Experience Israel with the 4 Freedom Podcast

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Password: mar25

Depart from the US to Tel Aviv.  Dinner and breakfast will be served during the flight.

Our representatives will meet you and walk you through customs.

We’ll then drive to the hotel in Tiberias for dinner and overnight stay.

Today we sail on the Sea of Galilee, and visit Magdala, with its first century synagogue, a complete first century city and remains of a once prosperous fish processing industry. Complete with shops, marketplace, residential areas, and wharf, this is a city where Jesus himself visited and taught.

Visit Capernaum, the town of Jesus, visit the Church of Multiplication in Tabgha, where the Lord preformed the miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, and visit the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus taught “The Sermon on the Mount”.  On to Caesarea Philippiwhere Peter confessed Christ: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God” (Matt 16:15-16).

We end our day at Yardenit Baptismal Site, located along the Jordan River, south of the Sea of Galilee.

Return to Tiberias for another night in town.

After breakfast, drive to Nazareth to Mount Precipice (Luke 4:29-30).  We will stand on the mountain from which the crowd tried to throw Jesus after He told them He was the Messiah they had been waiting for. They couldn’t believe he was making such a bold statement, but Jesus was able to walk right back through the crowd unharmed.

We’ll visit the Church of Annunciation in Nazareth.

We’ll visit one of the most amazing water systems found in the archeological site of Tel Megiddo.  From here we’ll observe the Valley of Armageddon (Revelation 16:14-16).

Then on to Gideon’s Spring, where the Judge Gideon selected 300 warriors to go into the battle with him against the Midianites (Judges 7).

Then drive south to  the city of Beit Shean – one of the earliest and most important cities in Israel from the time of the Canaanites.  It was here that the Philistines impaled King Saul’s body to the city wall – we view its magnificent excavations.

Return to our hotel in Tiberias for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast well depart the Sea of Galilee. We’ll visit Mount Carmel where the biblical story of the confrontation between Prophet Elijah and the Ba’al prophets took place, and overlook the Jezreel Valley.

We’ll continue to Caesarea, a Roman city with many archeological findings such as theater, the public bath, the hippodrome, and the city gate. We’ll enjoy the new exhibitions of the city which date to Roman Times.

Drive to the ancient city of Shiloh, was an ancient city in Samaria mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.  Shiloh was the major Israelite worship center before the first Temple was built in Jerusalem, and was established by Joshua, son of Nun, approximately 3,500 years ago, as the spiritual capital of Israel. The Tabernacle was placed there, and Jews from all over the land came to worship at the location (Joshua 18:1). The Tabernacle stood in Shiloh for over 350 years according to Jewish tradition, and its remains can still be seen today.

We’ll drive by Valley of Elah where David fought Goliath stop  to read the story, enjoy the beauty of the valley.

We'll proceed to our hotel in Jerusalem for dinner and overnight.

Our morning starts on the Mount of Olives with a breathtaking panoramic view of Jerusalem.  The day continues with visits to the sites that will help us understand the Lord’s prophecy of Jerusalem: onto the Chapel of Dominus Flevit, where Christ prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-53) we will have time for Private Communion at the garden and the Church of the Agony (Church of All Nations) – the site where it is said that Judas betrayed Jesus.  We will proceed to visit the sites on Mt. Zion.  The Church of Saint Peter in Galli Cantu, which was built over the ruins of the Palace of Caiaphas -the High Priest before whom Jesus was brought for trial (Mark 14: 53-65).  We’ll visit the Tomb of King David and enter into the Upper Room—the site that commemorates Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. Afterwards, we will proceed to Bethlehem to see Shepherds’ Fields, and we will end our day by visiting the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, the birth place of Christ.  Dinner & overnight stay in Jerusalem.

Dinner & overnight stay in Jerusalem.

Our day will begin with an exciting tour to the site where much of the Bible was written, the City of David.  Here archeologists found King Hezekiah’s 2,700 year-old water tunnel, one of the wonders of early engineering, and the seal impression of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, possibly the scribe of King Zedekiah (Jeremiah 36:10). Continue to the Pool of Siloam where Christ healed the blind man by sending him to wash his eyes (John 9).  In the Jewish Quarter, we’ll explore the Roman Cardo, the Madaba Map, the Western Wall and the Davidson Center (with its amazing virtual model of the Second Temple). On the Temple Mount we’ll hear about the traders driven out of the Temple by Jesus (Luke 19:45-48), explore the Dome of the Rock and other famous buildings.

Continue to the Pool of Bethesda where Christ healed the paralyzed man (John 5).  We’ll walk through the Old City market through the Damascus Gate.  Afterwards, we will take communion in the Garden Tomb.  Dinner and overnight stay in Jerusalem.

We will start our journey to the Dead Sea we will ascend Judean Hills. Our first stop today will be next to one of the St. George monastery crosses, which offers an amazing view over the monastery.  This stop is important for understanding the water systems of the Judaean Desert monasteries.  We’ll continue to Qumran to hear the amazing story of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  We will try to answer questions like: Who wrote the scrolls? Who were the Essenes?  How did they live and why there?  Continue to Masada to learn about the dramatic story of almost one thousand men, women and children who chose to die as a free people, rather than to become Roman slaves.  We’ll visit the archaeological findings and see the palaces, bathhouses, walls and the amazing views of the Dead Sea.  We will proceed to swim and float in the Dead Sea and to enjoy the sun and the famous mineral-rich mud. We will end our trip with our Farewell Ceremony, followed by dinner and overnight at the hotel in Jerusalem.

After breakfast transfer to the airport for your return flight back home.

We return home full of rich and unforgettable memories. A common refrain is heard — is the trip really over?  Can we start planning for our return visit?

NOTE:  The schedule is subject to change based on changes to flight schedules and/or local conditions.