From our hotel in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, Kim does Morning Prayer on the bus and reads Psalm 96 as we look out over the water that Jesus walked on – “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.”
How special and awesome it was to sing songs of praise like “My Jesus, My Saviour” and “These Are the Days of Elijah” looking at that water.
A freshwater body, the Sea of Galilee might be the size of one of the big Muskoka lakes.
Our first stop is Tel Hazor, the largest and most important archaeological tel in Northern Israel. There is evidence of a building that has identical dimensions to a Babylonian location where a cuneiform library was found, and they are looking for a similar library at Tel Hazor and that would be a significant find. In later times, the Cananites occupied Tel Hazor until Joshua took it as described in Joshua 11:10. And further on it became an important royal city (Judges 4:12; 1 Kings 9:15; 2 Kings 15:29)
As we drive north to Tel Dan, we go through a valley that’s a major flyway for birds migrating from Europe and Asia to Africa. It’s referred to as the third best birdwatching area in the world.
Travelling north to the Golan Heights, we arrive at Tel Dan, a green, lush area. Water and springs come out at the top the hill because of impenetrable rock formation. This makes it an easier place to defend with an assured water source. The Dan River that starts here is one of three rivers that feed the Jordan. Some of the hiking trails remind me of rainforest in Australia and Costa Rica – it’s that lush. Many groups are coming through, especially school groups with an armed guard bringing up the rear.
Ancient Dan has lots to say. In 1 Kings 12:26-33, Glen reads how King Jeroboam tries to be inclusive and strays badly from God’s teaching, making golden calves that were set up in Bethel and here in Dan.
From the city ruins, we learn about the importance of the city gate, where people coming in are sighted by a “judge” – someone who can make a decision about whether a person can pass in or not. As well, this judge would also resolve local disputes and pass judgments from a seat just inside the gate. Duke took a picture of me sitting on the judge’s seat. Glen’s Scripture references underscore the importance of good and fair “judging” – Proverbs 31:9 “Speak up and judge fairly..”, and of being witnesses – Ruth 4:11 “Then the elders and all those at the gate said ‘We are witnesses.’”
At Tel Dan, archeologists found a tablet fragment with an inscription of the King of Damascus boasting of victory over the House of David. This is the first time the words “house of David” were discovered outside the Bible. 2 Samuel 8 describes the great victories of David.
From Tel Dan we go to Banias known to Christians as Caesaria Philippi. One of Herod the Great’s sons, Herod Philip, is given responsibility for this place, where water from Mount Hermon flowed at one time from a large cave. It was a cultic site, dedicated to the God Pan, and because the water was coming from an unknown depth, it was believed to be the gateway to the netherworld. The nickname for this place was “The gates of hell” and we see reference to this as Duke reads Matthew 16:14 – 17:2 as Jesus affirms Peter “And on this rock I will build my church, and gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Duke’s homily after the reading centres around Jesus’ question to Peter: “Who do you say I am?” and the question that comes to us individually and the choice we can make.
The water at Banias now flows out of the mountain in a different place and this water is another important tributary to the Jordan River.
From Banias, we drive south to the Sea of Galilee and stop at a kibbutz that has a first century fishing boat on display. It was found in 1986 when the water receded and then carefully removed and restored. This boat may be not unlike the one Jesus and his disciples travelled on.
Moving on, we arrive at the Sea of Galilee and board a boat that will take us to Tiberius and our hotel.
Finally, the Sea of Galilee. The Canadian flag is raised and we proudly sing “O Canada”. Next, some great revival music that gets all of us going, some up dancing in the boat.
Duke takes us into the story of Jesus walking on water and he covers three versions in the gospels: Matthew 14:22, Mark 4:35 and John 6:16. Peter comes out to walk on the water, but taking his eye off Jesus, he sinks. Key message: Don’t take your eye off Jesus! In John’s version at John 6:21, the apostles “were willing to take Him into the boat…” Key message: What is our destination? Are we willing to have Jesus in the boat with us?
We prayed for a while, right on the Sea of Galilee, some of us calling out names of people we’re thinking about.
We arrived at the dock after a sing-along with the crew featuring Jewish songs, Duke joining in with guitar.
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