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!

Did the Ark of the Covenant rest here?

The thing about being in Israel is that you never know when you will see or learn something that will take your breath away. Tel Beit Shemesh definitely was one of those places!

In 1 Samuel, the Ark of the Covenant was stolen from Shiloh by the Philistines, where it began a tour of the major Philistine cities, as crazy things happened wherever the Ark was: statues of false gods fell over face first, decapitated and missing limbs, and all the people broke out in tumors to name a few. Eventually, the Ark was put on a cart led by two nursing cows, and they carried it out of Philistine territory to Beit Shemesh, where the Ark was eventually placed on a large stone.

Then, more tragedy struck. Because some Levites peered into the Ark, people died. Different versions of 1 Samuel 6 are unclear; some say it was 70 people and some say it was 50,070. The text also doesn't say how long the Ark was actually in Beit Shemesh, which means "House of the Sun". Either way, it was a hard-learned lesson.

Modern day Tel Beit Shemesh isn’t a national park; we literally parked on the side of the road and walked up, where we could see the modern city (below), and

and even glimpse Samson’s hometown (the far right peak in the distance).

There are ruins of a monastery, an amazing view towards the ancient Philistine territory, and a massive, cross-shaped cistern dating back to the Assyrian invasion.

But the coolest part is this place in the oldest part of the ruins dating to the Canaanite era, with the fields just beyond them. There are 3 flat, smooth rocks partially covered by grass in the photo below. They look a lot like places where sacrifices have been made, and tests of the ground around it reveal the remains of kosher animals used in sacrifices.

the 3 flat stones with the groove are in the center below, partially hidden by grass:

Behind those 3 stones is an unnatural wall, called “fill”. It was left after digging around it and now it acts as a wall, showing what the earth absorbed over the past millennia. On the edge of the “wall”, a bone is sticking out. Can you see it?

Can you see it?

We even found an animal bone lying just off the path where we were staying (bonus).

And behind that fill “wall”, is an even larger stone, also partially hidden in long grass. It’s flat, smooth, and almost the exact shape and size of what the stone holding the Ark needed to be.

Could that be where the Ark rested after returning from the Philistines?

I was pretty much speechless at that point, to be standing in this unprotected place, looking at a place that likely held the presence of God (as if He can be contained). Then it struck me, as incredible as that was, and is, even more so is that those of us who know Him have His Holy Spirit inside of us.

What a special place! The end of 1 Samuel says that after this, the Ark went to Kiriath Jearim, where it stayed in the house of Abinadab for 20 years.

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.

The first (recorded) battle and where armies will gather for the last (Armageddon!)

The first time I went to Megiddo, it was rainy, cold, and rainbows soared over the green Jezreel Valley. I was alone with my friend and my trusty brochure.

This time, even though it was May and the rainy season was over, storm clouds were rolling in—and I was with a tour guide. Both times were pretty epic. 

This time I also went down to the water system!

Because Megiddo sits at a strategic place on the ancient Via Maris, Megiddo has been a place for people to live dating as far back as the Neolithic period (7th and 6th centuries BC). That's a really long time! 

And, it is actually the place for the 1st recorded battle in history. In the 15th century BC, Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III fought at the foot of Megiddo, which at that point was part of an alliance of Canaanite cities that rebelled against Egypt.

Fast forward several centuries, and it is mentioned in Joshua 12:21 in a list of kings defeated by Joshua, however Manasseh was unable to take it over in Joshua 17:11-13 and Judges 1:27). It's also mentioned in 1 Kings 9:15  as a place built up by Solomon, alongside Hazor and Gezer.

Last time, I also didn't get to go out to the main overlook, so I missed something very important:

the raised platform where the idols were worshiped and sacrifices were made.

Also, on this trip I went down into the water system. It was so cool! Literally—the temperature lowered drastically, haha. And it was amazing to see how they protected their water and made it accessible for the residents. It will be interesting to compare this to the system at Tel Hazor when I got back, and also to Hezekiah's Tunnel one day. 

That's it for Megiddo visit #2! I'm sure it will not be the last! What an amazing place!

Horns of Hattin: Where the Crusaders Fell

The Horns of Hattin is another incredible place that I'm glad I got to see when all the world was as green as green can be. 

An extinct volcano, its rim has 2 horns that give the mountain its name. The views are incredible (check out Mount Arbel in the distance!), the silence, save for birdsong and wind, was deafening, and the historical significance of this site, mind-blowing. 

On July 4, 1187, this mountain is where the land changed over from Crusader hands to Ayyubite Control, let by Saladin ElAyyubi after a bloody battle.

It was summer, so the grasses made for perfect tinder when the Sultan Saladin's forces set fire to it, trapping everyone and eventually killing them. 

I could just see the battle playing out before me and was like, "Why has no one made a movie about this yet?" It turns out that they did when I was in college: Kingdom of Heaven. Remember that?

Only, I'm pretty sure that movie was set in Jerusalem, not the Galilee. The setting did not look anything like the Galilee. But when has historical accuracy (and literary, but that's another soapbox for another day) ever been Hollywood's strong suit?

Anywho... this was such a fun place to explore. We were the only ones there, walking through the long grass and climbing over rocks. Wikipedia says that Saladin built a victory dome here, but by 1217, a German explorer said it was desolate. I can say that in 2022, it's just natural beauty (and a loooooooot of rocks). 

And, ironically enough, this place is also a 3rd possible location for Jesus' Sermon on the Mount/Mount Beatitudes.