OUR FIRST EXPEDITION JOPPA AND TEL AVIV – Wednesday, November 13

After this second lecture, we had a good dinner, and around one p.m., we left for our first bus tour. We drove south, back to Tel Aviv, crossing the Yarkon River.

First, we drove through Tel Aviv to get some impressions of Israel’s largest city. It is a new city. In 1909, a group of Jewish immigrants in Jaffa, acquired a stretch of barren land south of Jaffa and began to build there. This group had a western lifestyle and found it difficult to adapt to the Arab character of Jaffa.

It was called Ahuzut Bayit but it was later changed to Tel Aviv. The word Tel means “a group of ruins”, and Aviv means almost the opposite. It means, “spring” or “new life”. The combined words give the idea of renewal.

The name actually came from the Babylonian Town, Tel Abib (Ezekiel 3:5), where Ezekiel had the vision of the dry bones. When God breathed life into skeletons scattered on the ground, they stood up and returned to Zion. It was considered a fitting name for the first all-Hebrew-speaking city in modern Israel. Israel is not only a new country, but it also has a new language. The old Hebrew language was not spoken anymore, but only used for study. It is quite different from Yiddish, which most Jews outside of Israel speak. There was much opposition at first to reintroducing this language. Many people wanted to keep English, at least as the university language and in technical fields. Only a small minority pushed it through and it is now the common language. It had not been in use for about 2000 years, so a lot of new words had to be invented. Beside Hebrew, they also have English as a common language, and tourists who speak English seldom have problems in Israel. Arabic is also spoken in many places.

Tel Aviv is a completely Jewish city. It is very secular. There is no church or mosque in the city and the majority of the Jews there, have no religion. It is very modern with many large buildings and it looks very new.

After driving through several streets to get a general idea of the city, we drove to Jaffa, to the north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean Coast. Tel Aviv has grown SO fast, it has now surrounded Joppa on three sides; only the seaside is the same.

Jaffa is the city of Joppa from the Bible. It is a city with a mixed population: Arabs, Christians, Jews and probably more. Jaffa is a very old city. It was occupied by the Egyptians before the Israelites came to Canaan. In the book of Joshua, we read that it was given to the tribe of Dan. In 1 Chronicles, we read that the cedar trees that were used to build the temple and Solomon’s palace, were transported from Joppa over land to Jerusalem.

Later we read that Jonah went to Joppa on a boat to Tarsus. Jonah came from Galilee. The Lord told him, “Go and preach in Nineveh”, but he didn’t like this idea. Instead of going northeast as the Lord told him, he went southwest. In Ezra, we read that Joppa was again used as a harbour, where the wood for the second temple was brought on land. Most of the time, it was under Phoenician and Philistine rule. It lies about where those two countries meet.

In the New Testament, we first read about Joppa in the story of Dorcas. They called Peter from Lydda and he raised Dorcas up from the dead. Here we find it said that Joppa was not far from Lydda. Then we read that Peter remained in Joppa many days in the house of Simon the Tanner. While he was there, he climbed to the roof of the house to pray, and while praying, he saw the vision of the vessel, with all kinds of animals coming down from heaven. Here he received the messengers from Cornelius to call him and he preached to them.

While we walked through the narrow, winding, sloping or climbing streets close to the sea, we saw an old building and above the door it said, “House of Simon the Tanner”. When we knocked on the door, we were allowed to go through the building and on the backside of the building there were some stairs leading to the roof, which we climbed. It had plenty of room to hold all 51 of us. There, we stood on the roof of this old house, overlooking part of the city and the sea and thinking about Peter and God’s leading hand. The Lord knew what Peter needed and where he was. He wanted to use His servant for His work. Our guide, who always had his Bible with him, read parts of Acts 9 and 10.

An old Christian Armenian couple lived in the house. Those flat roofs are not really flat but somewhat rolling, probably designed to collect the rain water faster.It is very unlikely that this was the same house where Peter stayed, but it is likely that it was in the same area and probably quite similar.

We know that in 1799 A.D., Napoleon destroyed Joppa, but we do not know if the entire town was completely leveled. Joppa has one of the world’s oldest harbours and it is still in use. It was used already 4000 years ago by the Egyptians.

In 1948, with the Declaration of Independence, most of the Arab citizens fled. Most of their houses were taken over by poor Jewish immigrants who had lost everything. For years, the city was so poor, that it seemed that this would be its downfall. Then the government stepped in to redevelop it. It is now one of Israel’s most important tourist attractions. It is filled with artist quarters, studios and art galleries. For them those old picturesque buildings and streets are real Eldorado.

After going through some more of those narrow winding streets, sometimes not more than 4 or 5 feet wide, we went back to the bus and drove back to Tel Aviv. This time, our purpose was to see more recent history. The bus driver who lived in Tel Aviv, close to where the scuttle missiles landed, showed us the buildings that were damaged or destroyed. Most of it was rebuilt or repaired already, but it was still quite evident that many buildings were hit and destroyed. There were many more damaged buildings than I had thought.

Israel had 39 direct hits, from the scuttle missiles from Iraq during the winter of 1991. When you see how many buildings were destroyed, it is hard to believe that only one person was killed through a direct hit. There were a few more deaths because some people’s air masks didn’t work properly, or were used incorrectly.

There was a bomb shelter in the area. However, when it was needed, the mechanism to open and close it didn’t work, so the people couldn’t get in and had to stay in their own homes in a sealed off room. This bomb shelter later received a direct hit and was destroyed. Here we can clearly see the Lord’s hand.

We stopped in the main street and were given an hour to shop or sightsee. Luckily for me, there was at least a bookstore. About 6 o’clock, we were back in the hotel after our first outing.

It was a nice day, partly cloudy in the morning, heavier clouds in the afternoon. Sometimes the sky seemed to predict rain, but it stayed dry with a comfortable temperature. It is much greener than I had expected. In the city there were many buses. The cars were generally smaller than in Canada, with more of European style. People dressed fairly similar to the styles of North America with the exception of the Orthodox Jews and the Arabs.

We had a nice bus, very comfortable with 50 seats. It was amazing how little room it needed to turn. We had a very good driver and as long as he had half an inch of extra space, he could get through.

After supper, we had a speaker: a Lieut. Colonel Williams who welcomed us in the name of the Israeli government. He spoke to us about Israel’s future and how she related to her neighbours. It was interesting. He was somewhat bitter that other countries didn’t understand Israel’s needs. He felt that the Bush government was letting Israel down.

At times, he was somewhat vague and I received the impression that his personal opinion was not always the same as the government’s. I got the impression that some kind of self-rule in the West Bank was unavoidable, and necessary in his opinion. He was here to speak for the government, so he could not openly say so. It is not always easy to say what the government’s opinion in Israel is. There are so many parties and their views are very different. One Jew told us jokingly,” When you ask seven Jews for their opinion, you get 14 different opinions.” That was the end of a busy, interesting day.

CAESAREA, MEGIDDO AND MOUNT CARMEL – Thursday, November 14

We woke up around 6:00 a.m. It was a nice mild day, sunny and a little less windy than the day before. We had breakfast and packed our suitcases, as we were to leave this hotel. We were still tired and sleepy, as we were not yet used to the 7 hours difference in time, so there was no time for a stroll on the beach.

The bus left at 8 o’clock, and we drove straight North, driving close to the Mediterranean Sea. For a short time, we left the coast to go around the city, Netanya, a swiftly growing new city.

We saw many orchards along the way. The early oranges and grapefruit were almost ripe. The citrus orchards and bananas were planted very close together, while olive trees were planted quite far apart. There was much room between the trees, even in the older olive orchards. The citrus orchards looked rich with their dark green glossy leaves. The banana plants were not very high, in fact lower than they were in Indonesia. The leaves were smaller and grew more upward. This way they can grow closer together. In many places, the main fruit stem of the bananas were covered with blue plastic bags to keep out insects and spiders. The olive trees had a short stunted trunk and a silvery bluish-grey leaf. The leaf is about the size and shape of a willow leaf. Many orchards were between one and seven years old. Citrus fruit is becoming a main export product for Israel.

We passed the Dothan valley, which in earlier days, was the caravan route from Damascus and Mesopotamia to Egypt. We read about this route in Genesis, when Joseph was sold by his brothers. Later, we crossed the Crocodile River. Before, this area was

Marshlands. Now it is completely drained and it is good farmland. The last crocodile was shot in 1901. The mosquitoes have also disappeared and consequently Malaria has too.

Slightly further, we arrived in Caesarea, our first stop for the day. It lies on the Mediterranean Sea, about half-way between Tel Aviv and Mount Carmel. Most of it is in ruins, dug up, but in some parts, there were restorations. The amphitheater was mainly filled with restorations. Caesarea was built by King Herod the Great, who ruled from 37 B.C. to 5 A.D. The city is not mentioned in the four gospels, but seventeen times in Acts. Herod made it the main port of Palestine.

The first time we read about it, is when Philip visited it after he had met the Eunuch of Candace. Cornelius also lived there and was converted. Paul went through Caesarea when he returned from his second and third missionary journeys. King Agrippa died there and Paul stayed there as a prisoner for a few years when he stood trial before Felix, Festus and Agrippa.

It was always a question to me, why King Herod, who was a very cruel and paranoid person was called Herod the Great. However, when you see the ruins of his palaces and other buildings, you understand that as a builder, he was a genius and you wonder how he managed to accomplish it. I wonder how much forced labour and slaves would have been used?

We sat on the benches of the amphitheater which was enormously huge, and heard a meditation about Paul before King Agrippa. While listening to the meditation, I thought about the many people who would have sat here, to watch the Christians thrown before the wild animals. In 66 A.D., and 130 A.D., thousands of Jews also, were thrown here before the wild animals as punishment for revolting against the Romans.

While sitting here, we saw large chunks of the tremendous pillars, which were used in the buildings: large blocks of stone and slabs of marble. The archaeologists found several interesting things, such as sculptures and a stone where Pilate’s signature was engraved. Later, we went down to what was left of the prison and saw the cells. We wondered whether Paul had been here and how many Christians had suffered here.

We went to the beach. A few kilometers south, some oil tankers were unloading at the electricity buildings. All Israel’s Hydro is produced from oil. There are large piles of coal laying there too. They were bought by the government, so that, in case of war, the hydro plants, could switch over from oil to coal.

A little further north, we saw the large aqueducts, built by Herod to bring fresh water to Caesarea. In 1101 A.D., the crusaders landed here. They fortified the stronghold. The remains of the wall and citadel built by Louis IX of France are still visible.

Close to noon, we left Caesarea, and drove further north to Dor, where we would have lunch at a kibbutz. Dor is also mentioned in the Bible, sometimes as Dor and other times as Naphath Dor. It is a port city. Its king was defeated by Joshua. It was allotted to Manasseh but settled by Ephraim. It was an important city under King Solomon.

The Kibbutz was called Nahsholim. Its 220 members grew cotton, bananas and avocados. They produced fish in their fish ponds and also raised poultry and dairy cows. They ran a plastic factory, restaurant and welcomed visitors in their holiday resort. We had a good lunch, took a look at the nice beach and their garden. White multi-flower daffodils were blooming, along with very large dusty millers, cosmos and hibiscus. Also, 7 feet high poinsettias were in bloom.

From Dor, we first drove back south, then east through the hills and mountains to the Jezreel Valley, our destination being Megiddo. Megiddo has always been an important city, lying on a crossing where the main travelling routes intersect. It dominates one of the most important commercial and military crossroads of antiquity. It was the route used by traders to connect the countries interior to the sea, and was thus strategically important. All of the people in the area have fought to control it: Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, Canaanites, Hebrews, Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders; all of them clashed in the plain of Jezreel. There are many people who believe that this is the place where the ultimate clash between the forces of God and evil will take place, namely Armageddon of Revelation 16.

The town has been destroyed many times but has always been rebuilt. Archaeologists found layers of ruins on top of one another. Twenty different cities are believed to have existed here. Joshua captured it when they came to Canaan. King Ahaziah of  Judah fled to Megiddo from Jehu and he died there. The God-fearing King Josiah was killed here by Pharaoh Neco.

After viewing some of the ruins and archeological sites, we went back to the bus. From Megiddo, we drove back to the mountain, and then drove over the mountain, northwest to Carmel. It is a high, rugged mountain. We passed some Druse villages and farms. The Druse split off from Islam in the 11th century and fled from Egypt. They are forbidden to disclose their religious beliefs to outsiders, so not all of their beliefs are known. They were dressed almost the same as Bedouins, and their farms looked very primitive and poor. Their houses were a combination of a tent and a shack. We saw some flocks of goats and sheep.

The road was winding and we began to drive quite high. Carmel is not a separate mountain, but part of the mountains of Judea and Samaria. When you go further North, it turns more to the sea and gets narrower and higher. On the left, is the Saharan Plain and on the right, the Jezreel valley. Mount Carmel comes all the way to the sea. The last part is the real Mount, from almost three sides surrounded by sea. The mountain range itself is 32 km and reaches all the way from the Dothan Valley to the Mediterranean Sea. At the sea, the Mount goes straight up, 546 meter above sea level.

Carmel means Plantation, or Garden of the Lord, and it was always a symbol of fertility and lushness of vegetation. It receives from 30 to 40 inches of rain and has about 300 nights of dew in a year. Haifa, the third largest city, is built here, mainly on the North side of the mountain. Here is Israel’s largest harbour, quite sheltered by the mountain, and there is a large bay before you enter the harbour.

The city is located on three different levels. On the shore line, you have the harbour and the industry. Half-way up the mountains, the main city lies with the shopping districts. On the top of the mountains, lay the larger houses of the well-to-do people and most of the hotels. From here you have a beautiful panorama over the Mediterranean, the plain of Accou. the Jezreel Valley, the mountains of Galilee and on clear days, you can see right up to the hills on the Lebanese border.

First, we went to the Carmelite Monastery. It was built in the time of the Crusaders and it is still in use. It is the place where they believe Elijah built the altar of the Lord, where the Lord answered with fire and the Baal priests were killed.

We went up to the roof of the monastery. From there, we could overlook the Jezreel Valley and the brook Kishon. Carmel is mentioned many times in the Bible: 3 times in Joshua, then in Samuel. Samuel came here to rebuke King Saul for his disobedience to the Lord. He had left King Agag alive and kept the best cattle and sheep from the Amalekites. Here Samuel killed Agag and told Saul that the kingdom would be taken away from him.

David was hiding here in the story of Nabal and Abigail. Abigail is called the Carmelitess many times. In Kings, we read that Elijah told King Ahab to bring together all Israel there at the end of the 3 1/2 years of drought. Later, we read that the prophet Elisha went there after the two bears had killed the 42 children. Also the Shunammite woman came here to see Elisha after her son died. (Shunam is also mentioned many times in the Bible. It was located between Megiddo and Jezreel under Mount Tabor.) Carmel is also mentioned when Isaiah told King Hezekiah that Sennacherib, King of Assyria, would not come into Jerusalem. Carmel is also mentioned in the Song of Solomon and in five of the prophets and it is almost always mentioned to express beauty, rich growing and beautiful wood.

Most of the mountain is reforested or used for agriculture. The ground is rich where there is enough topsoil, except a few rifts of chalk. As it was late and dark, we drove to the top of the mountain where our hotel was, Hotel Dan Carmel, a large modern hotel where we would stay three nights.

Many times on our tour, but especially this day, I thought about verse 7 from Deut. 8. Never before had I realized how rich and how beautiful the country was, that the Lord gave to his people. “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of oil olive and honey; a land wherein thou shall eat bread without scarceness, thou shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron and of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.”

NAZARETH AND THE SEA OF GALILEE – Friday November 15

After a good night’s rest and a good breakfast, we left again at 8:00 a.m. The bus first went winding down Mount Carmel to the Jezreel valley, which we followed for a while. We crossed the Kishon River and then started climbing. We drove again on the other side of the valley to lower Galilee. through Galilee till we arrived in Nazareth.

Galilee is seldom mentioned in the Old Testament. It was then thinly populated and large parts often under foreign occupation; their rulers being the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Syrians, etc. Nazareth is not mentioned at all. It lies on a mountain, but this mountain has no real top. The top is somewhat hollow, like a giant bowl. You are close to it before you see it. Nazareth means guardian. It was long thought that it referred to the town’s strategic location above the valley of Esdrelon.

Later they thought the name referred to Nazareth’s role as guardian of Christian tradition, as the Franciscans monks tried to preserve the spiritual heritage of the town.

Nazareth was an old place, but it was small and unimportant. despised and looked down upon. Even one of Jesus’ disciples, Nathanael said, “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael was from Cana, the neighboring city, so he must have known the place.

It didn’t become very important until the year 1099 A.D., with the arrival of the Crusaders. Then it became a Bishopric and the administrative center of Galilee. It was repeatedly conquered and lost by the Christian warriors and finally destroyed by the Mamluks in 1263 A.D. and abandoned. In the 1600’s the Franciscan Monks returned to the place and Christians resettled here.

The city has a varied population. The total population is around 60,000 inhabitants. About 20,000 of these are Jews. Another 20,000 are Muslim Arabs, and about 20,000 are Christians. Most of the Christians here are Arabs, but there are also Catholic Greeks, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Maronites and other groups.

The city has several churches. Most are built in places where they believe Jesus had been. This is somewhat questionable as several churches claim the same facts, while they are located on different sites.

We visited two churches. First, a Roman Catholic Church called the Basilica of the Annunciation. It is built over the site where they believed that the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be the mother of the LORD. The first church on this site was built by Queen Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine. The present building is quite new as it was completed in 1969. It is the fifth building on the same place.

The church is very large and beautifully built. When we were walking through this large beautiful building, I wondered about the tremendous amount of money and labour which must have gone into it.

The second church we visited was the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Gabriel. It is built over the city well where they believe that the Angel came to Mary with the announcement.

The well is still under the church and it is still running. We drank out of it. This is an old Church and it is being restored. Likely this has been going on for years already and probably will for a few more years. It is tremendously big and beautiful. The architecture and the decorations are beautiful. For me, there is always a question if this great splendor is a true honour to the Lord.

After leaving the church, we walked through several narrow streets and through the market district. The market is quite busy and very colourful. Since it was Friday, the Arab stores were closed. On Saturdays, the Jew’s businesses are closed and on Sundays, the Christian’s are.  From Nazareth, we drove past Cana, where Jesus had been at the wedding and changed the water into wine. We passed close by Mount Tabor, the place where Deborah and Barak fought the Canaanites and where Gideon’s brethren were killed. On the other side of the valley, we could see Mount Gilboa. It was at this Mount that King Saul and three of his sons died in the battle against the Philistines.

We drove further east, until we came to the Sea of Galilee at Kinneret. Then we turned south for a short distance until we reached the end of the Sea of Galilee, where the Jordan river

starts again. The Sea of Galilee is about 23 km long and on the widest spot, it is 13 km wide. It is 49 meters deep at the deepest spot. It lies very low. Its surface is 212 meters below sea level. The distance from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is 105 km, and along that distance, the river drops another 200 meters. Before the Jordan reaches the Dead Sea, more rivers such as the Yarkon and the Jabbok, deposit their water into it.

Deganya and Yardinat, where the Jordan starts again, are the places where they believe that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and this is quite possible. There, it was said that Jesus came down from Galilee to the Jordan. This place is still used by many people for baptism by immersion. Many of the participants are dressed in long white gowns which they carefully keep, and at their death they are used as burial shrouds.

For a while we watched the river. It is quite small. We saw quite a bit of fish and a dense growth of trees hanging over the river, such as eucalypti, poplar, willow, tamarack and others. We also saw papyrus reeds.

We drove from there, back north beside the lake until we reached Tiberias. There we had dinner at a Kibbutz, right at the water’s edge outdoors. We ate fish: Mousht or the St. Peter’s fish.

Tiberias was built in 18 A.D. by Herod Antipas, and was thus still a very new city when Jesus preached there. It was then the capital of Galilee and Berea. We don’t read that Jesus entered it. Only John mentioned that boats from Tiberias came.

After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Tiberias became an important centre of Jewish learning and culture. The Talmud was written mainly here. The city has changed hands several times. It was also a Crusader City for a while. A few times it was destroyed by earthquakes. For this reason, the new city is not exactly at the same spot where Herod Antipas builtd it, but 2 km north of it.

When we had finished the meal, we went by boat to Capernaum. This took us about an hour. It was a wonderful experience to sail over the sea of which we read so often in the Bible. Here Jesus stilled the storm. Here he told the disciples to throw the net on the other side of the boat and the net filled with fish, and here he taught from a ship, close to shore.

The lake of Galilee and its surrounding area is still beautiful as it had been in Jesus’ day. It is still known for its sudden and violent storms. It was very foggy that day on the sea, so we didn’t see much of the surroundings. They told us that this almost never happens here.

We landed at Capernaum. Capernaum is not a city anymore. There are a few buildings from the Franciscan Monks, and the ruins of the city and the Synagogue. Part of the Synagogue walls are restored as well as some of the pillars. Most pillar heads have tremendous carvings on them. This is not the same synagogue where Jesus taught. This one was built much later. Under these ruins they have found ruins of an older synagogue which was likely where Jesus taught.

Capernaum is one of the cities where Jesus dwelt the most. Many of his disciples came from here. He taught here often and performed many miracles. The 12 year old daughter of Jairus the ruler of the synagogue was raised here from the dead. Capernaum lies on the North shore of the sea, where the river Jordan enters the sea. We also saw the ruins of Korazin, another city condemned by Jesus, and later the ruins of Bathsaida. Jesus said “Woe unto you Korazin” etc. and all these three cities are now just ruins.

The water level of the sea was very low. This was partly due to the three dry years Israel has just experienced, and also because of the increased use of irrigation. With this low water, ruins have come to the surface with several artifacts. There was just then, quite an excitement, as an old fishing boat was found almost completely emerged in mud. It was in quite fair condition and they believed that it was from New Testament time.

We stayed at the place where it is believed that Jesus fed the five thousand men, plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fishes. When you see those grassy slopes, it is easy to imagine all those people sitting there. It is very remarkable how clear the sound is at this place. It is easy to understand that they all could have heard Jesus.

Then we went further to the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed be the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matt.5-8.

We also had plans to climb Mount Argbel. It is located right at the Sea on the west of the Lake, where it has its greatest width. From there you have a beautiful view over the whole Sea and its surroundings. Due to the mist and the lack of time, we skipped this part of the outing.

The sea is still very rich in fish with the annual catch being 1600 tons. There are more than 20 different kinds. Very important is the Mousht, often called St. Peter’s fish. They believe that this is the fish that Peter caught, of which we read of in Matt 17:27. “Go then to the sea, and cast a hook and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that take and give unto them for me and thee.” This fish belongs to the mouthbreeders like the catfishes. After the females have deposited the eggs, the males spray them with sperm. Then the males take the eggs in their mouth and keep them there until they hatch, even for a while after hatching. They even take them back in their mouth when danger arrives.

Mount Argbel, where we were, is heavily combed with caves, which were often used for refuge in times of war, especially in the wars of the Maccabeans and the revolt against Rome.

Another Mount with two outcrops, is called the horns of Hittim. A battle took place here during the time of the Crusaders. They were defeated on the 5th of July 1187 A.D. They were then at the height of power. They felt so powerful that they broke a promise to the Muslims. They thought the Muslims couldn’t fight back anyway. It made the Muslim population very angry and they went to battle. One of the main things that helped the Muslims in the battle was that it was a terribly hot day. The Crusaders in their steel armour and heavy helmets almost cooked inside and couldn’t move fast enough. The Muslims, more used to the heat and in their loose clothes, were less bothered by it and could move much faster. After this crushing defeat, the power of the Crusaders dwindled fast and soon after, came to an end.

We passed Magdala, where it is believed that Mary Magdalene originated from. In the time of the Jewish revolt in 70 A.D., Josephus Flavius wrote the following,” The plain of Genereth is a unique garden of incomparable fertility. For so generous is the air that it suits every variety of nourishing fruit.” He wrote that 1900 years ago. When you see the many orchards here of oranges, grapefruit, bananas, olives and many others, you realize this is still true today.

From Magdala, we turned west, back to Carmel through Lower Galilee and the Jezreel Valley. We had another very interesting day.

ACCO, GOLAN HEIGHTS AND MOUNT HERMON – Saturday, November 16

After winding down Mount Carmel, we turned North. On Wednesday, we were in the land of the tribe of Dan, Thursday in the tribe of Manasseh, Friday, in Zebulun (Nazareth and Cana), and Naphatli (Sea of Galilee). It was on Friday that we saw most of the places where Jesus lived and taught. The prophet Isaiah had already prophesied this in Chapter 4:1&2.

This day we started where the tribe of Asher had settled, then we went again to Naphtali and further to the other side of the Jordan where the other half of the tribe of Manasseh had its territory. The area was then called Bazan. We know it better as the Golan Heights.

When we had come half-way down the mountain, we turned north. We stopped first to have a view over the bay, the harbour and industries, and then drove north to Acco.

Acco is mentioned only twice in the Bible, once in Judges where it is said, “Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco.” The Romans renamed the city, Ptolemais, and in Acts 21 we read that Paul, coming back from his 3rd missionary journey, after leaving Tyre on his way to Caesarea, stopped in Ptolemais and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day.

It was evidently not important in Bible times. It became very important in the time of the Crusades. It was taken by the Crusaders in 1104 A.D. It became their main harbour and they made it a real stronghold. Many of their buildings are still visible. They kept it until 1187, when Saladin defeated the Crusaders. It was retaken in 1191, and remained a Crusader City until 1291 when it was destroyed by the Mamluks. Some of the buildings and the city walls are restored. They are beautiful and enormously large. It is a nice city.            Another important event that took place here was in 1799, when Napoleon invaded Palestine. He laid siege to Acco. The city was able to withstand the attack and Napoleon was forced to withdraw.

From Acco we drove East through upper Galilee. The mountains were higher and rougher here than in lower Galilee. We passed the city of Safar. Safar became an early Jewish settlement. When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, many of them settled in Safar.

Later we passed Haran and stopped there at a Kibbutz for dinner. It was one of Israel’s oldest Kibbutzim, having been started in 1918.

Haran is mentioned several times in the Bible. It was captured by Joshua. Sisera, who fought against Deborah and Barak, came from this city. It is also mentioned in Jeremiah.

Here we left the mountain and crossed the Jordan river and came to the Hula lake. It is another lake in the Jordan, north of the Sea of Galilee. In Bible times, it had no importance. You couldn’t come near it as it was surrounded by swamps. Now it has been made dry and it is good farmland. Most of it is being used for crops except for a natural reserve for birds and other animals.

We drove further east through the Golan Heights. Twenty-five years ago it belonged to Syria but it was taken in the Six day war in 1967. It is a very rugged mountainous area. This area gets a lot of rain so that wherever there is enough soil, vegetation grows well and we saw good cattle. In the Bible we also read about the good cattle of Bashan. We drove almost to the Syrian border. A strip of land lay between Israel and Syria, “No man’s land.’ It has a United Nations observation post stationed here, presently managed by Italian and Canadian soldiers. We could clearly see the buildings of Syria and even cars and trucks driving Syrian roads. Further down, we saw a new city and closer by in “no man’s land,’ the former city, now completely empty since the war.

The Golan Heights are very high and the land is rugged, 300 feet above sea level. Most of it is grazing land. Just here and there, there is an orchard. Most orchards are olive orchards. We saw some Druse families picking olives. The whole family was picking in the same tree, even the small children. Plastic sheets or rugs were first laid under the tree. Then they picked everything they could reach. After that, they shook the top branches and finally with sticks they hit off the last ones. They gathered the ones on the plastic and put them all in burlap bags. The olive harvest had just started in this area.

The area looked thinly populated. In 1967 the Syrians had fled. Some Druse villages remained. Now most of the land has been taken over by Kibbutzim. We passed some empty army camps and some buildings where Ethiopian and Russian emigrants were temporarily living.

There were still many signs of the war left here. We saw plenty of barbed wire, some burned-out trucks and tanks. There were warning signs of mine fields and ruins of buildings.

We drove straight north to Mount Hermon. It is Israel’s highest mountain, being 2200 meters high. It is often snowcapped from November till March or April. There was no snow visible when we were there.

We saw the remains of Castle Nimrod high on its slope. It was a stronghold of the Crusaders for many years, but before the Crusaders came, there was a stronghold there. Some believe that it was originally built by a Chaldean King.

After the Crusaders left, it fell into the hands of a secretive sect, the Hashashim. Its members were addicted to Hashsh and were often involved in political murders. Their name became a symbol of violence and we still have the word assassin from them, as well as the word hash.

At the foot of Mount Hermon, we came to the Banyan, the springs from the mountain. These are the beginnings of the river Jordan. Here Philip, the son of King Herod the Great, built the city Caesarea, Phillipi. The Lord Jesus has been here and this is the place where Peter confessed, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. Many people believe that on this mountain the transfiguration took place. The Bible tells us that he went on a high mountain, and also that the transfiguration took place six days after Peter’s confession. Mount Hermon is by far the highest mountain and Jesus was here. The distance between the two mountains could well be walked in six days but the fact is, the transfiguration is more important than the place where it took place.

At the banyans it was nice and green. The water wasn’t running fast yet. We saw nice trout swimming and there were many trees. There were some fig trees which had small figs on them. There were also some pomegranate trees or actually shrubs, a few overripe fruits were still on them. The harvest must have just finished. This is the most northerly tip of Israel. From this spot it is less than an hour’s drive to Damascus.

We looked at some of the caves and some of the ruins that had been at Caesarea, Philippi. When we left, we drove west to Dan, just a small distance away. Dan is mentioned many times in the Scriptures as Israel’s most northerly town.

Slightly further west, we came to the place where the town Abel Beth Maachah had been. We read about this city in II Samuel 20. Joab pursued Sheba, who had rebelled against David, there. This took place shortly after Absalom’s rebellion. Sheba was killed here in the city.

From this place we turned south. This was the old road that came from Damascus. On the left we had the Jordan Valley and Hula Valley and on the right, we had some hills. We were quite close to the Lebanon border. It was quite a rugged road and we passed a steep valley through Upper Galilee. We drove back to Mount Carmel.

It was quite late when we arrived at the hotel after a well-spent day. After supper, we packed our suitcases and retired early as we would leave the hotel very early the next morning.