We witnessed another beautiful sunrise today and then set out to the north to the source of the Jordan River, the life of Israel.
First, we went to Caesarea Philipi, named for one of Caesar's sons. This was a cultic site for the god Pan, half goat/half man. A huge rock cave with dark colorations in the rock and a gaping mouth-like opening was called "The Gates of Hell." It truly looked like it. Here, animal & human sacrifices were made and then thrown into the water of the river there to be acceptable to the god. The river is the Panias. However, Muslims cannot say the letter "P" so it is "Banias" on the map. This river had moving water in it today since it is pouring rain. It is one of the 3 sources of the Jordan.
From there, our bus took a coffee break where Gary got a good cup of coffee. The shop was run by some 20-yr-olds. They also sold good pastries. At this spot, we could see the second of the three rivers. We could see a beautiful rapids and a waterfall. A McDonalds was also located in this area but it was closed
We proceeded on to Tel Dan. I loved this place! We walked across a bridge at the springs of the Dan River, the 3rd source of the Jordan. There were springs bubbling up everywhere. The river was lovely and fast, perhaps because of the rain. The spring there supplied the water for most of the Dan. We walked back a slippery rock path, through thick foliage. We saw papyrus trees, raspberries, and eucalyptus trees which had taken over! Then we trekked down a muddy path until we reached the ancient city of Dan. They are excavating there & have much still to do. We saw one of the temples (ruins) that Solomon built through Cheroboam, I think. It is an exact replica of the temple area in Jerusalem. Solomon was judged by God for this because he was told to build 'the' temple -- and Solomon proceeded to build three. We walked to the city gate, saw where the elder sat (the foundation of his chair is still there), and saw one of the altars outside of the city. (I sat on it. Luckily, no one had a match!)
Next we drove to a kibbutzim at Hageshrim. This group ran a hotel. We got gourmet food at their LARGE restaurant. The place had lovely landscaping with stones/statues & marble tiles for walkways and floors. The food was very fresh; they served yummy chocolate choices for dessert.
After lunch, we headed to the Golan Heights. In the morning, we had been near the Lebanese border. There we saw the 1-kilometer DMZ with a small UN outpost right in the middle of this no-man's land. There was also a military training site with cone-shaped mounds and an arena with seats. A DRUZE was there in his baggy pants selling fruit. (The Druze men wear a cap on a bald head and baggy pants to catch their messiah, which is supposed to be born of a man.) Druze stay with the land and do not take the Israeli citizenship but live happily there.
Now at the Golan Heights, we were near the Syrian border. We saw many military bases along the way. The Syrians planted eucalyptus trees near their military bases at the suggestion of a trusted Eygptian, who was really a Christian Israeli. This fellow was able to tell the Israelis where to bomb them because of this. We passed acres and acres of empty fields once owned by both of the countries. Many of these are still not used because of the land mines in them. Israel is so small and land is very expensive. I would think it would be worth the resources needed to clear these lands. But, they remain rocky fields. We heard gunfire in this area. Syria is experiencing civil war and the news reported several deaths that day. Continuing down the hilly, winding roads, we drove past Nimeon's Castle and headed back to the Leonardo.
A very memorable time was when we went to see the "Jesus boat." It is now in a museum, but was found by two Israeli brothers who grew up around the Sea of Galilee. The boat is built from wook of 9 different trees and is 2000 yrs old. What we saw was basically the hull of the boat. This boat is typical of the boat Jesus and the disciples would have used. Perhaps it was this very one!
This was a very interesting day. We were given a history lesson about Israel, how it is formed, and how they remain a safe country. God is truly blessing Israel.
It is the night of the Sabbath and the Jews will not be working for the next 24 hrs.
Shalom Sabbaoth!
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