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Avinoam's Coming Home Study Tours


Galilee Two-Day Tour

Price to be announced

 

Day 1

Theme: Chorizin, Beitsaida, Kfar Nachum: defining repentance and Torah obedience in the context of Yeshua's "Triangle of Woes" (Matthew 11:21-23)

Logistics:

  • Time: 06:00 - 17:00 (6:00am to 5:00pm)
  • Starting Location: Jaffa Gate Parking Complex, Jerusalem
  • Ending Location: Beit She'an Hotel and Youth Hostel
  • Route and Transportation: Driving Highway 1 east to the Jordan Valley and then Highway 90 north through the Jordan Valley to Tiberius. At the end of the day, driving south on Highway 90 to Beit She'an; Stay overnight at the Beit She'an Hotel and Youth Hostel.
  • Food: Bring money for daily lunch, snacks, and dinner, with a number of different options in Beit She'an and the cities in the north of Israel. Also bring money for overnight in Bet She'an Youth Hostel.
  • Requirements: Bible, hat, water, good walking or hiking shoes, change of clothes (shorts not allowed at Capernaum; only long pants for men and long dresses or pants for women), small backpack, money for food and entrance fees to sites including the Kinneret (Galilee) boat excursion (details on registration)
  • Transportation: your own rental car or private taxi

Research Topics and Areas of Study:

  • - Ancient Chorizin Synagogue and both its pagan and Jewish motifs including its ancient Seat of Moses (Matthew 23)
  • - Bethsaida (Josephus Antiquities 18:28), the home of Philip, Andrew, and Peter (John 1:44) and the stories that surround this city of the Galilee in Luke 9:10 and Mark 8:22.
  • - Kfar Nahum (Capernaum - Matthew 4:13) and the likely foundation for the synagogue where Yeshua taught. Also, the home of Kefa's (Peter's) Mother-in-Law (Mark 1:30 and Matthew 8:13)
  • - Arbel. A visit to the summit of this craggy cliff mountain that towers over modern Tiberius. Arbel is the ancient "Arbela" (Hosea 10:14); we'll learn about the site of Arbel and its military confrontations in history (Josephus Antiquities 12.421) under Herod, King of Judea (Josephus Antiquities 14.415; Wars 1.305).
  • - Ancient and Modern Tiberius. A city named for Tiberius Caesar on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee. Yeshua is not mentioned as having visited Tiberias although much of his ministry was spent in surrounding towns (John 6:23 records a biblical reference to the city) besides giving its name to the Kinneret, also called the 'Sea of Tiberias' (John 6:1; 21:1).
  • - Holy Land Sailing boat excursion (45 minutes) on the Kinneret (Galilee) to learn about the lake in history ( Matthew 4:18; John 6:1; Mark 6:48 and John 6:19)

Day 2

Theme:From the Jordan to the Carmel: in the footsteps of Saul, Gideon, and Elijah

Logistics:

  • Time: 08:30 - 18:30 (8:30am to 6:30pm)
  • Starting Location: Beit She'an Hotel and Youth Hostel
  • Ending Location: Jaffa Gate Parking Complex, Jerusalem
  • Route and Transportation: Driving through the Jezreel Valley for relevant stops. Then at the end of the day, driving west on Highway 65 to link up to Israel toll-road Highway 6, driving into Jerusalem.
  • Food: Bring money for daily lunch and snacks with a number of different options in areas of the Jezreel Valley.
  • Requirements: Bible, hat, water, good walking or hiking shoes, change of clothes, small backpack, money for entrance fees to National Park sites (details on registration)
  • Transportation: your own rental car or private taxi

Research Topics and Areas of Study:

  • - Tel Beit She'an was called by the ancient name Scythopolis, which was the capital city of the Decapolis mentioned in Mark 5:20 and Matthew 4:25. When king Saul died on Mount Gilboa, the Philistines placed the bodies of Saul and his sons on the walls of Beit She'an (I Samuel 31:10, 12).
  • - Ma'ayan Harod (the Harod Spring). Here, Gid'on's army of Israelites are numbered down from 22,000 men to only 300 to fight the Midianites, which were camping in the Jezreel Valley between the Spring and the Mountain called Moreh (Judges 7:1)
  • - Jezreel Valley Overview as seen from above Ma'ayan Harod: a very large valley with some very specific geographical locations mentioned in the Bible, in connection with Gid'on (Gideon) at Judges 6:33 and 7:12.
  • - The Jezreel Water Spring; not just a beautiful area to sit down and have a picnic lunch, but also a very rich area for the biblical narratives involving King Saul and the Philistines (1 Samuel 29:1)
  • - Tel Jezreel. Here, we'll enter into the biblical narrative that concerns Ahab, Elijah, Jezebel, and Naboth (1 Kings 18:45 and Chapter 21). We will also examine many other related stories to the House of Omri (Ahab's Father) at Jezreel, including the events of Jehu and Jezebel (2 Kings 9 and 10).
  • - The Gilboa ascent leading up to a mountain cliff overlooking the Jezreel Valley. Between this mountain and the Jezreel water spring below, King Saul and Jonathan, his son, fought the Philistines and fell in battle on the ascent (1 Samuel 31). We'll follow their path and learn the lessons of the Torah all along the way.
  • - Muchraka (the Burning Place) on top of Mount Carmel over looking the Jezreel Valley. Here, occurs the confrontation between Elijah and the Jezebel's 450 prophets of Ba'al (1 Kings 18:20-40.
  • - Tel Megiddo Overview. This site has biblical stories that connect it to Israel's judge Deborah and Barak (Judges 5:19). Near this very site, Judah's King Josiah was killed by one of the archers of Egypt's Pharaoh Neco (2 Kings 23:29), as he was crossing the Jezreel Valley. We will have a look at this site as it relates to the building projects of Kings Solomon (1 Kings 9:15) and Ahab, though Ahab's contribution of a very high-tech water system is only known about in the secular annals of history. The site carries with it narratives of an ominous prophecy of the End of Days as recorded in Zechariah 12:11 and Revelation 16:12.