MONDAY, OCTOBER 15

0:00 - 0:19
Today we travel to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. It's about a 250-mile day with the first half backtracking to the north end of the Dead Sea. But a lot to see.


0:20 - 0:39
We begin in Eilat ... and quickly jump half-way there.


0:40 - 0:59
Qumram, the Bible's "City of Salt," is the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered and, it is believed, originally created. The scrolls, kept in clay jars were hidden in caves during the war with Rome.


1:00 - 1:19
Bethany Beyond Jordan is the site of Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist. It was at a major ford of the Jordan River. In the New Testament era, the Jewish areas of Herod's kingdom were Judah, Galilee and Parea. Parea was on the east side of the Jordan and coincided with much of the Old Testament's Gilead. Jews going from Galilee to Jerusalem would cross the Jordan to Parea in the north and then cross back over the Jordan here at Bethany Beyond Jordan. John the Baptist picked his spot well to have the ultimate impact.

Don't confuse this Bethany with the Bethany that was home to Mary, Martha and Lazarus. The latter is on the southeast side of the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem.

Today, the lower Jordan is heavily polluted. Little of the water from the Sea of Galilee or the Yarkon River in Jordan actually reaches here. Mostly, it's agricultural runoff. Israel has built a new baptismal site where the Jordan leaves the Sea of Galilee. It's much cleaner, but not authentic.

When Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan, it was in flood stage, but it's reasonable to think their crossing was here also. It's also likely here that the waters were again divided when Elijah and Elisha crossed the river prior to the older prophet being taken in a chariot of fire.


1:20 - 1:59
Jericho was a well-watered site, thanks to the spring at the base of the hills of the Judean wilderness. The Bible records a time when the water quality was bad, affecting crops, and its healing when Elisha poured a bowl of salt into it.

The New Testament and Old Testament sites were not at the same place. The former was near Herod's palace at the outlet of the Wadi Qilt. Jesus passed through here and began the climb to Jerusalem for his entry on Palm Sunday.


2:00 - 2:19
At the Old Testament site, Joshua and the children of Israel marched around the city until the walls fell.


2:20 - 3:39
We'll follow the Jordan River for a while. While the distance between the shores of Galilee and the Dead Sea is 60 miles, the river follows a meandering path of over 200 miles.

Locally, the Arabic name for the flat valley between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is the ghor -- "bottom" or "depression." The soils here are generally fertile and have been cultivated since antiquity wherever water was available. The water in the Jordan River was not generally used for irrigation in ancient days because its meandering course had cut a wide channel, called the zor, 100-200 feet deep through the marl soils, and the technology did not exist to raise the water to the ghor in significant amounts. The boundary between this zor -- meaning "thicket" in Arabic -- and the ghor is marked by uncultivable eroded hills of white marl called katar. (These features are not as pronounced in the north as they are farther south).

As the name zor suggests, access to the river's edge could be difficult, given the luxurient dense thicket of tropical thornbushes and scrub that covered the bottomland along the river's twisted course. Some of this land has been reclaimed for agriculture in modern times, but in antiquity, the zor was as much as a mile wide in places, making passage from east to west difficult. It's no surprise that the Jordan served as a boundary between so many of the tribes.

When looking at the Jordan River on the maps in the backs of our Bibles, and then reading of Gideon blocking the fords of the Jordan to stop the Midianite retreat or reading of the men of Gilead seizing the fords during the days of Jephthah to block the retreating Ephraimites, one might wonder why those fleeing didn't just find another place to cross. There weren't any. The impenetrable jungle blocked passage and only where it was breached were there places to ford the river.

"If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" -- Jer. 12:5


3:40 - 3:59
We reach the site of Adam, where the Bible tells us the waters of the Jordan backed up to when Joshua and the Isrealites crossed into the Promised Land. Here two important streams enter the Jordan. On the east side the Jabbok crosses the plain after exiting from a steep canyon that cuts through the Transjordanian Plateau, dividing Gilead in half and extending all the ways to Biblical Rabbah Amman. On the west is the Wadi Farah -- a beautiful broad valley that leads into the heart of ancient Israel.


4:00 - 4:19
Mount Alexandrium -- Since the Jewish festivals were based on the lunar calendar, the exact phase of the moon could be critical for determining when a festival would be celebrated. When a critical phase was about to arrive, there was intense observation to catch the moment. But the moment didn't happen the same time everywhere and it was important that the festival be observed at the same time. The solution was a system of fire signals atop mountains that could communicate with fellow Jews as far as Babylon. Alexandrium was one of those sites.


4:20 - 4:39
The valley of Wadi Farah. At the top of the valley is the city of Tirzah ("Beautiful") that served as the first capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel after the division. Biblical Shechem is reached this way -- it's the way Jacob went when returning from his 21 years of exile in Haran.


4:40 - 5:19
The plain of Jabbok. Between the cities of Zarethan and Succoth on the eastern plain was where all the bronze furnishings -- from the two large pillars at the front of Solomon's Temple to the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls used at the altar -- were cast in clay molds.

Jacob, returning from Haran, stayed at Succoth where he built shelters for himself and his livestock.


5:20 - 5:39
Mahanaim and Penuel here on the Jabbok River are both associated with Jacob in the story of his night wrestle with a man, an angel or God himself. Jacob left that struggle with a permanent limp and a new name -- Israel, which means "struggles with God."


There is an alternative site archaeologists consider for Mahanaim further up the Jabbok. Mahanaim served as a kind of sanctuary when things went bad in the hill country of Judah. When Saul died, his only surviving son was put forth as king of Israel (but not Judah) -- a position he held for seven years. He ruled from Mahanaim. When David fled his son Absalom's rebellion, it was to Mahanaim he fled.


5:40 - 5:59
The northern half of Mount Gilead. It was legendary for its healing balm, collected from the sap of a tree. The caravan of Ishmaelites from Saudi Arabia whose brothers Joseph sold him to had first come here to Gilead to collect balm to carry with them down to Egypt. From the geography of the story they most likely crossed the Jordan at Adam and ascended the Wadi Farah on their way to Dothan.


6:00 - 6:19
A look toward Shechem -- the first place Abraham comes to in the land. The book of Judges refers to it as the "center of the land." It sat between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal where Israel pronounced the blessings and curses of the covenant under Joshua. The modern city of Nablus occupies that site now. Jacob's well is there at Sychar - the site of Jesus' meeting with the woman at the well.


6:20 - 6:39
Here in the center of the valley is Abel-meholah, the home of Elisha. He was here plowing his father's field's when he was annointed by Elijah as his successor.

The deep valley beyond Abel-meholah is the wadi leading up to Jabesh-gilead. Rescuing Jabesh-gilead from a seige by the Ammonites was Saul's first act as king. It was across the ground below us that he led his army in a night march to attack the enemy.


6:40 - 6:59
There was a historical connection between Saul's city of Gibeah and Jabesh. It's detailed in the book of Judges. Long story short, both had experienced destruction at the hands of fellow Israelites. Saul's tribe of Benjamin only continued to exist because of intermarriage with women of Jabesh. Saul's fervor to rescue Jabesh may have had an ancestral component.

After Saul and his sons were killed in battle by the Philistines at Gilboa and their bodies hung from the walls of Bethshan, it was men of Jabesh-gilead who crossed the Jordan Valley at night to recover their bodies and bring them to Jabesh.


7:00 - 7:19
Pella was one of the cities of the Decapolis, a group of 10 Romanized pagan cities in the north.

In A.D. 66, according to an early Christian tradition, repeated by Eusebius, the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem fled here, after a divine revelation that may be linked to Jesus' warning in Luke 21, and escaped the carnage when the city was destroyed by the Romans four years later:

"The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella. Here those that believed in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men had entirely abandoned the royal city itself, and the whole land of Judea; the divine justice, for their crimes against Christ and his apostles finally overtook them, totally destroying the whole generation of these evildoers from the earth." (Eusebius, History of the Church, bk. 3, ch. 5)

In the centuries that followed, Pella became an important center of Byzantine Christianity, sending bishops to the Council of Chalcedon, Ephesus and others. Like Scythopolis, the city was destroyed in the A.D. 749 earthquake.


7:20 - 7:39
Rehob means "market." There were a lot of markets in ancient Israel and a lot of Rehobs. This 26-acre site is not in the Bible but it is in Egyptian lists from the time of Abraham. There have, however, been interesting archaelogical finds linked to Bible characters we know.

Excavations at the site in 2007 revealed the first beehives found in the ancient Near East. They have been dated from the 10th to early 9th century B.C., after the northern and southern kingdoms split. A storage jar found near the apiary is stamped with the name Nimshi. Nimshi was the name of the "father" (most likely grandfather) of Jehu, the Israelite commander who destroyed the house of Ahab after being annointed by Elisha (whose hometown of Abel Meholah is about 7 miles southwest of Rehob). Another storage jar stamped "Nimshi" found here raises the possibility that Jehu hailed from Rehob or its vicinity.

In 2013, archaeologists found a pottery chard in a unique house that had the name Elisha on it. It was Elisha who sent out one of his disciples to anoint Jehu to overthrow the house of Ahab and Jezebel.


7:40 - 7:59
Bethshan was an important Canaanite city at a strategic location. Here at the foot of the Harod Valley, it dominated the way to the Jezreel Valley and the coastal plain as well as the way to Transjordan and Damascus. It was dominated by different powers at different times. It was here that the Philistines hung the bodies of Saul and his sons following their defeat at the battle of Mt. Gilboa. Gilboa is the large mountain on the left.

At the foot of the high tell of Bethshan arose the Roman city of Scythopolis, the only Decapolis city west of the Jordan. It has been completely excavated.


8:00 - 8:19
Gilboa is featured in David's beautiful lament:

The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!

Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon --
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

O mountains of Gilboa,
Let there be no dew nor rain upon you,
Nor fields of offerings.
For the shield of the mighty is cast away there!
The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.


8:20 - 8:39
En Harod is also shown here. It is the site of the spring where Gideon pared his force down to 300 men. It is also where Saul's army was positioned prior to his final battle. At the top of the Harod Valley is the cityof Jezreel, where Ahab and Jezebel had their winter palace. It was up this valley that Jehu came, driving his chariot like a madman, to begin the coup d'tat against the house of Ahab and Jezebel.


8:40 - 8:59
Both Gideon and Saul crossed the Harod Valley during the night. Gideon to climb and descend Givat Moreh -- Hill of the Soothsayer -- to spy on the Midianites encamped in the vale between Moreh and Mt. Tabor, and Saul to inquire of the withch of Endor. Gideon returned, confident he had God's favor to defeat the enemy and Saul returned confident of his doom.


9:00 - 9:19
Here's an interesting juxtaposition ... Shunem on the south side of Givat Moreh and Nain on the north side. At the former, Elisha's prayers restored the life of the son of a woman who had built a room for the prophet on the roof of her house. At the latter, Jesus raised the only son of a widow from the dead.


9:20 - 9:39
Another view of Jehu's mad dash to Jezreel. It was here that Ahab coveted the vineyard of Naboth and his pagan wife got it for him by having Naboth falsely accused of blasphemy and executed. It was here in Naboth's that the prophet Elijah confronted Ahab, telling him he and his household would be cut off and that dogs would "devour Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel." (Elsewhere, we learn Jehu was standing with Elijah). In the far distance, to the left, just out of view, was Ramoth Gilead. Ahab had already been killed in battle there with the Syrians. It was in yet another battle with the Syrians at Ramoth Gilead that Jehu was anointed by order of Elisha (who had been ordered by Elijah who had been ordered by God) to go to Jezreel and wipe out the house of Ahab.

It's intersting to imagine the tension that existed across the Harod Valley at this point with Ahab and Jezebel in their palace and Elisha a little over 3 miles away on the roof of the Shunamite woman.


9:40 - 9:59
Let's head back to our road for the last stretch to the Sea of Galilee. Those ponds are fish ponds, the water supplied by En Harod.

Note the hills rising above the road. We have reached Lower Galilee. Here in the western part of the region, we have a series of hills with gentle slopes on their south sides and steep slopes or cliffs on their north side. It's the opposite in eastern Lower Galilee. It is the result of large areas of lands -- geologic blocks tilting in one direction or the other. It makes north-south travel difficult ... except where the two regions meet. We'll see that in a couple days.


10:00 - 10:19
The Jordanian side of the Jordan River enjoys a source of water Israel does not have -- the Yarmuk River. Were it not dammed and controlled, it would double the volume of water carried by the Jordan where they meet. It is the successful development of agriculture by "enemies" in close proximity that helps keep the peace. War is simply too costly.


10:20 - 10:39
Belvoir Castle was one of several well placed fortresses built by the Crusaders from which they could survey the land. Here you can also see the contrast between the north and south sides of the hills. They resemble waves rolling in.


10:40 - 10:59
Welcome to the Sea of Galilee, although Israelis refer to it by it's Old Testament name, Chinnereth. In Greek, it comes to us as Gennesaret. The surface of the lake is about 700 feet below sea level.


11:00 - 11:19
Here at the south end of the lake, where relatively clean water flows into the Jordan River, the Israeli government has built a site for Christian baptisms.


11:20 - 11:39
Those steep north faces of the hills of eastern Lower Galilee form high cliffs along the shore. The city of Tiberias pours down the one of those hills with the Arbel cliff just beyond. Along the shore is the Plain of Gennesaret and, where the road ascends to the Upper Jordan, the site of the Sermon on the Mount and Capernaum. On the horizon, the taller mountain is Mt. Meron in Upper Galilee, and to the right, Safed, the center of Jewish kabbalah.


11:40 - 11:20
Tiberias was built by Herod Antipas in A.D. 20, when Jesus was a young man in Nazareth, located on that mountain on the horizon beyond Tiberias. During Jesus ministry it was a pagan city named for the Roman emperor and gets short shrift in the Gospels.

Despite it's pagan beginnings, it became one of the most important centers of Judaism after the Temple was destroyed. Along with Jerusalem, Safed and Hebron, is considered one of Israel's four holy cities. Some of the earliest rabbinical sages are buried here, including Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Meir and Maimonides, the Medieval codifier of Jewish law and philosophy ("the Guide to the Perplexed). The Jerusalem Talmud and much of the Mishnah were compiled here, as was the Gemara. The last Sanhedrin met here 1,600 years ago (although a body claiming to be the reconstituted Sanhedrin was formed in 2004).


12:20 - 12:40
A high-altitude look at the Sea of Galilee. Its shape conforms to its original name, Chinnereth, means "harp."