Israel Trip Part 4 Day 3 “Up To Jerusalem” Part 1

Day three of our trip proved to be a great blessing in more ways than just touring.  I was feeling well enough to continue the tour with Rodger, I was thankful that the Lord allowed me to only miss one day. 

Our first event for the day after breakfast was a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee.  We boarded a little boat that held all 43 members of our tour.  It was a gloriously beautiful day on the water.  The boat was a covered boat with open sides.  We could sit and visit with one another as we rode along, a slight breeze cooled us.  It was a warm day but not miserable as it probably would have been had we visited Israel in the early summer. 

We were quietly enjoying the breeze and visiting with friends when the captain of the boat began attaching the flags of the United States and Canada to the flag pole.  Then the US anthem was played over the loud speaker, all the people stood in honor of the flag of our nation, tears came as we thought of the beauty of this foreign land honoring their visitors with their own anthem and flag.  I have an intense feeling of a mixture of pride and regret whenever the anthem is sung and the flag raised.  First the pride that comes from enjoying the original purpose of our country, to cultivate freedom of religion, but also regret and sadness that we have turned our backs on the principles that we once held deeply.  

After the American anthem, the Anthem of Canada was played, we joined in that because there were those on our tour from that country.  Canada has always been our friend and ally in the past and had similar roots, so we feel a kinship to them.  It felt the way a real family would be,  a family of believers sharing one another’s joys, on the place where Christ walked on water.  It would not have been as beautiful without those people, they blessed us.

It was an emotional experience to see the kind Israeli skipper,  raise our flags to us, and to hear our own anthems.  After the anthems were sung, flags raised and everyone was seated again, we floated on the water a little more until we arrived in the middle of the Sea of Galilee where Jim Showers, from Friends of Israel, led us in songs and we worshiped the Lord.  Bill Sutter, also from Friends of Israel, shared the account of Christ walking on the water.  The Bible accounts become so much more real when we were in the places where they happened.

From the boat we could see Tiberias and the Jesus Boat Museum north of Tiberias, which was our destination stop.  At this museum we saw an original boat that was used on the Sea of Galilee for fishing and transportation across the lake.  Boats were mentioned 50 times in the Bible, and this one was very likely the same kind that Christ and His disciples used.   

This particular ancient boat was found in 1986 along the northern shore of Galilee.  It was buried in the mud.  In this year there was a drought and the water receded and exposed part of the boat.  It was an amazing find, but also just as amazing was the method that was used to bring it out of the mud.  The archaeologists had to be very careful because as soon as the wood hit air it would begin to fall apart. One of the ways they used to preserve it was to spray polyurethane around the exposed parts to keep them intact.  The records show that Moshe and Yuval Lufan, brothers, found the boat.  They were second generation fishermen from Kibbutz Ginosar.  The brothers reported that when they found the boat, a double rainbow appeared in the sky.  It took 12 days to lift the boat out of the water using many volunteers. 

Our next stop was the town of Capernaum.  Before we left our Kibbutz this morning we were told that there was a strict dress code for all holy places and that we should prepare ourselves to be dressed appropriately.  Sleeveless blouses and shorts were not allowed nor were bare feet and the men were required to wear a covering on their head. Grandpa wore a hat as did all the men in our group.  It was interesting to me that the women were not required a covering when the New Testament teaches the men to be uncovered and the women to be covered.  Of course in Israel the laws are based on the Tora, the law, which differs with the New Covenant of Christ Jesus in some ways.  There wasn’t a great variety of different kinds of foods as we see in the United States, at least not on our journey every thing was Kosher. 

At Capharnaum or Capernaum, we saw the ruins of the synagogue that was built on top of the one Christ taught in.  The one on top was built 200 years after Christ, this was a fourth century synagogue.  We also saw the remains of the city of Capharnaum.  It is interesting to note how small the houses were and they were all constructed from stone.  The houses were connected to one another by common walls and the inside rooms were tiny.  Within the town was located the house of Peter the Apostle where Christ healed the mother in law of Peter.  There is a Catholic church built over the spot. The church is on pillars above the ground so that Peter’s house could be easily seen. 

Our next stop was the Jordan river.  We were all offered a chance to be baptized in the Jordan river, there were several who did this, but Grandpa and I decided that it would not have much meaning for us since we had already been baptized, but we watched as the others were being dunked.  On the building all around the Jordan river are large plaques on which the passage Mark 1:9-11 were written.  Each plaque  had the same verse but were written in a different languages.

English looks like this:

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came out of water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven; ‘Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.’”

Hawaiian Pidgen looks like this:

Dat time, Jesus come from Nazaret town, Galilee side, an John wen baptize him inside da Jordan River. Right den Jesus wen come up outa da water. An you know wat? Jesus wen see da sky broke open, an wen spock God’s Spirit coming down on top him, jalike one dove. An wow! Had one voice from da sky wen say, “You my boy! I really get love an aloha fo you, an I stay good inside cuz a you!”  Mark 1:9-11

Unfortunately there is a sign in the gardens of the Jordan River that is in commemoration of Glenn Beck’s visit there…..too bad!

I decided not to do a spell check on this post, it would take to long due to the Pidgeon Hawaiian.  If anyone sees misspellings, please just suck-it-up and try to enjoy the stories and ignore the spelling.

I will continue this day 3 on the next post, it is really too much for just one.

Rodger and Gwendolyn on the Sea of Galilee with Tiberias in the background.

At the Jesus Boat Museum North of Tiberias.

Capharnaum: The Synogogue built over the one that Christ taught in.

Peter's house in Capharnaum is located under this Catholic church.

Synagogue at Capharnaum

Peter's house at Capharnaum

On the Sea of Galilee

The Synogogue at Capharnaum

Rodger at the Capharnaum Synogogue



The Baptisms at the Jordan River






A Bible Verse at the Jordan River in Pidgin Hawaiian