Day Five in Israel

3/24/08


This morning when I woke up I wanted to scratch my eyes out from them itching so badly! It took a long time until I felt better. I feel like I missed most of the day because I felt so yucky. Oh, and I twisted my ankle walking on all those uneven stones! Enough complaining though…we saw some really cool stuff today.


First stop was Kursi in the region of the Gadarenes (also called Gerasenes), where the miracle of the swine happened (Matthew 8:23-34, Luke 8:26-39). I’ve always wondered why there was a herd of swine (being unclean animals of course). Were they domesticated? Who owned them? What did they use them for? Well, we asked! This area of the Galilee was heavily influenced by Greek and Roman culture. There were pagans living here and it would not have been a big deal for them to have swine. Can someone say bacon? The coolest thing about this miracle is the fact that the demons knew who Jesus was and who His Daddy was.


Mt. Betal in the region of the Golan Heights was our next stop. From this vantage point, you could see well into Syrian territory.

This mountain played a major role in a few wars (I can’t remember details though I’m sure Hubs knows). This is close to Golan, one of the cities of refuge mentioned in Joshua 20:7-8. We could also see the Road to Damascus which still follows the same path that it followed when Paul was visited by the risen Christ (Acts 9). An interesting observation: there were 2-3 school field trip groups that were visiting here at the same time we were here. Every single one of them had armed guards escorting them. Apparently, it is a law that school children have armed escorts whenever they are away from school grounds. It saddens me that these children have to grow up in a place that is characterized by terror and hatred.


We headed to the Nimrod Fortress next. I sang Amazing Grace in the Refrectorium (dining hall) with Hannah, a good friend of mine. Great acoustics! There were lots of hidden passageways and little spiral staircases to explore. Fun! I had to keep making my camera flash in order to see my way down one of the staircases. At one time, assassins used its unmatched panoramic views to attack travelers on their way to Damascus.

We loaded up and pointed toward Caesarea Phillipi. This spring fed stream (Banias) at the base of Mt. Hermon (many scholars believe this to be the Mount of Transfiguration) joins with another to make the headwaters of the Jordan River. Around Jesus’ time, there was a massive complex of temples dedicated to Pan. According to Greek and Roman mythology, the entrance to the River Styx (afterlife) was here.

It is interesting then to note that the conversation between Peter and Jesus recorded in Matthew 16:13-19 happened here. The disciples had a very real picture of the Gates of Hades in their minds! And they were at the foot of a huge mountain, so the imagery of the “rock” upon which the church would be built was plain. It is amazing to see what the disciples and Jesus were seeing as He taught them. Like any good teacher, He used His surroundings-tangible, seen things and places- to enrich His lessons. The depth of my Savior becomes more obvious with each place we visit.


We also toured the ruins of Herod Agrippa’s palace here (he had many other palaces). We saw 1st century air conditioning: they diverted some of the water to flow through a covered walkway under stones that were separated by six inches. I have to say that as soon as I walked in, I cooled down. I was quite impressed with the effectiveness of such simple technology.
We moved on to the lush Tel Dan. This area is replete with natural vegetation. We hiked over rocks and streams, crossed bridges over rushing water, and stopped at the main spring. What a beautiful setting to read Psalm 42:1- “As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God.” Our next stop was the polar opposite of such beauty. We hiked the trail to the High Place, the setting of King Jeroboam’s altar (1 Kings 12). At this point in history, Solomon had already built the temple in Jerusalem and centralization of worship was in full swing. So, everyone left to go to Jerusalem twice a year to sacrifice (Passover and Yom Kippur). Well, Jerry was left defenseless in a highly contested region of Israel (along the Syrian border) and didn’t like that too good. So, he built the Jews an altar, similar in size to the one in Jerusalem. And he threw in a massive golden calf for good measure (1 Kings 12:27-29). How dangerous it is to violate God’s commands! This was the beginning of a terrible time for the Israelites that ultimately led to their captivity by Assyria and then Babylon. My heart was grieved to see the evidence of such blatant disobedience, though the Holy Spirit quickly reminded me of my own high places in need of tearing down.



We moved on to the recently unearthed Canaanite Gate. This is the one of the most ancient finds in Israel, dating back to the time of Abraham. In fact, he would have seen this gate on his way to rescue Lot from the northern kings (Genesis 14:14-16). For the record, that’s a long way to pursue somebody! We also saw Solomon’s walls of Dan. This was a good example of city wall construction, and is similar to the walls that fell at Jericho (Joshua 6). The only extra-Biblical reference (found to date) to the “house of David” was found here. The King of Damascus, Hazael, boasted of his victory over the king of Israel and the house of David.


Phew! What a busy day. Tomorrow we head to Jerusalem!