DAY FIVE TRAVELS TO TEL DAN THEN ONTO CAESAREA PHILLIPI AND THE SYRIAN BORDER. BAPTISMS IN THE JORDAN RIVER.
At this point in the journey, it seems appropriate to mention that the group is really melding together as a family on a road trip, having shared personal and sacred memories together in such a significant place on the planet, of 2000 years ago and still today. Each of us acknowledges that this is the kind of trip where you can assure yourself and those around you that you will be unable to return home the same. Our world views, our perspectives on Scripture and biblical history as well as our personal encounters with our own perceptions, self-image, and understanding of God are being informed anew with each step we take in the footsteps of Jesus.
As we get to know one another through conversations and experiences together on the bus, at meals, at each site we visit, we recognize that it is day five and our guide Andre is still trying to figure us out. He is often founding staring in bafflement at us and our comments, all the while his Australian-looking leather bush hat brim shaking left to right above his tanned, warm and friendly face rarely devoid of a smile. He likes to get our attention by saying, "Come America" or in the morning, he'll greet us by loudly speaking into the bus's microphone, "Good morning America!" If Andre really needs to get us moving, particularly if we make a bee-line dash towards a gift shop when shopping is not on the agenda, he will loudly say, "Please Uncle Sam come, come!"
Today "America" is off to see the ancient site of Tel Dan in the northern region of the Holy Land. During biblical times, Dan was a majestic place. A gushing river runs through its thick tree canopy providing shade on a day when temperatures are already in the high 80s by 9 am. The site is now a national park and here lies fine ruins from several eras of civilizations. Just inside the 9th century B.C. city gate there is the foundation of a throne, where the king of the city pronounced judgment. At Tel Dan there is also the structure of a cultic site where King Jeroboam set up a golden calf to rival the temple in Jerusalem. From here we enjoyed our first view of the magnificent Mt. Hermon—Israel's highest mountain at 9,230 ft. also shares land with Syria. This is where the transfiguration of Jesus is believed to have been taken place. (see Mark 9:2-13)
Our second stop took us to Caesarea Phillipi, known today as Banias (there is no connection here to the book of Philippians in the New Testament). Herod the Great ruled this city in the 1st Century A.D. and his son Philip inherited it after his death. Here we saw pagan temples dedicated to Pan, Nimrod, Nemesis and others.
Lunch consisted of pita sandwiches filled to the brim with fresh lamb and French fries…yes, each held a complete run through the Burger King drive through sans the milk shake. We also tried a local specialty consisting of a crepe filled with sour cheese/yogurt and an olive oil spread heavy with the spice, thyme. Then it was time for dessert—homemade baklava!
Next our bus stopped at a hilltop lookout to see neighboring Syrian land and a United Nations checkpoint compound on the Israeli side of the border. Here a local kibbutz sold fresh jellies and liqueurs made from local cherries, avocados, eggplant and melon.
We then continued on to the Jordan River where John the Baptist baptized Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17). On the way to the river our bus's air conditioner broke (for the first time!) and temperatures rose in the bus cabin. In response, our bus driver, Ahmed, opened his window to help get some breeze circulating. A few minutes later he got stung by a bee. Thankfully he was not allergic and he was able to remove the stinger as soon as we arrived at our destination spot along the Jordan.
This afternoon adventure to the river's edge was not only a highlight of this trip for most, but better yet, a lifetime highlight for those who chose to be baptized here by Patti and Bill Pierce in the clear green waters that were teaming with huge catfish rising to the surface just twenty feet from our baptismal site. I'm afraid that such a deeply spiritual and personal experience is one that you must personally ask whomever you know on this trip more about when you see them upon arrival home—blogging could never do justice for such a baptismal experience.
Our group then returned in the late afternoon to our hotel in Tiberias, the only town on the Sea of Galilee which has become a natural center of the region with a population of 40,000. Foder's is a bit harsh on this quaint coastal town, stating "Tiberias has little beauty and less class, and although almost 2,000 years old, it still has the atmosphere of a community yet to come." Our group is in agreement that this description fits oh so well specifically for our Tiberias hotel, the Golden Tulip. Yes, that's really the name. Translated in the local dialect, it means "no hairdryers, room keys that easily de-magnetize, temperamental air conditioners and perhaps a possibility of jack hammering next door at any hour." Did I mention that their in-house lobby bar show consists of human marionettes (a cross between the Muppet Show and Riverdance) on Friday nights along with Israeli karaoke on Saturdays…and the hotel's hospitality motto is "customer service, it's all about love"? Enough said.
On this evening in Tiberias, there is a local festival honoring the great sage, the rabbi Moses Maimonides (1135-1204). Moses was known in the Jewish world as the greatest religious scholar and spiritual authority of the Middle Ages. Moses never lived in Tiberias but after his death in Egypt, his remains were brought to this holy Jewish city for internment, where his tomb has become a shrine. This day music and school children holding Israeli flags, flapping wildly in the strong afternoon wind, walk the streets and the local community circled the promenade around our hotel oblivious to the tourists in their midst. As the parade festivities filled the streets, a large brush fire started up on a nearby hillside and many of us wondered if this was done in significance for the first Moses—a type of modern-day "burning bush." The hotel staff informed us that the parade was well-planned for, whereas the large brush fire was not.
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