Nearing the End
Today was our last day with Jared, and we had to start the day off a little earlier because he needed to have enough time to make it back to Jerusalem for Shabbat that evening with his family. So we left our hotel around 7:30 and drove to Golan Heights. These mountains are at the northern part of the country and from these mountains we could look out and see Syria, as well as know the general location of where Jordan and Lebanon are. One unique part about this area of land is that it is not recognized as a part of the country of Israel by anyone except Israel. All the other countries recognize this piece of land as being occupied by Israel but not actually belonging to Israel. Knowing that this place could potentially be a source of conflict at any moment was a little eerie! Just off in the distance we could see an abandoned town in Syria where many rebels hide in and where fights break out between government and rebels. Jared said he has been standing on the Golan Heights and seen these fights happen from afar. In the midst of looking out and getting a beautiful 360 view there is still so much hurt and pain so close.
After the Golan Heights we went on two nature walks. The first one was to get a look at Isreal's biggest waterfall, the Banias. It may not be the greatest waterfall but when remembering the water situation in this country this waterfall takes on a whole new meaning of beauty!
The second nature reserve we went on was beautiful as well as it wound through trees and green beautiful plants and flowers of every color. It was refreshing to see all of this life after having spent a lot of time in the desert and not seeing anything like this. This area that we were in is recognized as Dan and towards the end of the walk we come across this area pictured below. This is where an altar would have been. The metal is the reconstructed part to give an idea at how big this alter would have been. In 1 Kings 12 it tells us that in Bethel and Dan, King Jereboam constructed golden calves for the Israelites and people traveled from all over to worship these golden calves. This would have been the place where the golden calf in Dan stood. I don't remember ever hearing this passage before but to hear it and see the significance of what it would mean for someone to travel this far to see a golden calf, it was sombering. But how many times do we have golden calves in our lives today, where we travel near or far to worship what we have put in the forefront of our lives? What a reminder and a visual that I hope I can take with me into the future.
Then Jared took us to lunch where we got to walk around a little strip of restaurants and pick to eat wherever we wanted. Delicious as always! Headed back to the hotel then and had to say goodbye to Jared in Tiberius where he caught a bus back to Jerusalem. I KNOW that no one in our group will ever forget Jared. He connected with us and made this whole experience a memorable one. We will all miss him. Hoping to reconnect with him someday again!
Once back at the hotel we spent the afternoon at the beach soaking up the sun and the time we have left with one another. After dinner consisted more chatting and watching the sunset one last time on the Sea of Galilee. Can not believe tomorrow is the last full day in Israel! It flew by and it's bittersweet. I know for myself I'm ready to go home and see the fam but also not ready to leave this beautiful country. I know that the memories made on this trip and the information learned will follow me the rest of my life and I am so grateful to end this trip tomorrow after having a once in a lifetime experience!
After the Golan Heights we went on two nature walks. The first one was to get a look at Isreal's biggest waterfall, the Banias. It may not be the greatest waterfall but when remembering the water situation in this country this waterfall takes on a whole new meaning of beauty!
The second nature reserve we went on was beautiful as well as it wound through trees and green beautiful plants and flowers of every color. It was refreshing to see all of this life after having spent a lot of time in the desert and not seeing anything like this. This area that we were in is recognized as Dan and towards the end of the walk we come across this area pictured below. This is where an altar would have been. The metal is the reconstructed part to give an idea at how big this alter would have been. In 1 Kings 12 it tells us that in Bethel and Dan, King Jereboam constructed golden calves for the Israelites and people traveled from all over to worship these golden calves. This would have been the place where the golden calf in Dan stood. I don't remember ever hearing this passage before but to hear it and see the significance of what it would mean for someone to travel this far to see a golden calf, it was sombering. But how many times do we have golden calves in our lives today, where we travel near or far to worship what we have put in the forefront of our lives? What a reminder and a visual that I hope I can take with me into the future.
Then Jared took us to lunch where we got to walk around a little strip of restaurants and pick to eat wherever we wanted. Delicious as always! Headed back to the hotel then and had to say goodbye to Jared in Tiberius where he caught a bus back to Jerusalem. I KNOW that no one in our group will ever forget Jared. He connected with us and made this whole experience a memorable one. We will all miss him. Hoping to reconnect with him someday again!
Once back at the hotel we spent the afternoon at the beach soaking up the sun and the time we have left with one another. After dinner consisted more chatting and watching the sunset one last time on the Sea of Galilee. Can not believe tomorrow is the last full day in Israel! It flew by and it's bittersweet. I know for myself I'm ready to go home and see the fam but also not ready to leave this beautiful country. I know that the memories made on this trip and the information learned will follow me the rest of my life and I am so grateful to end this trip tomorrow after having a once in a lifetime experience!
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