There were three woes. 1 to Bethsaida, 2 to Korizin, 3 to Capernaum (Matt 11:21)
So this place is one of them. and you'll see why.
Some points..
Firstly, water source here is only from the rain, or the spring. no TAP water. duh. during weddings, one of the rituals for the bride is that called "MIKVEH". they have about 40 se-ahs (8-10 Gallons) of water (from either the spring or raid), to signify Noah's 40 days of flood-water. The bride will then be "baptised" in that water. interesting hey.
http://jesus-messiah.com/html/mikveh.html
Secondly, the synagogue in the olden times was the place of gathering for the community. the ark will be there, and everyone will pray towards Jerusalem. doesn't that sound like.. some other religion? haha..
there is this MOST IMPORTANT SEAT. and guess who it goes to? Not the rabbi, or the high priest, but to the Person Who Contributed The Most To The Synagogue Either Financially or in terms of Leadership. hmm.. weird right? kinda corrupt if you ask me. but hey who am i to judge?
but Jesus can, and he did. that's why He cursed this place, and till today, it's all in ruins.. amazing the power of His words!
and guess who sits on the most important seat?
my dear dad
another thing. old judaism was centered around the temple. common place to meet. but the temple was destroyed.
so new judaism attempts to create a culture that is centered around the COMMUNITY instead of the temple. The problem of "how to collect the offerings" then arises, and so instead of monetary offerings, it was an offering of prayers. my next question would be, then how did the church run without money?
Galilee became the center of the Jews when Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans. therefore, the synagogues are the "new temples". or they were supposed to be lah.
honestly am still rather hazy regarding the difference between both. need to do more reading.
we sat on the stone walls/sides and had a time of sharing, testimonies.. nice to hear other people from the group share their personal stories.. :)
us children who daringly sat at the edge of the walls haha. show offs.
uncle peter, what are you doing??
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