Lake Huleh

Sea of Galilee viewing from South West to North East with Gennesaret in the foreground.

The Jordan river rises in the mountains of Syria and Lebanon. It flows about 200 miles, runs through the Sea of Galilee, and finally empties into the Dead Sea. Few boats can travel the Jordan River because it is shallow and has many dangerous curves.

Today many visitors make a pilgrimage to this spot along the

Jordan river to get baptized where their Lord Jesus

was baptized.

At 1,286 feet below sea level, the shore of the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. There is no life in the water. Due to the high rate of evaporation, the water has a salt content of 30%, nearly 10 times the amount of normal sea water.

The water is so high in mineral content that warning signs are posted on the beach warning against swallowing the water and splashing the water on other swimmers. The Dead Sea is famous for its therapeutic properties and it is particularly effective in the treatment of skin disorders. The dry oxygen rich air is also valuable in the treatment of respiratory ailments.

Zered R.

The Golan is the historical Bash'an of the Bible. This gun was left at the Neot Golan kibbutz as a memorial to all those who fell prey to sniper bullets while farming, and as a reminder of the importance of the Golan to Israeli safety.

In the sight of this Syrian gun the farms of the upper Galilee can be clearly seen. The Sea of Galilee is visible in the distance.

During the 20 years that Syria occupied the Golan heights, Israeli farmers in the Jordan Valley below were often victims of Syrian attacks. At one point the Syrian attacks on the Israelis became so fierce that the Israelis were forced to do their farming at night in the security of darkness.

A barbed wire fence marks the Syrian border along the eastern slopes of the Golan Heights. This line is either bordered by two fences with razor wire in the center or by fields of land mines. Just beyond this region, Syrian towns dot the barren desert hillsides. Most of towns in Syria do not have running water or electricity and the land is not irrigated.

Balm of Gilead

Modern Amman, capital of Jordan, has its name derived from the Biblical Ammon

The plains of Moab with Mt Nebo at the background.

Petra

LATTER RAINSLATTER RAINSPerhaps because of global warming, or perhaps because of the Lord’s displeasure, the latter rains have been sparse over the past 15 years with little precipitation in March and practically nothing in April.

• So the nation was caught by surprise when torrential rains pounded the country in early April, 2006. Israelis took cover from ping-pong sized hailstones, evacuated their cars at flooded intersections and in the rarest event of all, there was a small tornado in Galilee! It was the heaviest rainfall in April in 150 years.

• Dry riverbeds burst and blocked roads, causing accidents as people lost control of their vehicles.

2.) A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY

The Philistines

Ra - The Egyptian sun god and creator god. He was usually depicted in human form with a falcon head, crowned with the sun disc encircled by the uraeus (a stylized representation of the sacred cobra). He was said to traverse the sky each day in a solar barque and pass through the underworld each night on another solar barque to reappear in the east each morning. His principal cult centre was at Heliopolis ("sun city"), near modern Cairo.

Marduk

Baal