bmartin's Blog

Hi everyone,
First let me thank you all for hanging with me in Israel. I hope that you’ve enjoyed the blogs. This is the last one since we’ll be traveling late tomorrow. I’ll be home Thursday and back to work Monday. I need a couple days to sleep especially after getting up at 3:30 AM to watch the Bucks lose.
At any rate, I spent a good amount of time in the Golan Heights this morning. The view is incredible. It’s also a little odd as I was standing along the border with Lebanon and Syria. In fact we drove by Kiryat Shmona. You may remember the city from the news in the last war with Lebanon.
We started the in the ancient city of Dan. This was the center of the Northern Tribes when the Kingdom was split. Dan is referenced in the Books of Ruth, 2 Kings and Joshua. One of the really interesting things here is you can climb all over the ruins. I think in the US there would be velvet rope and do no touch sings all over. That’s not the case here.
For me the next stop at Caesarea Philippi has been one of the best and most meaningful.
The city is situated as the base of Mt. Hermon northeast of the Sea of Galilee. It was probably the farthest north Jesus traveled. It was originally called Banias or Panias and was the center of the pagan worship of the Greek God of fertility “Pan”. This is the place where Jesus asks “Whom do men say that I, Son of man, am?” Peter answers in Matthew 16 and Mark 8. What’s interesting is that this city is built into the rock. It’s also here that Jesus turns south towards his death. You can read the book of Mark and look at it that way. The first 8 chapters Jesus is moving north building his ministry. Mark 9-16 He heads south.
Tomorrow it’s off to Nazareth and a few other stops. Then it’s to the airport. I can’t say enough about the beauty of this country. It’s not what I expected at all; from the busyness of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to the quiet and peace of the Sea of Galilee. I have walked in the footsteps of so much history has been overwhelming.
I miss you guys. I’ll see you soon.
Blessings,
Bill