The Stars and Stripes.....Vered HaGalil

On Sunday, January 6th, I had some errands to run. It was a beautiful day in Jerualem and American Flags were being hung all over the city for the upcoming arrival of President Bush. Below is the busy intersection of Keren HaYesod and Gershon Agron. If you zoom to the statue on top of the building you will see that it is a statue of Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus. There is a convent just across the street going down Agron.

Below with all the flags is Agron Street. A few blocks down is the US Consulate on the right and Independence Park is on the left. I got my hands "slapped" for trying to take a picture of the Consulate. In early November I took one when they apparently were not looking and it is posted on the blog back then. They should put up signs telling you "no pictures". However, if it were in Hebrew I would not be able to read it anyway.

Below King David Street and several others were closed when President Bush was here. No parked cars allowed. Most people heard the news because I read where they only towed 29 cars to the soccer stadium. My bus route was affected. The mornings were ok because I was probably out earlier than the President. Wednesday night on the bus we were re-routed by the Old City and that trip was fine. The next night we got re-routed to tiny, narrow, side streets on a double-bus. My bus driver gets an A+ when the police had us make a U-turn at a roundabout. He had to back up several feet in order to swing the double-bus around. Before President Bush arrives again next May during Israel's 60th Anniversary, he might schedule some vacation.

Below is the King David. The President's entourage took every room in the hotel plus all the rooms at the nearby Dan Panorama. When President Bush drove to Ramallah, the motorcade was 45 cars.

Below we jump back to the Saturday before Christmas as I am finishing my drive to Vered HaGalil. This sign on the highway directs you to a city called Nein (Nain) located close to Nazereth. In Luke Chapter 7, the Lord Jesus is in Capernaum healing the centurion's servant. Then the next day they passed through Nain probably on the way to Nazereth. Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Luke 7:11-15.

Below the modern day Arab city of Nain.

Below I'm approaching Mount Tabor that I could see in the distance from Tel Megiddo. The partial photo of the car reveals that I just leaned out the window. "As I live," says the King, Whose name is the LORD of hosts, "Surely as Tabor is among the mountains And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come. Jeremiah 46:18

Below is a street sign where I pulled off the road hoping to find some lunch. Being Shabbat, many places were closed and I was getting a little hungry. The sign says that En Dor is 5 kilometers down the road. En Dor is where one of the spookiest stories in the Bible occurred. King Saul, 1000 years before the Lord Jesus came to earth, went to see the witch of En Dor and called up Samuel's ghost. The next day, King Saul and his sons were killed on Mount Gilboa which is just to the right of this photo. Then Saul said to his servants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor." So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, "Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you." Then the woman said to him, "Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?" And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, "As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" And he said, "Bring up Samuel for me."
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!" And the king said to her, "Do not be afraid. What did you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth." So he said to her, "What is his form?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle." And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down. Now Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul answered, "I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do." Then Samuel said: "So why do you ask me, seeing the LORD has departed from you and has become your enemy? And the LORD has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." 1st Samuel 28:7-19

Since the Sea of Galilee is in the other direction and I was having a good day and did not want the car to begin to shake or levitate, I did not go to En Dor. The Bible is very clear in several places about avoiding fortune tellers, sooth sayers, etc. Moses told the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 18:9-11 "When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.

Below Mount Tabor from the south as I am going around it. On the east side of Mount Tabor, there is a small village called Kfar Tavor. From Kfar Tavor, you can go east and take the back roads to the southern tip of Sea of Galille or go north. There is a good photo shot of the Sea of Galilee and Tiberias if you head east. However, today, there was a roadblock. The police asked me where I was going and I said "Vered HaGalil". They asked me if I knew where Golani Junction was (and I did) and told me to go that way (north). So I did. They must have been chasing some bad guys or something. I 'm glad they spoke English. I wanted to ask if I could have a photo of them talking to me for the blog but decided against it.

Below the is Golani Brigade Memorial and Museum at the Golani Junction. The Golani Brigade is an infantry division of the Israel Defense Force. Back in 1948, they were predominantly farmers and have always been identified with the land of Israel. Israel calls major intersections of highways "junctions". So when the police at Kfar Tavor mentioned Golani Junction, they were just talking about a highway intersection. The junctions across Israel are named for a town, city, or in this case an IDF Memorial that is close by.

Below just next to the IDF Memorial was lunch and a pit stop. I had a #6 combination called a "ke bab". It is lafa (large round pita bread) with 2 hamburger patties. It tasted very good. Amidst all the peace treaty talks and kassam rockets being fired, etc. today there were just children's birthday parties at McDonald's. Both Jew and Arab.

Below from the parking lot of McDonald's, I took a picture of what looks like major excavation. If you zoom in you will barely see a city on the left hand side. That is Cana which is northeast of Nazereth and the location of the first miracle recorded in John's Gospel. On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." ... John 2:1-3.

I keep driving north through some beautiful country but did not have a good place to stop for photos. By mid-afternoon I was north of the Kinneret Lake (Sea of Galilee). Below is an Israeli road sign in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. The little squiggly line denotes a river.

Below is the Jordan River before it flows into the north end of the Sea of Galilee by Bet Saida. Three streams, the Dan, the Snir, and the Banias come together further up north to become the Jordan River. At the south end of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River flows out of the Galilee all the way to the Dead Sea down by Jerusalem. The Dead Sea called the Salt Sea in Bible is the lowest part on earth, 1300 feet below Sea Level. One body of water provides the largest source of drinking water to Israel and gives life. The other body of water is salt just like the ocean and unable to provide life. So here in the Land of Israel God gives us a simple, visual picture of life's choices. Two bodies of water connected by the same river. The Sea of Galilee where the Lord Jesus walked, healed and ministered represents the "Sea of Life". Whereas the Dead Sea represents those that choose not to follow the Lord Jesus, a "Sea of Death". I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; Deuteronomy 30:19.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14.6

Below is the Golan Heights on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. Biblically the Golan Heights are referred to as Bashan. And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon." So they defeated him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left him; and they took possession of his land. Numbers 21:33-35 I will post photos of Gamla on the Golan later.

Below is my back porch of the rustic cabin. The Sea of Galilee in the distance. The city of Tiberias is on the right and lit up and night. Tiberias was there during the time of the Lord Jesus. ...however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks.. John 6:23

Entrance to the cabin as it's getting dark.

Sunday morning walking around Vered HaGalil (Rose of the Galilee).

An Israeli stop sign.

Late December and flowers are still blooming.

Main entrance to Vered HaGalil. Kay and I came here in 1998.

Cactus in Israel.

Built in the 40's as a private ranch. Vered HaGalil would be considered rustic but it was Kay's type of place. The restaurant is to the left of the main office, the horse barn is directly connected just behind it. I do recommend the filet mignon with mushrooms, honey, and garlic sauce.

Some of the stables.

Beautiful colors of the Lord....Red

and Blue...

Kay and I went riding in 1998. On the long ride, you can go down to the Sea of Galilee.

These guys posed for me when I asked.

Below this building was not here in 1998. It's where the Pope stayed in 2000 when he came to Israel. They must have purchased some of Vered HaGalil's land. Nice place to erect a buliding with a beautiful view of the Galilee.

My El Dan rental car, a Ford Monteo. Does Ford make a Monteo in the US? It did fine.