Caesarea Maratima

We traveled to Caesarea Maratima on our first full day in Israel. Though many of us didn't sleep very well the night before, we were all so excited and raring to go on our first big day. Caesarea Maratima was a pagan city on the coast(http://www.caesarea.landscape.cornell.edu/). Herod the Great, King of Israel and appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate, constructed the third largest harbor in the world at that time (about 20 BC), a major feat in ancient times. The harbor was built to lure shipping and business to the area and improve Israel's economy, something Herod had promised the Romans he would do. Herod was an extremely smart guy, his projects unparalleled in ancient times, but also ruthless. He killed his wife, Maryamne, because he thought she was unfaithful while he was away in Rome, and then killed two of his sons because he thought they would try to take over.



Caesarea Maratima also was the first artificial harbor in the world at that time. Although Josephus Flavius (www.answers.com.topic/josephus) had written all about the harbor, no one knew where it was located because it had sunk into the sea. The harbor was discovered in the 1950s. Our guide said that until fairly recent times, Josephus and his writings of the events and history of Israel were not taken too seriously because he was Jewish. Historians and archaeologists have found that Josephus's writings are accurate, down to the exact measurements of the size of the harbor. He was the only individual who documented the 3-year battle at Masada. The son of a Sadducean who lived in Rome, Josephus came back to Israel just as the Jewish rebellion was getting started (about 66 AD). Josephus actually talked with those who knew Jesus.

There currently are vast archaeological studies ongoing in the Caesarea Maratima area. The picture, below, is our view of the ruins of Herod's palace, taken while we were sitting in the theater. You can see some rocks in the middle of the picture, there are many more off to the left and outside of the picture. The archeologists are faced with a giant puzzle, attempting to match up and rebuild these buildings that were altered by earthquake and then buried.



The Roman procurator, Pilate, was stationed here at Caesarea Maratima. He traveled to Jerusalem the week of the Jewish Passover celebration because of concerns regarding potential Jewish uprising and riots. The archaeologists recently discovered a stone plate from one of the buildings that lists Pontius Pilate as the Roman procurator during this time. This stone, now housed in the History museum in Tel Aviv, provides solid evidence of the existence of Pontius Pilate as Roman Procurator at this time.

The below picture shows Herod's indoor swimming pool, also a recent discovery. All of Herod's palaces were known for their luxury.



The following picture shows the ruins of a room in the palace that historians and archaeologists believe may have served as the administration room in this palace. You can see the fire pit in the center of the room. Historians believe this very room was the likely place where Paul was tried. Cornelius (Acts, Chapter 10) lived somewhere in Caesarea. Cornelius was the first non-Jew (Gentile) baptised here in Caesarea, the baptism spurring great growth in the church.



This last picture is of the aqueducts built by Herod the Great in Caesarea.



It's so exciting to see all that they are discovering, today, in 2010. Unbelievable that excavations and research only started after Israel became a state in the late 40s, and incredible what they are finding, clear evidence of the truth in the Bible and the writings of Josephus, who actually spoke with those who knew Jesus.

Sailing on the Sea of Galilee

Sailing on the Sea of Galilee was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of our trip. We had a wonderful boat Captain, Daniel Carmel (http://www.hebrewworshipsongs.com/), who was adopted and raised in a secular Jewish family. He came to be a believer through working on a boat at the Sea of Galilee and hearing the tourists praying and singing. He now captains his own boat and, in his words, is now "fishing for men." He began recording music, and as I write this blog, I am playing his CD, Sailing on Faith, peaceful, beautiful worship songs sung both in English and Hebrew.



The above picture shows us sailing out from Tiberius on the calm, perfect waters of the lake. Absolutely beautiful, the weather about 70, a slight breeze, not a cloud in the sky. The Sea of Galilee, also named the Sea of Tiberius in the New Testament or Sea of Kinnereth in the Old Testament, is fed primarily by the Jordan River and is the lowest fresh-water lake in the world, about 300 feet below sea level, about 13 miles x 7 miles large. Much of Jesus' ministry occurred around the Sea of Galilee. Our Captain said that the lake is extremely calm, but because of the geography of the region, violent storms can come with little warning and can be quite dangerous.

The pass between the hills (above) leads from the lake to Nazareth, which historians believe had a first-century population between 500 to about 2000 people. So easy to imagine Jesus walking from his hometown to the Sea. Our guide mentioned that Israel also is a bird watchers paradise, as Israel works as a "funnel" for the millions of birds that can't fly across the Mediterranean, and so fly from Europe and Asia through Israel on their way to Africa. These thousands and thousands of birds are a real threat to the aviation community, which has conducted intensive research to pinpoint what day in what month various flocks of these birds will be migrating. According to our guide, the birds migration can be estimated down to the exact day. Amazing, isn't it, how our Lord planned everything down to the last detail.

We stopped sailing in the middle of the lake and sang worship songs together, then Pastor Ron gave a brief talk (hey dad, probably about ten minutes) that, as always, made the Word so real in this setting. Pastor Ron talked about the day the Lord learned of John the Baptist's beheading (Matthew 14), mourning his loss, yet not focusing on His own needs but preaching to all those who were following, then feeding these 5000. At the end of this day, they sailed over to the other side of the lake, where there were 7 pagan villages (Joshua Chapter 3). It was interesting to consider how there was a sudden squall on the Sea as our Lord sailed to this pagan shore, which he rebuked and the lake became calm again, and as they were getting out of the boat they were met by a man who lived among the tombs and who was possessed (Mark 4). This man immediately approached and recognized our Lord. I personally had never considered or put these events together, but with the sudden storm on the Sea and being met by this demon-possessed man, was Satan attempting to discourage our Lord from coming to these pagan villages? It is also interesting to consider that our Lord sent the demons into the pigs, as they had requested, the pigs being valued by the pagans. Right afterwards, the people pleaded with our Lord to leave the area and He does so, but first directs the man who had been possessed to spread the word. So, although the Lord doesn't stay in the area, His story begins to be told. Jesus returns to this region later on, but this was His first start into this pagan area. So fascinating, and such a privilege to be on the Sea and to see that shore and visualize how it all occurred.

Other things I learned that I don't want to forget? When our Lord fed the 5000, there were 12 baskets of bread left over, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. When he fed the 4000 later in the scripture over in the pagan area, there were 7 baskets of bread left over, one for each of the 7 pagan nations.

The picture, below, is the best shot I could get of the "city on the hill" mentioned in the scriptures. This city is in the middle of the picture, not so sure you can see it with all the sand in the air. Might be easier to see if you double-click on the picture.

We landed at The Gardens of the Lord, then back on the bus for the trip to the Mount of Beatitudes.

More Tiberius and "Stuff" Before I Forget

The picture, below, is another view of our hotel room. We had some ruins right next to the hotel, the Golden Tulip, and though we walked around it, never learned any info about its history.

Bocatov! In Hebrew, Tov means "good," "Boca" means morning, so good morning! Like Mozel tov - good luck. These may be the only Hebrew words I can remember. There's the proof, if I don't write it down . . .

Here are a couple more shots from our room at the Golden Tulip hotel in Tiberius, sunrise, you can see the haze in the air. Our guide said the haze was caused by an ongoing sandstorm in the desert, but in Israel you don't get the wind with the sandstorm, just the haze. Coupled with the beautiful wildflowers blooming everywhere (it's spring in Israel), a few folks had to battle hay fever and allergies, but all adjusted pretty quick, we had all brought just about every type of medicine made. You can also see some ruins right outside our hotel, we checked them out, but never learned the history about them.

Here's Tiberius in the daytime, a clean, modern city. Israel is full of hills and rock formations, buildings all made of stone.

Our guide, Bernice, and driver, Assad, were incredible people. Bernice is Jewish, raised in South Africa and now living in Tel Aviv. She once was a teacher, now is a guide, says she doesn't do it full time as it would grow old, giving same old facts and going to the same old places, she said it wouldn't be as fun or interesting. Assad is, I believe, a Christian, and a terrific guy.

Bernice passed along bits and pieces as we drove and walked Israel, here's some general info she passed along on our first few days.

Teachers make about $1,000 per month to start and never more than $3,000 per month, and that in itself would be very rare. The typical Israeli earns about $1,500 per month, the typical Christian living in Bethlehem earns about $300. Throughout Israel, it's apartment living, very few if any single family homes, too expensive. It's not kosher to have meat and dairy at the same meal - so, you would never see bacon and eggs (little jokie). Everything was so clean, nice. Buildings are primarily made of stone, either limestone or basalt, not wood (or aluminum siding).

Israel Trip, Day 1

Tim and I recently returned from our first trip to the Holy Land, Trip of a Lifetime, and for the first time I didn't want to just file away the pictures in a box and find them in 3 or 6 or 10 years, when I'm cleaning out a closet. Our oldest daughter, Ryann, who is a passionate blogger, helped me set this up so I could attempt to capture our memories. Israel was such an incredible experience for us, I never want to forget.

So first, let's get a bit of background written down. Tim and I traveled in a tour group, our very first "tour group" experience, and it was fantastic. The trip was just $2000 each, which covered round-trip airfare, hotels, breakfast and dinner, all site visit tickets, tour guides, transportation, tips, etc., for 8 days. All we had to pay was lunch, which averaged about $10/each. How can you lose? The initial plan was for about 20 people on the tour, but there was so much interest it quickly grew to about 80 people, though a few ended up dropping out. Most of us didn't know each other and only about 8 folks had ever been to Israel before, so it was ideal for meeting people, making friends, and learning from each other .

We flew out of Dulles on Friday evening, February 15, and though it had been snowing since mid-afternoon, it wasn't much of a concern. We were delayed about an hour in leaving because the British Air de-icing machine broke, so we waited while they found/borrowed one from another carrier. Course, we landed at Heathrow with little time to catch our connecting flight to Tel Aviv, but were told not to worry, folks "would be standing by" to assist. And I was so surprised - they really were! From the time we got off the plane, clear through Passport Control and Security, airport employees held "Tel Aviv" signs and "fast-tracked" us through Heathrow to get us on the connecting plane. Lots of folks were delayed/held back in line while our "priority" group was escorted ahead of them and hustled through the airport. We really felt like VIPs, undoubtedly because they were holding the flight to Tel Aviv until we were all on board. The folks who had been waiting on the plane were clearly glad to see us. I crashed into my cheap seat in the back and caught a few hours of sleep on the way to Tel Aviv. I woke up to breakfast, a Lamb Brunch Cutlett--hmmm mmm good, nothing like mutton in the morning! Luckily, when I'm really tired I'm not hungry, so I passed. Tim said it tasted pretty good, I learned later he was about the only one in our group who actually finished it.

We landed in Tel Aviv about 3:30 pm Tuesday. Going through border security in Tel Aviv is no joke, very serious stuff. I was pretty worn by now, so I wait in the queue and finally get my turn to walk up to the passport/border control booth. There are two officers, one who handles your passport and asks you questions, one who stands behind this officer (with a big weapon) and just watches you. Guess I looked suspicious - no purse, no carry-on, nothing but my passport in my hand. Purpose of my visit? "Oh, I'm with a church tour group." How many are in your group? So I'm thinking, well, does she want to know total in our tour, as there were two flights that arrived at different times, or does she want just the number on our British Air flight? So I ask the folks in line behind me, they tell me 59. "What was your flight number?" No clue - I'm lucky that Tim and the helpful folks at Heathrow got me on the connecting flight at all. So again, I ask the folks in line behind me - they tell me - flight umpty-fratz. Passport/Border control folks asked me one or two other questions, by now I'm tired and nervous, so I'm asking the folks behind me. But she finally concluded I was harmless, a nitwit, for sure, but harmless.

We all piled onto two tour buses and made our way to Tiberius - here's the sunrise view from our hotel room, overlooking the Sea of Galilee.