It was February 27, 2004 and Mr. Jones, myself, and 23 others took a nice long spring-time walk on the road that leads from Chorazin to Capernaum. It was day five of our 12-day walking/study tour of Israel. As we walked along, we talked about the stuff Jesus taught his disciples as they would stroll between these towns together all those many years ago.
It was a pretty intense hike to Capernaum. Sometimes we were ankle-deep in mud ... and always, always, always, there were ROCKS and then more rocks. We talked about the significance of having your feet washed after a journey like this. Imagine wearing thin sandals and taking this difficult hike!
At various intervals, we would stop to rest and read Scripture. I really enjoyed reading some of the parables Jesus taught like the one about the farmer sowing the seed along the path and about some seed falling in rocky places, some falling on good soil, and other seed falling among thorns. As we walked along, we could see with our own eyes exactly what Jesus had been teaching about!
Can you see Mr. Jones walking along the path? It took us over two hours to walk the two miles to Capernaum. It is a hike that I will never forget.
Later that evening, we went to a site commonly thought to be the Mount of Beatitudes and had a great time of Bible study there. We read all of Matthew chapters five, six and seven sitting right here on this hillside. It was awesome!
The acoustics are great on these hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee! Our guide demonstrated how clearly a person's voice could carry over a very long distance. It was a misty evening when we were there, and it's difficult to actually see much of the Sea. 
These pictures were actually taken a few days later, on the other side of the lake. It was incredible to actually walk around the areas where Jesus called his disciples, where he performed tons of miracles, healed so many folk and taught about the kingdom of God!
I am tremendously thankful for the three times I have been able to travel to Israel. The trip we took four years ago was the very best and we made the most of every minute we had! Many of our days were 12-hour days of climbing, hiking, talking, praying ... to study there is so faith affirming! Some day, I would like to spend several months in Israel ~ studying, walking, digging at an archeological dig, and taking thousands of pictures! I hope we don't have to wait another four years before we return to this beautiful place.
5 comments:
I hope to go there someday...
I wish I could have been on that trip with you guys but my OB would have laughed and then screamed no if I asked! I can't believe that was already 4 years ago... wow. I hope to get back to Israel again too someday.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to gather the family together and ALL go ... well, at least the adults! What a great time we would have! :)
Aunt Carol, These pictures are beautiful. I would love to go there one day. I think it would be a very spiritually/emotionally deep time to be where the Lord lived while here on earth. I loved these pictures, it makes the Word even more alive to me. thank you, Rachel
Hi Rachel! How nice to hear from you. I wish your family was still blogging ~ it was fun to get a tiny peak into your lives now and then ~ I miss you guys!
I hope you will be able to travel to Israel one day. The LORD continually uses what we learned on our study trip to change me and challenge me!
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