After you arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, our representative will be there to greet you in the main arrival hall once you clear passport control, claim your checked luggage, and exit the baggage claim area. You will meet your guide and travel to your hotel in Tiberias. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Our journey today focuses upon the ministry of Jesus around the Sea of Galilee. Our morning begins at Yardenit, which provides an opportunity for people to be baptized in the Jordan River. We then travel to Almagor, which overlooks the Bethsaida Valley where the Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee, and where Jesus fed the 5,000 (Luke 9:10-17). Our journey takes us to Chorazin, one of the three cities cursed by Jesus (Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13). At this site, we see the ancient homes and Jewish ritual immersion pools, as well as the magnificent basalt synagogue from the fifth century A.D. Inside the synagogue is a replica of a Seat of Moses (Matthew 23:2). We travel next to the ancient town of Capernaum where Jesus made His home around the lake (Matthew 4:13). Here is where He healed the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13). The magnificent limestone synagogue of the fourth century A.D. has been partly reconstructed and looms over the site. From Capernaum, we travel to one of the most exciting and important ongoing archaeological excavations in Israel, Magdala. Here we will visit one of the few excavated, first-century synagogues in the land of Israel. Its date coincides with the time of Jesus’ ministry in the area. We will also see wealthy homes from the village, as well as the first-century harbor. We then journey to the small museum at Kibbutz Ginnosar that houses an ancient boat discovered in the 1980s in the Sea of Galilee. This boat dates to the first century and was a boat used by fishermen on the lake. Our day concludes with an evening boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The ancient fishermen fished the lake at night. Riding on the waters of the lake in the evening offers a unique opportunity to connect with Jesus and His disciples on the lake. Dinner and overnight at the hotel on the Sea of Galilee.

Today our journey focuses upon the land at the beginning of the 19th century and up to the present day. Our morning begins in Tiberias, one of the four holiest cities in Judaism, as we look at the formation of Judaism over the centuries and its relationship to the land. We then travel south along the Sea of Galilee to Hatzar Kinneret, a school established in the early 1900s to train Jews immigrating into the land how to farm and to form permanent settlements. From here, we travel into the Golan Heights and the upper Jordan Valley where we will continue to tell the story of the formation of the modern State of Israel. At a high overlook on the Israel-Syrian border, we look into Syria toward Damascus. Our day concludes at the nature reserve of Dan. The ancient city of Dan, which formed the northern boundary of biblical Israel, sits on the Dan Spring, one of the three tributaries of the Jordan River. Dinner and overnight at the hotel on the Sea of Galilee.

Today we leave the Sea of Galilee to drive to the Mediterranean Coast. Our morning begins at the port city of Caesarea built by Herod the Great (Matthew 2). This was the second largest harbor in the Roman Empire during the first century. At Caesarea, Peter visited the gentile centurion Cornelius (Acts 10), and he and his household became the first gentile followers of Jesus. The Apostle Paul remained under house arrest in Caesarea for two-and-a-half years. Here he stood before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa II (Acts 23-25). From the harbor of Caesarea, Paul sailed to Rome leaving Israel for the last time. While at the site, we will visit the ancient theater with its magnificent view overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We will see Herod the Great’s palace that served as the residence of the Roman officials in the land, such as Pontius Pilate. We will remember Pilate’s governorship of Judaea by looking at a replica of a stone inscription mentioning Pilate dedicating a temple to the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Our visit takes us through the ancient stadium and harbor and ends looking at the ancient aqueduct of Caesarea that supplied the city with its water. Our focus at Caesarea is the expansion of the Gospel to the non-Jews and the relationship Jesus’ followers saw between Jews, Israel, and the non-Jewish Christ followers. After departing Caesarea, we travel to our hotel in Tel Aviv where we will have an afternoon lecture by Dr. Einat Wilf on the Israel-Palestinian history and conflict. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Tel Aviv.

Our morning begins by driving to Nebi Samwil. From this hill (incorrectly identified as the tomb of the prophet Samuel) we will see the northern neighborhoods of Jerusalem, the Hill Country of Samaria (West Bank), and the Hill Country of Judah (West Bank)—the biblical and modern geography of the hill country. We will also look over the tribal territory of Benjamin, where two-thirds of the Old Testament took place. Our vantage point offers us a view of the modern Arab village of el-Jib, biblical Gibeon (Joshua 10). While defending Gibeon against five Amorite kings, Joshua prayed for the sun to stand still. From Nebi Samwil, we drive into Jerusalem and visit the Israel Museum. Here we will see a scale model of Jerusalem on the eve of its destruction in A.D. 70. We will visit the Shrine of the Book, which houses some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including some of the oldest copies of the Old Testament. Our tour of the museum concludes with a walk through the archaeological wing to visit the two galleries dedicated to Israel in the Old and New Testament periods. We will see original artifacts found in sites we visited, as well as other artifacts that make the Bible come alive. Next, we journey to the City of David, the oldest part of Jerusalem, the city David conquered and made his capital. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

We begin our morning visiting Yad Vashem, the memorial to the Holocaust. Today for lunch we journey to the Mahaneh Yehudah market of Jerusalem where we will have the opportunity to sample many cuisines. After lunch, we visit the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem. The remainder of the afternoon participants are free to shop in the Old City and wander through Jerusalem. Dinner at the Jerusalem hotel. After dinner, we will have a lecture by Haviv Rettig Gur, an Israeli journalist, on the Jews in the 19th-20th centuries and the formation of the State of Israel. Overnight at our hotel in Jerusalem.

Today we journey toward the Gaza Strip and to locations of the horrific and murderous attacks of October 7, 2023. As we travel through these places, we will discuss the events of this tragic day and its aftermath. We will also hear about the wartime relief efforts of CBN Israel in this region. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Our morning begins with a beautiful view of the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. We walk down the mountain following the modern path used by pilgrims on Palm Sunday visiting the church of Dominus Flevit, which remembers Jesus weeping over the city as He rode into it, and the traditional location of the Garden of Gethsemane. We cross the Kidron Valley into the Old City to Jaffa Gate where in the first century Herod’s palace stood. Here the story of Jesus begins (Matthew 2) with the visit of the wise men to Herod, and here His story ended because at Herod’s palace Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate (Mark 15:16). From Jaffa Gate, we walk into the Jewish Quarter and visit the Herodian Quarter, a series of priestly homes from the first century. We then walk along the Byzantine Cardo and see the walls of Jerusalem from the eighth century B.C. and the first century B.C. Passing the Gennath Gate, we follow the historic route Jesus traveled from Pilate to His place of execution at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Our day ends along the southern wall of the Temple Mount. On the first-century street, we see the shops and markets around the Temple, a possible location for the money changers (Luke 19:45-48). We then proceed to the southern entrances of the Temple where we walk the steps ancient pilgrims took to ascend to the Temple. Our program ends at the Western Wall, the most sacred site for the Jewish people. After a farewell dinner, we depart Jerusalem for Ben Gurion Airport, where you will return to your home country refreshed, challenged, and renewed in your faith.

Arrive back in the USA.