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RAMBLES IN PALESTINE after having seen all we could see and admire in Nazareth the place where jesus spent his childhood our ur little company broke up for biberias Tib erias it was about 10 am when we left nazareth it had rained a little in the morning but by this time the rain was overt over and the weather very pleasant our road went over a steep hill from the top of which we could On cemore once more look at the city below and its surroundings the panorama was a truly imposing one the first noted place we passed on our way was a little village now called el 61 meshed the old oath gath bepher he pher where the prophet jonah is said to have lived further on we passed through ker senna kenna which according to tradition is the cana in galilee where our savior performed his first miracle changing the water into wine in 1 n the greek monastery here is still shown one of the water jugs used at the time to the edification of all orthodox souls yeti yet recent discoveries co point another out as that ancient cana but discoveries and orthodoxy have as a rule nothing to do with each other after five hours ride we reached a hill from which we could view the deep blue water of the lake of biberias Tib erias and the beautiful land escapee surrounding it another rd ride for three quarters of an hour and joyfully we joyfully entered one of the gates of the he venerable city of biberias Tib erias As a piece of history it if may be stated that this city is supposed to be built upon the spot where Ra kath kathy 11 one of the cities by joshua given to the tribe ol of Nap napthali once stood in later times it was dee destroyed troyed and again rebuilt by herod A antipas ti W when it received the name Ta barije after the emperor biberias Tib erias josephus fortified the place but was not able to hold it against the forces of vespasian however when jerusalem had been destroyed it became the central point of the jewish theocracy here the great which had condemned jesus to death held its sessions session sand and here the so called jerusalem talmud was composed at the present time the city has some inhabitants half of whom are jews they seem to lead a kind of vegetating existence being to a large extent maintained by ach gifts ats which come to them from rich jews in europe and america or from the numerous jews societies they seem to be unable to maintain themselves the english church has a missionary here but it appears that it is almost impossible to do anything if a jew has a wish to mingle with the christians he is immediately ostracized ostracised by his brethren he gets no more gifts because these are always distributed by the rabbis and so he prefers to stick to his own religion for the sake of the bread he gets unless indeed the missionary is in a position to offer a larger loaf of bread than the rabbi avisia A visit was paid to the latin chos where we were received in a very friendly way by the pater an aged gentleman well versed inobe in the scriptures he spread the table before us with bread cheese and wine and heartily invited us to partake thereof after a while the conversation became very animated but the gentleman seemed most indignant at the idea of god having revealed his will in these last days alvs that god could not do he said except through the pope the vine visible head of the church upon this earth and he was really amusing when he tried to prove the continuation of the priesthood through the popes one ond thing became clear to me that the protestant churches are but poorly provided with arguments in favor of their position as compared to the roman catholic church the mother is really better provided for than her wayward daughters another visit was paid to an interesting te old gentleman he was nearly eighty years of age although somewhat reserved in regard to his own history he related that he was born in that unfortunate poland of one of the noble families and had taken an active part in his youth in some of the many attempts made for its restoration for his patriotism he had been expelled bl by the russian government robbed of if everything he had on the earth and had finally found his way to this hidden corner of the world where he lived as he said a hermit in a wilderness surrounded as he was by every token of extreme poverty sharing his dwelling pl place e with mice which seemed to be familiar to him there was still a dignity and a majesty with him that might have fitted a king truly the image of god cannot be totally destroyed unless when man himself destroys it the gentleman still spoke fluently russian polish arabic german french and displayed a general knowledge of the history of the world which vv was as perfectly astonishing considering his advanced age for america and or republican institutions he expressed great admiration regretting that he had never had an opportunity of becoming better acquainted with them we told him of the book of mormon account of the origin of the Indians of the revelations of god given through joseph smith and gods plan of salvation as set forth in these revelations to all of which he listened with deep interest to be in biberias Tib erias and not have a boating trip on the inviting sea is hardly possible isible here on this sea J jesus ag walked lad hastening to the rescue of his disciples who were in danger of perishing in the waves from a boat on this water jesus taught the assembled multitude who stood on the shore here peter made his wonderful draught of fishes typical in its significance and miraculous in its nature from the settlements on the shores of this sea several of the apostles of our lord were chosen and called to be the mighty messengers of peace to a world groping in spiritual darkness there is not a sheet of water in the whole hole old world that to a biblical student has bas so much interest as this to find a boat and for an hour or two to be rocked on its blue waves was therefore a pleasure leasure not to be resisted although a doat was very dear the sea Gene zareth or the galli lean sea was in old times called Kinn ereth or Kin which is derived from the hebrew kinner a lute or zither it was so BO called from a fancied resemblance in f form orm to that instrument the arabs Arab call it bahl bahi Ta barije 11 it is situated in the jordan valley 1 and is metres below the leve level I of the mediterranean it is twenty one kilometers long twelve kilo metres wide and contains a surface of square kilometres kilo metres its greatest depth is metres the water is a little salty but can very well be used for drinking purposes and contains an abundance of fish but we have already remained a whole day in Tib erias aa and must has hasten tenon on before us is along a long da day s journey about six in the morning of the of february we left intending to rest on mount tabor for dinner this mountain top we reached at halt half past eleven biberias Tib erias as before stated is metres lower than the mediterranean and mount tabor lifts its head metres above the sea we had consequently ascended in less than six hours the considerable height of metres and the road all the way waa wretched beyond description in fact it was no road at all it was generally a path so stony that even goats would have helita hesitated to use it notwithstanding their well known rambling propensities and the monotony ot the sharp rocks or rolling pebbles was interrupted only by deep mud holes it was perfectly astonish astonishing ng to see how the horses managed to move on without breaking their own legs or the necks of their riders everything went well without any serious accident and on mount tabor we were welcomed by the catholic monks who dwell there they invited us to rest our tired limbs on their soft cushions and they prepared a sumptuous dinner for us after partaking of which they took us around to seethe see the ruins ruing on the mount and to enjoy the grand view from its highest point we spent an hour on this beautiful spot after which we were ready to continue our stony journey refreshed bodily and spiritually mount tabor is metres high with cupola formed top and beautifully dad clad with rich vegetation the old romans called it 11 win um 11 the arabs I 1 Ds I 1 et tut tur the christian tradition has since the third century pointed abis this mountain out as the one on which moses and elijah delliah appeared to christ and conferred wit hIlim concerning his death in jerusalem compare matthew 18 1 8 mark mar ix 2 10 and luke ix 2836 28 36 against the tradition it has been said that tabor was probably inhabited at the time of our savior and that christ could not have chosen an inhabited spot ifor 4 for this conference with agot t the e heavenly ambassadors it must be remembered however that no DO other mountain has been shown as 88 more entitled to the honor of being the one on wb which ich this remarkable event happ happened eved and as long as this cannot be done aone nothing is gained by simply denying the tradition A tradition that dates so far back as the third century of our era is no doubt entitled to some respect certain it is that there is no spot in in all palestine that can be compared red to it for beauty As I 1 stood on its highest point bookil looking g abou arou around nd 1 felt lifted abo above the ground bythe by the power of god being nearer heaven than earth toward the north was the great hermon east the outlines of haman south the mountains of or gilead west mount carmel and a blue strip of the mediterranean this was a magnificent cyc cyclorama loraIna and I 1 felt like peter it is good for us to be here and let us soa make three tabernacles but then this tb beelin feeling lasted only a moment the tb next f r was COD conscious of the fact that I 1 had no home here MY friends my loved ones are far far W away beyond that blue oe ocean e there not here it is good to be but yet the home the heavenly price which far beyond this scenery lies lied la Is the rich boon I 1 crave thorh here bore a stranger I 1 may kostu joaw my heart Is ie fixed 1 I have a home A home beyond the wave I 1 hope the poet will exe excuse use rue for singing wave instead of gramas ve 1 f really could not think of t the e AW cahey uey of the shadow of death from the e lofty hei height ht of mount tabor N out I 1 could think of the beautiful fui alleys of the mountains where the F mota of god have been gathered III g order to meet their lord when fa jle shall win again appear with moses elijah IF and other saints and te in his own hands the rule over IS earth I 1 must not forget to mention that 8 nal deml ruins are found on mount katr 0 the foundations foundation 8 of a church are av re still seen as are also remnants of walls and towers our guide told aiu Us that the church dated from alon tho fifth century ten tury and the os wore were since the time of jo aw and melek et adil large ater cisterns and grottos hewn in the tae solid rock were particularly has proving that the mount played nayed an important part in the A wars which have raged in this is country during the more especially oe bloody crusades to tn that the mountain will still have ake ke a part in the conflicts to str bisno mere supposition As a cal point it is still likely to be oe the he scene of bloodshed ISug i J oppose pose I 1 had better clo close this f r nere ere as I 1 leave mount tabor f or D jenin J M 8 AIPA palestine syria march 14 |
