Holy Land with South Dakota Friends & Family

Depart for Israel. Overnight on the trans-Atlantic flight.

Enjoy a relaxing evening, walk on the beach or swim in the Mediterranean as you recover from jet lag and prepare for our adventure. Dinner is included on the first night if you arrive at the hotel before 9:00 PM.

Jaffa is where Peter received his vision leading to the expansion of missionary work to the Gentiles and is also the place that Jonah attempted to flee from the Lord’s presence aboard a ship bound for Tarshish.

From Jaffa, we will travel along the Mediterranean coast to the Roman, New Testament capital, Caesarea. Once in Caesarea, we will see an ancient Roman theatre, hippodrome and study a couple of the Biblical events that happened here. This is where Peter taught Cornelius and learned that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10), and where Paul was held and made his defense before Felix, Festus and Agrippa (Acts 23-26).

From Caesarea, we will go to Nazareth stopping at Mt. Carmel on the way (time permitting), the site of Elijah's contest with the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18). In Nazareth we will visit the Church of the Annunciation, which stands over the traditional site where Gabriel came to Mary (Luke 1).

We will overnight at our hotel in Nazareth.

We will begin the morning with a visit to Nazareth Village, which will demonstrate life in a small, first century village such as Nazareth. Here we will see how families of that day farmed the terraces, pressed olives for oil and wove their own cloth.

From there, we will pass through and visit Cana, where the first recorded miracle of Christ took place in the turning of water to wine (John 2).

In the afternoon, we will visit Mount Tabor, the traditional Mount of Transfiguration as found in Matthew 17, or the Nazareth Precipice, depending on the day. We will also visit Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley, where we will see the location where prophecy indicates the last battle of Armageddon will commence (Revelation 16:16). Megiddo is a tel of some twenty cities built one on another above the valley, which was a main route for armies and trade in the ancient world.

We will start with a visit to Banias (Caesarea Philippi in the New Testament), which is the site of Peter’s testimony of the Savior, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16), and one of the sources of the Jordan River as it emerges from the foothills of Mount Hermon.

We will then go to the traditional Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional setting of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

Following our St. Peter's Fish Lunch (included on this day), we will visit Capernaum, on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, which was the center of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. In Capernaum, Christ performed many miracles and gave many profound teachings, including the Bread of Life sermon (John 6).

We will see the remains of a synagogue from the time of Christ, which very well may have been built on top of the synagogue in which He taught.

Time permitting we will visit the site of Magdala, which is believed to be the home town of Mary Magdalene and the site of a first century synagogue. Return to our hotel in Nazareth.

We will begin our drive to the strategic site of Bet She'an, called Scythopolis in the New Testament era. At these impressive ruins we will see the splendor of Roman life and Hellenistic culture, including a colonnaded street, a theatre and a bath house. Bet She'an was one of the Decapolis/Pagan cities of the New Testament, and it was on its walls that the Philistines hung the bodies of Saul and his sons (1 Samuel 31).

After seeing these ruins, we will then drive through the Jordan Valley passing by Jericho (maybe lunch stop in Jericho) and stop at the Wadi Qelt overlook above the old road to Jericho, the setting of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10).

We will stop at Bethabara, the traditional site where Christ was baptized (Matthew 3) and near where the Israelites crossed into Canaan on dry ground (Joshua 3).

Before ascending into Jerusalem, we will float in the Dead Sea (optional), the lowest point on the face of the earth. From here we will continue on to Jerusalem. We will check into our hotel in Jerusalem. Following dinner, we will visit an olive wood shop for those who are interested.

We will then tour the Old City, in which we will see Mount Zion, visit the St. Anne’s Church with the Pools of Bethesda, where the man who had waited thirty and eight years was healed (John 5), and the Antonia Fortress/Ecce Homo.

We will walk through the Jewish Quarter to the Western Wall, visit the Herodian Quarter. We will also visit the Davidson Center Museum and the Southern Temple Mount Steps, the stairs on which pilgrims climbed to the temple.

In the afternoon, we’ll have an optional tour through the Old City by way of the Via Dolorosa ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the two traditional sites of the crucifixion and burial. We will finish at St. Peter in Gallicantu, the traditional House of Caiaphas the High Priest. Free time in the Old City for those who would prefer.

Returning to Jerusalem, we will visit any sites we missed on Thursday, including the ancient City of David. You will have the option of going through Hezekiah's Tunnel to the ancient Pools of Siloam, cut through solid rock to bring the spring water inside the city walls (2 Kings 20:20).

Before returning to our hotel, we will visit the Garden Tomb and Golgotha, where we will be able to go inside the tomb.

We will attend Sabbath services at the Jerusalem Center.

We will then continue our day with a drive to Masada. Once we get to Masada, we will take a cable car to the top of Masada to see the ruins of the palace-fortress built by King Herod, with its storerooms, cisterns and hanging palace above the Dead Sea. This was the site of the Zealots’ last stand against the Romans in A.D. 73.

From Masada, the Jordan add-on group will transfer to the Red Sea, where we will cross into Jordan. Those going home will go from Masada back to the airport in Tel Aviv, arriving around 7:00 PM for a late-night flight; book a departure after 11:00 PM. Those continuing to the Egypt tour with Brent will need an extra night at the Jerusalem hotel.

Those continuing to Egypt fly on with Brent. The Jordan add-on group is in Aqaba, see the days below.