One Year Ago - The Sea of Galilee

NOTE: I am continuing my series of retrospective posts on the our tour one year ago. I invite you to start at the beginning and read through all of them.

Admittedly, I have not seen every place in the entire world. But, the Sea of Galilee has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. And when you combine that beauty with all of the Biblical history that took place in and around this lake, this quickly becomes one of the favorite spots on the tour.

Our day started off with a boat ride across the beautiful lake. From this vantage point, it is easy to visualize the paths that Jesus and His disciples took during the first century. Our boat ride ended with a visit to the museum at Nof Ginnosar, where we could see the remains of a boat from the first century.

During the day, we visited the cities of Capernaum, Magdala and Chorazin. We also visited a number of traditional sites such as the Church of the Beatitudes and the Church of the Primacy.

Our day ended with nearly the entire group sitting on the back porch of our hotel enjoying the last rays of the sun reflect off of the surface of the lake. (Sigh.)

Tomorrow: We go up to Jerusalem.

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Have you been enjoying these posts on last year's tour? Are you interested in traveling with me this year? Then, I would love to have you join me. Our 12-day tour is scheduled for October 12-23. We will stay one night on the Mediterranean Sea, three nights on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and five nights in beautiful Jerusalem. During the day, we will visit dozens of sites that will enhance your understanding of the land and of the Biblical stories that take place in them. Reservations are coming in, but we still have some availability! This is a first-class tour with many extras thrown in that many Israel tours overlook. If you are interested, I encourage you to read the itinerary and contact me personally for more details.

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Chorazin, Overlooking Galilee

The first-century remains of ancient Chorazin (modern Kerazeh) overlook the Sea of Galilee. This is a particularly striking city, built of black basalt, which creates an ominous mood as one walks through the crumbling ruins. Chorazin was mentioned as one of the three cities upon which Christ pronounced the woes of Matthew 11:20-21.

Rock Badgers

There are so many advantages to traveling to the lands of the Bible. You can see the same hills, valleys, streams and locations that are mentioned in the Bible. By doing so, you can understand the Bible stories even more. In addition, a keen eye will allow you to see many animals that are mentioned in the Bible. On our recent tour of Israel, we saw many of these animals. Probably the one that got everyone the most excited was seeing a whole family of rock badgers when we stopped at the site of Chorazim. A few of them were kind enough to stop long enough to pose for a picture. I have included a couple of pictures in this blog post.

Rock badgers are mentioned a few times in scriptures. In Leviticus, it is mentioned as an unclean animal, and therefore, unfit for consumption. My favorite verses are from the Psalms and Proverbs.

The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. - Psalm 104:16-18

Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces. - Proverbs 30:24-28

The Ministry of Jesus

Today's activities were centered around the ministry of Jesus and the north western shore of the Sea of Galilee. We started the day by being picked up at our hotel's dock by our boat which would take us upon this beautiful lake. We headed northeast and were able to view the sites of Capernaum, the Cove of the Sower, the Mount of Beatitudes and Magdala.

We ended our boat ride at Nof Ginnosar and viewed a boat which dates back to the first century. It was found in 1986 while the lake level was lower than it is today. It has been beautifully preserved and they have a nice area in the museum to display it.

The Mount of Beatitudes was our next stop. This hillside Catholic chapel commemorates the preaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. This site offers some tremendous views of the Sea of Galilee as it sits above Capernaum.

From there we had quick visits to Chorazim, Bethsaida and Capernaum. I was impressed by all of the improvements that they have made to Capernaum. They have made it more accessible to large groups and many of the artifacts are more easily seen.

After lunch, we went to see the new facility at Magdala. Five years ago, this site was just getting started. Now, they have a large amount of excavations available to the visitors. The prize piece of what has been found is the remains of a first century synagogue. It is possible that Jesus went into this synagogue while He walked on the earth.

Many of the tour group had asked about the possibility of retrieving some rocks from the sea. This is easily done at the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter. This church commemorates the events of John 21. Everyone enjoyed the ability to walk out into the sea.

Our final stop was at the top of Mount Arbel. We had attempted to visit this site on Thursday, but it was closed by the time we arrived. In hindsight, this was a blessing. Today's weather was much clearer and we were able to look down on the Sea of Galilee and discuss many of the places that we had visited today.

Tomorrow morning, we leave the area of the Sea of Galilee and head toward Jerusalem. We will see many sites along the way in which we will discuss tomorrow night.

Until then....shalom.