Bethlehem

The visit to Bethlehem was very eye opening.  The city is now walled in and protected by Isrealite guards.  The citizens of Bethlehem are Christian and Muslim Arabs so we were in Palestinian territory.  Our Jewish guide had to find a hidden place on the bus to enter the city with our group.

Once inside the city, it looked very poor and vacated.  Unfortunately with the walls protecting Israel from threats, the people have no one coming and going into their city to improve their economy.  A big tour bus like ours coming in brought out all the street vendors and beggars which was pretty sad.  There was a great store that we were literally the only ones inside, it was The Olive Tree Factory.  This is where we met Mr. Nissan and his family.  They hosted us for lunch later in the day as well (pictures below).

Of course you can't go to Bethlehem without visiting the Church of the Nativity which is built over the place marking the birth of Jesus.  This city holds other significant meaning too in that nearly 4000 years ago, Jacob buried his young wife Rachel here (Gen. 35: 16-19) and this was the home of Naomi and her family.  Bethlehem was also where Ruth gleaned in the fields and fellin love with Boaz (Ruth 2) and their great-grandson David was born here too. 

Entrance into the Church of the Nativity.  You had to duck to get in and this was for several reasons.  One reason was because battles were waged with soldiers on horseback. This prevented horses from entering (you can see the earlier doorway arch that was sealed up).  Other reasons we heard were that the bowing required to enter the church was in reverance to the birth of Christ.  Another said it was the narrow opening signifying the narrow road that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.  I presume many can come up with more reasons but the main reason for the building is to protect the birth place of our Lord.  We were reminded not to worship the site but the reason for the site being here in the first place!

Although the church was built over the stable where Christ was born and it is difficult to imagine what it was originally like, you can still see the stable ceiling which helps one to get a better perspective.

Mr. Nissan and his brothers hosted our groups in their beautiful restaurant.  The food was delicious and the hospitality perfect.  Our bus captain's wife Melissa had a birthday on this day in Bethlehem and Mr. Nissan had several cakes brought out for her so we could all enjoy. 

This marks the place where Jesus was born.  This was inside a very small room that was originally the stable.

Mt. of Precipitation and Nazareth

On the south side of Nazareth is the Mt. of Precipitation (Mt. of Precipice) that has a beautiful view of the Jezreel Valley which was a valued piece of land because of it crossed major roads.  Throughout the ages, many battles have taken place here.  The Jezreel Valley was known for its fertile land but neglected over the years, it turned into swamp land.  Reclaimed by Jewish settlers, the valley has transformed back into fertile farmland and is still considered Israel's bread basket.

The scripture reference to the Mt. of Precipice comes from Luke where Jesus had given a sermon in the synagogue and the congregation (being offended at the truth he spoke) wanted to hurl him down the hill and kill him.  Some say he lept from the mountian but the Bible says this:

Luke 4:28-30 (New International Version, ©2010)

 ²⁸ All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.




View of Nazareth from the Mt. of Precipitation. 

 


A view of the western side of Nazareth.





Dad and Tyler standing on the Mt. of Precipitation.  The Jezreel Valley is behind them.

 


Our family standing on the Mt. of Precipitation where the people from the synagogue in Nazareth tried to throw Jesus off the cliff.  The Jezreel Valley is behind us.



Beth Shean

Also known as Bet Shean, Bet Shan and Beth Shan.

Although Jesus never visited Beth Shean (in fact he walked around it when travelling), this was one of the most fascinating historic sites in my opinion.  Excavations in this city show 18 levels of occupation.  This was a thriving place at one time because of it's central location between roads that went north to Syria, east to Jordan, south to Egypt and west to the Mediterranean.  The views we have pictured below is only about a 10th of what scholars estimate the actual size of the city to have been back in the time of Christ. 

One very significant scripture reference to Beth Shean is found in 1 Samuel 31 when the Israelites lead by Saul were defeated by the Philistines.  Rather than be killed by the enemy, Saul fell on his own sword.  Three of his sons had already been killed.  Pick up the scripture here:

1 Samuel 31:8-10 (The Message)

 ^8-10 The next day, when the Philistines came to rob the dead, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. They cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor. Then they spread the good news all through Philistine country in the shrines of their idols and among the people. They displayed his armor in the shrine of the Ashtoreth. They nailed his corpse to the wall at Beth Shan.





This would have been the main street of the city with stately columns leading to the spas and bath houses.  Mosaic tile floors are still visible.  This road is angled to drain water and given it's appearance close up it was where the chariots travelled.

 



This was quite a climb but worth it!  This mud wall is the very wall that Saul and his sons were hung over to be on display to the city of Beth Shean.

 


This is a view of the city from the theatre.  In the distance is the mountain where the mud wall is located (see top right).




View of the city and excavation sites from the hilltop.




The tents are where new excavation is taking place.  Again, what we are seeing is just a 10th of the actual size of Beth Shean in the days of Christ.



Walking Where Jesus Walked

Matthew 13:16-17 (The Message)
"But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance."

I am sharing my thoughts with those that care to read them because of this scripture. All my life I have been told the stories and read the stories in the Bible for myself, but always they were just that...a story. Now having seen with my own eyes the exact locations where these stories took place has changed forever the Word of God for me.

We visited the cities around the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberias or Lake of Gennesarat (John 6:1, 17:27, Luke 5:1), Sea of Chinneroth (Joshuaa 12:3), or as it is called today by most as Lake Kinneret.




View from Mt. of Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7).  This small cover on the waters edge is where the people gathered in such a great crowd that Jesus had to get into a boat and teach the people on the shore (Matt. 13:1-2).

 




Tabgha is on the upper west side of the Sea of Galilee and the Church of the Multiplication (behind Ally & Tyler) is whwere Jesus performed one of his most significant miracles of multiplying the loaves and the fish to feed the hungry people gathered to hear him teach.  Tyler and Ally are along the edge of the Sea.  Less than 1000 feet from this location is the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter where after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee and bestowed the primacy upon Peter (John 21: 15-17).






This picture is inside the synagogue where Jesus taught in Capernaum.  Capernaum was known as Jesus' home town because he chose to be there.  This town is where he met Peter and other apostles and performed many miracles including the healing of Peter's mother-in-law (Matt. 8: 14-17), brought back the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5: 21-43), healed the paraplegic (Mark 2; 1-12), and the slave of the Centurion (Matt. 8:5-13). 

 


We took a boat across the Sea of Galilee to a restaurant called St. Peter's Fish.  From the boat we could see the mountain/cliff where Jesus exxorcised the evil spirits from a man possessed by demons and forced them to leave the man and enter the herd of swine grazing nearby.  The herd ran off the mountains edge to their doom in the Sea below.



Travelling with my Dad definitely had its advantages.  One of those was the explanations we got along our walks that gave us a better picture of what we were seeing.  He was great to point out the significance of the scriptures to where we were standing.  Here, along the edge of the Sea of Galilee, we were just down from where the loaves and fish were multiplied.  As Dad said, "here or not very far from here", Jesus approached the disciples in his resurrected form and found them attempting to fish in the warmer waters of the sea where the spring water joins the bigger water and warms it to make a better fishing spot.  Jesus asked them to cast there nets on the other side of the boat which was the exact opposite of what the professional fisherman knew to be right (into the colder water).   When they did as he said, they caught 153 fish which represents all the species of fish in the world (according to our tour guide) and represents all the different people of the world.  This is where the disciples learned what He meant by becoming fishers of men and of course they recognized Him as their resurrected Lord.



Friends in Israel

We left for Israel on January 24th, 2011 and returned on February 2, 2011.  We were there for such a short time, but we made some eternal friends.  Our tour guide, Tsippi (pronounced Sippy) is a Jewish woman that knows so many details about the land she calls home.  She can spill her knowledge in such a way that one of our fellow bus riders said it was like drinking from a firehose.  We all agreed.  Tsippi brought everything to life - she prepared our minds and hearts for what we were about to see and she brought the pages of the Bible to life for us in the process. 

Asod is a Palestinian Christian and was key in getting our tour group into Palistinian territory like Bethlehem and Jerricho.  The streets of Jerusalem are narrow and steep and the traffic is thick.  Asod was an amazing driver - always giving us curb service.  We called him the king of the hairpin curves.  In addition to being a great driver, Asod was a gentle spirited man.  He took extra time to make sure Tyler got just the right oil lamp when we were shopping.

Mr. Nissan is a Palestinian Christian that we met while visiting Bethlehem.  He is the owner of both the Olive Tree Factory and the largest restaurant in the city.  Mr. Nissan shared his faith with our group and also shared the Lords Prayer in Aramaic which could have been the language Jesus spoke the prayer in just after the Sermon on the Mount. 

The sites of Israel bring the Bible to life, but the life in Israel is the people.  Israel has become a melting pot of people, and not all are as wonderful as those we met, but we were blessed by Tsippi, Asod and Mr. Nissan and I will forever count them as friends.

This is our bus group - the Yellowmites.