Shabat Shalom from Tiberias, Israel!
Holy Land 2013 – Last Day in Galilee Region from BMZ TV on Vimeo.
We spent our second to last day in the Galilee area today. We load the buses again in the morning, tour around the area a bit more, and we’ll end up in Jerusalem by tomorrow evening (or around 10-11 am back home in Wisconsin).
Our day started off by visiting Cana, the site of Jesus’ first miracle. It was here where he turned water into wine at the wedding feast. Since we were in a place with a fun wedding story (and just a few churches commemorating the event) our group held a renewal of vows ceremony for the married couples on our trip (and luckily, no one refused this opportunity … that may have been awkward). The ceremony was held in the courtyard of the Church of Nathanael.
The next stop for our group today took us to Sepphoris, a town that isn’t too far from Cana or Nazareth. Sepphoris was at one time a very important town in the area. From the excavations, one can easily see it was a town with money. Here, we toured a mansion of the day (complete with indoor plumbing, so to speak). A major attraction here is the “Madonna of the Mideast,” a woman who is portrayed within a beautiful mosaic display. We walked down the main streets of ol’ Sepphoris and had to watch our step as the grooves from chariots and wagon loads are still present today.
We headed from Sepphoris to Bet Shean and were there for the afternoon. After a bit of lunch, we toured Bet Shean, one of the cities of the Decapolis. It’s also known as Scythopolis and is the only one of the ten towns west of the Jordan River. This was a sight of Jesus’ ministry (Matt. 4:25, Mark 5:20) and one of the few places where he ministered where the Gentiles outnumbered the Jews.
Tomorrow we’re heading off to Caesarea, Megiddo, Mt. Carmel, Mt. Scopus, and our hotel in Jerusalem which will be home base for our final days in the Holy Land.