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The Road Home:
Journey Back to the Center of the Earth
Israel is small--only the
size of Massachusetts
or New Jersey. But,
oh how significant!
The Patriarchs
A Bedouin village along the Road to Jericho. Bedouins are descendants of Abraham's third wife, Keturah, and approximate his own lifestyle of 4,000 years ago most closely.
Isaac's well near the entrance to Be'ersheva
Another chambered city gate
from Solomon's time
and one of the world's oldest trees nearby at "Tamar in the wilderness"
The mountains of Moab,
the land of one of Lot's sons, across the Dead Sea (Salt Sea), which is also the site of Sodom and Gomorrah
The Exodus
and
Conquest of Canaan
A pre-Israelite-style altar
Mount Khor
(near Petra in the land of Edom), where Aharon the first High Priest died
Mt. Nebo, where Moses died (above) and the view he got of the Promised Land from its summit (right)
Ovoth, one of the last places Israel camped in the wilderness >>
Acacia trees, from which the ark of the covenant and other implements in the Tabernacle were made
A replica of the Tabernacle in the southern Negev near Eilat
The Jordan River
Not large, but a border that leads to a higher level of holiness
Jericho
Remains of the walls and the mountain where Rahav told the spies to hide
The Mount of Blessing (Grizim) and the Mount of Cursing (Ebal)
Between them is Shechem, where the patriarch Joseph is buried.
Era of the Judges
and the United Kingdom
Rosh haNikra
Is it Khor haHar (Cave Mountain) which marked Israel's northern border?
Photo by Jack Hazut. Used by permission
Photo by Jack Hazut. Used by permission
The spring where YHWH chose Gideon's 300 men
(Hill of Moreh, where the Midyanites were camped, in the background)
The Valley of Elah
Where David killed Goliath
The Dry Brook Bed
Where he got his five smooth stones to kill Goliath and his brothers
The Oasis at Eyn Gedi
where David hid from King Saul and cut off the corner of his garment in a cave.
Mt. Gilboa
where Saul and Jonathan died in battle, seen from Beth She'an, where their bodies were hung by the Philistines and rescued by the men of Yavesh-Gil'ad
City of David
The oldest walls and structures in his 3,000-year-old capital
<< The water system by which David's men entered the Jebusite city to capture it and make it... Jerusalem
Megiddo
...one of Solomon's chariot cities. The round structure at the bottom of the picture is an example of the "high places" (bamoth)
Mt. Hermon, in Israel's northeast corner
was an inspiration of some of David's psalms and the Song of Solomon.
An Edomite shrine
The Divided Kingdom
and the Prophets
Reconstruction of the altar at Dan
a well-watered mountain resort town where King Jeroboam built as an alternative worship site to Jerusalem, his political rival, starting the Northern Kingdom's downward spiral.
Reconstruction at Dan of a
civil judgment seat,
commonly referred to in Scripture where someone was seen "sitting in the gate".
Yafo (Joppa),
the world's most ancient port
Here Jonah set sail in the opposite direction from Nin'veh, trying to elude Yahweh's assignment.
The World Yeshua Knew
A millstone
Migdal Eder (Tower of the Flock)
The actual area where Micah (4:8) said Yeshua would be born; modern Bethlehem can be seen in the background. (See below also.) This was \also the limit of a circle around Jerusalem within which lambs offered daily in the Temple had to be born.
Nazareth (where the white patch is). Yeshua's boyhood home, and Mt. Tabor across the Jezreel Valley viewed from Megiddo
The Sea of Galilee looking north toward the Arbel, Ginnosar, and Capernaum
Capernaum
(Kfar Nahum)
the town of Peter and Andrew, which Yeshua often made his headquarters. The black layer of basalt is what remains of the synagogue from his day.
Cave known as the
"Gates of Hades" at Caesarea Philippi, where Yeshua said the paganism at the temple to Pan here would not prevail against the called-out community he would build
Chorazim, another of the towns Yeshua said would be nothing but ruins because they did not heed his message
Ptolemais (now Akko)
One of Paul's ports of call when taking the news of amnesty through Yeshua to the scattered ten tribes. The end of Mt. Carmel can be seen here across the Haifa Bay.
The Roman Occupation
Caesarea's Theatre
was so well-preserved, having been covered by sand that washed ashore from the Nile, that it required only minimal restoration before acoustically-perfect concerts could again be offered there.
The aqueduct carried fresh water from springs on Mount Carmel.
Cave at Qumran
where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden for safe keeping; the dry desert air presaerved them well for 2,000 years.
Masada
the isolated fortress developed by Herod at what was then the end of the Dead Sea. Here, the Zealots and Essenes made their last stand against Rome, and took the victory from Rome by committing mass suicide when capture was inevitable. Upper right: catapult balls. Right: Mosaic in the Western Palace.
World's oldest synagogue
atop Masada, in which the congregants all faced one another--a description, in a nutshell, of what YHWH wants His community to be.
Not one stone left on top of another--the Torah remedy for a defiled house that refuses to be healed after attempts to remove the problem. Here are some of the actual stones that once constituted the Temple, which the rabbis say was destroyed because of baseless hatred of brother for brother.
But the stones cry out...
Beyth She'an is an excellent example of how when the ancients destroyed a city, they would just cover it up and build on top of it. Beth She'an had 19 levels of civilization. The top of one capital was all that stuck out about ground to clue archaeologists in on where to dig!
Revival of the Desolate Land
And the Grand Finale, Jerusalem...
Herzliyya
named for Theodor Herzl, father of the Zionist movement.
Here many boatloads of refugees came in by night during and after World War II, when Britain restricted the promised immigration because of Arab pressure.
The modern metropolis of Tel Aviv
seen from the ancient port of Yafo (left) and from the air (below). It was founded as recently as 1909, and only in the last few years has Jerusalem surpassed it in population.
Huleh Valley
north of the Sea of Galilee.
When Mark Twain visited, he said not even a chicken could scratch out a living there! But look what the Jews have turned it into!
The above photo also gives a succinct overview of Israel's security issues. The Golan Heights are in the foreground; the mountains in the background are in Lebanon. If Israel gave Syria back the Golan, this narrow strip near Dan would be defenseless, humanly speaking.
Photo by Jack Hazut. Used by permission
The Middle East is not all desert!
Especially since the House of Judah has returned. Imagine what it will be when the Whole House of Israel arrives!
