Golan Heights, Gamala Park, Bental Cone, Caesarea Phillipi, Dan

October 29 (10:00 pm)

The Ein Gev Kibbutz is a beautiful place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. I can sit on my patio and look directly at the sea. The Sea of Galilee is 700 feet below sea level and I think the extra oxygen made us all feel more refreshed this morning. We left the En Gev and traveled North East out of the Galilee basin and up into the Golan Heights area or Bashan as it was called in Bible times.  This area is very different from any other area we have been. It is a broad plateau and is extremely rocky. Despite that, there are herds of cattle grazing up there among the rocks. Didn't expect to see that. Also unexpected were the signs saying "warning tank route". This is the area that the modern state of Israel added to its borders during the 1967 six day war. It is a buffer zone between Syria and  Israel.  We took a hike in the Gamala Park and were given the usual warnings about not picking flowers, take plenty of water with you, and oh yeah, that one about staying on marked trails due to the possibility of unexplored land mines. Didn't have to tell me that twice. In the park are the ruins of a 1st century city that was the site of the first Jewish revolt. In 67AD, Rome attacked the city and killed 4,000 of the Zealots that were holed up there. We hiked down about 800 feet of steep, rocky terrain  to the site of the city ruins. There was a synagogue  in the city and most likely, Jesus taught in that very synagogue. Luke chapter 4 tells us that Jesus began his ministry in the Galilee area  preaching and teaching in the synagogues. It was so awesome to sit exactly where the people would have been sitting when Jesus was teaching. Shawn led us in a beautiful prayer and Mike lead some singing before we left. The climb back up was a killer, but some of our group that chose to stay back encouraged us during  those final feet back up the slope by shouting out to us Psalms 121 and Philippians  4:13. We left there and went to Mount Bental. There is an Israeli monitoring post there and it overlooks the border of Israel with Syria and Lebanon. I would have never dreamed in my life that I would be here. The valley below is where the road to Damascus passed through. It was here that Jesus appeared to Paul (then called Saul) and he was subsequently converted and delivered the Gospel to the world. Then off the mountain, down in elevation to Caesarea Phillipi. What a difference a few miles makes in the terrain and surroundings! This area is full of vegetation and it has plenty of water. The area was used as a place for Pan worship (think half man, half goat) and there is a huge grotto in the cliff face that gushed forth water (a volcanic eruption has since diverted the water). People thought this place was the entrance to Hades and there are ruins of a massive temple complex here.  Our last stop was at the  nature preserve at Dan.  It reminded me somewhat of home due to lush vegetation and roaring streams of water. There are rapids there due to the water coming off the mountains in the North and this stream is one of the headwaters of the Jordan River.  Located here is the  oldest gate city discovered in Israel. This gate dates to the time of Abraham and the original city steps up to the gate are still there. Abraham would have walked on these very steps. The Bible says he  passed by here on his way to rescue Lot who had been captured and carried away from Sodom by invaders. We left the nature preserve and traveled by the Hula Basin, an area of fertile farmland which was a swamp before Israel drained it in the 1950's.  We had a great supper back at En Gev; minus the beef dish.  Someone asked me how the beef was and I told them I didn't really care for it. It had a funky consistency. When Ken told me it was cow tongue, I thought I was going to die right then and there. Unlike the Bedouin coffee, I never even  had that one on my list of things to try.

Having Bible study in the synagogue ruins at Gamala

The northern border of modern Israel. Syria in the background.