Duration: 9 Days
Dates: January 17, 2023 to January 25, 2023
Departure City: Jacksonville, Florida (JAX)

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Detailed Itinerary

Day 1, January 17, 2023, Tuesday: Departure. Today, we take our international flight to Tel Aviv

Day 2, January 18, 2023, Wednesday: Arrive in TEL AVIV – transfer to the hotel
Arrive in Tel Aviv and board a new, climate-controlled motor coach where our guide will greet us and give us an orientation of the land as we travel towards Jaffa. There we will consider the vision of Peter (Acts 10) and start following the sequence of events that lead to the opening of the gates of the early church to Gentiles. As we look at the very place where Jonah ran from the Lord, we will also reflect on our own walk with God. Check into our hotel on the coastal plains of the Mediterranean Sea. Dinner and overnight in Tel Aviv. (B/D)

Day 3, January 19, 2023, Thursday: Caesarea Maritima – Mount Carmel – Megiddo – Nazareth – Sea of Galilee
After a buffet breakfast, we depart the hotel on route to Caesarea Maritima. Visit Caesarea Maritima (entrance included), where we will visit the magnificent city with Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader ruins. Here we will elaborate on the story of the baptism of Cornelius, the first gentile convert into Christianity (Acts 10), and on the travels of Paul — those events that led Caesarea Maritima to become the springboard of Christianity to the West. Visit Mount Carmel (entrance included) and consider the contest between the Prophet Elijah and the false prophets of Baal (I Kings 18), discussing the reasons why the Prophet chose that place for the contest, and the lessons we learn from the story. Lunch on your own. We then visit Megiddo (entrance included) and explore the Tel that goes back in history to 4000 BC, looking at ruins from the times of King Solomon and King Ahab. Overlooking the Armageddon Valley, we will also discuss the reasons why we believe this will be the setting for the final battle between good and evil mentioned in Revelation 16:16. We travel to Nazareth where we will climb the Mount of Precipice, the brow of the hill on which the city was built (Luke 4).There we will reflect on the rejection of Jesus by his family and friends in Nazareth. In addition to discussing Jesus’ boyhood we will also consider the life and times of Deborah (Judges 4). We check into our hotel in Tiberias. Dinner and overnight at the Sea of Galilee. (B/D)

Day 4, January 20, 2023, Friday: Boat Ride & Ancient Boat Museum – Capernaum – Mount of Beatitudes – Magdala – Mt. Tabor – Sea of Galilee
We start the day with a sail on the Sea of Galilee on a replica of that boat (included). We will dock in Ginnosar and visit to the ancient boat museum, containing a 2000- year old fishing boat (included). We will then visit Capernaum (included), Jesus’ Galilean ministry base. There we will see the house of Peter’s mother in law, in addition to other ruins of the village. We will stand in the ruins of the ancient synagogue where Jesus was confronted by the demoniac. We then proceed to the Mount of Beatitudes and discuss the Sermon on the Mount, finishing the theme that was started earlier that day. During our lunch break you will have the opportunity to try St. Peter’s fish, commonly eaten by people in Jesus’ day (lunch not included). We will then visit Magdala (included), the hometown of Mary Magdalene. Visit Mount Tabor, the site of the battle between the Israelite and Canaanite army. Mount Tabor is also believed to be the one of possible sites of the transfiguration of Jesus. We return to our hotel. Dinner and overnight in Tiberias. (B/D)

Day 5, January 21, 2023, Saturday: Beit Shean – Bet Arabah – Jericho – Old Roman Road – Jerusalem
We leave the area of Galilee, following the Jordan Valley Road to Beit Shean, the capital of the Decapolis. In Beit Shean (included)we will see the ruins of the Roman and Byzantine cities. We will also discuss the demise of King Saul and his sons, whose bodies were hanged on the walls of Beit Shean. En route to Jericho, we stop at Bet Arabah (“Qasr el Yahud”), Baptismal Site on the Jordan River, known also as Gilgal, where the Israelites crossed at into the promised land, from where Elijah was taken to heaven and at where Our Lord was baptized. Lunch on your own. Visit Tel Jericho (included), where we will see the location of city from the town of Joshua, view the Mount of Temptation. Then, enjoy panoramic tour of Jericho, seeing the Sycamore Tree reminding us of the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus. We travel to the Old Roman Road, where we will consider the setting for the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Arriving in Jerusalem, enjoy a Genesis Welcome to the Holy City. Check into your hotel. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 6, January 22, 2023, Sunday: Masada – Ein Gedi – Qumran – Jerusalem
We begin our day visiting Masada (included), the fortress built by King Herod the Great and made famous by the Zealots in 73/74 AD with the standoff against the Romans. We visit the fortress and see the ruins that are considered a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. We take cable car onto the mountain. We continue to Ein Gedi (parking included), an oasis in the desert where the meeting between David and King Saul took places (I Samuel 24) and where some of the psalms were written by David. Lunch on your own. In Qumran (included), we visit the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered and the buildings that formed the Essenes public center. Return to Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 7, January 23, 2023, Monday: Temple Mount – St. Anne’s Church & Pools Of Bethesda – Mount of Olives – Southern Wall Excavations – Wailing Wall – Shepherd’s Fields – Bethlehem – Jerusalem
Visit Temple Mount where the Jewish temple stood until it’s destruction in 70 A.D. Here we reflect over Jesus’ ministry at the Temple of Jerusalem, seeing the Dome of the Rock, a possible location of the Holy of Holies. Visit Church of St. Anne’s (included), a perfectly intact Crusader church. It is a wonderful place to gather and sing a song (sometimes with fellow Christians from all over the world). There, we will also visit the Pools of Bethesda where the healing at the pool took place (John 5). We then travel a short distance to the Mount of Olives for a breathtaking view of Jerusalem and a panoramic photo we our guide will point the most important sites in Jerusalem, then we will walk the Palm Sunday Road. Back in the Old City, we visit the Southern Wall Excavation site (included). Here we will walk on the very stones where Jesus trod to Herod’s “second temple”, and see the place where our Savior taught the Scriptures. Visit the Western Wall, called the Wailing Wall, a section of the Western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, and Judaism’s holiest site. Depart for Bethlehem. Lunch on your own. We visit Shepherd’s Field where the angels appeared to the shepherds and announced the birth of Our Lord. These fields are also the setting of the Book of Ruth. Visit the Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity built over the Cave of Christ’s Birth, we will view the actual place where Our Lord was born. Return to Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 8, January 24, 2023, Tuesday: Garden of Gethsemane – House of Caiaphas – Upper Room – Ecce Homo – Via Dolorosa – Holy Sepulcher – Garden Tomb
Start our day with visiting the Garden of Gethsemane where amid the 2000 years old olive trees we see the Rock of Agony on which Jesus prayed and the nearby Gethsemane cave where Jesus often spent the nights at and where he was arrested at the hands of the High Priest guards. There we will pause for a prayer time in private garden (subject to confirmation). We proceed to visit House of Caiaphas, the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu (included), where we can see parts of the streets that Our Lord was dragged on by his capturers. We will have a chance to visit and pray at the dungeon where He was kept overnight. Visit the Cenacle, that commemorates the Upper Room in which Jesus shared the Last Supper with the disciples. Then, visit the nearby King David’s tomb, a site which is considered to be the place of burial of biblical king. On to the Old City, where we reach Ecce Homo (included). We see the Stone Pavement called Lithostratos and have some time for prayers and meditations. We walk the Via Dolorosa following Christ passion toward the church of the Holy Sepulcher. Lunch on your own. In the afternoon, we visit Garden Tomb (included), a peaceful spot where we can remember Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. We see the Calvary and the empty Tomb. Celebrate communion service at the Garden reaching the climax of Pilgrimage at the empty Tomb. Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 9, January 25, 2023, Wednesday: Departure
After breakfast, travel to the airport. Return home with unforgettable memories, amazing new friends and a life-changing understanding of the Bible. (B)