This morning after yet another incredibly delectable breakfast, our crew left the Sea of Galilee for a trip to the Golan Heights.
The gates of hell did not prevail against us, so we continued upward to the Mt. Bental in the Golan Heights. Mt. Bental is a former IDF outpost that overlooks Kuneitra and Mt. Hermon. It is about 40 miles away from Damascus, but we could see the path that Saul may have been traveling when Christ appeared to him. It was windy and cold at the top of Mt. Bental, but we huddled together to keep warm as we imagined what havoc ISIS was wrecking not far from where we stood. Under the aegis of the UN, a Norwegian and a Finish soldier stood watch over Syria and Lebanon.
From the Golan Heights we drove south toward Jerusalem, hugging the banks of the Jordan River on one side, and the West Bank on the other. We passed Jericho without stopping to help any wounded people on the side of the road, because we didn't see any. We arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem in time for a delicious dinner and a lecture and discussion by an Israeli Muslim journalist for the Jerusalem Post, Khaled Abu Toameh. As a group we figured out the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but I've decided not to reveal it yet since the world isn't ready for it. Tomorrow we will explore Jerusalem and participate in a Shabbat dinner with Jewish host families. Lila tov. Good night.
On the way to the Golan Heights we stopped to learn about Israel's strategic challenges along its northern border from Colonel Marom, a research associate at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism at the Herzeliya Interdisciplinary Center. We visited a circular pool monument surrounded by stones representing the more than 70 Israeli soldiers who died in a tragic helicopter collision. The colonel taught us about the variety of terrorist groups that threaten Israel. We passed many Syrian mine fields and barbed wire fences, but we also paused to notice the beauty of God's creations in the midst of a war zone.
We also stopped at Caesarea Phillipi, where Peter responded to the Lord's question: "But whom say ye that I am?" Peter responded that Jesus was the Son of God, and the Lord blessed him for it, because flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but the Spirit of God. We hiked along the nature reserves along the tributaries of the Jordan River in an area called Banias. Anciently there were worshippers of Pan in this place, and there was a cave that was known as the gates of hell.
From the Golan Heights we drove south toward Jerusalem, hugging the banks of the Jordan River on one side, and the West Bank on the other. We passed Jericho without stopping to help any wounded people on the side of the road, because we didn't see any. We arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem in time for a delicious dinner and a lecture and discussion by an Israeli Muslim journalist for the Jerusalem Post, Khaled Abu Toameh. As a group we figured out the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but I've decided not to reveal it yet since the world isn't ready for it. Tomorrow we will explore Jerusalem and participate in a Shabbat dinner with Jewish host families. Lila tov. Good night.
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