Caravansary Adventure Tours

Day  7      MON                                                                                                                                                                                GALILEE

Driving to the Golan Heights, we visit a reconstructed Talmudic village at Katzin, where we will take another close look at life in New Testament times and the use of everyday imagery in Scripture. Next, travel along the lower slopes of Mount Hermon to Caesarea Phillippi and Banis where Peter made his confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah.  Pass Druze villages before coming to Mt. Bental, a lookout spot near the border with Syria and the area of the road to Damascus where the Apostle Paul met the Lord. Stop at the Dan Nature Reserve, with archaeological remains of the OT city of Dan. Enjoy a pleasant walk by a stream and discuss the meaning of “living water” in the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus’ teaching.

"It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion"                                                     - Psalms 133:3

“Come with me from Lebanon, my bride…. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards.”                                                                                                      - Song of Songs 4:8





Banias (Paneas), or Caesarea-Philippi, was an impressive Greco-Roman city located near a flowing spring - one of the sources of the Jordan river, on the foothills of the Hermon mountain. A Roman sanctuary, which included temples and ritual courtyards,  was built near the sacred grotto of the Greco-Roman God Pan. The ancient city, named after Pan, was located to the south of the springs.

This city, which sits at the foot of Mount Hermon, butts up against a large cliff, referred to as the ‘Rock of the Gods’, in reference to the many shrines built against it. Shrines to Caesar, Pan and another gods were all built up against this cliff. In the center of the Rock of the Gods is a huge cave, from which a stream flowed. This cave was called the “Gates of Hades”, because it was believed that Baal would enter and leave the underworld through places where water came out of it.

There is no record of Jesus entering the city, but the great confession and the transfiguration both occurred in the vicinity of the city, then known as Caesarea Philippi.                        - Matthew 16:13

It is in this area where Jesus  replied to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are "Peter" (Petros in Greek), and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.       - Matthew 16:17-18

MORE COMING SOON...