Israel Trip – Day 2

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

We started out each day early (and earlier and earlier).  On the bus at 8:10AM, we made our way to the River Jordan.

The River Jordan near Galilee

The River Jordan flows water from the Sea of Galilee down south to the Dead Sea (extremely salty lake).  The only other lakes similar to this are found in Salt Lake where Utah Lake flows water north through the Jordan River and empties into the Great Salt Lake (very salty lake).

We drove past the south part of the Sea of Galilee and our Jewish Guide Dina explained that in this area is where the first Kibbutz was established where everything was kept in common among the inhabitants. Dina came from a similar establishment called a Moshav.

From Wikipedia:

A kibbutz (Hebrew: קיבוץ, קִבּוּץ, lit. “gathering, clustering”; plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism. In recent decades, many kibbutzim have been privatized and changes have been made in the communal lifestyle. A member of a kibbutz is called a kibbutznik. (Kibbutz. (2010, May 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:34, May 25, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kibbutz&oldid=362604342)

We arrived at the River Jordan at the place called Yardenit at 8:27AM (there was a clock on the bus, so it made it easy to annotate the time).

We were reminded of the story of Naaman who, to be healed, needed to bathe/wash 7 times in the river. I wonder if it was reminiscent of the mikvah or ritual bath (we’ll have firsthand experience with that later in the trip).

We stood upon the upper banks of the river, and could see very large fish lazy swimming and gently breaching the surface of the river. The area was gorgeous.

Tradition holds that Jesus was baptized near Beth-barah (Bethabara) “House of Crossing” in the more desert South close to the Dead Sea where the Israelites crossed the River Jordan (symbolic of their baptism/covenant, think how ancient sacrifices were cut in two and the parties making a covenant would walk between the two parts). The area of the Dead Sea is also the lowest point on earth (“descending below all things”).

Even though the location we visited here was not where Jesus was likely baptized, it was still neat to go to the River Jordan and touch the waters.

We saw groups preparing and performing baptisms there.

After Yardenit at the River Jordan, we hopped back on the bus and headed almost due east as the crow flies to Nazareth.

Nazareth was a small village and had perhaps a few hundred to four hundred inhabitants, so when it was asked if anything good could come from Nazareth, now you know, it was very small in the hills of the Galilee.

On the way there, we learned a lot about the women of the New Testament and talked about the practices of the day related to marriage and the many customs surrounding who would have been involved at the marriage at Cana.

Nazareth and the Nazareth Village

In Nazareth, there is a spring, apparently just one spring that would be an A+ site that Jesus would have visited. There is a church built over the spring now.

At 11:10AM we visited the Nazareth Village, and what a wonderful experience that was! I’ve posted some videos to give you an idea.

Our guide at the village was from Wisconsin. Many of the people there are volunteers. At the end of the tour they gave us an oil lamp.  We filled our lamp with olive oil and lit it today; it works very well and smells good.

With our handy Flip Video Camera, we captured a little bit of what the village looked like.

They uncovered an actual wine press in at the site that our guide is standing over and talking about.

Inside where the olive oil was produced was incredible. I couldn’t believe the complex equipment they had back then.

Learning about the Olive Press (featured below) was one of my favorite parts.

In the video below, we meet “Joseph” the builder working in his shop.

We learned of the controversy that might have surrounded Jesus’ birth in a small town where many people might have considered him an illegitimate child. Years later it seems that the Sadducees put a little dig in when they say “we are not born of fornication.”

The top three sins of the day then were:

1. Blaspheme
2. Murder
3. Adultery/Fornication

Mary went to Jerusalem for 3 months after the announcement she would carry the Christ, we she returned, she and Joseph were married, so Jesus would have been born 6 months after Mary and Joseph were married–a fact that would have traveled far in a small village.

Precipice Mount of Nazareth

After the Nazareth Village, we traveled the short distance up the hill to the Precipice Mount where it is traditionally held that the people of Nazareth tried to throw Jesus off the hill.

Luke 4 recounts that the people were offended at his teaching in the synagogue and were filled with wrath.  It’s not recorded that there was a trial, they ran as a crowd to push him off the top of the hill. Throwing people off a small cliff and then throwing rocks on them was a form of execution.  Jesus was pushed in mass up to the top of a very large hill but disappeared in the midst.

Jesus was probably one of nine in the family (James, Joses, Judah, Simon and two or perhaps three sisters), and it states that his siblings (some or all) didn’t believe him, so their family had challenges as well.  Later (after the resurrection?) James (book of James) and Judah (Book of Jude) became apostles.

The Mount of the Beatitudes near the Sea of Galilee

At about 2:30PM we headed to the Mount of the Beatitudes and arrived there at 3:30PM. We learned a lot there (six pages of notes) and throughout the whole trip (way too much to write here, but I kept it in my journal I had with me).

Just to show how much climbing up and down the bus had to do, there’s a lot of elevation gain and loss throughout the area. You can briefly see the Sea of Galilee down below

Capernaum was just down towards the Sea of Galilee from where we were.

On the Sea of Galilee at Night

At 4:50PM we were back at the Hotel and ready to go out at about 7:50PM down to the shore for a ride on the “Jesus Boat” out onto the Sea of Galilee.

There was a big fire on the hill high that night. We saw huge flames rising high as we walked down to the boat. To the credit of their fire service, it was put out by the time we got back.  We were impressed.

To the disciples on the water, Jesus came in the 4th watch, the last watch, after their test…a “4th watch deliverer.” After their trial and having to wait to the last watch, they testify with certainty.   Peter walked on these waters with Jesus.

We sang “Master the Tempest is Raging” while on the boat in the dark of the night.

The high for the day was between 82-86 degrees Fahrenheit, and it wasn’t as windy as the previous day.

To read about the other days in our trip, click below:

The Airport
Israel – Day 1
Israel – Day 2
Israel – Day 3
Israel – Day 4
Israel – Day 5
Israel – Day 6
Israel – Day 7