Hey. Don’t take the Shabbat elevator on Sabbath… unless you really think pushing the floor button is forbidden work. If you haplessly step onto the Shabbat elevator you will stop at EVERY floor. That way you don’t have to worry about exerting yourself by punching the button. But then you won’t get to breakfast on time, either. So it’s kind of a tradeoff.
Ginger suggested we go watch the sun come up over Sea of Galilee, which sounded really great until you stop to think that means you have to go out in the dark. The sea, by the way, is really a lake and leave it to Luke, the doctor, to get it right when he calls it Lake Genesaret. I tell you, there are a lot of names for the same thing here. Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias, Lake Genesaret, Ginosar, etc. I guess when you’ve been around for thousands of years you deserve more than one name.
It was very quiet as we waited for the sun to come up. We were right on the shoreline and there are few things quieter than a Jewish town early Sabbath morning. We heard no traffic, just a bunch of ravens, doves, sparrows, roosters, peacocks, and a dog. But the sunrise was definitely worth the time of reflection.
So you noticed it’s still the sunrise, huh? Did I mention that I really enjoyed it?
Right again, it IS still the sunrise. Spectacular, no?
Our first stop today was in the Ginosar Kibbutz where the Museum of the “Jesus Boat” is located. The Jesus Boat is the water-logged remains of a 2,000 year old boat from Galilee so we can be pretty sure of what their water craft looked like.
It is likely that the boat was used for fishing and it may also have been remade into a warship during the Jewish Revolt of the year 66 which led to the utter destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, was made commander of a rebel force. As you can imagine that did not go well and he and his men, badly beaten, entered into a suicide pact. By the drawing of lots, he was to be the last to kill himself, but with his comrades dead, Josephus turned himself in to the Romans. You can imagine he’s not that popular with the Jews. To make matters worse, he told the Roman commander that he would be the next emperor. Nero was emperor at the time, but died shortly. A quick succession of short-lived emperors ended with Josephus’s buddy getting crowned. Now he was REALLY not popular with the Jews, but the emperor thought he was alright. In 70 A.D. as the REAL Romans… Oh, maybe you didn’t know that the “Romans” in Israel in Jesus time were kind of fake Romans. They were mostly Samaritans who had enlisted so they could beat up on the Jews. See the Samaritans were not the sorry downtrodden minority like we imagine in the story of the Good Samaritan. They were hated enemies who had murdered many Jews who were on their way to worship in Jerusalem. Puts a different twist on the story, doesn’t it! Anyway, the REAL Romans came and laid siege to Jerusalem and Josephus went around telling the Jews to give up, because God had abandoned them and they could not win against the Romans. The new emperor was really getting to like Josephus who was now on his payroll, but the Jews wanted to dismantle him. Okay, enough about the boat.
Here’s what the Galilee shoreline looks like at that place.
Here’s the wooden boat we rode to Capernaum. It held all 40 of us, and it was about twice as big as the boat Jesus slept in during the storm.
Hey! This is us enjoying the journey. What a day on this huge lake.
This is Aran Yardeni (“Uh-RON Yard-DAY-ny”) He has worked as an archeologist for the State of Israel, and is a bit dreamy-eyed about a better world for all. Yesterday he told us about the Druz, a religion so secret that even its adherents don’t know what it is. Seriously. They’re kind of like an Arab Amish community. The way they work their way up in the religion is not by birth nor by time in the order nor by financial contribution. Instead, they sit around and discuss politics. Close records are kept of what each member predicts in any given political situation. The ones who “nail it” move up to the next round, so to speak. In time, one emerges as the most politically astute and becomes whatever their Grand Poobah is called. So here’s a community of faith that highly values accurate insight.
The Druze pledge allegiance to no country, but loyally serve whatever government is over them. Above that, they believe in loyalty to their fellow believers wherever they are in trouble. Recently their fellows were in trouble in some other country, so a few Druze adherents serving in the Israeli army just went AWOL and took their Israeli weapons and munitions with them. They fought for their fellow Druze and then went home. It looked like it could be a big international event, but the Israeli government and the other governments just looked the other way and said little. So Aran’s question is, “Why can’t we extend the same kind of acceptance to all Arabs, Jewish spin-offs, etc.? We already do it for the alien Druze.” He is hopeful that Israel will one day be a model of tolerance. That’s really simplifying a beautiful and hopeful belief of his.
What’s this? The US National Anthem is played while the crew of the Almagor hoists the stars and stripes. Once the hoopla is over the captain of the small craft announces, “Don’t worry, America, Israel is behind you.”
What a beautiful little villa on the shores of Galilee as we approach our dock in Capernaum (“capper-NOWm”).
In places, the Sea of Galilee is bright blue, and in other places it is a vibrant green. The captain says sudden storms can come up that whip the lake into 10-foot waves. That would be a rough sail for a little boat.
Carl read sections of the Sermon on the Mount from the grounds of the church that occupies the Mount of Beatitudes. Jesus’ words here resonate even more deeply with me after seeing the cacophony of religious and political belief that loudly blared in the days of Jesus. I can’t think of a time when it was more badly needed, and I wish there were more attention to it today.
Here’s a view down the slope. Apparently it creates a natural amphitheater that carries a single voice clear up the hill. Of course, some scholars question whether there was one Sermon on the Mount or if Matthew simply collected many of Jesus’ typical saying and put the all together for the purpose of introducing the reader to His main teachings via one compact sermon. However it was, we would still do well to think on what He said.
Adjacent to this site is the area called Tabgha. It is where Jesus fed the multitudes with five loaves and two fishes. In this area are also seven springs of warm water. The flow into Galilee and the warmth encourages the growth of aquatic biotics that attract fish. So, viola! A great fishing place, likely why Peter and Co. worked out of nearby Capernaum.
Next we visit Korazim, Chorazim, Korzim, or whatever else you might want to call it. Jesus apparently visited here often. It is just up the hill from Capernaum. The original foundations are still there, and archeologists have rebuilt some of the structures so that this small town can be envisioned. It’s quite barren away from the lake. Jesus pronounced a curse on Korazim because they were not repentant after the many miracles Jesus performed there.
Here’s an arch that several homes sported. Under it is a series of windows that archeologists first saw here, so they call them Korazim windows. They were apparently used to pass food from one room to the next.
Here’s the remains of the synagogue in Korazim. The stones had some carvings of Greek gods. I asked Aran if that would be a sign of pagan worship in this Jewish community. He said, “No, these were probably added later. Remember hundreds of years go by in these stone buildings and meanings change. They probably added these as artistic flourishes long after anyone believed in the Hellenistic gods.”
That is one thing about this place, time can spin your head or just tiptoe by without notice. It’s like standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and not knowing if that next outcropping is 400 yards or four miles away. Size and distance of events can telescope and distort proper perspective. For instance, after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Romans ruled Palestine for 600 years from Caesarea. 600 years?! Three times longer than we’ve been a nation and who can name any great event from that time? Yet, the three years of Jesus’ life seem well known and huge.
Oh, oh. Another church coming and that means modest attire. No shoulders, elbows, or knees are to be showing.
Here one of our tour mates solves the bare knee problem by pulling a sweater onto her legs. There were some strange looks from other tourists since from another angle it looked like she had a really saggy diaper.
Even I had to pull my shorts down until my knees were covered. First time I’ve had to let my BVDs see the sunlight. At least I wasn’t wearing my “My Little Pony” undies.
And it did give me a certain “hipness,” though climbing stairs was a bit of a challenge.
Here is the synagogue in Capernaum built by the centurion that the Jews counted as a friend. Jesus healed his servant from afar. This is a large synagogue by that day’s standard. It was made of beautiful white limestone that shone against all the black basalt of the area.
A moment of refection on the events here, like how Jesus was chastised for healing on the Sabbath. His question of “Which of you if his ox falls in a ditch will not pull it out on the Sabbath?” would have been lost on some of the stricter sects in Israel in those days. Yes, some would have said, “We would not pull it out on Sabbath. It would die.” At least there was some practical compassion in Jesus’ hearers even here in the Jewish leaders.
That space ship in the near distance hovers over Peter’s house. It was just this close to the synagogue (where I was standing to take this picture.)
Well, I’ll be! The space ship is actually a church! Who'd of thought? The church arcs across Peter’s stone home. In the center of the main floor, you can look down into his home.
Now here’s an impressive spot. We’d traveled up to Banias (“BAN-yuhs” an Arab mispronunciation for the town of Pan, the Greek god who causes strong emotion including PANic.) Banias had long been a center of pagan ritual and had recently been taken over by the Romans and named Caesarea Philippi (“Seez-EAR-yuh Phee-LEE-pee”). They carried on the pagan rituals.
It’s a gorgeous, fertile spot with fresh pure springs flowing right from the rocks at the foot of Mt. Hermon (hair-MOAN”). I drank right from the rock channel of one of the springs. The problem is that pagans have a thing about water coming from the earth. Those spots are considered to be the Gates of Hades (“HELL” ;-). And since these springs come right out from under a cliff and the cliff has a low shelf on it just right for sacrifices…
Wouldn’t you know it, for centuries the pagans had been coming here to do their pagan things. This was not a great hang out spot for worshipers of the One God. There would likely have been an altar right in the center of this picture right near the stone column. Often the sacrifices were animals, but when everyone was in the mood children, particularly young males, were also offered. Notice the cave at the far end.
Now you’re looking into the cave. Back in the day, water bubbled up in this cave and then flowed out through a lower natural duct. Those ancient “believers” would bring their most prized possession to offer to Pan. They loved their firstborn sons, but when you serve a vicious god, you do some heartrending things. So the human sacrifice would be thrown into the roiling pool to be sucked under the water. Then everyone would run over to where they could look down on where the water was flowing out into the valley. If the water remained clear, the god had accepted the offering. If blood came out, the god was not happy and had not accepted the offering.
Here’s the interesting thing. Jesus brought His disciples here after He had resurrected Lazarus and the priests wanted to kill Jesus and Lazarus. I guess it makes sense to go to the last place they would look for Him, but it was in this spot where Jesus said, “Who are people saying I am?” It’s like He wanted them to be thinking as wildly outside the box as possible. Then He got more personal and asked, “But who do YOU say that I am?” And in this enchanted spot, Simon Peter boldly said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said, “You didn’t figure this out by yourself, but God has revealed it to you.” Then Jesus called Him Peter and said “On this rock I will build my church, and the very Gates of Hell will not prevail against it.”
That’s a very different picture than I had had. Here’s Jesus in the shadow of a longstanding horribleness saying, “Here we are at the Gates of Hell, seemingly here forever, but my church will be stronger.”
Furthermore, though some are fond of thinking Jesus had made Peter the first pope, it is possible that Jesus meant “I will build my church on this rock you see here.” In other words, “There is no place on earth wicked enough to scare Me off. The church I raise will outlast this one.” Maybe not, but it’s worth a thought. Jesus did tell them more about His coming death while they were here. So He at least did seem to want them to understand that He would literally go to the Pit of Death and come back victorious, an offering that was accepted and then returned to life. And thinking of Him building His church on a horrible place and essentially baptizing and purifying it is a comforting thought to me. It feels like when at His resurrection the angel comes, rolls the stone away, and sits on it. A sign of joyous contempt.
This was a sobering visit. Lots to think about still. Lovely Jesus unafraid in the pagan world, unafraid in the corrupt temple, His eye on life as it should be, an unbreakable vision, an unwavering will, a solid character like a rock.
Then we dropped way back in time to when the 12 tribes became two nations never to reunite. We visited Tel Dan (“tell dan”) where they found one of the temples that Rehoboam built to keep his 10 tribes from going to Jerusalem to worship. The City of Dan was far north. From here we looked right up into Lebanon. In the south he built another temple at Bethel (“beth-EL”). This temple featured a golden calf, not exactly “standard issue” for Israelite worship, but these ancients were notorious for sneaking idols into their temples. We saw one alter to YHWH that also had the serpent chiseled into one of its stones. The serpent was a fertility symbol. (Most everything back then had something to do with fertility, probably not a bad idea with all the genocide that was frequently attempted.)
Here Aran is showing where the multiple gates would have been and the rooms near the gates where soldiers would have been waiting to “congratulate” any who might successfully break down their wall.
This shows the size of the altar which has been fabricated in aluminum for us to grasp its position in the worship rituals. The real altar, though, would have been of untooled stone.
Here we are looking from the altar on the left all the way up to the raised area where the holy place and the most holy place were. I think Aran called them bema and uma.
Wow! What a Sabbath journey through space and time. I can barely imagine that one week ago I was sitting in the University Church looking forward to today. It seemed shorter looking ahead than it does now looking back.
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