Dec 30, 2019 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
This is up there for me too. Jesus home during His ministry years, and the home of not only Jairus, as in Jairus’ daughter who was raised from the dead by Jesus, but also the home of Peter’s mother-in-law…so Peter’s home and the site of the very first church of Jesus. Seriously…Jesus lived here. For real. Not kidding. In fact, they found “graffiti” where Peter and Jesus’ names were carved into the rock, which is part of why they are sure this was his house. It is also octagonal, like the first churches. I mean…this is really amazing.
Mike says Caphar naum means “town of Naum”. The first thing you see as you come in is a few statues…I think he said St Francis of Assisi, and a sculpture of what looks like a homeless person sleeping on a bench. Right after that is the entrance to the city and houses to the left. As you round the corner, there is a row of period column works that are really amazing. Like this
This one has a menorah carved into it. There were several others with grapes, pomegranates, trees, birds, flowers etc. Really neat, but this one is my favorite:
This one has the Ark of the Covenant. Pretty cool, huh? There are also two mile markers. One Hebrew, and one Roman. So Matthew, the tax collector, would have sat by one of these mile markers and taxed anyone that walked by. Right? As Mike would say, “Are you with me?”. Check these out.
There’s the Hebrew one, and here’s the Roman one.
I haven’t even gotten warmed up yet…check out some of the best pics I got of Peter’s home…
Octagon inside of octagon, but built on top of rectangles. These are walkways Jesus walked…he lived here.
There is a chapel built on top of the main area with glass in the floor so you can see in without going in. They found candles in here. This was where the first Christians had church. Breathtaking.
Pastor points out the representative ironwork in the chapel of the things carved in the wall from the room below…the Alpha and Omega (under his hand) and the P with 2 stars.
Right next door to Peter’s house was Jairus’ house. This would be where his daughter was raised from the dead. Right next door to that was the synagogue. In this picture above you can see the dark stone which was the original first century stone, and then they built right on top of that after it was destroyed, hmmm, I think he said around 200AD, which was when the lighter stone synagogue was built right on top of the old walls/foundation. Here’s a picture with that awesome kid of mine in the synagogue:
We are standing in the room for the men. The women were allowed only in the upstairs room…this was a 2 story building. They weren’t allowed to worship on the main floor with the men.
So obviously I have about 500 more pictures than this, but I tried to pick out good representatives of the main things we saw. Our last stop after Capernaum was a short stop to see a really neat thing that we couldn’t see closer because of lack of time. That is Mt Arbel. There is an entire city of caves dug into a mountain along the valley that Jesus would have walked between Nazareth and the Mt of Transfiguration to get to places like Bethsaida, The Mt of Beatitudes, and Capernaum. It is amazing to see, and pastor said we may hike up there to see it if we have time during the last three days…our hike days. So I may be revisiting this one later. Here a picture though so you get an idea of it.
There are cows grazing there and we had to watch out not to step on cow patties. Those holes are doors and windows. There are way more than this. They were inhabited by Bedouins who still live in home on the other side of the valley. It’s about an hour hike straight up to get there. Seriously. Did I tell you that I had over 12.000 steps today? And I had my watch off for awhile. My feet….oooo. Good news is my back is holding up GREAT. Thank you Jesus!
One more thing I forgot to share too. Right by the Primacy of Peter, we tried to go see a beautiful waterfall that is very close, in walking distance. Due to big-time mud, we could not go see it. However, on the way, we did get to see this…
Again, the picture is sideways, sorry. But this is a cave where Jesus would have went to be alone and pray. I love this. It is really bringing scripture to life. I hope that it does in a small way for you too, through the reading and pictures. I hope you are enjoying the read.
Time for bed…wake up call is in 7 hours. Time to rest! Writing this feels very important to me, though…otherwise I’ll never remember it all. Tomorrow is Bethlehem and the Jordan River and the Dead Sea I believe, too. Then staying the night in Jerusalem. Don’t hold me to it, I was really tired when he ran the list for us. I’ll let you know tomorrow! Good night!
Dec 30, 2019 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
Yep, this is near the top of the list for really amazing spots, for Day 2. Lots of days to go with lots of neat stuff to see, but this is pretty darn cool if you ask me. So I didn’t know what this was either, but I know the Bible stories. Cast out your nets on the other side and you will bring in a catch after catching none all night…Peter do you love me, yes Lord, you know I do (x3)…then feed my sheep. You likely know the stories too if you’re interested in these blogs. So we walk past the one of the seven springs from the last blog, and down at the bottom is…another small chapel. We don’t go in right at first, but instead walk down to the shore. Check out the scene:
Nice black-stone shore of the Sea of Galilee. Right next to it is the chapel. Our guide Mike explains that inside the chapel is where Jesus made the charcoal fire for Peter, James and John after His resurrection, and told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat after a night of no fish. Then they hauled it in with the nets not tearing. Jesus cooked them breakfast on the charcoal fire He had made. Inside the chapel is called the Mensa Christi, “Christ’s Table”. This is where He cooked them breakfast.
The altar area is the exposed rock. The atmosphere in here is very reverent and so powerful. Yes, I cried again. When didn’t I cry today???
Cool chapel, right on the beach.
The water’s edge has the black volcanic rock and limestone stones too.
Mike is talking more about the area. He points. He’s pointing toward the mountains at the top right of the picture. This is the mountain where the man who was demon possessed was made to live, the man who had within him “Legion”. Jesus drove the legion into the pigs nearby who ran into the water and drown. Right across the water from where He told Peter that He was going to build His church on the rock. See….this was a cool stop!!!
I love the stained glass here. So pretty.
And this was carved into the door.
Two angles on the statue in front of the chapel of Jesus commissioning Peter. You can find the story in John chapter 21.
I will be the first to admit I was very tired and short on sleep today…so if I got something wrong with my stories or locations…please correct me. On to the second to last stop for the day….Capernaum. Wow. As Mike would say “Hababa” which means “awesome.” Hababa Baba is “Awesome God”. I like it!!! Evan called me Hababa Mama….have I mentioned I love that kid???? : ). Our guide Mike also would also say, “Everybody say ‘wow’”, which of course we oblige… OK, on to Capernaum.
Dec 30, 2019 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
I can’t say I knew much about what this was until we got there, but the stories from the Bible relating to it, I did know. The most prominent one being that this is the place that is said to be where Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. The church that is here has been for 1500 years. There are original mosaic tiles on the floor that are beyond beautiful. The alabaster windows give a wonderful warm glow to the sanctuary. OK, OK…on with the pictures…
In the foyer area of the church. There was a small pool with koi in it on one end. 500 year old Roman olive tree.
Inside the sanctuary. This is a seriously beautiful church. The floor was laid 1500 years ago and it is incredible. I took lots of pics of the floor, here is an example
Or two…
Looking up is pretty cool too…
And the stone under the altar is the historical spot where Jesus did the miracle with the loaves and fish. There are 4 loaves depicted, because the other loaf is in Jesus’ hand. The candle is lit there to honor the event. This place is beautiful.
Right outside the church area is this stone. Hepta Pegon means “Seven Springs” which are in the area. Here’s one:
Even though we couldn’t go down to see it, the channels the water flowed in are still there. Here is stone pipe work from nearby too.
All in all, a really cool spot…as if there are mediocre ones…ya, there aren’t. Someone asked me my favorite so far…the next stop is definitely near the top of the list…the Primacy of Peter. Read on…
Dec 30, 2019 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
I tricked you…I’m going to slip in a quick post about some other things before Tabgha. We had a box lunch planned from EO today. Let me tell you, do they feed us. I could have literally had three meals from this lunch box. Check it out.
What the heck…how much can these people eat for lunch? : ). They gave us a schnitzel, rice, carrots, an apple and tangerine, a bowl of raw veggies, fruit cocktail, pickles and olives, a boiled egg, and two buns with butter with a bottle of water. Good heavens. I didn’t go to supper tonight, I stayed in the room and ate leftovers so I could get my blog done before 1AM tonight! I need some sleep. Our wake up call tomorrow is 5:45AM!!
Here is sunrise this morning in Tiberius. The Caesar Premier Hotel is really nice. We especially like the 96 degree neon blue pool:
I mean seriously. I can get pruney in this thing. It’s awesome.
Breakfast overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Very nice view.
Banana trees with bags over the bananas to protect them. There are fruit trees everywhere. Olive trees too. Here is a black olive tree.
OK, now Tabgha…
Dec 30, 2019 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
Another very emotional stop for me…you can’t believe what I’m about to show you. Still in awe myself, and I saw it live and in person. Our last stop before lunch was a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Our guide Mike had brought a big bag of leftover bread for us to feed the seagulls. They weren’t brave enough to take it right from our hands, but they flew within a foot or two of anyone who was throwing it, which was pretty much everyone. We had a huge flock of them, mostly catching the pieces before they hit the water. If it did happen to hit the water, it wouldn’t be there more than a second.
They played the Star Spangled Banner for us as they raised the US flag on the boat.
Then, one of my homegirls came over and showed me the picture she just took… so I had to check it out for myself and get my own picture…look at this…
That land in the background…the Mount of Beatitudes. A rainbow in front of the Mount of Beatitudes, from a boat on the Sea of Galilee. ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW. Ya, that was a tear-jerker, especially when Pastor gave us time to reflect and pray and consider God’s love for us, and then prayed over us. I can’t keep a dry eye typing about it.
Here’s a picture without a bird…the only one I captured. Even though it’s not a dove, it’s a seagull, I still like it.
Next up is Tabgha. You know the biblical relevance of that place? Read on….
Dec 30, 2019 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
Next up was the ruins of the town of Chorazin. There are different spellings, but this was the spelling in my bible. This site was particularly neat because we were allowed to roam around in the excavated ruins, and there was almost no one else there. It really gave a sense of what a town was like at the 1st Century time. The houses were all different sizes, with one like a mansion for a huge extended family. Different rooms for different groups of families, but a shared courtyard, and multiple doors along the outside to the “street”. At it’s prime, there were likely about 1000 people living there. The Biblical connection? Read Matthew 11:21 and you will see it right there. There’s another connection too, keep reading and I’ll show you with the pictures.
The map helps see how the city is laid out.
The Moses seat described here is in the synagogue, but it is a replica. The real one they found is in the museum we will visit later. I read the reading for this devotion, from Matthew 23: 1-12, from the replica seat.
Here’s one of Pastor on the Moses seat. And here is one of the other corner of the synagogue area.
Another reading was the parable of the lost coin, which was really brought to life by seeing what the houses were like. Without larger windows and a dark roof on top, it would have been very difficult to find a coin dropped inside one of the dwellings.
The olive oil press was interesting. It made it come to life how they produced this valuable commodity.
And the olive oil would run down and be collected from this hole.
This was probably my favorite part of Chorazin…the ritual bath. It had a cover to keep the water clean, and was used to become ceremonially clean when needed. There were steps leading in from the other side, very neat.
Next we drove by Bethsaida, even though there was nothing really there to see, but just to understand the proximity to everything else. We also got our first glimpse of the north end of the Jordan river.
We’ll see more of that tomorrow, further downstream.
OK, next up is the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee!
