Jordan extension -- June 30

Gadera Ampitheater


Gadera



Jerash - group with Paul Wright




Huge ampitheater at Jerash



Free arabian bag pipe show!

Friday June 29

View from the Arbel Cliffs



Arbel Cliffs



Our group - still laughing after a hot climb!



Bob, Marti, Julie Climbing




An ampitheater in Zippori - could Joseph and Jesus helped fashion these stones?




zodiac mosaic



"The Mona Lisa of the Galilee" in Mosaic



Chariot Wheel markings in the Stones



Anna at Beth-shan



Debbie in Beth-shan



Enjoying a last evening on the Mount of Olives hosted by Mark Brown of Lutheran World Federation

Note about photos

The long delayed photos are now inserted into the blog.
Enjoy!! Deb

Thursday, June 28 Sea of Galilee III

Today, we started out with a boat ride! Cindy surprised us by loading us onto the bus and then only driving a brief distance and loading us on an old fashioned wooden boat and we set sail on the Sea of Galilee. The ship flew the American flag and played the Star Spangled Banner which made us laugh.
They concluded their homage to the US by offerings us trinkets and maps for sail. Jan Nordell said, “Maybe we are on vacation.” The water was glassy smooth with no breeze to stir the air. Tiberius glitters white on the shore. People laughed and chatted easily. We all felt so lucky.

Cindy had them stop the boat and we had a map geek moment. She showed us the Plain of Bethsaida and then divided the area around the Galilee for us into three segments. During the time of Jesus there would be the Jewish section of the lake near Bethsaida, then the Decapolis region which was more Roman, and then a blended region near Capernaum. She pointed out the Tel of Hippos which could be the proverbial “city on a hill” that Jesus spoke of. She also showed us the mouth of the Jordan and discussed Bethsaida. She talked about how it was nestled among many fishing villages. She also point out the city of Magdala, the home village of Mary of Magdala.
We continued the journey across the lake and docked at the museum for the Galilee Boat. We heard about this amazing discovery in 1986, when two brothers discovered the partially exposed boat. It is from the time of Christ and looked like the one that Jesus and his disciples would have traveled in.
One of the brothers who discovered the boat actually came and greeted our group and talked with us. He told about seeing a double rainbow when they first discovered the boat and knew that “there was a special spirit with this boat.” After a complicated process of preservation the boat now stands in a beautiful display at the museum.
We loaded onto the bus and headed to the Mount of Beatitudes. Ron Dobies read Mathew 5 and we sang several songs as we worshipped God for those powerful words. Jim Kielsmeier talked about how Jesus was really illuminating from Micah 4:1-5 and 6:8 describing how the people of God were intended to live. Cindy sent us away to spend 15 minutes reflecting on the passage. Some sat out in the beautiful gardens others went into the church. (The church is hot and sticky. There are electric fans that give little comfort. The whole church smells of body odor. I wanted this to be a divinely inspired moment. Here I am where Jesus told us about the kingdom of God. He gave us instructions about how this kingdom works. And then there is this guy outside one of the open windows jabbering on his cell phone. It’s so annoying. The sweat is dripping and the flies are gathering. Here it is: the kingdom of God making its place among we smelly, hot, rude, self-centered human beings. Here is how it will come. In the beauty of mosaic covered floors, the whir of electric fans, and me giving the cell phone guy a get-out-of–judgment-free card.-Jonna
We load up the bus and head to Korazim. It is a city made entirely out of black Basalt. We see a beautifully constructed synagogue.
The door faces east toward the temple in Jerusalem. This was a place of gathering for the community. Kids were taught. Public discussion always followed the reading of the scripture. It was a place to ask good questions and to study. There were ornate cornices and beautiful pillars with a seat of Moses at the entrance.


This synagogue is from late third century and there are carvings of animals and humans on some of the decorations. Cindy talked about how powerful this discussion oriented kind of worship could be, and how open people were to listening to different interpretations of a text.
We ate lunch under some shade trees. The air was so hot and still it was beginning to be uncomfortable just to sit outside.

We got on the beautifully air conditioned bus and headed to Capharnaum (Capernaum). There is a church here marking Peter’s house. This served at Jesus’ home base. Here Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Here Jesus healed a centurion’s dying servant. Cindy takes us through Matthew 4:25 and shows us where each of the regions that are mentioned there are and what it meant. Capharnaum was a multi-cultural, multi-political city. It was prosperous due to trade. There were money changers and tax collectors there in abundance. There were also a profusion of Roman soldiers, Jewish farmers, and fishermen. Cindy took us to Matthew 11 where Jesus declares woes over several of the cities at Galilee including Korazim, Bethsaida and Capernaum. She also pointed out that because of the Basalt rock, this city made grinding stones, and that is why Jesus make mention of them when he rebukes his disciples about stopping children from coming to him. The synagogue at Capernaum is made out of white limestone and is much later. What is exposed is a basalt foundation under the synagogue which marks the floor of the synagogue that would have stood here during Jesus’ day. The modern church that is built on the sight is over a Byzantine church with is over a Jewish insula
(house) which has traditionally been believed to be the house of Peter. The air was a stifling 104 degrees. We barely made it through the site before escaping to the bus soggy with sweat.
The bus took us to the Jordan river where the group participated in an affirmation of baptism. We did full emersion with singing, reflection, vows, and then the ministers baptizing those that were interested. It was a touching time. The Jordan was cool and we were refreshed. A delightful ice cream truck waited next to bus and made a killing as we celebrated this marking moment together.

Back onto the bus for our last stop. We headed to Kursi also know as Genasera where Jesus performed the miracle of casting demons out of a tortured man and into a herd of pigs. There is a ruin of a Byzantine Church with well preserved Mosaics and a chapel on the hill. Cindy read mark 5 as we looked around imaging the power of what Jesus did, and then the power of the man’s story as he prepared the area of the Decapolis for the return of Jesus who would feed 4000 of them with a few loaves and fish. Cindy gave us fifteen minutes to explore and a handful hiked up the hill to see the little chapel. It was the end of the day and the humor sank low as Jim Kielsmeier looked out on our glorious view of the Galilee and surrounding hills and said, “This would be a great place to build a restaurant. They could call it Famous David’s, and specialize in pork.”
We hopped into the bus and returned to Ein Gev for swimming for dinner and for great conversation. Another glorious day of exploring the life of Christ. How wonderful to follow our Lord around Galilee as many others have before.

Wednesday, June 27 -- Galilee Part II

We load up in the bus. Eric Gustafson is a little on the edge. Deb Kielsmeier leads us in prayer for the day and especially for Eric. Our first stop is the Tel of Hazor. This was a major city in the Middle Bronze Age (Abraham). It has both an Upper City and a Lower City. The upper section has palaces and a fortification, while the lower has temples, standing stones and houses. By the time of Solomon the lower section had been abandoned. It has strong historic records. So much so that it is believed that there should be a library of cuneiform tablets buried in the city. A couple tablets have been found but they continue to dig hoping for it. We examine the Israelite structure of a wealthy home that was moved off of the sight of a palace that lay below it. We saw the innermost room of the house where only the family would be invited. Cindy explained how olive oil was made. We saw the area of the house where the family would stable the animals, which is probably similar to the place where Jesus was born.
Cindy read Joshua 11 where we learn of Joshua’s Northern campaign which focused on the King of Hazor gathering together a huge number of kings together to fight the Israelites. The logistics of the battle are difficult to understand because the location of the place where the kings pow-wowed would not allow armies of any size to gather.
We got to see the tower that Ahab built as well as walk into the cistern that he developed. We saw the last of the Solomonic gates listed in I Kings 9:15.
It was terribly hot and as we let Hazor Jan Nordell told us about the strange Century plants that we saw along the road. After 100 years these plants flower and then die. Thankfully the bus is cool as we move on.
We arrive at Tel Dan which has the largest spring in the Middle East. This spring pumps out 2000 gallons/ minute. The area is a nature preserve. Lush and green with the songs of birds filling the area. The ancient city is made of smooth stone. We get to see another Middle Age Gate that is arched much like the one in Ashkelon. During that time it was named Laish. When Abraham was pursing a coalition of kings who had kidnapped Lot and his family he would have passed by Laish possibly getting provisions and information. Later when the city was renamed a large Gate complex was built. We see the entire complex of rooms and courtyards. The city gate was key for judicial decisions, begging for alms, taxes, selling of goods. A stone was found with an inscription that noted the house of David, which provides concrete testimony to the greatness of King David.
Cindy read to us the story of the High place that Jeroboam constructed when the northern kingdom split from the southern kingdom after the death of Solomon. Cindy noted that later on the phrase that is used over and over of evil kings is that they “walked in the sin of Jeroboam.” Many people propose that the sin is syncretism, allowing Yahweh worship and other kinds of worship to be occurring simultaneously. Cindy had another hypothesis because Solomon too introduced syncretism and is not remembered for that. Her latest hypothesis is that the sin of Jeroboam was that he is writing God out of the history of the Northern tribes, and now is taking the place of God. He is making a kingdom for himself and is not treating the people like they are equals with him. He is unwilling to live as a peer leader, and wants to be the definer of the national identity. We sat looking at the High Place that he had constructed in Dan and listened as Cindy read Jeremiah’s prophetic descriptions of how ridiculous the worship of other God’s was. We hopped the bus and headed for Caesarea Philippi.
When we arrived, Cindy set us up on sight to talk about the gush of water that came out of the cave that was suppose to be some kind of entrance into the underworld. The main worship was for the god Pan who was half goat and half man. The worship was intensely sexual and involved human sacrifice by throwing people into the cavernous spring. The worship area did cover many Gods. Here people were trying to get the god’s to do what they want. Worship is about control. Debbie Ducar led us in a devotional about this place taking us to Matthew 16 where Jesus comes to this place and asks his disciples who people say he is. This is the place where Peter made his great declaration. Debbie explained that part of the power of what Jesus said was that God was a living God, not a god who died with the winter season and had to be coaxed into resurrection. She also told us that the gates of Hades is what this spring was called, so Jesus was referring to the pagan worship that was going on right in front of the disciples would not prevail against God’s church. She also offered us a thought about what did Jesus mean when he said “upon this rock, I will build my church.” Debbie said one idea was that upon this community, the disciples, is what God would build his church. We felt the power of Christ’s declaration as we recognized that our community was part of the way that God was building his church too. Debbie closed us in a prayer of gratitude.
After lunch, Cindy invited us to go on a hike back into a waterfall. Several decided to go while others explored the park further or enjoyed the air conditioned bus. We hiked the tail back into the park where the Spring of Hermon lies. We saw ancient rock walls, verdant smooth-barked trees making living arches over the path along a rushing stream. We walked over stones and rock ledges winding and twisting deeper into the woods until we came out into the open where a huge amount of water plunged 10 meters into a sea foam green pool that was the color of the Roman Glass jewelry we’ve seen.


A cool damp breeze accompanied the water outward to dry thirsty pilgrims who pause for gasps and pictures in the cool shade. We hiked up a set of stairs and loaded onto the bus hot and tired and happy.

We traveled to one more site. Up a winding road we headed to the Golan Heights where Cindy filled us in about the Yom Kippur War and how the borders changed. We looked at Syria and where no-mans land is located. We wandered down through the bunker and just wondering at the conflict between Israel and her neighbors.
After loading back on the bus, we returned to Ein Gev. There was some swimming and much showering, and then dinner together. All in all the evening was a pleasant close to a busy day.

Southern Galilee - June 26

Today we are leaving Jerusalem. George and Martha Johnson have made it home safe and sound. Deb Kielsmeier prayed for them, for Jan and Peter Nordell’s daughter, and for all of us as we head out of Jerusalem. Johnny is quite talkative this morning. He is going to be spending three solid days with us as we travel out to the region of the Galilee and stay at a resort at En Gev. Johnny is philosophizing about cars and he warns us that, “BMW is not good quality. Mercedes is good quality.” He makes mysterious remarks about computer systems. We are an enrapt audience.
After an hour and a half drive we arrive at Caesarea by the Sea. We have clearly left the Semitic culture behind. There are some statues of the human body in all its glory. What statues do have clothes are in togas. There is an abundance of fruit and produce. This is all before we even enter the amphitheater, which would never have been built by Semitic people either. We do see a statue of a man carrying a sheep behind his head like many of our pictures of the good shepherd. When did this pagan image become a Christian symbol? It calls to question the issues of faith and culture. What is the interaction between the theatre and the church?
As we sit in the amphitheater which is used for modern concerts, we have our map geek moment. We see the Sharon plain as being an empty space at this time because it is swampy and to be avoided. We trace the Costal Highway along the foot hills and then watch as it bend out to the sea, thanks to Herod the Great and his determination. The amphitheatre faces the sea which betrays Herod love for the larger world and especially his reaching for Rome. Clearly Caesarea is a Roman City because everything faces the sea. The sea in Jewish though is a fearful place full of danger and out of control. It is a place to be avoided. No Jewish person would go swimming or play in the water. The language of pre-creation chaos is always water imagery. Herod wanted to engage the world and loved the sea. Herod went as far as to build a magnificent harbor with a new technology: cement that hardens under water. The harbor was huge! It had an entrance to the North with favored the wind and avoided silt.
Herod continues his nature defying building with his palace. We walk over to the palace and sit in what would have been the praetorian or the place where the guards lived and held prisoners. Herod’s palace is built out on a natural reef and literally hangs out over the sea. To ships sailing into Caesarea’s magnificent harbor, it would appear that the palace was floating. Cindy takes us to Acts 9 where Peter in Joppa (very Semitic place) receives a vision at the same time as Cornelius in Caesarea. It is powerful to see Christianity take its first giant leap beyond Judaism. Both Peter and Cornelius are prepped by God and are ready for this powerful new way of understanding the chosen people. Jesus set this up well by interacting with many people who were outside the Jewish faith.
Then Cindy reveals that this is the place where Paul says, “I appeal to Caesar” and charts a course to Rome. We are in wonder as we realize that here is where the Gospel begins its journey to the heart of Rome and the “utter most parts of the earth.”
Cindy sets us loose to explore this amazing sight where we see the Hippodrome where sporting events would have been held. We see the ruins of other palaces and medieval shops with back alleys connecting them. As we look out on that stunning blue of the Mediterranean, we see a shrunken harbor that merely suggests the grandeur of Herod’s harbor. The heat and humidity hung heavy.
After ice cream, iced coffee, and anything else we can get cold, we load onto the bus by walking through the crusader gate and head out to see Hadrian’s Aqueduct. This magnificent structure stretches along the coast from Mount Carmel to Caesarea. It is made of kurkar and still stands magnificently. This aqueduct was used to bring water to the city, while Herod’s aqueduct, which we did not see, fed the surrounding agricultural lands. As we drive away headed toward Mount Carmel we pass the lush fields and begin to ask Johnny what does and does not grow in Israel. He kept emphasizing that everything grows here, “We have everything,” he stated, “This is the land of Jesus.”
Once up on Mount Carmel we pause for another map geek moment. It is amazing how much we can see. We locate Mt. Gilboah, Mt. Tabor and the Tel of Megiddo, which appears to control all of the Jezreel Valley.
Cindy cautions us against projecting back in time the lush agriculture we see in the Jezreel Valley. Instead, it was a swampy mess with the Kishon River able to drain it into the Mediterranean. Megiddo does connect to prime trade routes, which makes Megiddo incredibly important.
As we sit on Mount Carmel, Cindy transports us back to the clash between King Ahab and Elijah or more appropriately the contest between Baal and Yahweh for the heart of Yahweh’s people. It has been three years without rain which is Yahweh’s punishment and a way of thumbing your nose at the “storm god Baal.” Jezebel who is proselytizing the Jewish people with Baal worship is furious when she learns that Baal has been disgraced and the key leaders of the faith are dead. Elijah runs, but he runs back to Sinai, his roots, to try to rediscover who this God is and what is going on. He feels alone and as though God may have forsaken him for Good.
But God does not come in these gigantic theophanic experiences of wind, fire and earthquake. He comes in a gentle breeze and without answering Elijah’s questions sends his servant on his way to continue in obedience to God’s plan. God will continue to reach out and call back the Northern kingdom to follow him, until there is no one left to listen.
We eat lunch then load back up and head to the Tel of Megiddo. This is an ancient and powerful city which has been building structures for a very long time. We see the gate that Thutmose III walked through when Egypt took Megiddo. Thutmose said, “When you take Megiddo, you take a thousand cities.” We find Early Bronze Age sacrificial altars and temples and standing stones that all predate Abraham.
We find a huge silo which evidences the wealth of produce. Cindy reminds us that Amos confronted the rulers of the Northern kingdom to quit hoarding wealth and food. The rulers were suppose to take care of the people as equals not to act as though they were some how better and able. Amos called the women of the region “the cows of Bashan” because of their fat from hoarding. We also saw a storehouse or stables there is argument both ways. Jonna did a devotional about this being the mount of Megiddo or Armageddon. She reminded the group that there is a struggle for control between good and evil. That struggle has it’s place in our own lives and we are called on to remember in our own lives our own Megiddo’s and thank God for his presence whether the city was saved or fell to evil’s hands that the Messiah ultimately will ultimately have power in our lives.


We got on the bus and headed to the Nazareth Ridge. We took our map geek moment to pay attention to the mountains and the Jezreel Valley. Cindy led us through the journeys of Joseph and Mary across the valley and where Jesus lived out his child hood. She read the passage in Matthew where Jesus taught in the synagogue on the Isaiah passage. She pointed out the church that is built on the spot of that teaching. The heat was intense, but we hung on her every word as she pointed out Mount Tabor where Deborah and Barak conquered Sisera’s chariot-spiked army.
At the end as we processed the day with Cindy we asked many questions that she could only smile at and encourage us to study on. She did let us know that there was one other prophet out of Galilee. That was the prophet Jonah. We wondered if Jesus stood on the ridge where we stood and looked at all of his rich history around him as he learned his own place in that fabulous story.
We loaded into the bus and went to Ein Gev a Kibbutz. It is really a resort on the Galilee. The rooms are cool and spacious. The food is similar, but enough different. The Galilee is warm and beautiful with the lights of Tiberius filling the hillside opposite our rooms. We are tired tonight and full. We have traveled from ancient civilizations to thoughts of the end of the human story finishing with our eyes on our Lord. We’ll sleep well.