Starting from the recent and moving back to the past, the Church of the Nativity was the scene of the hostage crisis in 2005, for which there was a bloodless resolution thanks to the fine mediators on the scene.
Ancient and Modern Miracles
Body:
This is a tour for Church, school, or community groups.
"...Five gospels record the life of Jesus. Four you will find in books and one you will find in the land they call holy. Read the fifth gospel and the world of the four will open to you.”
Bargil Pixner, With Jesus through Galilee
DAY 1: Ben Gurion Airport / Tel Aviv
Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, where you will be met by an Israel Pilgrim Tours representative and transferred to your hotel.
Dinner & overnight / Jerusalem
DAY 2: Jerusalem – Old City
Start the day at Mount Zion with the traditional tomb of King David and the Room of the Last Supper. Enjoy view of Jerusalem, where Jesus came to reign. Enter the Old City from the Cardo and see the Western Wall and the site of the Second Temple, the Temple Mount and Temple Courts where Jesus and the Disciples taught . Walk the paths of the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus wept over Jerusalem, cross the Kidron Valley and make the "triumphant entry into Jerusalem." Make the spiritual journey on the steps of the Via Dolorosa, the road which Jesus walked to Calvary. Visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, housing both the traditional site of the Crucifixion and the Tomb of the Resurrection.
In the evening enjoy and understand the dramatic fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy of the Jewish people returning to the Land of Israel by having an educator teach on the “rebirth of Israel” in an exciting “hands on" manner.
Dinner & overnight / Jerusalem
DAY 3: Jerusalem – New City – Bethlehem
Today we begin in Ein Karem, a village just south west of Jerusalem. This is where, according to tradition, John the Baptist was born. Visit the Church of the Visitation. Proceed to the newly renovated Yad Vashem, the official memorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust established in 1953, on the foot of Mt. Herzl. Visit the Israel Museum with its detailed model of Jerusalem from the time of the Second Temple, and the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls - a modern, miraculous discovery of some of the oldest scrolls of the Old Testament. Situation permitting, we visit Bethlehem, the town of Jesus' birth, to see the Church of the Nativity, and the Shepherd's Field of the New Testament.
Dinner & overnight / Jerusalem
DAY 4: Dead Sea – Masada
Against a remarkable view of The Dead Sea, visit the site of the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and the location of Essenes.
According to some scholars, this is a community with which John the Baptist interacted. Nearly 1,300 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth’s surface. Continue to Masada, situated on an isolated cliff in the Judean Desert. Ascend by cable car to the fortress, the last stronghold of the Jewish Zealots in their war against the Romans. Visit the excavations, King Herod’s palace, the synagogue, and more. Enjoy the view of the Roman camps and the Dead Sea. Bring your swimsuit as if weather permits it’s possible to “float” in the Dead Sea's mineral-rich water.
In the evening enjoy an interactive educational program on the modern miracle of the Jewish people regaining their capital, Jerusalem. Retrace the dramatic experience of the “Burma Road” of 1948 and the regaining of Jerusalem by the Israelis in 1967.
Dinner & overnight / Jerusalem
DAY 5: Beit Shean – Nazareth
Travel through the Jordan Valley to Beit Shean with its recently excavated amphitheater.
Visit the excavations of this beautiful preserved Roman City which was destroyed in an earthquake and then onward, along the Jordan River to Cana to visit the Wedding Church where Jesus performed His first miracle, turning water into wine. We proceed to Nazareth, where Jesus spent His childhood, and the Church of the Annunciation, built on the site where archaeologists believe the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary. You'll also see Mary’s Well and Joseph’s Church.
Dinner & overnight / Kibbutz guesthouse
DAY 6: Tiberias – Capernaum – Banias
After a tour of Tiberias, where Jesus lived, take a boat ride to Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ ministry. Visit the remains of the 2nd century synagogue. This is an ideal place to conduct outdoor worship and Bible study, and visitors from around the world do so. Proceed to Tabgha, the site of the miracle of fish and loaves and visit the Church of Multiplication (the site of one of the earliest Christian communities outside of Jerusalem) with its 4th century mosaic floor. Drive on to the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus preached the “Sermon on the Mount”; it is believed that Jesus picked his 12 apostles here. Ascend The Golan Heights to view the panoramic view of the peaks of Mt. Hermon, a probable site of the Transfiguration, and the rugged plateau of the Golan Heights, through the Banias Springs and waterfalls. It is near Banias that Peter stated that Jesus is "...the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."
Dinner & overnight / Kibbutz Guesthouse
DAY 7: Acre – Megiddo – Haifa – Caesarea
Depart the Kibbutz and drive to Acre for a visit to the old, famous Crusader stronghold and medieval fortifications. Continue to Megiddo, identified in the book of Revelations as the site of Armageddon; visit the archaeological excavations including the well- preserved water supply system.
Briefly leave the ancient and visit the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa, which tells the fascinating story of the efforts to save European Jewry during the Holocaust by illegally bringing the Jews to Israel in the years before the modern State of Israel was declared.
Proceed along the coastal plain to Caesarea, capital of Judea under the Romans. Visit the Roman Theater and the Crusader fortress. Drive along the coastal plain and arrive in Tel Aviv.
Dinner & overnight / Tel Aviv
DAY 8: Tel Aviv-Zionism and the Birth of the New State of Israel
Begin the day with a visit to Independence Hall, where Ben Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the modern State of Israel. Visit the Diaspora Museum, specializing in the history of the Jewish people from the time they were exiled from the Land of Israel 2600 years ago until the present, including the miracle of the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, the Land of Israel. Later, participate in the centennial celebration of Tel Aviv, the world's "first Hebrew city," which was briefly the capital of the modern State of Israel, until it was safe to travel to Jerusalem, and the capital was moved. Go to the Nachlaot Binyamin street fair, always an amazing extravaganza of music and street entertainment, but especially during this centennial year. It's interesting to note that Tel Aviv and Jaffa are one municipality; Jaffa was the port used by King Solomon to bring the cedars of Lebanon to Israel for constructing the first Temple. End the day with a visit to the experiential Palmach Museum. The Palmach was the underground striking force of the Zionist movement before the establishment of the modern State of Israel, and this museum tells the story of its part in the immigration of Jews in the pre-State years, and of the battles involved, all part of the story of the return to the Land.
Transfer to Ben-Gurion Airport for return flight home.
