CAESAREA PHILIPPI / MOUNT OF BEATITUDES / TABGHA / CAPERNAUM / SEA OF GALILEE / JORDAN RIVER

GOOGLE MAP: CAESAREA PHILIPPI, MOUNT OF BEATITUDES, TABGHA, CAPERNAUM, SEA OF GALILEE, JORDAN RIVER. Photos are included at each site on the map.

Leonardo Plaza, Tiberias – Our hotel for days 2 and 3 of the tour.
Tiberias
The Jordan River flows through the Sea of Galilee
Shop in the hotel
The hills of Syria are in the distance across the Sea of Galilee
Sunrise
Twin beds in kosher hotels in case a married couple needs to split them apart for times of purity.

Some of today’s area is known as the Evangelical Triangle. It’s where Jesus spent most of His ministry time. He also cursed some of these cities for their unbelief.

CAESAREA PHILIPPI

Bible-History.com

This is the farthest north we traveled and we could see the hills of Lebanon from our bus. It was a beautiful yet sad place to visit. Check out the history:

In this Painting of the First Century Sanctuary of Pan there is depicted from left to right:

  • The Grotto or Cave of the God Pan (Behind the Temple of Augustus)
  • The Court of Pan and the Nymphs (To the Right of the Temple of Augustus)
  • The Temple of Zeus (In the Middle)
  • The Court of Nemesis (To the Right of the Temple of Zeus)
  • The Tomb Temple of the Sacred Goats (Upper Right)
  • The Temple of Pan and the Dancing Goats (Bottom Right)

The Cave of Pan (or Grotto of Pan) was amazing because of many reasons:

  • The waters flowed out of the cave and fed the Jordan River.
  • There was a bottomless pit inside that contained so much water that it could not be measured.
  • The place was so striking that it impressed Alexander the Great, and the Greeks built a sanctuary there. Natural features not only impressed the Greeks but they believed them to be a dwelling place of the gods, and nothing produced more awe and terror than a place identified as a cave where the god Pan dwelt. He was responsible for the scary noises in the forest and many mysteries were associated with him that brought great fear. The Romans were heavily influenced by the Greeks and they followed many of their religious traditions.
  • Today the cave can be seen by any tourist in Israel.
  • It was the place of Jesus’ great revelation:

Caesarea Philippi was mentioned only twice in the Bible, both referring to the same event where Jesus chose to reveal to His disciples that He was the Messiah. He also announced His coming death in Jerusalem and the end of His earthly ministry and beginning of theirs. It is a mystery why Jesus chose this place to reveal who He was to His disciples, so far north of the Sea of Galilee, yet there are some interesting clues. Caesarea Philippi was the location of the Cave of Pan, the place of the pagan Gate of Hades. It was in this area that the first king of Israel (Jeroboam) led the northern kingdom of Israel into idolatry. This was also the same place where the Greeks and Romans received revelations from the god Pan who was mentioned in classical writings as a “seer” or fortune teller and a giver of revelations. At Caesarea Philippi Jesus turned to His disciples and asked them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They responded that some thought John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asked them “Who do you say I am”? Peter answered, “You are the Christ the Son of the living God ” (Matthew 16:13-16). Jesus blessed Peter (Petros, a stone) and revealed to them “upon this rock (Petra, large rock, bed-rock) I will build my church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

Let’s explore the “Son of Man” more:

The Bible Project video: Son of Man

Psalm 80:17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.

Daniel 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

Matthew 9:6, Mark 2:10-1, Luke 5:24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”

Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62, Luke 22:69 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Hebrews 2:6-9 But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that You remember him? Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him? “You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And have appointed him over the works of Your hands; You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him but we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Matthew 8:20 Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Got Questions: Caesarea Philippi

Bible History: Ancient Caesarea Philippi

Our photos from our trip:

MOUNT OF BEATITUDES

The Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the “Sermon on the Mount”, is a low hill in Galilee near the town of Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The mount is between Capernaum and Tabgha and overlooks the fields of Gennesaret.

Matthew records the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5-7. If you have a red letter edition Bible, you will see that this section of Scripture is mostly red. In fact, it’s the largest red section in the New Testament. Luke gives a nod to it in Luke 6:20-49. Mark and John do not mention this in their Gospels. The 8 Beatitudes are listed at the beginning of the sermon.

The Sermon on the Mount has chiastic structure to it. See the charts below:

I saw many different nations represented here. I got two of them on video. You can hear the different languages.

TABGHA – “SEVEN SPRINGS”

Tabgha is at the foot of the Mount of Beatitudes. It is possibly the location of the feeding of the 5000. It is also thought to be the site where Jesus cooked breakfast for His disciples after His resurrection and then restored Peter and commissioned him to serve.

Miraculous feeding of 5000: Matthew 14: 13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14 This is the only story recorded in all four gospels.

Jesus commissions Peter: John 21: 1-19

For more information: See the Holy Land: Primacy of St. Peter

Across the street

CAPERNAUM

Today the town of Kfar Nahum stands where Capernaum once stood. You can see the site of a Franciscan monastery and a Greek Orthodox church, and also see the ruins of several ancient stone homes as well as the Biblical home of Peter, the church and the synagogue. Despite having performed many miracles in Capernaum Jesus was disappointed in the village’s lack of faith and eventually cursed Capernaum.

Some things that happened here in the bible:

  • Mark 1:21-27 Jesus was confronted by a demoniac while teaching in the synagogue here.
  • John 6:35-59 Jesus taught the Bread of Life sermon in the synagogue here.
  • Mark 2:1-12 Jesus cured a paralytic who was lowered in through the roof
  • Luke 7:1-10  Jesus healed the servant of the centurion. Jesus said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”
  • Matthew 9:18–26, Mark 5:21–43, Luke 8:40-56, Jesus raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead and heals the bleeding woman.

Lunch at David’s Harp:

SEA OF GALILEE

Fun facts:

  • Best known as Lake Kenneret because of its harp-like shape. It is also known as Lake Galilee, Lake Tiberias and Sea of Gennesaret.
  • 13 miles long by 8 miles wide, 150 feet at deepest level, 686 feet below sea level and 32 miles in circumference
  • Fed by the Jordan River which flows through it north to south.
  • Israel’s largest freshwater lake.
  • Lowest freshwater lake on Earth.
  • St. Peter’s fish (talapia) is popular here.
  • Due to its low-lying position in the rift valley and surrounded by hills, the sea can get sudden violent storms.
  • The Decapolis (10 cities) was to the east and south of the Sea.

Many things happened here in the Bible. Here are just a few:

Our photos from the Kibbutz Ginosar and our trip on the Sea of Galilee:

I had the privilege of teaching from a boat on the Sea of Galilee during our trip to Israel. Here is a link to the lesson and video of the teaching:

https://theresahaigler.com/2023/04/10/storms/

More fun videos from others with great information:

JORDAN RIVER BAPTISM

Yardenit is situated on the banks of the Jordan River, at the Southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. Visitors to Yardenit are greeted by Mark 1:9-11, the account of the baptism of Jesus, in over 80 languages and dialects, depicted in hand painted tiles by Armenian artist Hagop Antreassian on the Wall of New Life. For more information on this site, go to Yardenit.

I got baptized in the Jordan River!!!!!!