Several months ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel for a tour of the land. We truly traveled from “Dan to Beersheba,” and all points in between. We spent the first full day of our tour driving up the coast from the modern capital of Tel-Aviv. We visited Joppa, Caesarea, and looked over the countryside from the top of Mt. Carmel. We also traveled to the Jewish necropolis, (city of the dead), Beit-She’arim. We went to the ancient city of Akko (Acre), which was known as Ptolemais in the time of the Apostle Paul, who visited there (cf. Acts 21:7). Our first day ended at the Sea of Galilee, where we spent the night in Tiberias, on the western shore.
In subsequent days we visited many other sites, including:
- A boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. One of the most touching moments of our trip, as the lake remains untouched by the tourism that sullies many of the sites in Israel. The quiet time we had on Galilee was very precious. Brother Tom Roberts has an article on this feature of the land in this issue.
- A visit to the village of Capernaum. Jesus’ adopted home during his Galilean ministry. Brother Marc Smith has a very interesting article in this issue on that historical place.
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The Mount of Beatitudes. (A probable site of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount). - The ruins of Chorazin, one of the villages of Galilee, cursed by Jesus in Matthew 11:21.
- Caesarea Philippi. This was the site of Peter’s confession of Christ, recorded in Matthew 16. Brother Jarrod Jacobs has an informative article on that town in this issue of Watchman.
- The Jordan River. We had an opportunity to see the River at its head (fed by springs from Mt. Hermon), as it entered into the Northern end of the Sea of Galilee, and a few miles south of the exit from the sea. Pictures of the river are found interspersed with Joshua Gurtler’s fine description of that significant river in his article.
- We drove through Nazareth, and viewed the hilly countryside. We took pictures of a mountain (the “Mount of Precipice”), which may have been the site of the attempted assassination of our Lord, as recorded in Luke 4.
- The ruins of the ancient stronghold of Megiddo. Here we found an ancient circular altar which may have been used for human sacrifice by the Canaanites in 3,000 B.C.
- We traveled through Samaria, and witnessed the modern day poverty. We went to Sebaste, the capital of Northern Kingdom during the reign of Omri. There we saw an example of the “high places” which were used for idol worship and sacrifice during that time of rebellion against God.
- Jacob’s well in Samaria. This site is universally recognized as being authentic. After seeing this well, my reading of Jesus’ conversation with the woman of Samaria is forever changed.
- We visited Bethlehem, and also had opportunity to see the shepherd’s fields in the countryside surrounding what is now a substantial town.
- We went to the house of Caiaphas, and spent time on the Mount of Olives. While there we experienced laughter (Tom Roberts on a camel), and sorrow (as we contemplated the suffering of Jesus while visiting the Garden of Gethsemene.
- We spent a day in the Wilderness of Judea, which is truly an awesome experience. I have written an article on that part of Judea, accompanied by pictures. While there we visited the Dead Sea, Massada, Qumran, (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered), and Jericho. On the way back from Jericho to Jerusalem, we took the winding “Jericho Road” through the hills. You can see how the unfortunate individual who needed the Samaritan’s help could have “fell among thieves”, (cf. Luke 10:30).
- We spent a day in the old city of Jerusalem. We saw the “Wailing Wall”; the site of the Temple; the gate called “Beautiful”; the Pool of Bethesda; the traditional site of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection; the excavation of a wall dating to the time of Solomon; open markets; the Damascus gate; and many other sites within the walls of the old city. That same day we traveled to the Garden Tomb, which contains a hewn tomb which some believe to be the actual place where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion.
On our last day we traveled to Emmaus (cf. Luke 24:13), and stopped in the valley of Elah (where David slew Goliath) on our way down to Beer Sheva (Beersheba). In the afternoon, we visited the museum where the Dead Sea Scrolls are located, and also visited a scale model of the old city of Jerusalem that allowed us to put into perspective our time there. All in all it was a wonderful and educational experience.
It is important to express appreciation for our hosts, Mike and Sandy Willis, and Tom and Pauline Roberts. Mike has been to Israel several times, and his knowledge of the land, as well as his special study of the history of Israel was invaluable in making our experience there truly memorable. Tom often shared with us his knowledge of the history of the land and God’s people as well. I can’t sufficiently emphasize the benefit of such an experience. Any child of God would do well to take advantage of any opportunity he or she might have to visit the land of Jesus. Both Mike and Tom are going overseas next spring as well, this time to visit Greece. Again, emphasis will be on Bible history in their travels. Some space is still available, though time is short. If anyone is interested in such a trip, they should email Tom Roberts immediately.
Though we can’t reproduce that experience through the pages of this magazine, we can illustrate studies of these lands with pictures taken of the land in our time. The pictures that accompany each article in this feature, (save for the pictures in Tom’s article on the Sea of Galilee), were taken by me. Though space constraints seldom allow for a good translation of pictures to the electronic format via the web, I hope that the pictures will help as you read these descriptions of the Land of Jesus.
As you may note in the short description I gave of our trip, there is much more to tell… and to show. This we will do in future months. Our intent is to not only have at least one more month devoted to the theme of the Land of Judah, but also to begin a monthly feature in January which will allow for a study each month in the geography, archaeology, history and culture of the land.
But for now, enjoy the descriptions, both in picture and word, of the Land of Jesus.
