Where was Stephen buried?

According to tradition, this church is built over the place where Stephen, the 1st martyr who followed Jesus, was buried.

I've been to a lot of churches in Israel, and I didn't expect this one to be so breathtakingly beautiful.

The light! 

The colors!

Take a look for yourself at what is now one of my favorite churches in Israel:

Meaning “the House of the Camel”, but it’s also suggested to have something to do with Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder.

Nowadays, there’s a monastery here and some caves. In one of these is where tradition says that Nicodemus and Gamaliel buried the body of Stephen, the first Christian martyr in from Acts 7.

The murals tell the story. Can you see the man in blue holding garments at the stoning? That would be the man responsible for writing most of the New Testament: Saul of Tarsis, before he met Jesus.

Reading the Bible with GPS

As if seeing where David killed Goliath wasn't enough, that’s not all you can see at Tel Azekah.

There are current excavations for the ancient city mentioned in Joshua 10. I thought I saw an ancient toilet, but turns out t was a stone with a hole cut out to hld a pole. The tel itself is covered in pine trees, which makes this Georgia girl’s heart so happy, especially on a clear, beautiful day in December.

At the base of the tel are fragments of pottery that are free to visitors to take.

And last but not least, on the other side of the tel is a view of Gath, the Philistine city and Goliath’s hometown (it’s the brown hill in the distance), which means you can do fun things like track the Philistines’ and Israelites’ movements on googlemaps, if you’d like.

And, before you ask, of course I did that! The best part of being in Israel is that you can read the Bible with GPS! Doing so has given me extra insight on stories I've heard my whole life. I 100% recommend it—as I do going to Tel Azekah!

This is where David Killed Goliath; need I say more?

One of the first Bible stories you’re taught as a child is David and Goliath: the shepherd-poet-turned-giant-slayer-man-after-God’s-own-heart-and-the-2nd-king-of-Israel against an over 9-foot tall guy from Gath (descendent of the Nephilim?). I've heard this story all of my life. Its picture has made it into many sermons and analogies throughout time. It's so commonplace it gets intermixed with cultural lore and mythologies we hear all of the time.

Except, this story is real.

And nothing prepares you for the moment you see where it happened.

When I realized I could go to the very place where David slew Goliath, I looked forward to it for months. I was such a nerd about it and didn't care. This was a big one!

And, there it then there it was: the Valley of Elah.

1 Samuel 17 describes the scene: 2 hills with a small valley between them. The Israelites camped on the right side of those hills and the Philistines on the left, and the battle happened in the small valley between them.

Can you picture it?

The stream David gathered stones from ran along the valley, following the line of the current highway, before turning to enter the valley itself.

At the top of one of those hills are some ruins, but you need 4-wheel drive to get up there. From Tel Azekah, you can see the valley from above while your tour guide reads the story for you. It’s so real that for a second, you see the slight frame of a 16-year-old boy entering the valley in your mind’s eye.

Epic doesn't begin to describe it.

Israeli influencers Sergio and Rhoda went there in 2021, and I watched the video after visiting myself (I always need to visit before watching or reading about a place!). I loved that they did, because they tested the sound, tried out a sling, and looked for the stream. It's such a good adventure that I wanted to share it here:

If you watch it, let me know what you think!

I'd love to go back to the Valley of Elah one day and do the 4-wheeling tour up to the ruins, maybe run around below and search for the stream. What an incredible place!

Can a nation be built in a day?

Isaiah 66:8 asks the impossible question: "Can a country be born in a day, or a nation be brought forth in a moment?"

On May 14, 1948, that's what happened when the nation of Israel was re-born in the Land.

While definitely the most clear example, that's not the only way this impossible question was answered by the rebirth of Israel. 

Beside Gan HaShlosha is the park of Tel Amal, which is an exact replica of the first Stockade and Tower Settlement of Tel Amal, which was built December 1936.

According to this site, Tel Amal was the first settlement of its kind. It was literally raised in a day, and became a model for 57 other settlements throughout Israel between 1936-1939.

The element of surprise was crucial, so that they couldn't be stopped. Everything was pre-fabricated and then constructed on-site in 1 day. The walls were filled with gravel that would stop bullets. And you can see from the map above, that these literally helped form the modern boundaries of Israel, as they were built along the borders, in Jewish areas.

Today, at Tel Amal, you can tour the settlement. Visitors go on a journey with characters in a film (based on the original settlers) as they prepare and then build the settlement.

Then, you can walk around and see:

The living quarters

The office

kitchen/laundry

You can also climb the tower and look around. It's an incredible view, with the kibbutz Nir David and the Amal stream on one side, Gan HaShlosha on another, and Mount Gilboa alongside.

Finally, have you ever heard the term, "Sabra"? It's the fruit of a cactus, and is a nation for Israelis who were born in the Land. It's hard and spiny on the outisde, but the inside is sweet. Here is some sabra growing alongside Tel Amal.

What do you think? Is this an additional meaning to the question if a nation can be born in a day? While I believe it was pointing to May 14, 1948, how amazing that these settlements literally went up on a day and formed the boundaries of modern day Israel? I definitely see a connection there as well!

Exploring the prophet Elisha's hometown

Not far from Beit She'an is another tel. This one isn't built up into a national park; there's honestly not a lot going on with it. It's just there in a field, with beautiful 360 degree views of the Jordan Valley, Mount Gilboa, and Jordan. 

It's also believed to be the hometown of Elisha.

So one particularly warm day in January, I took a metronit to a train to a bus and then walked a lot to explore Elisha's hometown.

It took a lot longer to get there than I thought it would, mostly because one bus never came and then I tried to enter the field in a way that was blocked by barbed wire and had to back track to the road. But finally, I found the right path. 

Then, I climbed up and started to explore. 

First, can we talk about the views?

To the west, to Mount Gilboa

To the east... the mountains in the distance are Jordan (at the time of Elisha, that was still Israel).

Wow! At the top there are also dirt paths like you see above. There are motorcycle and dirt-bike tracks all over them, as well as footprints and pottery shards.

Most of the tel is smooth, but one excavated part remains open:

According to BibleWalks, Rehov was likely settled at the same time as Megiddo, and likely conquered by Egypt at the same time as Megiddo. It's passively mentioned as one of Beit She'an's towns in Judges 1:27. Around the time of David, it was conquered by Israel and eventually was part of the Northern Kingdom.

Excavations in 9 areas revealed that it was a large and prosperous city. Findings of artifacts from other countries prove the residents continued to practice Canaanite/Phoenician and Syrian traditions and customs.

It was eventually destroyed by the Assyrians in the 736 BC invasion. The Assyrians lived there for a while but then moved to Megiddo. It laid in ruins for 1500 years, and then a small Jewish town was built nearby in the Roman Era. In the Middle Ages, an Arab town settled on top.

What's most interesting about this tel are the findings in the opened excavated areas:

Found in the ruins was an apiary dating back to the 10th Century BC, with the remains of dozens of beehives in clay cylinders. This is unique for many reasons:

First, the apiary was very close to a bunch of houses. This means it was likely this was a source of income for the townspeople. 

Second, signs on the property say that when they tested the apiary, the found the bees themselves didn't originate from Israel. This particular group of bees came from Turkey! Apparently, they were less aggressive and more productive than Syrian bees.

So funny! 

It gives new meaning to the phrase "land flowing with milk and honey"!

My favorite part of the day, other than the adventure and the views, was going back from the tel and finding the local springs right beside it. Even though it was January, it was close to 80 degrees that day and I was hot! I waded in and cooled off before heading to the bus stop.

Definitely a great adventure!

An oasis near Mount Gilboa

About 10 minutes from Mount Gilboa, where Saul fell in battle, is one of the coolest natural parks I've seen in Israel.

Fed by the Amal stream, Gan HaShlosha is an incredible oasis on a hot day. It stays at a constant 28 degrees celsius, or 82 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is even swim-able in the winter.

On a hot Friday in August, it felt like paradise. Surrounded by grass (GRASS!! still green!) and trees swaying in the wind, practically in the shadow of the mountain cursed by David after Saul’s death, these natural pools are an amazing place to explore- and cool off!

I can understand why a movie called "Garden of Eden" was filmed here... just be ready for some fish to nibble at your ankles!

Mount Gilboa: Where King Saul died

And now we've come to Mount Gilboa, where Saul, Israel's first king, and his sons died. 

Or rather, the view from this mountain. It's likely Saul and his sons were killed closer to the base of it. And then, of course, their headless bodies were carried back to Beit She'an and hung from the city gates (of the town on top of the tel).

Do you remember why this mountain is barren?

In 2 Samuel 1, David cursed it for being the place where Israel's first king died. More than 3 millennia later, except for a patch where the Jewish National Fund planted some trees, the mountain is still bare.

Now, it's a place for people to come and hang out, picnic, and even hang glide over the Jezreel Valley. There are kibbutzim at the base of it, and hiking trails up to the place called "Saul's Shoulder".

WOW! Definitely a surreal place to visit in the Jezreel Valley.

King Saul's last battle: the view from Ahab and Jezebel's back porch

I’m actually not sure if there is anything cooler that looking out over the Jezreel Valley while your guide reads from the Bible and says, “So, Saul’s men were camped there at the trees” (bottom right of the below photo)

“and the Philistines were near there” (the town on the left edge) “and then Saul went to the witch of Ein Dor over there” (not pictured) “who foretold his defeat and death.

When Saul and his sons retreated in battle to Mount Gilboa” (the barren mountain below),

they died (Saul fell on his sword)… and then their headless bodies were taken back to Beit She’an, which you visited before lunch!”

😂

Oh, and all of this was told to me while we were sitting from the back porch of Ahab and Jezebel's winter palace in the Jezreel Valley. 😱

I don't really have pictures of the ruins, because they are all covered up and dangerous to wade through. They were behind me, but because of the rise of the mountain, I couldn't really see anything. Apparently, there's nothing there to really see, as it was never built back up into a park.

Just this amazing view, and the ability to see exactly the last battle of Israel's first king.

Oh, and do you remember why Mount Gilboa is barren? 

Beit She'an: Trapped in Time

Beit She’an is one of those places that I knew was cool when I visited in 2017, but was unable to fully grasp just how incredible it was. I think I was on overload at the time.

So when I went back, I got to be amazed all over again!

One of the 2 cities of the Decapolis as mentioned in the NT that is in Israel (the other being Susita in the Galilee), Beit She’an was a thriving Roman city during Jesus’ day. It was built at the foot of a tel dating back millennia- the same place where the Philistines hung the headless bodies of King Saul and his sons over the walls (1 Samuel 31:8-13). From a theater to a bathhouse and public toilets, this place had it all.

The bathhouse:

View from the main street (cardo):

The cardo, or the main street going through the center of town:

The statues here show at least 1 thing this city was known for...

Until 749 AD, when a massive earthquake shook the entire region- the largest in recorded history. All this splendor fell down and cracked open, stately columns rolling this way and that until they finally stopped laid in testament to the tectonic game of pick-up sticks the earth played on that fateful day. When the city was found and excavated, coins dating to 749 AD were found, marking the exact date of destruction almost as well as a stopped clock.

These columns are massive... grown men can't wrap their arms around them.

Once again, I went up to the top of the tel. The view was stunning!

On a clear day, you can see all the way into Jordan from the other side:

At the top of the tel lie more ruins, this time of the Philistine village. But, they dug deeper and even found the governor’s house from when the Egyptians controlled the area! That’s MILENNIA ago!

WOW! If you ever get a chance to visit Beit She'an, I highly recommend it! The magnitude of it is overwhelming.