Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee; Waterfalls

One spring weekend, several of the CFI volunteers went "up north" of Jerusalem for the weekend. We stayed on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Saturday morning was overcast but still yielded some picturesque photos. On Sunday morning, I was on the shoreline by 5:45am in order to get some sunrise photos. Here are some of the photos in chronological order:

A quiet, serene morning on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. You could almost see the Lord Jesus cooking breakfast. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.” John 21:9-10.

For some reason, the sun's reflection on the water seemed to be pointing directly at me.

As the sun rose behind a cloud, modern day fisherman were on the water. And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Matthew 4:18-20.

The sun rising on the city of Tiberias which lies on the west side of the Sea with the same name. After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. John 6:1.

Spring wildflowers in the Galilee taller than me. The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land. Song of Songs 2:12.

Blue poppies at Kere Deshe where we stayed. I overheard someone say they are "more rarer than the red poppies".

The majesty of Mt Arbel by the Sea of Galilee.





Waterfall on the Banias Stream. One of the three tributaries of the Jordan River.

We walked from the origin of the Banias Stream, near the ruins of Caesarea Philippi, to the waterfall. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Matthew 16:13.

Walking along the Banias toward the waterfall.

Wildflowers on the Golan Heights with a snow-capped Mt Hermon in the distance. It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing— Life forevermore. Psalm 133:3

This is the waterfall at Gamla on the Golan Heights. It is Israel's highest waterfall.

During the Roman-Jewish Wars of 66-70 AD, the citizens of Gamla chose to jump to their death rather than submit to Roman rule. Gamla's nickname is the "Masada of the north".

Below is the Iyyon Falls just outside the city of Metulla on the Lebanon border.

The pathway ends right at the bottom of the falls. You do get wet.

Jordan Valley; Mt. Gilboa Wildflowers

A few weeks ago on a day trip up north, we went via Highway 90 thru the Jordan Valley. The Jordan Valley is the area north of Jericho and south of the Sea of Galilee near Bet Shean. Most of the trip is actually through the Palestinian Territories and not Israel. Several kilometers of the trip runs adjacent to the country Jordan. On this particular day, I spotted a small herd of camels ahead on our left. As I pulled over to take photos, the young Arab shepherds guided the camels across the highway in front of us.

Since we were the only car in sight, they sent the camels running in front of us.

The baby camels learn early to run with the herd when prompted.

One of several groves of date palms trees in the Jordan Valley.

This was our day for God's creatures to cross the highway in front of us.

Large herd of sheep going into the date palm grove.

Further up the highway, we saw another shepherd leading his sheep. The Lord Jesus gave us such a simple example of following Him like sheep in John Chapter 10. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. John 10: 4-5.

The Arab shepherd stops to see why I am taking his picture.

Several colors of spring wildflowers in the Jordan Valley.

There were a lot of wildflowers on Mt Gilboa including this red poppy.

I need to learn the names of all these flowers.











Mother and baby on Mt Gilboa.





A wild purple Iris.

A field of poppies as we made our way down Mt Gilboa towards the Jezreel Valley.

More wild poppies.

We stopped for lunch at a familiar place on the highway between Afula and Nein. McDonald's in Hebrew reads right to left. There really is not an "M" in the Hebrew language but apparently it is universally recognized. The Lord Jesus came thru Nein when He raised the widow's son. 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. Luke 7:11.

After traveling thru the Jezreel Valley, where Armageddon will be, we started up Mt. Tabor. I had never driven to the top.

Pulling over on the way up, this is the Jezreel Valley looking west from Mt. Tabor. It was a little hazy that day. And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. (Har Meggido) Revelation 16:16.

Entrance to the monestary on top of Mt. Tabor.

Monestary on top of Mt Tabor. Same place where Barak was only courageous if Deborah was in the Book of Judges. Then she sent and called for Barak ... and said to him, “Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; ... And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!” Judges 4:6-8.

On a pretty spring Saturday, both Jew and Arab families were enjoying picnics on Mt. Tabor.

Our day ended on the Mediterranean Sea as the sun was setting. The heavy haze and the waves of the Great Sea seemed to be of the same color. Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. Daniel 7:2.