Out of the 11 countries on the August 2009 World Race route, Israel was the country I most wanted to visit. I longed to walk where Jesus walked, see what he saw, and have a mental image of the landscape when I read the Bible.
Well, thanks to erosion, decay, and urban development … that is not possible.
However, Israel was still very cool. I stared out over the Sea of Galilee and imagined Jesus walking on top of the choppy water. I climbed up the windy streets of Nazareth. I waded through Hezekiah’s Tunnel, a narrow, 533-meter maze beneath Jerusalem that was dug in 701 B.C. to provide the city with water in case of a siege from the Assyrians (Thanks Wikipedia!).
I surveyed the 2,500-year old remnants of Nehemiah’s wall and floated in the sparkling Dead Sea. I wandered aimlessly through the Judean Wilderness and visited Capernaum, where a synagogue was built over a synagogue Jesus may or may not have preached at and a church was constructed over the former home of Simon Peter.
I wish I could have bought you all plane tickets to Israel so we could share these experiences, BUT I can’t … so here’s the next best thing … pictures. Enjoy.
The Sea of Galilee
Capernaum
Nazareth
Jerusalem
The Dead Sea
