Capernaum

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 

And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 

And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Matthew 8:5-10

Bethsaida

And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 

And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 

And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 

After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. 

Mark 8:22-25

Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 

John 1:44

  

Golan Heights Discovery

Before Bill and I go on educational sightseeing excursions in the Holy Land, I meticulously research sites and carefully plan our visits. Since we are our own tour guides, I hand select sites of biblical and historical significance.

In spite of all this research, however, occasionally we run across a site that I have never heard of, nor can I identify it later. The Holy Land is rich in archaeological and historical sites, some of them not yet made known to the general public. 

While traveling in the Golan Heights in October 2009, we came across such a site. We were the only visitors and we had a relaxing picnic of sandwiches that we'd bought at the only store within many miles. (Most of the Golan Heights is uninhabited so there are not many gas stations or stores around.) My guess is that the ruins were from Ottoman times, but I cannot say for sure. 

We picked wild blackberries and wandered among the unattended ruins, listening to the sound of gunfire coming from an Israel Defense Force shooting range in the meadow across the road. 

The sound of gunfire was a bit eerie, considering that the ruins were pockmarked with bullet holes, a sure sign that this structure had most certainly been the site of a battle from recent decades, which one I do not know. 

I really enjoy these little unexpected finds. When we go off-the-beaten-path, we never know what we will discover!

Acre/Ptolemais

And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.

Acts 21:7 

In the Old Testament, it was known as Acre; in the New Testament it was called Ptolemais. This important city on the Mediterranean Sea hosted Paul at least once. Acts 21:7 records his stop there on his way to Jerusalem.

The modern city of Acco, built on the site of Ptolemais, is beautiful, clean, and quiet, gracefully adorned with palm trees. 

Hazor

And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms. 

Joshua 11:10

Doing versus Believing in Modern Judaism

I subscribe to Biblical Archaeology Review. This morning, I read an interesting article in the January-February 2015 issue. 

In his article "Theology versus Law in Ancient Judaism," Jonathan Klawans wrote about how some Jews ascribe more to what one does than what one believes. To the Christian mind, this is a shocking concept. At least, it was to me when I first realized that this is the way many modern Jews think, particularly academic professionals. 

As Christians, our relationship with God is the premise upon which we build our lives. We work for God and we believe in the laws of God but we are not work and law-oriented to the degree that they override our basic belief in God. In fact, Jesus and the apostles emphasized the necessity of believing. 

German-Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1726-1786) is credited with propagating this idea in "modern" times. This emphasis on law is found in biblical accounts of the Pharisees and other religious Jewish sects. Good portions of New Testament Epistles - particularly Romans and Galatians - focus on helping Christians adopt a belief system over simply following rules without relationship.

As Jonathan Klawans points out, we can't paint with too broad of a brush. All modern Jews do not espouse the "do and not believe ideology." 

But this article reminded me of a statement I read by Jacob L. Wright in the comments section of an online article I read. (Last year, I took an online course taught by Jacob L. Wright called "The Bible's Prehistory, Purpose, and Political Future.") Here is Professor Wright's quote:

"It's not about believing. It's about doing. Belief comes and it goes, for me, almost hourly." His point was that when you commit to doing, you won't have to worry about your mind changing "from minute to minute like you can do with your most inner beliefs."

Klawans opened his article in Biblical Archaeology Review with this story: "Years ago, I was sitting with a group of young married couples. One of the non-Jewish spouses in the group said something to the effect that he had considered converting to Judaism but decided he could not. Someone asked, "Why not?" To which he replied, "Oh, I can't convert to Judaism. I don't believe in God." Someone else present immediately slammed his hand on the table in objection, "And what does that have to do with it?" 

This might startle many lay Christians. For many of us, we could say that our beliefs do not change minute by minute. Belief in God is absolutely imperative. We commit to this belief and it becomes the foundation of our lives. All we do is based upon what we believe. 

Jacob L. Wright quote taken from http://finkorswim.com/2013/08/21/can-one-be-a-shomer-torah-umitzvos-and-accept-bible-criticism/

Laish/Dan

And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. 

Judges 18:29