Wow, it just gets better and better-a spectacular sun rise, so much learning at incredible sites. Loads of beautiful birds flying around this morning. I even saw a fox running across the beach.
Olives. Here we are on Lake Kinneret (meaning lyre or harp)-the Sea of Galilee, 209 m below sea level in the Jordan Rift Valley. It's 53 km around (21 km long x 13 km wide) with a depth of 43 m (141)'. It is the lowest fresh water lake in the world. The sea of Galilee lies on the ancient Via Maris, which linked Egypt with the northern empires. Josephus was so impressed by the area he called it the ambition of nature. He also reported on the thriving fishing industry with 230 boats working the lake.
During the drought in Israel in 1986, two brothers walking along the receded shoreline discovered the remains of a 2000 yr old boat. Since we were staying at Kibbutz Ginosar we walked over to see it. The remains of the boat are 27' long by 7.5' wide. The boat's construction conforms to construction techniques in the period of 100 bc-100 ad. It was constructed primarily of cedar planks joined together by pegged mortise and tenon joints and nails. The boat has a shallow draft with a flat bottom, allowing it to come close to the shore.
The boat is composed of ten different wood types. Previously only references made by Roman authors, the Bible, and mosaics had provided archaeologists with insight into the construction of the Sea of Galilee fishing boats. The find is historically important as an example of the type of boat used in the 1st century for fishing and transportation across the lake. Boats like this one played a large role in the Jesus' life and ministry, being mentioned 50 times in the Gospels.
The Arabel Cliffs have many natural caves which were used as shelters for rebels against Herod. There is an amazing fortress built into the caves just under the cliffs. Atop the left cliff is a 321 m long wall with 9 towers built by the Romans to seal off those hiding in the caves. On the cliff to the right are the ruins of a Roman-Byzantine period village and synagogue scattered along the hill side. The ruins of the Roman city of Arbela are on the left of the valley and located on the ancient trade routes between Megiddo and Damascus. Much of the ministry of Jesus occurred along the shores. There were settlements and villages around the lake and plenty of trade and ferrying by boat. In 135 ad, after the second Jewish revolt against the Romans was put down, the center of Jewish culture shifted to the region of Kinneret. In the time of the Byzantine Empire the lake area became a major destination for Christian pilgrims. In 1187, Saladin defeated the armies of the Crusades at the Battle of Hattin because he was able to cut them off from the fresh water.
In 1909, Jewish pioneers established the first cooperative farming village-kibbutz, which trained Jewish immigrants in farming and agriculture. The Kinneret is considered the cradle of the kibbutz culture of early Zionism. In 1917, the British defeated Ottoman Turks forces and took control of The Holy Lands (which became the British Mandate) and Syria (which became the French Mandate). The British and French governments agreed Syria would have rights to Lake Tiberius (the Arabic name). In 1948, when Syria invaded the newly declared independent State of Israel the eastern shore of Kinneret was taken. By the end of the war the area was retaken by Israel. In 1964, Syria attempted to construct a diversion that would have blocked flow of water into the Sea of Galilee. Israel's attempt to block these efforts was a factor in the tensions leading up to the 1967 Six Day War. During the war Israel captured the Golan Heights which contain sources of water for the Sea of Galilee. 
The Arabel cliffs with Magdal and Kibbutz Ginosar. This is also the direction from which storms coming off the Mediterranean Sea blow in.
Benny teaching everyone the hora.
The Lord allows trial or an attack from the enemy for a purpose-refinement, strengthening, to be used later. Peter was walking on water he obeyed Jesus for a moment (Matthew 14:27-31) but then took his eyes off Jesus but then looks around and sinks. Don't put your eyes on the storm or the trial, only on God. Jesus doesn't have the solution He IS the solution, He is the truth, He is the way out.
It's pretty hot right now-about 32 C. The chirping of the birds sound so sweet. I saw a fish jump out of the water-really high-twice. There is a nice breeze.
Jeremiah 15:16 "Your words were found and I ate them, Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name O Lord God of hosts." Ezekiel 2:8-10; 3:1-4 "open your mouth and eat what I give you and behold, a scroll or a book was in it...so I ate and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness." Revelations 10:10 "I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it." John 6 "I am the bread that has come down from heaven. Your father ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. I am the living bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die." John 1:1, 14 "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was God and the Word was with God...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." We are what we eat. Do you eat God's word? Eating is believing-the Word-logos became Flesh-Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the manna that fell in the wilderness. The Last Supper was a Passover Seder. Luke 22:19 "He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given to you; do this in remembrance of Me." John 6:53-58 "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day..." v. 63 "It is the Spirit who give life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit they are life." Jesus is talking about the Word not His actual flesh. What you eat physically can not save you. Taking communion-whether you believe a sinful man (priest) can say magic words and actually turn it into Jesus' true flesh and blood as the Catholics do will never save you-besides it's cannibalism and re-crucifies Jesus every Sunday. Catholic sacraments are man made rituals that will never get you to heaven. It is all a metaphor for Jesus being The Word-the Scriptures come to life-read the Scriptures-learn about Jesus and believe on Him and you will see heaven.
I now know the official pronunciation for this town...Cap-er-nam. Capernaum was a fishing village inhabited from the mid 2nd century bc (the Hasmonean period) to the 11th century ad with a population of about 1500. The town was the home of James, John and Matthew. Jesus healed a fever in Simon Peter's mother-in-law, it is the place where a Roman Centurion asked to heal his servant, the location of the sick man lowered through the roof, Jairus' daughter was raised from the dead, the woman who had an "issue of blood" was healed, and the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day was healed. Jesus selected this town as the center of His public ministry. The people following Jesus were Jews. After Jesus rose from the dead they became fervent believers in Jesus as the Messiah thus becoming Messianic Jews. Jewish believers don't "convert" to Christianity. Bible believing gentiles have been grafted into the Jewish faith-we believe in the Jewish Messiah. It wasn't until about 320 ad when Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, created this sort of cultic religion after claiming to have found the actual cross, nails, burning bush, a tunic, bones of followers, a grail (cup), discovered sites-all 300 years later. She turned Roman pagan temples into what became the first Roman Catholic churches. Had she read the scriptures she would have found she'd been deceived, that many of the sites are false. She incorporated many pagan practices-worshiping at a site, relics, rituals into this new religion that had nothing to do with the teaching of the Word made Flesh-the Word of God.
The Catholic church erected a large structure over what they believe to be Peter's house making it about impossible to get a good look at. The Byzantines constructed a church directly on top of the walls of the house-none of the original house was visible.
The town was constructed of coarse basalt blocks. Houses typically had a shared courtyard, the floors were cobbled, there was no second story, the rooms were narrow and small. The people living here would have been working class, generally poor, there is no drainage or hygienic facilities.
The ruins of a 4th century synagogue, built with a white stone from a distant quarry, was built upon a basalt stone 1st century synagogue foundation. A synagogue would have been the village meeting place, as community center, as well as where the local rabbi (teacher) would have taught. A synagogue would have had a second story. The Sanhedrin did not like Jesus because He was giving knowledge to the common people-knowledge is power and the Sanhedrin wanted to retain all the power. Ministry was a stepping stone, economic and social, that's why people would become a teacher (rabbi). It was a culture of political corruption. The upper echelon of the Catholic church came from prominent merchant and banking families. Rome was a powerful and corrupt city state that went to war and raised money. They developed the doctrine of purgatory between 1439-1563 thus creating a money making venture. The early Roman church persecuted anyone who taught the scriptures or possessed a bible, not wanting the common people to have knowledge.
The old synagogue foundation.
Olive press.
Lunch-talpia fish along with various hummus and dips for the flat bread.
The Via Maris coming up from Capernaum from the left.
Near the Via Marris is Mount Eremos, a large hill and the Catholic church location for the Sermon on the Mount. There is a large church off to the right funded my Musslini and built in 1938. The traditional site of the Sermon on the mount is the Horns of Hittin.
Jeremiah 23:28 He who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the Lord. Straw grows like grain but has no nutritious value. The field is the world. Matthew 13:26-29" The grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared'...'an enemy has done this,' the servant asked, 'do you want us to gather them up?' But he said to them, 'No, lest while while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them." Tares, like weeds, have never been a marketable product. Tare seeds can't be distinguished from wheat seed and they look alike as they grow. To destroy the tare would mean destroying much of the wheat and separating one from the other would be beyond the ability of the servant. Only when the wheat has matured can the tares be detected. Then the tares are gathered together in bundles and destroyed by fire. Satan's malicious intention in sowing tares among the wheat is to cause problems and confusion. Many who are not true followers of Jesus and the scriptures act religious, become leaders, they are the tares intermingling within nations, communities, churches, homes. God cannot be blamed because He does not sow evil, Satan does. Jesus-The Word-enlightens and warns us. The tares symbolize counterfeits within His church-false teachers, false doctrine, and false religions in the name of Jesus. The book of Mormon, the Watch Tower magazine, the Catholic catacism look like wheat but are tares. People think it's the word of God but it's corrupt. The big money evangelists amplify the ambiguious and play on emotions. Jesus interpreted the letter in light of the Spirit. The Jewish oral law had corrupted God's word so Jesus counters with the Beatitudes. Jesus was not weak, He had the power and knew when and how to use it-meakness is strength under control. God will root out the bad and at His judgement they will be burned. 
The tradional site of the Sermon on the Mount is believed to be at the Horns of Hattin.
Chorazin was a village about 2 1/2 miles from Capernaum on a hill above the sea of Galilee. The main settlement dates to the 3-4th centuries. A mikvah (ritual bath), olive millstones, and synagogue were found.
The city was built from rough unhewn black basalt stones, the local volcanic stone.
Structure next to the ritual bath.
The synagogue was a classic 4th century Galilee rectangular structure made from black basalt rock.
1 Peter 2:6 " Behold, I lay Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16 and applies the Messianic stone reference to Jesus. God placed Jesus as the chosen and valuable Cornerstone-Rosh Pinah. The cornerstone was everything when building a structure, it had to be straight and square so the rest of the building would be as well and would endure. Jesus is the perfect Cornerstone upon which the house of God is built. We are the stones in the house. We must be measured against the Living Stone to ensure we are in line with it. We get out of line and must constantly measure ourselves against Jesus as our standard. Too many people try to make Jesus, the bible conform to their lives. Churches are altering the clear teachings of the scripture to keep the people happy or to be politically correct. When we build our lives on Jesus, we will not be put to shame. We will be rejected by people, but not by God. Our identity is not found in the opinions of humanity, our value is in being living stones built into a spiritual house aligned with Jesus, our Cornerstone.
Matthew 23:1-12 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the Moses' seat." Jesus says woe to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were public teachers that had the job of explaining the Law, it was the custom to sit. By the seat of Moses, it meant that they had the authority to teach the law. Jesus affirms that they should listen and obey the law themselves, He tells them "for they say, and do not do." They went beyond the law and came up with their own oral law-a do as they say tradition taking away from God's word. Jesus points out how they want to be noticed, have position, and worldly things-much the way televangelists today do. Jesus explains they are to be servants, not self-exhalting.
There is a main street with narrow lanes between houses.
Threshing floor. Wheat, the primary industry, was grown all around on the hills.
Chorazim is mentioned twice in scriptures, Matthew 11:21-22 and Luke 10:10-13 where Jesus says, "Woe unto thee Chorazin!" It is one of the three cities Jesus curses. The three main cities Jesus taught in were Betsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum.
As we continue around the Sea of Galilee we head into the lands of the pagans, it was called, "going to the other side." Matthew had his tax collection booth between the Jewish area and the pagan lands, the land of the Gadarenes (gadar-meaning fence or border).
We are also now in the occupied territory of Syria called the Golan Heights. From 1948-1967 when Syria controlled the Golan Heights it was used as a military stronghold from which troops randomly sniped at Israelis in the Huleh Valley bellow. Attacks were carried out by Yasir Arafat's Fatah which Syria allowed to operate from it's territory. The Syrians have heavily landmined the area. Israel went to the UN and demanded halt to the Fatah attacks which the UN said they would do nothing . On June 9, 1967, Israel moved against Syrian forces on the Golan. By June 10, Israel was in complete control of the plateau. Israel's seizure of the Heights came after 19 years of being attacked and the international community doing nothing.
Mark 5 Jesus went over to the other side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes and met a demon possessed man. The hill where the pigs would have been. The swine is biblical typology as gospel mockers. Don't cast your pearls before the swine. The demons go into the swine and into the lake-typology for the Lake of Fire.
The town was back by the rocks-it's a Syrian minefield.
The tombs are in those rocks. The lake, 2000 yrs ago was higher. Demons-superhuman strength, territorial, principalities such as the Principality of Persia but biblical demonology is a whole nother area of study. Note the Danger Mines sign!
Horns of Hittim, a Canaanite and Israelite city were located at each side. A decisive battle of the Crusaders and Saladin was held in the valley below in 1187. It was the beginning of the end for the Crusaders in the Holy Land. Below the hill was the Roman and Arabic village of Hittim. A spring flows and was the place the thirsty Crusaders tried to get to during the battle, Saldin lit the field on fire. Near by is the tomb of Jethro (father-in-law of Moses) and Zipporah (wife of Moses).
Almost sunset.
The story on this goes, Syria lost the Golan to Israel, Assad (President of Syria) said he would get the Heights back and be fishing in the Sea. When he died the Israelis errected an effigy of Assad fishing in the sea. I couldn't find confirmation on this but it's a funny story.
Caves where Zealots would have hid out from the Romans are all around these hills. The Roman soldiers were lowered down from the top of the hills and threw burning branches into the caves, when the men came out they'd be pushed off.
In 1909, Jewish pioneers established the first cooperative farming village-kibbutz, which trained Jewish immigrants in farming and agriculture. The Kinneret is considered the cradle of the kibbutz culture of early Zionism. In 1917, the British defeated Ottoman Turks forces and took control of The Holy Lands (which became the British Mandate) and Syria (which became the French Mandate). The British and French governments agreed Syria would have rights to Lake Tiberius (the Arabic name). In 1948, when Syria invaded the newly declared independent State of Israel the eastern shore of Kinneret was taken. By the end of the war the area was retaken by Israel. In 1964, Syria attempted to construct a diversion that would have blocked flow of water into the Sea of Galilee. Israel's attempt to block these efforts was a factor in the tensions leading up to the 1967 Six Day War. During the war Israel captured the Golan Heights which contain sources of water for the Sea of Galilee. 
The Arabel cliffs with Magdal and Kibbutz Ginosar. This is also the direction from which storms coming off the Mediterranean Sea blow in.
Benny teaching everyone the hora.
The Lord allows trial or an attack from the enemy for a purpose-refinement, strengthening, to be used later. Peter was walking on water he obeyed Jesus for a moment (Matthew 14:27-31) but then took his eyes off Jesus but then looks around and sinks. Don't put your eyes on the storm or the trial, only on God. Jesus doesn't have the solution He IS the solution, He is the truth, He is the way out.
It's pretty hot right now-about 32 C. The chirping of the birds sound so sweet. I saw a fish jump out of the water-really high-twice. There is a nice breeze.
Jeremiah 15:16 "Your words were found and I ate them, Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name O Lord God of hosts." Ezekiel 2:8-10; 3:1-4 "open your mouth and eat what I give you and behold, a scroll or a book was in it...so I ate and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness." Revelations 10:10 "I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it." John 6 "I am the bread that has come down from heaven. Your father ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. I am the living bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die." John 1:1, 14 "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was God and the Word was with God...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." We are what we eat. Do you eat God's word? Eating is believing-the Word-logos became Flesh-Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the manna that fell in the wilderness. The Last Supper was a Passover Seder. Luke 22:19 "He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given to you; do this in remembrance of Me." John 6:53-58 "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day..." v. 63 "It is the Spirit who give life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit they are life." Jesus is talking about the Word not His actual flesh. What you eat physically can not save you. Taking communion-whether you believe a sinful man (priest) can say magic words and actually turn it into Jesus' true flesh and blood as the Catholics do will never save you-besides it's cannibalism and re-crucifies Jesus every Sunday. Catholic sacraments are man made rituals that will never get you to heaven. It is all a metaphor for Jesus being The Word-the Scriptures come to life-read the Scriptures-learn about Jesus and believe on Him and you will see heaven.
I now know the official pronunciation for this town...Cap-er-nam. Capernaum was a fishing village inhabited from the mid 2nd century bc (the Hasmonean period) to the 11th century ad with a population of about 1500. The town was the home of James, John and Matthew. Jesus healed a fever in Simon Peter's mother-in-law, it is the place where a Roman Centurion asked to heal his servant, the location of the sick man lowered through the roof, Jairus' daughter was raised from the dead, the woman who had an "issue of blood" was healed, and the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day was healed. Jesus selected this town as the center of His public ministry. The people following Jesus were Jews. After Jesus rose from the dead they became fervent believers in Jesus as the Messiah thus becoming Messianic Jews. Jewish believers don't "convert" to Christianity. Bible believing gentiles have been grafted into the Jewish faith-we believe in the Jewish Messiah. It wasn't until about 320 ad when Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, created this sort of cultic religion after claiming to have found the actual cross, nails, burning bush, a tunic, bones of followers, a grail (cup), discovered sites-all 300 years later. She turned Roman pagan temples into what became the first Roman Catholic churches. Had she read the scriptures she would have found she'd been deceived, that many of the sites are false. She incorporated many pagan practices-worshiping at a site, relics, rituals into this new religion that had nothing to do with the teaching of the Word made Flesh-the Word of God.
The Catholic church erected a large structure over what they believe to be Peter's house making it about impossible to get a good look at. The Byzantines constructed a church directly on top of the walls of the house-none of the original house was visible.
The town was constructed of coarse basalt blocks. Houses typically had a shared courtyard, the floors were cobbled, there was no second story, the rooms were narrow and small. The people living here would have been working class, generally poor, there is no drainage or hygienic facilities.
The ruins of a 4th century synagogue, built with a white stone from a distant quarry, was built upon a basalt stone 1st century synagogue foundation. A synagogue would have been the village meeting place, as community center, as well as where the local rabbi (teacher) would have taught. A synagogue would have had a second story. The Sanhedrin did not like Jesus because He was giving knowledge to the common people-knowledge is power and the Sanhedrin wanted to retain all the power. Ministry was a stepping stone, economic and social, that's why people would become a teacher (rabbi). It was a culture of political corruption. The upper echelon of the Catholic church came from prominent merchant and banking families. Rome was a powerful and corrupt city state that went to war and raised money. They developed the doctrine of purgatory between 1439-1563 thus creating a money making venture. The early Roman church persecuted anyone who taught the scriptures or possessed a bible, not wanting the common people to have knowledge.
The old synagogue foundation.
Olive press.
Lunch-talpia fish along with various hummus and dips for the flat bread.
The Via Maris coming up from Capernaum from the left.
Near the Via Marris is Mount Eremos, a large hill and the Catholic church location for the Sermon on the Mount. There is a large church off to the right funded my Musslini and built in 1938. The traditional site of the Sermon on the mount is the Horns of Hittin.
Jeremiah 23:28 He who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the Lord. Straw grows like grain but has no nutritious value. The field is the world. Matthew 13:26-29" The grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared'...'an enemy has done this,' the servant asked, 'do you want us to gather them up?' But he said to them, 'No, lest while while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them." Tares, like weeds, have never been a marketable product. Tare seeds can't be distinguished from wheat seed and they look alike as they grow. To destroy the tare would mean destroying much of the wheat and separating one from the other would be beyond the ability of the servant. Only when the wheat has matured can the tares be detected. Then the tares are gathered together in bundles and destroyed by fire. Satan's malicious intention in sowing tares among the wheat is to cause problems and confusion. Many who are not true followers of Jesus and the scriptures act religious, become leaders, they are the tares intermingling within nations, communities, churches, homes. God cannot be blamed because He does not sow evil, Satan does. Jesus-The Word-enlightens and warns us. The tares symbolize counterfeits within His church-false teachers, false doctrine, and false religions in the name of Jesus. The book of Mormon, the Watch Tower magazine, the Catholic catacism look like wheat but are tares. People think it's the word of God but it's corrupt. The big money evangelists amplify the ambiguious and play on emotions. Jesus interpreted the letter in light of the Spirit. The Jewish oral law had corrupted God's word so Jesus counters with the Beatitudes. Jesus was not weak, He had the power and knew when and how to use it-meakness is strength under control. God will root out the bad and at His judgement they will be burned. 
The tradional site of the Sermon on the Mount is believed to be at the Horns of Hattin.
Chorazin was a village about 2 1/2 miles from Capernaum on a hill above the sea of Galilee. The main settlement dates to the 3-4th centuries. A mikvah (ritual bath), olive millstones, and synagogue were found.
The city was built from rough unhewn black basalt stones, the local volcanic stone.
Structure next to the ritual bath.
The synagogue was a classic 4th century Galilee rectangular structure made from black basalt rock.
1 Peter 2:6 " Behold, I lay Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16 and applies the Messianic stone reference to Jesus. God placed Jesus as the chosen and valuable Cornerstone-Rosh Pinah. The cornerstone was everything when building a structure, it had to be straight and square so the rest of the building would be as well and would endure. Jesus is the perfect Cornerstone upon which the house of God is built. We are the stones in the house. We must be measured against the Living Stone to ensure we are in line with it. We get out of line and must constantly measure ourselves against Jesus as our standard. Too many people try to make Jesus, the bible conform to their lives. Churches are altering the clear teachings of the scripture to keep the people happy or to be politically correct. When we build our lives on Jesus, we will not be put to shame. We will be rejected by people, but not by God. Our identity is not found in the opinions of humanity, our value is in being living stones built into a spiritual house aligned with Jesus, our Cornerstone.
Matthew 23:1-12 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the Moses' seat." Jesus says woe to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were public teachers that had the job of explaining the Law, it was the custom to sit. By the seat of Moses, it meant that they had the authority to teach the law. Jesus affirms that they should listen and obey the law themselves, He tells them "for they say, and do not do." They went beyond the law and came up with their own oral law-a do as they say tradition taking away from God's word. Jesus points out how they want to be noticed, have position, and worldly things-much the way televangelists today do. Jesus explains they are to be servants, not self-exhalting.
There is a main street with narrow lanes between houses.
Threshing floor. Wheat, the primary industry, was grown all around on the hills.
Chorazim is mentioned twice in scriptures, Matthew 11:21-22 and Luke 10:10-13 where Jesus says, "Woe unto thee Chorazin!" It is one of the three cities Jesus curses. The three main cities Jesus taught in were Betsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum.
As we continue around the Sea of Galilee we head into the lands of the pagans, it was called, "going to the other side." Matthew had his tax collection booth between the Jewish area and the pagan lands, the land of the Gadarenes (gadar-meaning fence or border).
We are also now in the occupied territory of Syria called the Golan Heights. From 1948-1967 when Syria controlled the Golan Heights it was used as a military stronghold from which troops randomly sniped at Israelis in the Huleh Valley bellow. Attacks were carried out by Yasir Arafat's Fatah which Syria allowed to operate from it's territory. The Syrians have heavily landmined the area. Israel went to the UN and demanded halt to the Fatah attacks which the UN said they would do nothing . On June 9, 1967, Israel moved against Syrian forces on the Golan. By June 10, Israel was in complete control of the plateau. Israel's seizure of the Heights came after 19 years of being attacked and the international community doing nothing.
Mark 5 Jesus went over to the other side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes and met a demon possessed man. The hill where the pigs would have been. The swine is biblical typology as gospel mockers. Don't cast your pearls before the swine. The demons go into the swine and into the lake-typology for the Lake of Fire.
The town was back by the rocks-it's a Syrian minefield.
The tombs are in those rocks. The lake, 2000 yrs ago was higher. Demons-superhuman strength, territorial, principalities such as the Principality of Persia but biblical demonology is a whole nother area of study. Note the Danger Mines sign!
Horns of Hittim, a Canaanite and Israelite city were located at each side. A decisive battle of the Crusaders and Saladin was held in the valley below in 1187. It was the beginning of the end for the Crusaders in the Holy Land. Below the hill was the Roman and Arabic village of Hittim. A spring flows and was the place the thirsty Crusaders tried to get to during the battle, Saldin lit the field on fire. Near by is the tomb of Jethro (father-in-law of Moses) and Zipporah (wife of Moses).
Almost sunset.
The story on this goes, Syria lost the Golan to Israel, Assad (President of Syria) said he would get the Heights back and be fishing in the Sea. When he died the Israelis errected an effigy of Assad fishing in the sea. I couldn't find confirmation on this but it's a funny story.
Caves where Zealots would have hid out from the Romans are all around these hills. The Roman soldiers were lowered down from the top of the hills and threw burning branches into the caves, when the men came out they'd be pushed off.
1 comment:
I just came back from Israel. Your comments were spot on. Thanks.
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