Sea of Galiee, Israel – Sea of People

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love Jesus, studying God’s word, and applying it to my life. Getting a hand’s on grasp of the geography of many of the historic biblical locations is phenomenal. It adds texture to my relationship with the Lord. Today we undertook tackling the Sea of Galilee area where Jesus did much of his ministry. I love the area with all of it’s beauty and history. Jesus is still drawing the masses to this spot in the world. As we toured a couple different spots we literally were swimming in a sea of people. A single group could have 5-10 buses with hundreds of people in the group and each place had several groups. Our first stop was the 2000 year old boat where we hoped to have a worship experience on the Sea of Galilee. We were not with a big group so we went down to the dock and got on the worship boat called Faith. There were only nine paying passengers on the boat (which probably seats 100+) and once we got out on the lake, the largest group loudly voiced their opinion that they did not want to hear any hebrew “noise” (worship music). So, the captain, whom I have heard sing beautiful hebrew worship music online, turned the boat around and told us to have a great day. Also, we were quoted one price and then once on the lake the price we had to pay doubled. Jesus is still doing a work in me and it was an experience to help me grow. Unfortunately, it took us half the day before we remembered what Jesus did when the crowds were pressing in and he needed a recharge. After our boat ride we looked at the 2000 year old boat that was found in the Sea of Galilee and would have been similar to what was being used during Jesus’ time. There was a lot of love put into the project of excavating and restoring the boat for display. Next up was the Church of Beatitudes which is in the area Jesus gave the sermon on the mount. It became comical as we looked for a spot to sit and read through the sermon on the mount. Each time we found a place to stop a another group would come to have mass in that location and we would have to move. Finally we got in a mini version (speed reading) and left. Capharnaum was our last stop. There were so many people there that it was like the parting of the Red Sea as we drove past the hundreds walking on their way to the same location. There was a big group at every spot in the small area, so we looked a bit and then went down by the sea to play. Kendall climbed up a tree and would then slide back down. It was at this point that we remembered any time Jesus needed a recharge he headed for the hills to be alone with his dad. Kendall and I did just that. In thirty minutes we were hiking a trail in the Yehudiya National Park up in the Golan Heights. We were the only ones around, surrounded by beautiful flowers, rocks, and canyons. It was so serene and relaxing. It gave us time to ponder what we have seen and just sit at the feet of Jesus. For tonight we left the big city of Tiberius with all of it’s noise and relocated to the mountaintop town of Ramot which overlooks the Sea of Galilee. We are in a kibbutz and love how everyone here is like family. In the grocery store they smiled and talked to us in hebrew and we smiled and talked to them in english (everyone had a great time).

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kendall’s take:
April 6th: Flowers, Rocks, & Beautiful Country
This morning I woke up at 6:00. Daddy was up, dressed with his shower done, and packing. He told me he could not get to sleep. I think he stayed up late because he went to bed at 11:30p or later making videos. I jumped in the shower, hurried through it, dressed and was ready to go. We ran down the stairs and I try to beat daddy (and do most of the time). We had a delicious breakfast, then I danced upstairs beating daddy again, this time unfairly as he had to walk behind some old people who were slow. The older lady even went up the elevator and arrived at the same time daddy and her husband did. I was at the top waiting. Daddy and I lugged our luggage (Ha! Ha!) down the elevator to the car and we headed up to see the ancient Jesus boat. It is not Jesus’ boat, but it is just like the one or ones he road in. We had a tiny/little trouble getting out of Tiberius (where we had been staying). Our hotel there was called the Berger. When we got there we decided to take a tour on the sea of Galilee. So we went aboard. It was gorgeous!!! When the man steering the ship asked, “Would you like to hear some worship songs in hebrew?” A lot of people said, “No. We want to think.” It was terribly dissapointing to daddy and to me. But we both agreed that the view was awesome; also it was so cool to be in a boat on the sea of Galilee!!! We were so blessed. Next, Daddy bought us tickets to go see the Jesus boat. There was a video to tell us how it was found.

Story behind the Jesus boat: Two brothers (who were fishermen) had always known (or thought) that the Sea of Galilee was going to give them a treasure one day. Well, as they were walking along the pier one night, (I think night. I could be wrong). They discovered an old nail. Then they saw the nail was part of a buried boat. Lots of people came to help dig. But they had to be careful and have people spraying it with water (using a sprinkler, not a hose) all the time or the wood would dry out and crumple into dust from being underground so long. At some points, for fear of breaking the boat, they dug with their hands. Then they covered it with poly urethane foam, so nothing would hurt it while they decided what to do with it. Finally, they decided “what could be better than sailing it on the Galilee it used to sail on?” So, that’s what they did. They sailed it down to where they wanted it to be and lifted it out with a crane. Then they put it in a pool of liquid wax for 13 years (THIRTEEN! Can you imagine?) to soak the poly urethane foam all off it. Then they put it on display. The End.

It was really cool to see that boat! I’m glad we did. And the video was very nice telling us about its (the boat’s history). Next, we drove up to the church of the beatitudes. Daddy payed and we went in. We left the church to find a good, peaceful, quiet spot to read Matthew 5-7 (Sermon on the Mount). Then I marked my bible with the ticket to the church so I could read it after I videoed daddy reading it. Then I thought “Is it right to mark my bible with a paper which Daddy payed for me to have, to be able to go in? So, I asked Daddy about it and he did not understand so I asked Jesus. (In the end I tore up the paper and threw it away). Then we went to Capharnaum. Daddy and I have been spoiled by other national parks that let you go most everywhere. Well, we found that out here because there were only two things to see and you were not allowed among the ruins and things. The things you could see were: Simon Peter’s house, and an old synagogue. Then we walked over to the sea of Galilee and Daddy let me climb a tree. We saw the same nice people that we saw at Nimrod’s fortress the other day. It was fun to see them again. Then we jumped in the car to go do a fun canyon hike before we went to our hotel. We drove up to it and found it (the canyon hike was closed). But a kind man let us in to go do a different canyon hike. It sounded like a good way to spend our time so we went off on this new adventure. I thought it was just a nice dreamy-draw like hike not going into a canyon. So when I found out I would be climbing uphill all the way out of a canyon at the end, I decided that I would not do the canyon. So, we sat down and ate lunch at 2:00p something. Then when we were well-rested we walked back through thousands and millions of pretty yellow flowers. Also, we were walking on no ordinary trail; the trail we were on was full of bumps and jolts (you can not look at anything other than the road because if you do, you will trip and get hurt). There are thousands and millions of rocks! (It is very fun to jump from rock to rock!) Then we went to Ramot and booked our cabin and we have been writing our stuff up now because tomorrow we have to go to two national parks and drive all the way down to Eilat. Meanwhile, we are getting hungry!!! Daddy went out side to get internet on the computer and I came, too. When the computers battery started to die, we went back, plugged it up and drove down to a grocery store. We got some milk and cereal, came back and ate it. Took our showers and got everything ready to leave in the morning. Farewell tonight.