My trip to the Holy Land: Part II
Last week, I shared some of the highlights from my trip to Israel earlier this month. With seven days of sightseeing, I couldn’t pack it all into one column’s worth of material, so I will continue on this week. I plan to write at least a couple more installments.
On March 8, Wednesday, we drove to the Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount. We sat as a group on the picturesque grassy hillside dotted with palm trees overlooking the Sea of Galilee. We were blessed with sunny weather with highs in the low-to-mid-70s every day of our trip. It was cool to envision Jesus teaching the crowd on that hillside.
After that, we visited a museum containing the famed “Jesus Boat.” In 1986, a drought year, locals found the boat buried in the shore. A team of archaeologists hand-dug the boat out and used spray foam to coat the boat so it wouldn’t break apart when being lifted up by a crane. The spikes used in the boat as well as an oil lamp found in it confirm a date of 50 B.C. to 50 A.D., so right around the time of Jesus. The boat is remarkably intact for its age.
Next we went for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Also known as Lake Tiberias, it’s seven miles long, 11 miles wide and 150 feet deep. The Sea of Galilee is known for being the place where Jesus called His first disciples, calmed the storm and walked on water. We traveled in one of three Sea of Galilee Worship Boats. Our guide, Daniel, a Messianic Jew, sang worship songs he translated into Hebrew such as “Gadol Adonai.” It was amazing to worship God and look out over the shimmering water.
Later in the day, we went to Capernaum, where Jesus called His first disciples. We saw the remains of a house traditionally known as Peter’s house. We know for sure that it belonged to a first-century Christ follower, as archaeologists found an ichthus symbol there. Ichthus is the Greek word for fish and the letters form an acronym that stands for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” We also saw the remains of a synagogue. The walls are believed to be from 200-400 A.D., but the floor is original to the time of Christ, so He would have walked on it. It was surreal to walk on the very floor where Jesus walked.
After that we traveled to Yardenit on the Jordan River and I participated in a baptism of dedication there, a meaningful moment. Baptism is a symbol of one’s new life in Christ and resolve to follow Him. That is not the actual spot Jesus was baptized, but the same river. It is a popular site for Christian pilgrims today.
Continuing our tour, on March 9, we visited Beit She’an, also known as Scythopolis, part of the Decapolis, a group of 10 Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. We saw the remains of a first-century theater that would have housed between 2,500 and 5,000 people, two-story columns flanking the 150-meter main road through the city and a hypocaust steam bath system. Only about 10 to 15 percent of the city has been excavated. This site revealed the ingenuity and engineering skills that the ancients must have possessed to build such a city, but at the same time served as a reminder that even the greatest civilizations inevitably fall.
After that, we traveled south along the Jericho Road, with the Jordan River and the county of Jordan on our left and Samaria on our right. Eventually we came to the Dead Sea on our left.
The Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee on the north end and out of it on the south end, and continues its path south until it joins the Dead Sea. However, it is not supplying water to the Dead Sea anymore. The Israeli government diverted water from the Sea of Galilee to supply freshwater to the surrounding region. They also installed the Degania Dam in the early 1930s. Only if the water level is high enough, does water flow into the Jordan River. Because of less water flowing into it, the Dead Sea has been drying up, with the water level dropping close to four feet a year. This presents a problem as The Dead Sea is a major contributor to the region’s economy, especially valued for its minerals.
Continuing on, we visited Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1937. Among the 900-plus manuscripts are the oldest Old Testament texts we have, dating back to the second century B.C. Significantly, after the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, secular scholar William F. Albright compared them with the next-oldest copies of the Bible dated 1,200 years later and was so moved at how accurately the text had been preserved over the centuries that he became a Christian.
Next we visited the desert oasis of Ein Gedi, which means spring/fountain of the goat/deer. The wild goat known as the ibex lives there. Psalm 42 references this: “As the deer longs for running streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” This is one place where David hid from Saul and is believed to have composed several psalms there. Visiting this place gave new meaning to “springs in the desert,” as I saw mile after mile of barren, brown rocky land and then all of a sudden a cluster of green plants and trees surrounding the water source. Next we traveled to Masada, a fortress built by Herod the Great on a 1,000-feet-up table rock. In 66 A.D., a group of Jewish zealots took it over and it became the last holdout against the Romans after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. After a seven-month siege, the Romans built a massive siege ramp with a tower on it to take out the fortress’ wall. On April 15, 73 A.D., after realizing that the Romans were going to breach the wall the next day, the remaining Jews decided to kill themselves rather than be killed by the Romans, have their wives raped and children sold into slavery. When the Romans breached the wall the next day, only two women and five children remained alive.
We took a cable car to the top of Masada. I am a sucker for a great view and it was awesome to gaze out over the desolate landscape below, which was also beautiful in a way. We saw the location where the 10 last men at Masada cast lots for the order in which they would kill each other. Although a sad story, the story of Masada has come to symbolize the stand against oppression and serves as a source of pride and national identity for Israel. There was even a movie made about it. That wrapped up Day 4 of sightseeing.
Check out next week’s TRG for more highlights from my trip.
Striking a
Chord...
