Schedule:

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

After our morning church service, we will travel by private motor coach along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Caesarea, where the Gentiles first heard the Good News from Peter and were baptized and where Paul was imprisoned.  We will see the Roman Amphitheatre and aqueduct.  Next we will travel to Gideon’s Springs where Gideon chose his army. Next, we will drive through the area of Cana and Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus, where we visit the Nazareth Village – a wonderful recreation of Biblical times.  We will have dinner and overnight lodging for the next few nights in the Tiberias area on the Sea of Galilee.

Monday

Following breakfast, our morning travels will take us to Nof Ginosar to visit the ancient boat discovered in the lake that dates back to the time of Jesus and has been preserved in a museum.  We will return to the Sea of Galilee where we will enjoy a relaxing boat ride on the Sea.  We will travel on to the church of Tabgha and the site of the multiplication of loaves and fishes and the Mount of the Beatitudes overlooking the sea.  Later we will move to the city of Capernaum where we will see the ruins of an ancient synagogue and Peter’s adult home.  We will also stop at Bethsaida where Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and after His resurrection appeared to the fishing disciples.  Then we will head to the baptismal site on the Jordan River (if time allows or wait until the next day).

Tuesday

Following breakfast, our morning travels will take us to two valuable northern sites.  We will first visit the Banias Springs and Caesarea Philippi, which is also the site of Peter’s Confession.  We will drive through the Golan Heights and enjoy lunch on our own expense in a druze village and then drive back to the hotel in Tiberias for dinner and overnight (with a stop at the baptismal site if not the day before).

Wednesday

We will begin our day with a visit to Beit-Shean/Scythopolis, the most magnificent archeological site in Israel, located at the strategic juncture of the Jezreel and Jordan Valleys.  Like Jericho, it has been almost continuously occupied throughout history.  After defeating Saul and his sons on Mt. Gilboa, the Philistines hung their bodies on the walls of Beit-Shean.  During the intertestamental period, the city was renamed the “Scythopolis.”  Archaeologists have uncovered a huge number of ruins of the Roman/Byzantine Scythopolis.  During the time of Jesus, Scythopolis was one of the chief cities of the Decapolis—a league of ten cities sharing Greek culture and government.  There will also be a stop at the pitted arena where both Jews and Christian were fed to the wild beasts for sport and entertainment.  Following the fertile Jordan Valley southward, your guide will point out the agricultural restoration of the “ Land of Milk and Honey,” the Kibbutz system and Israel’s intricate irrigation development.  We will enjoy a buffet lunch in Jericho and visit this city, which is famed as the oldest in the world.  Then it is on to the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.  We will then continue on to Jerusalem.

Thursday

Today we will walk where Jesus walked.  We will begin with a panoramic view of the city, Mount Moriah, and the Dome of the Rock from atop the Mount of Olives and then the Garden of Gethsemane.  We will drive to Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was born, to visit the Church of Nativity and the Shepherds’ Fields, which commemorate the fields where the angel appeared to the shepherds to lead them to where Jesus Christ was born.

Friday

This morning we will be walking (for those who are able) to see such sights as the Sheep Gate (Stephen’s Gate), the Pool of Bethesda, the Judgment Hall of Pilate, the Western (Wailing) Wall, and the Southern Wall Excavations. (For those not up to the entire walk, you will be bused to the location of the Western and Southern Walls.) After lunch it’s on to the Upper Room and the House of Caiphais (with minimal walking).  We will also visit the Garden Tomb and the Israeli Museum.

Saturday