Another Day in Galilee: Dan, Caesarea Philippi, Jordan River

Today began with watching the sunrise come up over the Sea of Galilee (yes, at 5:45 am!) and we were reminded that "because of the Lord's great love...his compassions never fail. They are new every morning."

We are staying in a wonderful resort on the Sea of Galilee which is next to an Israeli kibbutz. The food, served as a buffet for over 200 people, is great!

Today we visited Dan near the northern border of Israel. In fact, we looked across the valley to Lebanon and the Golan Heights. We also passed fields protected with barbed wire and marked "Danger -- mines," reminding us of how much war still marks this area. Yesterday, we also heard jets frequently flying overhead. One of Israel's largest military bases and airfields is located nearby.

But Dan has a beautiful nature preserve. We walked the trail in silence, listening to bird calls, seeing the flowers, hearing the rushing water that leads into the Jordan River. It's a beautiful place. We saw the ruins of the ancient city gate of Dan, the second largest of the tribes of Israel, and found the site of a high altar where they found a golden calf during excavations. We learned that the tribe of Dan was not particularly satisfied with the portion it had received from the Lord and began looking longingly at "better" sites nearby. Bit by bit, they accommodated themselves to the local culture and worship. When Jeroboam became king of the northern tribes, he didn't want his people going to Jerusalem to worship, so he set up a place to worship in Dan on his kingdom's northern border (as well as in Bethel, on the southern border), moving the people even farther away from God. Many years later, when John refers to the 144,000 members of ancient Israel surrounding the throne (Rev. 7:4-8) all of the tribes are mentioned except Dan, which traded its inheritance from the Lord for something of their own choosing. Bill asked us, "What inheritance has God given us? Are we treasuring it?" His meditations always give us food for thought.

Next we went to Caesarea Philippi where there is a cave dedicated to the god Pan. The deep cave earned the title "the gates of Hades." This is where Jesus took his disciples and asked them "...and who do you say that I am?" After Peter answers, Jesus says, "You are Peter...and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." Never knew about that connection before today.

A highlight of the day was visiting the Jordan River where Bill invited us all to step into the Jordan and think about the Spirit who moved on the face of the waters at creation--a time of when darkness was over the deep--and who later also descend on Jesus after his baptism--another time which desperately needed the shalom only he could bring. As we all stepped into the muddy waters of Jordan, we reflected on how God calls us to bring shalom to our world.

Standing in the Jordan River

Today was another interesting day, full of beauty and learning. At the end of the day we again spent time sharing some of the places we saw God today as well as some of what we heard him say. Here are some of the comments shared by members of our group:

• the beautiful sunrise
• Christ setting himself out in the world as an example for us
• the nature walk in silence
• that God put it into the heart of Israelis to protect all these antiquities and the debt of gratitude we owe them
• people coming from all over the world to learn more of Jesus
• idols come and go, but our God is always the same, from one generation to the next

We then closed by singing, "My friends, may we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ our Savior."
~ Lois