Mount of Beatitudes & Golan Heights: Day 1 in Israel

Today begin our official visiting of sites and locations around Israel. We started the day with a delicious breakfast before boarding our bus at 8 AM to head to our first stop, the Mount of Beatitudes. This is the site traditionally believed to be the location where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). The site currently has a Catholic church on it surrounded by beautiful gardens and places of reflection, that are run by a group of nuns. When we arrived, the group gathered and was led in a time of devotion by Nathan Morton, a CUDS student and pastor of Burgaw Baptist Church in Burgaw, NC. It was a wonderful reminder of what it means to be the salt and light of the earth, as Nathan read this memorable passage on the very site it is traditionally believed to have been delivered by Jesus. 

Nathan sharing from Matt 5 on Mount of Beatitudes

Church at Beatitudes

Me with the Mount of Beatitudes and the Sea of Galilee in the background

Marker lining walkway with beatitudes listed on each.

 After spending some time at the Mount of Beatitudes, we traveled along the Via Maris, which during Biblical times, was a main road of transport throughout the Middle East, connecting Egypt in the south to locations in the north. We took this major highway up to Tel-Hazor. When you see the word Tel used, it is a word that basically means “hill,” and is used when referring to cities that have been built, one on top of another, for centuries. In essence what happens is that whenever a city was destroyed, later on, another city would be constructed on top of it, and the process would continue to repeat itself throughout history, so you have cities continually being constructed, raising up to form hills, or in this case, tels. As these locations are excavated, revealing the various cities underneath that were built throughout history, we are given access to locations literally thousands of years old, as is the case with Tel-Hazor. 

Some of the notable instances at Hazor in the Bible include its conquering by Joshua and the Israelites in Joshua 11, the actions of the judge, Deborah, in Judges 4, as well as when it was rebuilt by King Solomon in 2 Kings (a portion of the wall which Solomon built still remains today). There is also a water well that was dug by Ahab that is still there today. Tel-Hazor is one of the more impressive tels in Israel, as it has 21 tels at its sight, meaning you can see the remains of 21 different civilizations who lived there, dating back over 3,000 years ago.  

Example of the various levels of tels at Tel-Hazor.

Stone wall possibly built by Solomon.

 After Tel-Hazor, we traveled to Tel-Dan. When we arrived there we hiked up a lengthy trail along the Dan River, which eventually flows into the Jordan River. The location of Dan appears in the Bible in 2 Kings 12 where King Jeroboam establishes one of the two worship locations in the northern kingdom so people wouldn’t have to travel to Jerusalem to worship. The floor of the temple that was constructed there still remains, as well as the location of the altar that was constructed there. Also at this location is an old city gate that was excavated that is could be dated to the time of Abraham. This is potentially the very gate that Abraham passed through when he went to rescue Lot who had been taken to Dan in Genesis. 

Spring of Dan which goes on to form the river & flow into the Jordan.

Ancient city gate that dates to time of Abraham.

 After Tel-Dan, we traveled up the road to Caesarea Philippi, which in present day is known as the city of Banyas. This is the location of that poignant conversation where Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say I am” and then Peter goes on to make his confession. The ancient city has only partially been excavated, but while we were there, we saw the grotto where a natural spring spews out the source for the Hebron River. 

Spring coming out near Banyas (Caesarea Philippi)

Following Caesarea Philippi we went grabbed lunch at a local eatery in the town of Mas’ade before going on to the northern most part of Israel where we visited a memorial site remembering those lost in the Yom Kippur War of 1976 between Israel and Syria which ended with a peace treaty being signed between the two countries. At this location, we were able to stand on the hill and look directly into Syria, as well as beautiful vegetation and farmland at the edges of Israel.  

Today was only the beginning of what is going to be an amazing experience. Again, it is just fascinating to be able to visually see these locations like the Mount of Beatitudes and trying to visualize Jesus preaching along the Sea of Galilee, or the events of King Jeroboam at the Temple at Dan, or Caesarea Philippi where Jesus stood before what Greek mythology said was an entry to Hell (the grotto), and declared that “I’l build my church on this rock. The gates of the underworld won’t be ale to stand against it” (Matt 16:18) Seeing and hearing the history of these locations is worth the trip in itself, but knowing that in these locations is where the very Savior of the world, walked, talked, and performed miracles is just beyond words. To know that these places are the sources of what we treasure as the Word of God are nothing short of life altering. 

Tomorrow is another packed day and I look forward to being able to share it with you all. For now, thank you for your love and prayers, and I hope that you will continue to follow my adventures here in Israel.