Gateway Teams

At the 'Gates of Hades' in Caesarea Philippi; location of the Temple of Pan in the first century AD.

GYI Israel continued...

March 15, 2008 (journal)

This day is hard to describe and even harder to take in because we essentially covered the entire area north of the Sea of Galilee where 80% of Jesus’ recorded ministry took place.

We began by driving along the eastern and northern shores of the lake eventually making our way up to the northern-most reaches of present day Israel; a finger of territory that goes up between Lebanon and Syria. Along the way we saw the Golan Heights to the east and understood first-hand how that disputed territory creates a difficult situation for Israel if it would be given back to Syria; particularly for the farmers along the eastern shore of the Sea who had one time drove armoured tractors to guard against attack. We also passed the Genesseret region where the demon possessed man was freed and the spirits were sent into the pigs nearby. On the northern shore we went past Bethsaida, over the Jordan river on the north side of the lake, and up to the ancient area of Dan. The Dan river source is right in the area where Jeroboam erected a golden calf for the northern kingdom of Israel, but it’s also the site where Canaanite idols were worshiped (near the Dan source) and a tell is which was a series of Canaanite and Israelite cities, one on top of the other. We saw a gate here from King Ahab’s time into the city of Dan and a courtyard/market area as well. Interestingly, in one of the walls in that courtyard, one of the stones found there had markings on it that was an inscription by King Ben-hadad of Assyria who won a victory over the Israelites at this site. The inscription mentions the “House of David” as being defeated here; the first mention ever found of King David outside of the Bible.

We were also shown and told about contemporary conflicts right in this same area; where Lebanon (Hezbollah) forces had attacked and burned relatively newly planted Israeli forests; where Syrian forces have a well fortified fence and signs warning of land mines (from the 6-day war in 1967) still are posted.

We then went to a place I had been anticipating the entire time we’ve been in Israel; Caesarea Philippi. This being at one of the other 2 sources of the Jordan River besides the Dan river, it became a site of worship to the god Pan and had a history of incredibly defiled pagan worship and was known as the “gates of Hades” in Jesus’ day by the large cave in the same location where this pagan worship temple was. Because I had a heard a Ray Van der Laan teaching from this sight a while ago regarding us as the church being on the ‘offensive’ against even the ‘gates of Hades’; I was hoping that someone would be sharing this truth. Sure enough, Josh Patty who works with Josiah Venture in Slovenia was asked to and did share on that very subject as we stood on the site of that ancient pagan temple! Peter’s confession of truth about who Jesus really was/is takes on an awesome relevancy when you consider the context of this place where it was said. For me (and I think a number of others), this was the most exciting and relevant on site teaching we had; particularly because Josh shared how dark his ministry context really is and how the Baptist church in that country had done very little in over 80 years of existence. A very exciting piece of Scripture when you understand the context!

One of the carved out niches in the side of the mountain of the Temple of Pan where idols were placed over 2000 years ago. If you look closer, there's an inscription you can read underneath the niche (that is, if you can read Latin!).

This site is also known as the Banias spring and a little ways away from the original temple site, we walked to a large waterfall and along the continuation of the swift river that eventually becomes part of the Jordan. From there, we made our way back to the Sea of Galilee and were treated to a fish dinner at a restaurant right on the northern shore of the lake. It was great Tilapia; tropical fish which is actually native to the area…the Sea of Galilee creates a tropical, humid climate around its shores allowing for the growth of many plants, crops and fish!

At the shores of the Sea of Galilee after a great fish dinner; seems appropriate!

We then headed over to the site of the Sermon on the Mount and had an opportunity to sit alone on the hillside for a short time as well and see the church erected on the same hillside. The next stop was where Jesus spent a lot of time and where Peter lived with his mother-in-law, Capernaum. It’s a small coastline town where we heard a reading from one of the many scriptures that take place here. We then headed onto boats for a cruise on the Sea itself! While on the boat, Israeli music played, people danced and Denis from Romania shared an inspiring message regarding Jesus walk on the water (this water!) and calming of the storm. We landed at the dock at Tiberius and got onto our buses to head back to our ‘villas’ and dinner, but the day wasn’t quite over yet. Those that were interested were invited to back to Tiberius for a multi-media presentation called “The Galilee Experience” that chronicled 4000 years of history in this region, from Abraham until the present.

The synagogue at Capernaum that Jesus often attended.


Dancing aboard the "Jesus Boat"!

An incredibly inspiring (and tiring!) day where I felt like we truly walked in the footsteps of Jesus and heard his message anew on the Galilee shores and at Caesarea Philippi.