The Newest Discoveries in Israel!

Did you hear about this?

Apparently, it's long been believed that there was a church of the apostles in the village of Bethsaida, the home of the disciples Peter, Andrew, and Philip, in the Galilee; however, until recently, it has never been found. 

According to The Jerusalem Post, archaeologists have searched for years for this church, which was visited by the Bavarian Bishop Willibald in 724AD and was chronicled in his writings. A few decades after his visit, a major earthquake shook the country, and the Muslim ruling dynasty changed, and many Christian sites—and the memory of their exact location—were lost. 

In 2017, archeologists identified a tel (hill) they wanted to explore as a possible site for Bethsaida. Not long after, they discovered "the Roman layer dating back to the time of Jesus, unearthing houses, pottery, coins, and so on. Since the beginning, some finds suggested us that the there must be a church somewhere, such as pieces of mosaics," said Professor Rami Arav of the University of Omaha, Nebraska.

Then, the archeologists decided to investigate another tel 2 kilometers away. 

There, they found a large basilica, about 89 ft x 53 ft. " We found mosaics, two inscriptions, the apses, all dating back to the Byzantine period," Aviam said. "The church was built at the end of the fifth or the beginning of the sixth century and probably remained in use until the eighth century."

In the last season of excavations of 2021, the archaeologists found something interesting: a door-less wall in front of the basilica. Was it built to protect the church? or simply to add on to a new structure?

In 2022, we hope to find out when the team excavates around the church!

A second recent (and incredible) find is an amythest seal discovered in Jerusalem with the balm of Gilead engraved on it. 

According to the Jewish News Syndicate, this could be the first seal ever discovered with this kind of engraving, despite the written accounts of seals like this. 

WOW!!!

In Memory of my Grandfather, Pierce Nelson

My grandfather, Pierce Nelson, went to be with Jesus on Saturday morning, November 20, 2021. Born in 1927, Pierce was 94 years old.

I first came to know Pierce when I was in high school. He married my grandmother, Toot, when I was 17. He had been a widower, and I was struck by his cheerfulness and love of history. As a veteran and a former EMT, he had a vast array of knowledge, and we had some fun conversations. I called him by his first name, but he was never my ‘step’ grandfather; he was my grandfather from age 17 on.

I remember one time I visited Toot and Pierce when I was in my 20s. We went to Shoney’s for breakfast and he was late getting to the table because he stopped to talk to everyone in the restaurant- and he did the same on the way out. Toot just shook her head while we sat in the car, watching. He knew everyone in his small town, and they knew him.

When he lost my grandmother in 2017, it was really hard on him. It was difficult for us to see him in pain, and to see his body weaken over the past few years. We are so saddened by his passing, but thankful to have the assurance of knowing where he is and that He is with Jesus. (And likely already making friends with everyone, catching up with all who have gone before, and chasing his beloved dog, Izzy, around).

Exploring Akko

So, I have some BIG NEWS that I haven't posted about on here yet:

One month ago, I moved to Israel!

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm here studying Hebrew and learning all about the culture, language, and everything else I can about this beautiful country. 

I still have some previously written posts that are scheduled for the future, which is good because learning to live in a new country (while also learning the language!) is a lot! But I hope to post as often as I can about new places I see and explore. 

For example, I went to Akko last week. 

Mentioned in the Bible as both Acre in Judges 1:31 and as Ptolemais in Acts 21:7, Akko sits on part of the only natural harbor in the entire Mediterranean, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world—dating back to 3,000 BC! 

Paul and Luke were there, because in Acts 21:7, Luke says: "We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day".

WOW!!! What an incredible history!!! (Can you imagine Paul and Luke sailing up to here?!?)

The city itself lies within the ancient boundaries given to the tribe of Asher, and since then, nation upon nation, from the Persians to the Greeks, the Hasmoneans, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, the British, etc conquered and then lived in Akko, which is now an Arab village. Marco Polo sailed to the Orient from here. In the 12th and 13th centuries AD, it was the capital of the Crusader kingdom. 

One of the coolest things we did was walk through underground tunnels and into an entire city that is now mostly underground. It was from the time of the Templar Knights, and it was so cool (and this post is getting so long), that I will continue it next week. 

Stay tuned for the tour of the Knights Hall and Templars' Tunnel!

The restoration of the Prophet Nahum's tomb in Iraq

In April 2017, two jeeps sped towards the tiny Christian town of Alqosh in Kurdistan, Iraq, with a secret mission—to find the deteriorating tomb of the Biblical prophet Nahum who prophesied about the great destruction to the Assyrian city of Ninevah.

Only 15 miles away, ISIS was battling the Iraqi Army. It was a dangerous mission.

What they found was a crumbling, crooked building. One strong storm could easily level it.

The truth was, they didn't want to just find the tomb; they wanted to restore it. 

Nahum, who lived in 7th Century AD, grew up in this area in a community of what were likely exiled tribes of Israel. For millennia, Jews in this area identified this building as the resting place for the body of Nahum, who was a minor prophet, and later, a synagogue. This common knowledge of this place continued for more than 2,000 years, and the building was saved from being turned into either a mosque or a cathedral. In the 1950s, the Jews of Alqosh fled Iraq for safety, asking local Christian families to care of the building. They did, but when ISIS came through, the building was badly damaged.

Still, the historicity of this place was clear, from the Hebrew inscriptions on the walls to its very architecture. The three men who led this project, Israelis Yaakov Shaffer and Meir Ronen, and American Adam Tiffen, examined the structure. Of his first visit to the tomb in 2016, Tiffen said, "I was amazed at its beauty and the dozens of Hebrew inscriptions on the walls. I was also shocked at its terribe condition, with several parts of the roof having fallen in, and mounts of rubble surrounding the tomb." Now, a year later, its condition had only worsened. But together with the 2 Israeli engineers, the 3 men began to dream.

First, they needed to protect the structure, as one strong wind would blow it all down. Then they could go about the work of restoration. They needed permission from the local authorities, as well as funding, and deeper knowledge of the ancient Jewish community of the area. They also needed rabbinic blessing to undergo such a work.

Four years later (delayed because of covid-19), the project was complete, and the tomb of Nahum and its surrounding synagogue has been restored. It's an incredible story, and I hope you go to read it here from the Times of Israel. It's incredible! They did a beautiful job!

Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar

Pearl in the Sand, by Tessa Afshar, is an incredible book!

Following the story of Rahab, Afshar gives the reader a beautiful glimpse into what it might have been for this woman, a Canaanite prostitute in Jericho, to betray her people by helping the spies of Israel and then joining the people of Israel... later to marry a leader in the tribe of Judah and give birth to Boaz, who is in the line of Jesus. What an incredible redemption of her story!

I was fascinated by the cultural elements of this story, and the in-depth exploration of Rahab's journey as a foreigner, a member of an enemy people, and a prostitute, to 'ancestor' of Jesus. In addition to her struggle, Afshar also gives insight to the current conflicts in the people of Israel, highlighting that this is not long after Moses has died, as well as the last of the earlier generation of people who escaped Egypt. This is a group of people—millions—who didn't know what it meant to stay in one place, to work the land, or to settle down. The psychological dynamics of that are so interesting to me! 

There were definitely physical, mental, and spiritual elements of this dynamic as well, as Joshua says to Salmone on page 100: "'I understand the root of your opinions; I know how you formed them. It's part and parcel of the way you young ones grew up. Your generation has had a hard lesson to learn. Your parents' and grandparents' lack of faith and disobedience changed your lives. Instead of being born and raised in homes of your own, you've endured the hardships of a meandering existence. You have never known the routine of a stable home life. The one security you young ones have known has been the Lord. It has made you cling to God in a way your parents weren't able to do. Perhaps your children's generation won't inherit your resolve either. Maybe that's why God allowed you to become wanderers in the first place.

But there is an underside to every strength, and yours is showing right now, Salmone. You have grown judgmental in your attempt at righteousness.'"

This book is obviously Biblical fiction, based on extensive research and also the author's imagination. But this paragraph really grabbed me, because it took me into the world of the younger generation of Israelites and their culture. Having lived with the consequences of their parents' and grandparents' sin in such a national way, it makes sense that it would greatly impact the younger generation in a powerful (and opposite) way. 

Was the problem described by Joshua (at Afshar's hand) a real problem? We might not know until Heaven, but I can't wait to find out! Let me know what you think in the comments below!

900-year-old sword discovered in Israel

Last week, Shlomi Katzin was scuba diving off the coast of Atlit, when something caught his eye. Moving closer, he realized it was an iron sword more than 3 feet in length!

Having already seen marine-encrusted stone anchors and pottery shards, he realized this was a big deal and brought the to shore in order for it to be kept safe from moving sand. There he called the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) to let them know of his find. Simple tests showed that this sword was more than 900 years old—dating back to the time of the Crusades!

WOW!

Such finds like this are common, the IAA's Marine Archaeology Unit Director, Kobi Sharvit explained, because "the Carmel Coast has a lot of natural coves, which once upon a time, 'provided shelter for ancient ships during storms, and larger coves around the port cities developed.'"

Since 2010, when a huge winter storm brought more than 50-foot waves to hammer the Carmel coastline, the underwater topography changed as well, which ushered in one of the largest and most prolific periods of marine archeology in Israel's history according to the Jerusalem Post's Rossella Tercatin. 

Sharvit pointed out that "the coast of Israel is a bridge between east and west and north and south", and then a thick layer of sand from the Nile has helped preserve archeological evidence.

Every storm that comes through, every strong wave, has the potential to shift the seabed and reveal more historical treasure underneath. With the winter rains still to come, I wonder what will be revealed this year?

The Secrets of the Cross Trilogy by Elizabeth Musser

Last month, I read this fascinating trilogy by Elizabeth Musser. It doesn't directly touch on Jewish culture (though there are Jewish characters in the series), but I did see correlation as far as honor/shame cultures and the importance of family.

So, I wanted to share the Secrets of the Cross Trilogy with you!

Set primarily in the early 1960s (book 3 is set in 1994), the story follows characters in southern France and northern Algeria during the French-Algerian conflict, detailing the dynamics of racism and clashing cultures between Algerians loyal to their country, descendants of Algerian soldiers who are loyal to the French army and fought against Algeria in the war, Europeans living in Algeria as a result of the conflict, and all of those 3 also living in France. 

From a cultural standpoint, it's a fascinating story to explore, as I knew little of this dynamic. Combined with daring rescues, harrowing escapes, plots, and intrigue, it's a great read!

But what I wanted to share is what stood out to me on page 204, as the character of Ali, an Algerian socialist, vows revenge on his father's death against the descendants of the man who killed his father (who is also dead): "Ali spat. 'Captain Duchemin! You traitor. I'll find your daughter and granddaughter, and then I can draw the line through your family no one will remember them. My father will be avenged'".

This reminded of the blogs I wrote a few years ago about the importance of family, names, and the dynamics of honor and shame in Eastern cultures. This character is so focused on revenge that he wants to wipe out the whole family line of a man who is already dead (so he won't know it happened) in order to avenge his dead father.

He's focused on the name. He wants to completely remove the name. There is importance in names in Eastern cultures that we don't pick up on right away in Western cultures. As I stated in this blog, "The idea is so much deeper in Jewish culture, however. 'It's hard to overstate how important names were in Biblical times,' Lois Tverberg states in Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus. 'In ancient thought, without a name, an object or being didn't even exist. Egyptian documents describe the time before creation as "when no name of anything had yet been named,' and it was only when God created and named things that they officially existed.

Names in ancient Near Eastern culture were more than just descriptive words. They were reputations... legacies... identities."

Wow! That's very different from Western culture. What other media (books, movies, tv shows, etc have you seen this)? I'd love to know in the comments below!

You can find the trilogy here on Amazon!

The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi: The First and Second Temples

Speaking of the importance of pictures and analogies in Hebrew culture, here's another one from The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi that really stood out to me:

The Temple Mount is the most contested piece of land in all of the world. I'm not going to go into all of it here, as this blog might take up the whole internet. So I'm going to quickly summarize the legitimate claim of Israel and the Jewish faith to it. 

The First Temple, built on Mount Moriah, was built by Solomon on the very mountain where God led Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. It was destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians, when the last of the Israelites were carried away into captivity. God allowed this to happen because Israel had turned away from their first love: YHWH.

In 538 BC, the Second Temple was built by Zerubbabel, who was allowed by Babylonian King Cyrus to do so (Ezra 2). However, it was much smaller, less ornate than the original temple. Then, God allowed King Herod to begin a large-scale renovation and expansion of it, which "was one of the largest construction projects of 1st century B.C. Because of the immense resources Herod invested, the Second Temple became one of the wonders of the ancient world [....] The Second Temple stood from 516 BC to 70 AD" when the Romans destroyed it (page 157). All that remains today is the most Western Wall, considered to be holy ground to the Jews, as it is all that remains from the Temple. Sobel says God allowed this temple to be destroyed because of the intense hatred Jews at the time felt towards their fellow man.

In fact, he says, "The choice of location for the temple was connected to—and symbolic of—its spiritual foundation, which was love. The First Temple was destroyed because of idolatry, and the second was destroyed due to a senseless hatred that the Jewish people had towards one another. 

Thus, the First Temple was destroyed when Israel broke the 1st and greatest commandment, which is, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength,' (Deut. 6:5). The Second Temple was destroyed when Israel broke the 2nd greatest commandment: 'Love your neighbor as yourself' (Lev. 19:18)."

WOW! Talk about a powerful picture. 

To this day, the Jewish people wait to rebuild the temple. Plans are already made and materials gathered for its construction. And the Bible says there will be one, because the antichrist will declare himself to be God, which will lead to the ultimate abomination that causes desolation. But honestly, I think that will be the 4th Temple, because of what Kenneth E. Bailey said here. According to him—according to Paul—we as believers are the Third Temple, with Jesus as the cornerstone. 

What do you think? What I do know is that watching for the rebuilding of the physical Temple is a key sign of the last days. Currently, it doesn't exist. But I heard that it could literally be rebuilt in as quickly as 90 days, because of the plans in place! WOW!

The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi: The Dead Sea Coming back to Life!

This is the last post from the series on The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!

This last post is going to talk about the Dead Sea, and something incredible discovered in 2011. Actually called the Salt Sea, it was nicknamed the Dead Sea because nothing can live in it. The water is about 10x more mineral than an ocean, which means that you can float in it. It's literally impossible to drown. If you walk far enough out, your feet will just fly out from under you (this happened to me) and you will float. It's so trippy! At 2000 feet below sea level, it's the lowest place on earth, and believed to be the site of Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. It's also evaporating at the rate of 1 meter a year. 

Many years ago, a tourist noticed freshwater pools along the shores of the Dead Sea with fish swimming in them! WOW! And then somehow they figured out how to explore the bottom in 2011 and discovered "huge craters on the seafloor, fifteen meters across and 20 meters deep, full of fresh fish and covered with mats full of microorganisms, with freshwater flowing from the craters" (page 165)!

WOW! This is especially incredible to me in light of Ezekiel's words about what will happen in the Millennial Kingdom: 

"He asked me, 'Son of man, do you see this?'

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, 'This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing'” (Ezekiel 47: 6-12)

SO COOL! This is what's coming—but it's already happening!

I hope this series encourages you to get this book (click on the picture below to get it on Amazon, or click here). Have you guessed the meaning of the title yet? The Rock is the Jesus, the Road is the Holy Land, and the Rabbi is the Word of God.

What did you think of this series? Let me know in the comments below!

The Rock, The Road, and The Rabbi: Faith as a Mustard Seed

This is probably my favorite scene from The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi.

Kathie Lee Gifford depicted a scene on top the Mount of Olives, which I can see clearly in my mind's eye. I remember being there. But her guide, Ray Vander Laan, took her to a specific place I didn't go. She describes her group being told to sit very specifically in front of some overgrown bushes, looking out over a beautiful view. Then Ray told the group that those were mustard plants, "the most feared plant in all of Israel [....] It's feared because once it takes root, it can't be destroyed. You can try to burn it, stomp it out, tear it out, but eventually, it takes everything in its way" (page 110).

All of this from the tiniest of seeds—and Jesus compares the mustard seed to the Kingdom of God! In fact, Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).

That's when Gifford says Ray pointed at the Herodium in the distance, quoting the verse above. The Herodium is one of Herod's 11 palaces, and the place he was buried. It symbolizes the evil and opulence found in this world, and the hardship the Jewish people found at Herod's hands. Then, Ray pointed in the other direction, in which the Dead Sea was clearly visible! This is the only place on the Mount of Olives on the where you can see mustard plants, the Herodium, and the Dead Sea—which means Jesus was standing in that very spot when He said those verses!

Ray said, "The kingdom of God is us! It is all of us as believers. If we just believe, we can say to that mountain—the world's way, Herod's way, Satan's way—be gone, into that sea, the Dead Sea, which is already dead!"

WOW!!!

Definitely another #micdrop moment!

The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi: Jesus Writes in the Dirt

In Hebrew culture, pictures and references are very important, like what was depicted in the last blog post by the significance of the number 153. 

The same is true for actions and even quotations. For example, in the Bible when Jesus said something and the people became so angry they wanted to attack Him, to the modern Western reader, it might not be obvious as to why. His words might even seem innocuous. But that's because the practice of this oral culture was for a rabbi to reference a passage from the Torah and let the audience finish it. So when Jesus made a reference, he often only said the beginning part and the part left unsaid was for the audience to know and understand—and that's what made them angry.

Here is another example of this, which I thought was so cool. On pages 79-81, Rabbi Jason Sobel talks of the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery in John 8, which I've talked about here and here. What caught my eye was Sobel's unpacking of Jesus writing in the dirt, of which none of us knows what He wrote (I hope to one day!). 

Sobel points out that:

• Jesus wrote in the dirt twice
• He wrote with His finger twice
• Jesus wrote specifically in the dirt, and 
• Jesus knelt to write (page 79).

Then, he ties that to:

• God wrote the 10 Commandments twice on tablets of stone with His finger.
• The second set of tablets was a sign that God had forgiven Israel, and Moses descended Mount Sinai with those tablets on the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year.
• When the Pharisees brought this woman before Jesus, they had literally just finished observing the Day of Atonement. "Jesus' action of writing in the dirt reminded these leaders that they, too, were guilty of breaking the 10 Commandments and needed atonement, for which they had just fasted and prayed for a week earlier" (page 80).
• Jesus writing in the dirt reminded them that they were formed from dust.
• Jesus kneeling to write puts Him on the same level as the woman—He meets us where we are.

WOW! These are things I never would have known without studying Jewish history and culture. What do you think about these connections?

The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi: The Hebrew Alphabet

Here's another moment that stood out to me from Kathie Lee Gifford's The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi:

Rabbi Jason Sobel explains how the Hebrew alphabet (which I am learning!) is alphanumeric, meaning each letter also signifies a number. There's great significance in numbers as well as letters, meaning you can even add up the value of the letters in a word or phrase and it will likely mean something. Cool! The letter hei, which makes the "h" sound, is the fifth letter of the alphabet, and is often connected with the divine breath of God that releases His creative power and potential (page 15). So when we see "5" in the Bible, like David picking up 5 stones when he only needed 1 to kill Goliath, it means something. 

Sobel says that in Genesis 2:4: "These are the genealogical records of the heavens and the earth when they were created, at the time with Adonai Elohim made land and sky", the word for created is bara, which means "created out of nothing". But it's written in a grammatically incorrect way, because it has the letter hei inserted in it. 

Why? Because of Who did the creating. 

This is also true for Abram and Sarai's story, who had their names changed by God, to: AbraHam and SaraH. There's only a 1 letter difference between their old and new names, and "the Lord added this letter to their names because it represented His creative power to accomplish the impossible!" (page 16).

WOW!

Here's another example of the alphanumeric quality of the Hebrew alphabet, from pages 54-55:

• The number 153 is the numerical value of the phrase, "I am the Lord your God" from Isaiah 43:3
• In Matthew 16, Peter says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God" is a reference to Isaiah 43:3
• In John 21, when Jesus tells Peter and the other disciples to cast his nets on the other side of the boat, they catch 153 fish.
• 153 is also the value of the world HaPesach, which is the Passover Lamb described in Ex. 12:21. Jesus was the Passover Lamb.
• So, the number 153 would have reminded Peter of ALL of the above things. 
• Jesus called Peter 2x in the Bible, "The son of Jonah", which has the same value. Peter acted like Jonah by denying the Lord and running away.
• "According to Jerome, an early church father, there were 153 species of fish at the time in the sea of Galilee, which ties back to the disciples being fishers of men" (page 55).

WOW!

Is this new information to you? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi: Mic drop!

I loved reading Kathie Lee Gifford's The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi, probably because it reminded me of my trip to Israel in 2017. 

She went to a lot of places I went to, so I could see them in my mind's eye—but her tour guide was Ray Vander Laan, whose videos with Focus on the Family are incredible. I've heard there's a 3-year wait to get on one of his tours (probably longer now thanks to covid-19), but it's always good to dream. 

This book is an easy read, as each short chapter focuses on a different location, and then Rabbi Jason Sobel (pictured on the cover) often adds to the commentary. So I'm going to make this a series, because there were so many good things I picked up on in this book.

Here's some good stuff just from the opening chapters:

"All of Scripture is meant to point to the Messiah in some way. For example, as Rabbi Jason explained to me, the first letter of Genesis is the Hebrew letter bet, and the last word of the book of Revelation is the Hebrew word amen, which ends in the letter nun. The first and last letters of the Bible spell the Hebrew word Ben, which means 'Son'. From the very first to the very last letter, everything in the Bible points to the Son!" (page 5). This really struck me, because I am currently learning Hebrew, and of course, I started with the alphabet. How amazing! I love how things are hidden in Scripture like this!

Later, on page 8, Gifford describes her first few hours in the Holy Land, following guide Ray Vander Laan up a mountain to reach Gezer, an ancient Biblical city overlooking the Via Maris (the ancient trading road that ran alongside the Mediterranean Sea). Ray explained, "The problem with the Bible [...] is that the Bible was written by Middle Easterners for Middle Easterners. But we try to understand it with a Western mindset. We try to apply our own principles and our Western understanding to a culture that is completely foreign to us". As they gazed down on this road from above and saw how it connected the ancient world as nothing else could, the lesson hit home (described on page 10). 

Then, the commentary changes and Rabbi Jason Sobel adds his thoughts, and it is like the biggest mic drop of all:

"Israel's geographic position is key, since it functions as a land bridge between Asia and Africa. But from a spiritual perspective, there is even more. I believe the land God promised Abraham has the same geographic boundaries as the garden of Eden" (page 10). 

WHAT???

I've heard that it could be in Bahrain, or even Saudi Arabia. But Israel itself being the Garden? WHOA! That's especially interesting to me because as Ezekiel 36-37 predicted, the Land has come back to life in recent decades. The very desert is blooming—which is spoken of in Scripture. And later in Ezekiel, it talks about the Millennial Kingdom and how a river will flow out from the Temple Mount, in one direction to the Mediterranean and in the other, to the Dead Sea. It says that the Dead Sea will fill with life. Could Israel really be the setting for the Garden of Eden?

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!