·
Tel Hazor (Josh. 11:10-11)
· Hula Nature Reserve
· Metula (furthest north city
of Israel)
o
Mt. Hermon (Deut. 3:9)
o Tanur Falls/Iyon Stream
· Tel Dan (from “Dan to
Beersheba”, Judges 20:1; you made it)
o
Dan Spring (largest of 3/4 tributaries of the Jordan)
o
Jereboam’s Altar (1 Ki. 12:25-33)
o
Israeli outpost
o
Ancient Canaanite Gate (Gen. 14:13-16)
o
Later Israelite Gate (Judges 18)
· Banias/Hermon
Stream/Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 13:16-20)
· Golan Heights
o
Nimrod Fortress (Crusader)
o
Masade (Druze Village)
o
Kibbutz El Rom (to watch a movie)
o
Valley of Tears (Yom Kippur War, 1973)
o
Mt. Bental
I am always excited about the day we travel to the far north of Israel. There are many special places to visit. We have learned to pass by places of lesser importance early in the day given how long it takes to properly visit a site. You may wonder why we passed Tel Hazor but included the Hula Nature Reserve. So I will tell you. I have never been to Tel Hazor; someday I hope to. It was a city in Israel and before that it was an important city among the Canaanites, the leading city of the Northern Confederacy that Joshua defeated. So we didn’t go there.
But the Hula Reserve has a program about migratory birds; so why is that important? Because it shows the strategic geographical position of Israel in terms of being at the center of three continents (Africa, Asia, Europe). So I like to include it. We arrived early, just after opening at 8AM only to find that the movie presentation didn’t start until 10AM. I whined a little, pled, and they graciously arranged a showing for our group. 😊
We also included Metula, the furthest north city of Israel. We went straight and only to the Dado Lookout where you have great views of the Hula Valley (S), Lebanon (N), and Mt. Hermon (E). It was strange. We had views N and S but it was so hazy we could not even see Mt. Hermon.
Then it was on to Tel Dan. We took a hike, mostly in the shade (it has been hot, of course), about an hour seeing 5 things: the Dan Spring, Jeroboam’s Altar, an Israeli outpost, an ancient Canaanite gate and later Israelite gate. And then we had a picnic lunch that included a watermelon we had picked up from a roadside vendor the day before. Being Shabbat we had a little difficulty filling out our menu but at Tel Dan there was a guy making crapes/burritos so I order a dozen crapes with Nutella (chocolate hazelnut European excuse for peanut butter). And by the way: we finished the cheese, meaning the cheese slices I brought from home. And we got into the Korean barbecue pork jerky from Costco. 😊
Then on to Banias, where we visited “the gates of hell’ in the region of Caesarea Philippi. And then to the Golan Heights (with great views of Nimrod Fortress). We were too late for the movie at El Rom Kibbutz but did ascend Mt. Bental where there are fantastic views of the area and information about Israel’s situation with Syria. Our walkie-talkie system between the two cars is working quite well I think as we were able to do a lot of our talks about places (e.g. Masade, the Druze village) as we are traveling and then just hit the trail when we arrive at the site.
Devotions were from Deut. 32:15 on God is “the Rock”. The passage is from The Song of Moses in which God predicted Israel’s idolatry and His punishment of them as well as His ultimate fulfilling of His promise to Abraham, a fulfilment that God will in fact do for the honor of His Name! What a joyous time we are having here. And thankful for our group of Arizonans and Montanans.
Have a blessed Lord's Day!
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