Faith Bible Church

Cedar Rapids, IA

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Day16

Day 16. Today was our first day in the region of Galilee: Bet She’an; Jezreel; Megiddo, and Nazareth!

Mount Gilboa – King Saul dies on Mt Gilboa
Bet She’an – 1 Samuel 31:10 records that when the Philistines found Saul dead on Mount Gilboa, they took his body and fastened it to the wall here at Beth-Shan.
Herod Valley
Hill of Moreh
Scythopolis (NT city @ OT Beth-shan): this is a possible location for the account recorded in Luke 17:11. This is the largest Roman ruin on the west side of the Jordan river.
in Megiddo, Israel
Scythopolis (NT city @ OT Beth-shan): this is a possible location for the account recorded in Luke 17:11. This is the largest Roman ruin on the west side of the Jordan river.
The stairs we walked from the Roman ruins below up to the Egyptian ruins above.
Barb always likes to be the first one to arrive! Ha!
Looking down to the Herod Valley from Jezreel – Judges 1:17 lists the cities Israel could not take in this valley below. See 2 Kings 9:16 and following and Hosea 1:4 and following
Hill of Moreh from Jezreel
Mount Gilboa from Jezreel
Mount Tabor
Looking west toward Megiddo
Model of Megiddo
Late Bronze Age gate into Megiddo
Basalt stone at the base of this Late Bronze Age gate. This gate would have been taken from the Canaanite’s by Thutmose III.
Israelite six chamber gate – some current archaeologists think this was built by King Ahab. A more traditional view would attribute the gate to King Solomon (See 1 Kings 9:15).
A slice of the Tel at Megiddo. 30 some communities are built on top of each other at Megiddo. The circular structure with two rectangles was a sacred spot for Canaanites from early bronze to late bronze era.
Mt Carmel – northwest of Megiddo
Mount Gilboa – east of Megiddo
Hill of Moreh – East Northeast of Megiddo
Mt Tabor – Northeast of Megiddo – see Judges 4-5
Nazareth Ridge – northeast of Megiddo
Southern stables at Megiddo
Possible manger in the Megiddo stables
Exited Megiddo through the water system they built to get to the spring
Ancient core of Nazareth – this is Zebulun’s territory
Ancient core of Nazareth – this is Zebulun’s territory
From up here above Nazareth we read Luke 4:14-44. Dr Parker led us in a fascinating discussion. We took a 360 degree look around us, and rehearsed the biblical narratives attached to this very area. Jesus could have well gone up to this hill top for a teaching moment with Joseph, rehearsing Israel’s history together.
Mt Tabor from Nazareth
Looking east toward the Hill of Moreh from Nazareth – Endor is at the base
Monastery on top that marks where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal.
Spending the night in Nazareth. This was the salad course of our evening meal. Excellent!