at this same location was the place where we see Jesus asking His disciples "Who do they say that I am?" and then later asking them "Who do you say that I am?" By the way I have all of this on video with explanation of each site, which I hope to be able to have edited and posted here after I return home to Columbia, SC.
Biblical References:
Joshua 11:17 - Baal Gad is part of the northernmost conquest of Joshua. Joshua 3:1-4 - Baal Hermon is part of the land of Hivites. 1 Chronicles 5:23 - Baal Hermon is the home of the half-tribe of Manasseh. Matthew 16:13-28, Mark 8:27-29 - Peter's confession of who Jesus was along with "on this rock I will build my church."
The Sermon on the Mount - Beatitudes (beautiful overlook of the Sea of Galilee)
This is the place where the greatest sermon by the greatest teacher was ever given. I cannot tell you how amazing it was to stand there on this hillside looking at the Sea of Galilee as one of the folks from our group read out loud the very words of Jesus from his great sermon 2,000 years ago where He covered a number issues that still awaken my heart today. Just so you know from this hillside you can see the entire Sea of Galilee, the beach where Jesus cooked the disciples breakfast in John 21, the area where Jesus fed the 5,000 men plus the women and children (probably closer to 18,000 to 20,000 total people),and The Fishing Village of Capernaum (where Jesus did a TON of His ministry). It is mind blowing to see how close all of these sites are to each other. Also, note after feeding the people fish and bread...only a few minutes down the road did Jesus claim he was and is "the bread of life." He was a master teach who took the simple to explain something that is so incredibly deep.
Biblical References:
Matthew 5-7 - Jesus teaches the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus Feeds the 5,000 plus (only miracle that appears in all 4 gospels)
This was a location just below the Mount towards the Sea of Galilee where Jesus preached the Beatitudes. Just when the disciples were ready to send the people back to their villages for dinner, Jesus said that they could feed them. He took 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and from their he feed everyone and had left overs for later if need be. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to read these scriptures while sitting on the plots of land where Jesus actually stood and peformed the acts we read about it in the Gospels. I cannot explain how much more real it makes things for me. It puts skin around the ideas I have placed my hope and faith in for the last 17 years I have had a personal relationship with Jesus the Christ. If you can afford it...come here, if you can't raise the money and get over here and see this stuff.
Biblical References:
Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:32-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-3 - Jesus feeds the five thousand plus.
Capernaum - (fishing village that Jesus did a lot of His ministry in and the home town of many of the disciples)
There are way to many things that took place in this village for me to actually think that you will continue reading if I type everything here. I will do my best to hit some of the things that struck me while I was there today. Here I saw Peter's mother-in-laws house. The importance of this house is that Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law in the house. I saw the foundation and partial walls that are left here. It is very likely that Jesus and his disciples spent many nights in this house. Most of the experts here believe that this house served as a "ministry center" for Jesus, since he did a lot of His ministry within miles of the home. Immediately next door to the home was the foundation of the synagoguge where we find Jesus teaching with authority and casting out a demon in Mark 1:21-27 and Luke 4:31-37. On top of the 1st Century foundation of the synagogue are the beautiful ornate remains of a 4th Century Church. I was able to see a "Holy Arch Way" the entrance into the "Holy of Holys", the place where the High Priest would enter once a year behind the curtain/vail. But as we know Jesus took care of that whole deal at the cross. We can now approach him with confidence and NOT through a Priest. I cannot believe I stood in two places today where Jesus preached the truth about Himself...are you kidding me. Again, so many things happened in the small fishing village of Capernaum. Below you can see all of the biblical references to this place.
Biblical References:
Matthew 4:12-14 - Jesus leaves Nazareth to live in Capernaum, Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10 - Jesus heals the Roman centurion's servant, Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:29-34 - Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law, Matthew 9:2-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:18-20 - Jesus heals a paralyzed man, Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:1, 13-17, Luke 5:27-32 - Jesus calls Matthew to be a disciple, matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56 - Jesus heals a bleeding woman and raises a dead daughter, Matthew 11:20-24 - Jesus rebukes the cities that had witnessed his miracles and NOT repented, Matthew 17:24-27 - Jesus pays the temple tax, Mark 1:21-27, Luke 4:31-37 - Jesus teaches in the synagogue and casts out a demon, John 4:46-54 - Jesus heals a royal official's son in Capernaum, John 6:25-29 - Jesus teaches and claims to be the "Bread of Life."
John 21 (Jesus cooks breakfast after the big catch of fish)
This story takes place after the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Jesus has already appeared to His disciples twice since He conquered death. This stroy is the third meeting. Today i stood on the rocky beach where Jesus was walking when He called out to some of His disciples who had gone back to fishing. The disciples did NOT know that it was Jesus who was calling out to them. Jesus asked them if they had caught anything throughout the night, as they were only approximately 100 yards off the the rough coast line. The hadn't caught a single fish. Jesus yelled to them to throw their nets to the right side of the boat, which would have a proposterous idea since they would have never fished on that side of the boat. Jesus is always calling us to do things that do NOT make since and yet we must be obedient. The fellas in the boat heeded the advice and ended up catching 153 fish and could hardly bring their nets to the shore. John (probably the youngest disciple) pointed out to everyone that it must be "Our Lord". When hearing this Peter (probably the oldest disciple) put his tunic on (fishermen would fish nude on occasion) and swam to the rocky shore where Jesus had a fire blazing on some of the larger rocks. There Jesus grilled fish for the guys for breakfast after their long night on the Sea. It was here after serving them a full breakfast that Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him. Three times was significant due to the previous three denials of Peter during the trial of Jesus his Rabbi and Lord. At this point Peter was broken and Jesus told him to "feed my sheep" and then said the very words He said to him the first time he spoke to him..."Follow me." This was an amazing picture of grace and empowerment. Not long after this brokeness we find Peter leading the first church and seeing thousands becoming followers of Jesus day after day. It is amazing where true brokeness can lead us when we are a part of the Kingdom of God and the mission of Jesus the Christ. Standing on that shore reminded me down to my bones of the forgiveness of Jesus.
Biblical Reference:
John 21
The Jesus Boat (not sure if it was one Jesus sailed in)
We went and saw a boat that dates back to the time of Jesus. 2,000 years ago. It was made of 12 different types of wood with cedar making up the majority of the boat. The boat was found in 1986 and took forever to actually get out of the sand under some shallow water. It is the only boat they have found that actually dates back to the time of Jesus. This was a huge discovery. Today, we had an extremely special treat. We met the man who discovered the boat. he went by UV. He was a very humble small man. I bought the book that tells the whole story of the boat and He signed it for me today. He was an ordinary unschooled fisherman who grew up on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in a small fishing village, much like the disciples who followed Jesus. He is now obviously very famous because of His discovery, yet extremely humble. He just happens to be good friends with our guide, Israel.
Conclusion:
I honestly could come home now and the trip would be worth it. I have experienced so much already and yet I have still NOT been to Jerusalem. Tomorrow we head towards the Dead Sea, while leaving the Sea of Galilee behind as we move south. My computer is NOT working (power cord is messed up) so I am having to borrow one from Don Brock so hopefully I will be able to continue to update you each day. By the way the food is pretty good but interesting at times. Good Night...I am off to the bed!