Israel 12 – Sailing the Sea of Galilee
Today we started things off with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. In the middle of the lake, the sailors shut the boat’s motor off and we held our lecture there. Our instructor pointed out the regions of Galilee, Gaulanitis, and the Decapolis. This was very effective in helping me grasp what I’ve […]
Israel 11 – The Gates of Hades
Today we traveled north of the Sea of Galilee. Our first stop was Hazor, the largest city in ancient Israel. We spent some time studying Joshua‘s conquest there to help us get a handle on the major cities and routes of the area. Unfortunately, the geography is still a little fuzzy for me…I’m probably going […]
Israel 10 – On the Way to Galilee
This morning, we embarked on our four day excursion into Galilee. Our first stop of the day was at Beth Shean, a tel to the west of Mt. Gilboa and southwest of Mt. Moreh. Beth Shean is the city where the Philistines hung Saul‘s body outside its walls after he took his life during battle. […]
Israel 9 – God Desires Those Who Seek Him
Today’s outing was a little less intense with only three stops, but I’m thankful that we made the most of it. Sometimes when plans change, the planned activities give way to ‘filler’ material, but I didn’t feel that way at all about today. We visited Shiloh, the Israel museum, and Sataf. The first site we […]
Israel 8 – The Dead Sea and Its Scrolls
Josephus wrote about four major ‘philosophies’ that came to the forefront during Second Temple Judaism: those of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots. Today at Masada, we learned about the Zealots firsthand. Okay, maybe not firsthand, but kind of…we stood upon one of their most famous sites! We walked up the siege […]