SEA OF GALILEE

We took a ride on a boat out on the Sea of Galilee. I hesitate to call it a "Sea" anymore because it's more like a "Lake", much smaller than it looks on pictures of Israel. The body of water is only about 7 miles across east to west and 13 miles north to south. It was very moving to sit on the water where Jesus and his disciples had so many encounters together, to think that while some of the shoreline has changed the mountains and valleys are virtually unchanged. When the water is low during drought years you can actually find the ancient harbors. For example, we know that Capernaum was a heavy duty fishing village. Right next to Capernaum is Tagba, known for the 7 springs that come into the Sea of Galiliee providing an ideal place for Peter, Andrew, James, and John to do their fishing.

Last night we sat and watched the sun set over the mountains on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. Then as it turned dark the lights in Tiberias began to shine like a "city set on a hill." About 9 p.m. we sat in the dark by starlight and watched the F-15 jets make their run up to the Golan Heights border with Syria. Their green flashing lights were hard to miss with the eyes. The sonic boom was hard to miss with your ears. Israel is such a small country that we could see them in the sky all the way northup to the border, twenty miles away or so, and then they did a looping turn back south. A great night.