The Bible Brought to Life - Study Abroad 2013: Sea of Galilee – Mount of Beatitudes – Tel Hazor – Church of the Primacy - Capernaum

On our second day in Israel, we began on the Sea of Galilee. We walked from our hotel down to the docks. We got to take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee! It was so magical. It was one of my favorite parts of our entire trip. The sea itself is so beautiful. It is surrounded by mountains and it is nothing like I have ever seen before. Lake Wedowee has nothing on the Sea of Galilee. It is shaped like a heart and is completely fresh water even though it is called a sea. The reason it was named Sea of Galilee instead of Lake of Galilee is because back in the days of the bible, the word "lake" did not exist. When we first got onto the boat, they began playing the USA National Anthem. At that point, I had never been so proud to be an American. While on the boat we read from Matthew 8: 22-27, which is about him calming the storm while they were out on the boat, and Matthew 14:22-33, which is when Jesus walked on water. After that, the rest of the ride was just peaceful with a Michael W. Smith CD playing in the background. In fact, it was a CD that my dad used to listen to when I was little. After the CD finished, we listened to "He's got the Whole World in his Hands." It was precious and made me really think about the meaning of the song.

After the boat ride, we arrived at the dock of the 'Jesus Boat' museum. In 1986, during the winter months, because the water retreats a little, brothers Moshe and Yuval Lufan were walking along the shore and saw some nails sticking up out of the ground. They began to dig and discovered a fully preserved boat from the time of Jesus (1st Century BC). While digging, they realized that their harsh tools were destroying their discovery. So, they had to dig up the whole thing with their hands. They also realized that if the boat became dry, the whole thing would turn into dust. So, while digging they constantly kept it wet. After completely excavating it, they carried it to a pool full of chemicals that completely preserved the boat. The boat is made up of twelve different types of wood that show its many repairs across its lifetime. This boat was such an amazing find.

Pictures from the discovery and excavation

What the boat looked like when it was covered in polyurethane

The Boat

A diagram of the twelve woods discovered on the boat

After our Sea filled morning, we took a short drive up to the Mount of Beatitudes, where the Sermon on the Mount took place. While on the mountain, we toured a beautiful catholic church. Then we went outside and had a devotional. We read the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5. The mountain was made into a garden and it was beautiful. It was so tranquil and the view was magnificent.

What Ashley and I had to wear into the church

Inside the Church of the Beatitudes

The Beatitudes in Latin

Inside the Church of the Beatitudes

The Church of the Beatitudes

The Garden

The view from the mountaintop, the Sea of Galilee in the background

A fountain in the garden

Sculpture of the Beatitudes in the garden

A sculpture of the miracle of feeding of the 5000

The view from the mountaintop, the Sea of Galilee in the background

After leaving the Mount of Beatitudes, we headed to Tel Hazor. This is an Old Testament town as mentioned in Joshua 11. It says that Joshua burned this city down. The reason this is so neat is because in what the archaeologist believe was the palace, they found a burn line.

The Altar

The dark line is the supposed 'burn line' from the burning of the city

Canaanite Houses

Castle

Israeli House

Gethsemane - An oil press

The Palace

Standing Stones as mentioned in the bible

Tower - mentioned in 2 Kings 15:29

How the people got water to the city, underground

Next, we stopped at the Church of the Primacy. This is the supposed place where Jesus had breakfast with the apostles after his resurrection as mentioned in John 21. It is right beside the Sea of Galilee, where I got to go wade in it. The water was perfect. Not to hot, not to cold. I loved it.

7 Pagan Springs mentioned in John 21

Church of the Primacy

Rock where they had the last breakfast with the resurrected Jesus

Next, we went to Capernaum. While there, we read from John 1:43, Mark 1:41, and Luke 4:38, which speak of Jesus healing many in this city. We got to see the Jewish Synagogue from b=ancient times and we got to see what archaeologists believe was Peter's mother-in-law's house. It was very well preserved.

Jewish Synagogue

Peter's Mother-in-law's house

For our last stop of the day, we went to the Jordan River. It has been turned into a place for people to be baptized. The river is pretty amazing in itself, but it is also amazing because of the biblical aspect. It mentions in the bible that this river is where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Let's just say this place was pretty incredible.