Wednesday, March 12 (Day 4)
The morning began by driving north. We spent the entire day in The Golan Heights. Our first stop was Dan, a nature preserve and archaeological site. We spent about 2 hours here, walking on the nature trail that winds along one of the three tributaries of the Jordan River. We saw the high place at Dan as well as the Middle Bronze mud-brick gate (that dates to the time of Abraham). We read from Judges 18 and 1 Kings 12 about the pattern of idolatry here. We also looked into Lebanon from here. The morning sun made it delightful. Close by was Caesarea Philippi, also called Banias. Reading from Matthew 16, we heard again the question Jesus asked of His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” We saw the “grotto” excavations here in this pagan city. Ascending eastward into the Golan Heights, we stopped briefly at Nimrod, a Crusader caslte built in the 12th century. While it rained hard here, we still have fun exploring part of the ruins.
Following lunch (at another Druze place by Lake Ram), we drove south along the Syrian border. We were able to look across the border and see a few Syrian cities. From here we drove southward back towards the Sea of Galilee. We stopped at Katzrin, a Talmudic village from the 3-4th century AD. We gathered in a reconstructed house where we read from Mark 2, the story of the lame man being lowered down to Jesus through an opening in the roof. We could really see this wonderful story take place right before our eyes. Our last stop was at a olive oil factory right in the modern city of Katztrin. We enjoyed learning about olive oil production, even buying a few things from the store. We even saw a rainbow!
We drove back to TIberias to our hotel. We enjoyed dinner together, followed by another optional walk and gathering by the water’s edge. Despite the occasional rain, we felt blessed to experience the Bible again on this second full day of the trip.
Thursday, March 13 (Day 5)
We plan to spend the day around the Sea of Galilee.