Day 4
May 28, Tuesday
We start the
morning with a drive through the valley to Tel Dan, the farthest North point of
Israel. The hills low and rolling, are dotted with wild olive trees scattered and orchards of them along with fruit groves, grapes in rows; all in patchwork along
the way. We pass the settlements called Kibbutz, planned villages placed along
the borders. The people who live here
have a purpose, they are to keep watch, the first line, always on guard for
their homeland, lookouts, protectors from attacks, from the Syrians and the
Lebanese, as if an armed camp; families, children, guns…the first line of
defence.
As we pass
by the Kibbutz we enter Dan, mentioned in the bible, belonging to the tribe of
Dan…from Dan to Beersheba; with Syria to one side and Lebanon to the
other. We arrive at Tel Dan Nature Hike
and immediately enter into the amazingly lush wooded park; inside it is surprisingly
cool considering the heat of the day.
Rushing alongside is the beautiful, beautiful river, the water flow being
pushed by the melting snow of Mount Hermon.
We pass through Paradise…Ancient Dan and the ancient remains of a long
ago sacrificial altar built by King Jeroboam.
“Then Jeroboam went
out into the hill country of Ephraim and lived there…he said to the people ‘you
have gone up to Jerusalem long enough’ and…he made temples on high places, he
set one in Bethel and the other he put in Dan…”
1 Kings 12:25-33
From here we
look out, far out, over the land and we see Lebanon, the small villages of the Hezbollah
and the long and winding road marking the border…we hear the cries of those
lost at war and those that have suffered because of it, all around we hear the
echoes of this war torn land and we stop to pray for Israel…tears.
Just a few
steps more, deeper down the path we come across the remains of a large
mud home dating back to the time of Abraham; covered with a curved canvas roof to protect it from the weather; who lived here inside these earthen walls? On ahead, down and around a winding path, a few steps
more and then just a few more, the site where an inscription was found,
engraved in stone, the name of King David…a King, a man after God's own heart; proven true…amazing.
Moving on we
travel to Caesarea Philippi, the place where Jesus brings his disciples, He has
taken them out of Tiberius to this most northern point; for us, about an hour’s
drive, for them it would have been hours of walking, to a place as far as they
can get from the Jewish people. Did they question Jesus about this route, did they
wonder why; what were they talking about as they went this far way? I wonder,
why this far? But here, in this place,
this oasis of fig trees and cedars beside a beautiful water fall Jesus asks, “who
do the people say I am?" and then He asks “who do you say I am?” Here in this far, far place, they rest and
discuss and listen…and in this place we listen too, hearing the echoes of Jesus
asking us the same question…"who do you say I am?"
Before making
our way back to Tiberius we see in the distance Mount Hermon, the high
mountain, the one that provides the snow to the waterways, and possibly the high mountain of
the transfiguration; we cannot take our eyes from it.
Driving into
the Golan Heights we pass by soldiers as we look out to the lands they are
prepared to fight and as we go, we see the remnants left from another war,
signage, barbed wire, and barren fields…land mines. And we see Syria in the far distance; silence…we
are remembering the video clip we saw earlier telling of the Valley of tears,
we saw the soldiers who shared their experience, Syrian tanks 500, Iraeli tanks 44, darkness, telling the emotional words
that spoke of their stamina, strength and spirit; baptism by fire…personal
sacrifice, loss, death… the silent cry, unanimous…’we will not go back to
extermination camps!’ One last push to move forward, the hand of God and the battle won…yes, baptism
by fire…the valley of tears.
