Galilean Idol

5/24/08
Our place on the Sea of Galilee is amazing. Ein Gev is right on the lake. It is by far the best place we've stayed. Unfortunately, while running out into the lake last night, I stepped on a shell. My big toe got a pretty good chunk of skin removed, but I didn't need stitches. It eventually stopped bleeding.
We began the day at an overlook where you could see Syria and then turn all around and see the lake. We went to a lot of places today. It was a fast paced day. We overlooked Gamel, a place that was reminiscent of Masada. The Jews here held out a long time against the Romans, and then committed suicide, rather than be captured.
My favorite place of the day was Caesarea Phillipi. There was a large cave with many carvings and niches for the Greek god Pan. Jesus made his statement to Peter and the other disciples about the gates of Hades not prevailing over the church at this place. This is astonishing because there is a rumor that the locals believed the cave there was the entrance to Hades. If this is true, it is remarkable that Jesus would use this opportunity to say this. He chose this location, full of pagan idol worship to make a case for the church. He also taught us teachers how to teach. He used something common from the day as an object lesson. Maybe we should point out Gucci billboards and talk about consumerism, or political ads and talk about honesty and integrity.
We stopped at a beautiful waterfall, too.
After this we went to Dan, a large place where many interesting artifacts have been found. The most interesting is an inscription that mentions "The House of David." There was little historical evidence outside of Scripture about King David before this find. Dan had a large altar built and a huge platform for the golden calf. Quite fascinating.
At night, I moped around and missed my family. It was the first night I forced myself to be alone - and it was horrible.