Springs of Life

Finally touring with the group today was a blessing for me.  I'm so grateful to be here in the places where Jesus ministered in Galilee.  The countryside is beautiful and we have absolutely amazing weather to go along with it.  Today we visited a few different sites north of the sea of Galilee including Tel Hazor (pronounced Hat-zor), Tel Dan, the ruins of Ceserea-Philipi, the possible site of the Transfiguration and the Golan Heights region.

Just a quick rundown on some of history behind these places:

Tel Hazor was the cheif Canaanite city in norther Palestine when Joshua was and the Israelites came into the land.  It is described in Joshua 11 as being burned by fire when the Israelites destroyed it.  We were actually able to see the residue of a fire from that time period in the rocks.  It could have very possibly been the burning of Hazor described in Joshua.  Later it became one of Solomon's fortified cities that guarded the northern entrance to Israel.

Ceserea-Philipi was a place that Jesus spent a significant amount of time and was the place where Peter's confession of faith was made.  The town is also at the foot of a mountain described to be the possible location of the transfiguration of Jesus.  The view on top of the mountain was breathtaking.

The most moving location for me was Tel Dan.  We visited En Dan which was the spring at Tel Dan.  It is always flowing even during droughts.  Our professor explained that he has come up to that spring after 3 year droughts and still the spring would be flowing consistently.  Jeremiah uses this as an example in Jeremiah 2:13:  

For My people have committed two evils:  They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

The imagery here is very agricultural.  For those who would dig cisterns for themselves would know exactly how much water they had at all times and could control and predict what would come next.  However, the spring is a risk.  It is much less predictable and there is a level of trust that must be taken when dealing with the spring.  Like God we are called to stop doing our own way and to take the risk of living of the real Living Water that is God.  Living in that place I am unable to measure my life and make it predictable.  Instead it has become a life built on faith and living by these Springs of Life.

I've been having some trouble uploading pictures to my blog.  If you have facebook you can look at them there.  Otherwise I will try and figure out that situation.  In the meantime thank you for your continued prayers.

Shalom,

-AM