Shalom!

ancient fishing boat from Jesus time discovered just a few years ago fish dinner with fish caught in Sea of Galilee Sea of Galilee Boat Ride After touring the boat museum where we saw a display of an ancient fishing boat from Jesus’ time that has been recently discovered, we went on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. All around us we could see the view of the hills and mountains that Jesus must have see when he so often sailed these waters. This is where Jesus walked on the water and where Peter attempted to do so. On this shore was where after his resurrection Jesus told the disciples to haul In their nets and they caught 153 fish. This was symbolic because 153 when associated with Hebrew letters translate into”I am God”.  It was an amazing experience to sing worship songs together while on the boat. tour boat A great ride Singing O Canada on the Sea of Galilee

Mount of Beatitudes This is the location of the Sermon on the Mount. Sitting on top of this hill you can see the Sea of Galilee and can just imagine all the crowds that gathered around to heard Jesus teach. A beautiful peaceful place, this site has a church which has outstanding acoustics. To stand there as a group and sing “holy holy holy” was a moving experience. Modern chapel built in 1938 on Mount of Beatitudes chapel has 8 sides, each with stained glass window dedicated to one of the beatitudes Another view of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes

Beth She'an In New Testament times this site was known by Scythopolis, and became the capital city of the Decapolis, about 27 km south of the Sea of Galilee. People have lived here continuously for nearly 6 thousand years. Egyptians, Philistines and Isrealites as well as Romans all built civilizations here. The Philstines impaled the body of Saul on the wall of their city to demonstrate the total defeat of Israel.At one time King Solomon ruled this city. The remains of an Israelite tower can still be seen.  Jesus visited this city and did healing here. The city was destroyed by the Assyrians in 730 BC and left in ruins for centuries. This ancient city is now being excavated and the ruins of a pagan temple, amphitheater and market area from the Roman times can be seen. main street in Roman times. There would have been shops on either side of the street ruins of a temple at Beth She'an Roman amphitheater mosaic floor with typical pattern ...

Kursi: was an area on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is the traditional site of Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the demon possessed man and go into the herd of pigs who rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned. A church was built in front of the cave where the man was thought to have lived.   view of the caves and tombs where the demon possessed man lived

A church built on the site of Jesus feeding the 5000. Note the mosaic of the loaves and fishes ruins of an ancient house from Jesus time. In the background a church built on the site of Peter's house Capernaum. This place became the center location of Jesus ministry since it was on the main international road. At that time it was a small village of fishermen, farmers, and merchants. Several of Jesus disciples were called to ministry there. This is where Jesus called himself “the bread of life”. There is now a church built over the traditional site of Peter’s home. The ruins of a 5th century synagogue can be seen, most probably built of the site of the synagogue that was there is Jesus time. The steps to synagogues were always built unevenly, of different heights and different lengths. This was done to force a person climbing it to look down where they were going and to slow down, which was considered important before entering such an important building. Our Tour Gr...

 Qumran caves in the distance This is at the edge of the Judean wilderness and served as a study site foe the Essenes, which  were a Jewish sect in Jesus day. These men spent most of their time copying the Hebrew Old Testament. The Roman army destroyed it in 68 AD and in 1947 some of these scrolls that had been hidden in jars in caves in the area were found. These are now known as the Dead Sea scrolls and provide a lot of information about life at that time as well as accurate copies of Old Testament books. caves where the scrolls were found Jericho As we travelled north of the Dead Sea we crossed into the “West Bank” which is an area controlled by the Palestinians. We came to Jericho, which is the oldest known city in the world, with archaeological evidence that dates back to at least 9000BC. And of course the sturdy of Jericho and its tumbling walls is among the best known in the Bible. Herod the Great built huge  palaces here and much archae...

This beautiful place is an oasis in the Judaean wilderness surrounding the Dead Sea. With its lush green growth it is such a contrast to the desolate brown landscape around it. David and his men traveled through this area as they hid from Saul, no doubt taking long drinks from the springs of water they found there. Oasis with greenery. See the caves in the rocks. David probably hid in that type of cave what a privilege to be able to stand here! waterfall fed by springs in the oasis

floating in the Dead Sea We stayed at Hotel Daniel on the shore of the Dead Sea for a couple of days. When you stand on its shore, you are standing at the lowest point on the surface of the earth; 1,300 feet below sea level. The salt in its water is about 33%, which is 9 times that of ocean water. The weather was warm (2 degrees) and of course we had to take a dip in the Dead Sea. It is very hard to stand up straight in the water because the water is so dense that all you can do is float. And because of its saltiness, it sure hurts when a drop gets into your eye! The water however does make the skin very soft because of all the minerals in it. All around the sea is wilderness dessert. Everything is brown rocks, no greenery. They experience about 1 inch of water per year in this region so there is not much vegetation. View of the Dead Sea from our hotel room sunrise on the Dead Sea