Holy Land: Israel & Jordan with Hank Smith

Arrival in Tel Aviv is the following day.

The hotel is near the Mediterranean, and you are free to walk the beachfront promenade or swim. Old Jaffa is a short distance down the coast, and we will visit it in the morning. Our guide will meet the group at the hotel and review the plan for the days ahead.

Dinner and overnight in Tel Aviv.

Jaffa is the port where Jonah boarded a ship for Tarshish, and where Peter received the rooftop vision that opened the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10). From Jaffa we will travel north along the Mediterranean coast to Caesarea, the Roman capital of Judea and the harbor city built by Herod. There we will see the Roman theater and the hippodrome . This is where Cornelius and his household received the gospel (Acts 10), and where Paul was held for two years and made his defense before Felix, Festus and Agrippa (Acts 23-26).

Continuing north, we will stop at Mount Carmel, where Elijah met the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18), and look out over the Jezreel Valley.

Dinner and overnight in Galilee.

We will begin the morning at Cana, where He turned the water to wine at a village wedding (John 2). From there we will drive to Nazareth and visit the Church of the Annunciation, built over the traditional site of Mary's home, where Gabriel announced the birth to her (Luke 1). We will then visit Nazareth Village, a working reconstruction of a first century farming village, with terraces, a winepress and a carpenter's shop, which shows how a village the size of Nazareth lived and worked.

In the afternoon we will visit Mount Tabor, the traditional Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17), and Megiddo, above the Jezreel Valley, where prophecy places the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16).

Dinner and overnight in Galilee.

We will then visit the traditional Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional setting of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Lunch will be St. Peter's fish, taken from this lake and served whole. We will continue to Capernaum, which Jesus made His own city (Matthew 4:13) and the center of His Galilean ministry, and where the sick man was lowered through the roof (Mark 2). The white limestone synagogue there stands on the black basalt foundation of the synagogue of His day.

In the afternoon we will drive north to Caesarea Philippi, one of the sources of the Jordan River, where Peter testified, Thou art the Christ (Matthew 16:13-19). We will end the day at Magdala and its first century synagogue.

Dinner and overnight in Galilee.

We will begin at Bet She'an, the Scythopolis of the New Testament and one of the ten Greek speaking cities of the Decapolis. Here we will see the colonnaded street, the theater and the bathhouse, and the wall where the body of Saul was hung (1 Samuel 31). We will then drive south through the Jordan Valley to the traditional site of the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan River (Matthew 3).

Our stop at the Dead Sea will be relatively short, long enough for those who wish to float. We will then ascend to Jerusalem, where you will have the option of walking Hezekiah's tunnel, cut through rock to carry the spring inside the city wall (2 Kings 20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:30).

Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

We will begin the morning at the Garden of Gethsemane, on the slope below the Mount of Olives, the garden where the Savior suffered on the night before the crucifixion (Matthew 26), with time there on your own. We will then go up to the Temple Mount, the platform built by Herod on the site of the temple.

We will visit St. Anne's Church, known for its acoustics, and the adjoining Pools of Bethesda, where Jesus healed a man who had waited thirty eight years (John 5). We will walk through the Jewish Quarter to the Western Wall. In the afternoon we will follow the Via Dolorosa through the market to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the older of the two traditional sites of the crucifixion and burial, followed by free time in the Old City.

Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

The Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are both traditional sites, and travelers differ on which they prefer. We will then drive to Masada and take the cable car to the top to see the ruins of the palace-fortress built by Herod, the Roman siege ramp, and the site of the Zealots' last stand in A.D. 73. Depending on timing, Bethlehem may be possible instead of Masada, with the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherds' Fields (Luke 2).

We will then continue south and cross into Jordan at Aqaba.

Dinner and overnight in Aqaba.

A wadi is a desert valley that carries water only after rain, and this one runs between sandstone cliffs that rise several hundred feet above the red sand. Bedouin families still herd and camp here. This is the land of Edom, which Israel skirted on the journey out of Egypt. After returning from the desert, you will have free time in Aqaba for shopping, swimming or relaxing on the beach.

The Red Sea here has reef within swimming distance of the shore for those who wish to swim or snorkel.

Dinner and overnight in Aqaba.

We will enter through the Siq, a narrow gorge about three quarters of a mile long, with the Nabataean water channel still cut into the rock wall, and come out at the Treasury. The Nabataeans were an Arab trading people who controlled the caravan routes between Arabia and Damascus and who carved their capital city into the sandstone. Beyond the Treasury we will see rock-cut tombs, a Roman theater and a colonnaded street.

Petra is not named in the Bible by that name, though this is the region of Edom, which scripture describes often.

We will then transfer to the airport in Amman, arriving around 9:00 PM. Schedule your flight to depart after 11:00 PM.

We will arrive home following the overnight flight from Amman.