Exploring the Galillee - Part 1

The Galilee is by far my favorite spot in Israel!  It is not hard to see why our Savior spent a great deal of His time there and often slipped away to spend time alone with His Father on its hills.   Among my lost posts were posts on Nazareth Village, the childhood home of Jesus, and the Ancient Boat Museum, not far from where I am today, (and I may try to recreate them some day).  But my goal now is to show you a few more places where Jesus would have walked.

Looking Over the Ruins of Capernaum Toward the
Octagonal Church

Although Jesus grew up in Nazareth, his center of ministry was in Capernaum. Capernaum or Kfar Nahum (meaning "Nahum's village") was a fishing village established in the time of the Hasmoneans (between 140 and 116 B.C.) and is located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  It is mentioned in the Gospels as a place where many miracles occurred such as the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, the raising of the paralytic who was lowered through the roof of a house, and where the Roman centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. It also is assumed to have been the home of Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, as well as Matthew the tax collector.

Ruins of the Basalt Houses of First Century Capernaum

The houses of Capernaum were constructed of black basalt which is a different stone from other areas of the country and is native to that area.  One house in Capernaum, in particular, appears to have undergone significant alterations over the centuries following the time of Jesus. Inscriptions found on the walls seem to indicate that it was the house of Simon Peter which later was used by early Christians as a church.  It was expanded and changed into an octagonal shape over the centuries, and today, it is covered and protected by an Octagonal Church run by the Franciscans, who have also surrounded the area with lovely and peaceful gardens.

   The Second Century Synagogue as Seen Over Ruins
of Basalt Houses from the Time of Christ

Tagbha - Remembering the Loaves and Fishes

     

      And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in

      Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of

      Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was 

      spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be

      fulfilled.

                                               Matthew 4:13,14   

When I first visited these historical sites I found the tendency to build churches everywhere a bit troubling.  However, those churches do protect and maintain these historical areas that were so crucial to our Lord's ministry, so I now look at them as wonderful places of peace and beauty and am grateful for the care that is taken to preserve them.  When I next write I will show you the Mt. of the Beatitudes, a church with one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen.

The Tagbha Mosaic                                                                       

The Church of the Twelve Disciples

The Beautiful Sea of Gaililee

Contemplating the Sea of Galilee from the Gardens
of Capernaum

Lest We Forget

Over the years I've heard many stories of WWII and the Holocaust.  After all, my dad landed on Normandy the day after D Day and lived through Europe serving as a medic in the army and bringing home an impressive seven battle stars.  How I wish that I had appreciated that more ask a child and asked so many questions!  He died at the age of 50, a delayed war death according to our doctor.  Now I would love to know all that he saw and what he thought about so many things.  When we meet in heaven someday, I will have so much to ask!

I've had the opportunity to study the Holocaust, read the stories of people like Ann Frank and Corrie Ten Boom and even climb into the Hiding place in the Ten Boom family home in Harleem, the Netherlands as well as visiting Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria.

However, in last week I did two things that have once again impressed on me the need, now more than ever, to make sure that the events of the Holocaust are never forgotten.  I read a book that rivals the Hiding Place as a must read.  The book is "The Journey" by Myrna Grant and, though out of print, can still be acquired, used, on Amazon.  It is about the life of Rose Warmer, a Jew who, after a tumultuous life, became a Chrisitan believer and went to the camps with her fellow Jews to minister and witness to them.  She survived the war, but at a terrible toll to her health, and ended her years here in Haifa doing what she felt so compelled to do, sharing Yeshua Meschiah with her fellow Jews. Many of our friends at Bethesda Assembly knew her and that is where we first heard her story.

The second thing that I did was visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.  I had been before but Gary had not, so we went and spent a considerable amount of Wednesday there.  Pictures are not allowed inside the museum or I would show you a many of the tragic things that we saw.  It is not an easy visit, but the pictures and recording of first hand accounts as well as areas like the memorial to the millions and a half children and babies that died and the hall of records of the names of the dead, least we forget them, serve to strengthen my resolve that this is a part of history that we must not forget and cannot ever be denied!  

No other race in history has endured such methodic and vicious attempts to totally annihilate it.  This alone should reaffirm our belief that God has a plan for our redemption and that plan is through the people of the Book, the Jews.  They are not a perfect people, but they are His agent of redemption of the world.  He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins through them and He will also bring about the end of the Ages through them.  May we never forget and continue to pray for Israel and her people!





      For if their rejection meant the reconciliation     
        of the world, what will their acceptance mean
        but life from the dead.                 Romans 9:11

      

Sometimes Things Don't Go Your Way !

Today I was writing a new blog and I was not satisfied with it.  After a little while I decided to delete the blog and start over.  Unfortunately, I was writing from a hotel in Old City Jerusalem with a very sporadic internet connection, meaning that when I had saved the blog earlier in the day it looked like it had not been saved.  Then, when I went to delete it, I found that it had indeed been saved numerous times.  Sooooooo, I hit delete not knowing that several of my past posts were on that page too.  Poof!!!!!!  Some of my favorite posts were gone and, try as I might, they are really gone.  Everything after April 19 has vanished into thin air, including "Driving in Israel" and "Stopping to Ponder".

If anyone has saved either of those and has a copy, please send it to me.  Otherwise, I have learned two valuable lessons:  (1) be careful when using the internet in an Old City Jerusalem Hotel with thick walls and inconsistent internet and (2) I'll get over it. Shalom!

I leave you with some photos of the beautiful Gloria Hotel, just inside the Jaffa Gate, in Jerusalem.