“How are we not complete?” asked the old cart driver.
“Well, it’s something that I had heard based on their holy scrolls,” Elpida said.
“So, tell me what you learned.”
“This is what I understand. First, the God of the Jews is the one and only true God that created all things including mankind. This is according to their holy scrolls which was written by their greatest prophet, Moses. It was written that mankind was created in God’s image.”
“Image? You mean… ah… that we all look like their God?”
“Well, not exactly. You recall that I mentioned the old Jewish couple. Well, the old man, his name was Levi by the way… he used to be a synagogue teacher. And he explained that God is not a physical being with two arms, a head and so on. He is spirit while we are not. However, those qualities in us that separate us from animals is what is in the one God and He put them in all of us.”
“Ah… I think I understand… well, a little anyway. Please continue, Elpida.”
“Anyway, since mankind was made in His image, according to Levi, mankind was suppose to live a good life with Him in eternity.”
“A good life in eternity, you say. Well, my life is somewhat good but it is hard… even harder. I mean even yours is harder. So, what went wrong?”
“They sinned against their Creator. They were given a commandment but they eventually failed to keep it for one reason or another. And it was because of that one sin that we today are still paying for it. But that is not all. We are all destined for a place even worse than Hades… a fiery place of eternal despair.”
“Worse than Hades, you say. What could be worse than Hades?”
“I know not. But I myself would not want to end up there.”
“Mmm… and this messiah… this savior can save us from eternal damnation? How?”
“I do not know, but I am determined to find out.”
To be continued…
Author’s note:
Though this short story is basically fiction, the character of Elpida is based on an actual female personality described in Mark 7. She was a gentile who showed great faith.
There are many such characters in the Bible, many of them were not named at all, but yet there are worthy stories to tell about them. With the help of some sanctified imagination and some artistic license, I felt their stories should be told especially of their faithful encounters with Jesus Christ.
“You would think that their God would get tired of saving them especially when they continued to disobey him,” said the old cart driver. “Why would he do that, I wonder?”
“From what I understood, their God made a promise to the Jew’s ancient patriarch, Abraham, thousands of years ago,” she answered.
“What promise?”
“Three promises, actually,” she answered. “The first is about the land which will be theirs… forever. The second was made to Abraham himself.”
“Fascinating. Do tell.”
“Well, according to the stories, their God took him out to look at the night sky and count the stars. Then he said, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ ” [Genesis 15:5] Seeing the incomprehension in his eyes, she explained, “His promise was that Abraham would always have descendent.”
“Ah. How about the third promise?”
“Well, this is where it gets interesting. The third was actually part of the first and seems like it was actually made for us… that is, we who are not direct descendent. Somehow, through Abraham’s offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.1 I was curious, so, I pursued it. And what I found out was about a legend of a coming Messiah; a Messiah who may be walking this land… today.”
[1. Genesis 26:4]
“Messiah? I heard of that word a number of times before. But what does it mean?”
“It’s the Hebrew word for Savior.”
“Ah yes… I’ve heard that the Jews talk of their waiting of such a one, to lead them to freedom against the Romans. So far, since I was a boy, there had been three of them stirring trouble. The last one, his bones’ still hanging on the cross along the old king’s road near Sepphoris… I think.”
“No, I think the Messiah is not just for the salvation of the Jews from the Romans. As I understand it, the Messiah is for all of us.”
“Us! A savior for us? You, me, Akbar on the lead wagon and the other drovers… all of us? Mmmm… Let me ask this. What do us need saving from exactly? I mean… ah… I live a simple life and I think I’m a good person. Do you think I’m a good person?”
“Of course, you are! But we are not perfect… or maybe that is not the right word. We are not complete to be with our Creator.”
Though this short story is basically fiction, the character of Elpida is based on an actual female personality described in Mark 7. She was a gentile who showed great faith.
There are many such characters in the Bible, many of them were not named at all, but yet there are worthy stories to tell about them. With the help of some sanctified imagination and some artistic license, I felt their stories should be told especially of their faithful encounters with Jesus Christ.
“This is an even longer story to tell,” said Elpida.
“Wait!” The old cart driver hopped off the cart and went to the front. Elpida heard him whistle and gave some instructions to someone in Arabic. Then he quickly came back to the cart and jumped back on. “The oxens are tied to the cart in-front, so, we will not stray off the road, and we are still half a day out of Cadasa. I am all ears.”
Elpida could not help but laugh. The story she told him went back a few years after she left Greece. She had visited many temples, shrines and religious centers along the route she followed on the coast of Asia Minor. Epimenides identified that the unknown god was a foreign god. In her search, she had learned of a variety of gods from multiple cultures. She had discounted the deities of Rome who were practically the same Greek gods but with Roman names. She also discounted the gods of Egypt, Africa and an even little known fierce people of the frozen north. At that matter, she had serious doubts that the unknown god was part of any polytheistic system. However, there was one god that interested her. It was the Phoenician god, Baal. Even, if the Phoenicians worship other gods, to them, he stood out as being aptly called Ruler of the Universe, Rider of the Clouds, Almighty, and Lord of the Earth. At least, she thought.
When she arrived in Tyre, her search took another turn. Baal was not so powerful as his title entailed. Where once the temples of Baal dotted Phoenician territories throughout the Mediterranean in the past, but what Elpida found in the capital city was just a dilapidated one room structure with a very beat up small bronze statue. Through the words of a disillusioned priestess, Baal had lost his standing among the Phoenicians long time ago. His downfall was popularly credited to the conquests of the Babylonians, the Greeks and now the Romans. But the priestess had reluctantly revealed that Baal’s downfall was actually caused when he was defeated on a lone mountain of Carmel which was by the sea south of Tyre. When pressed for more, she revealed that Baal was spectacularly defeated by the one God of the Jews.
“By the God of the Jews!? I have not heard of this before,” cackled the old cart driver. “And I thought that this trip was going to be boring. So, please continue.”
“Well, I left Tyre and proceeded to Cadasa, where my family was from, and it was there I got to learn about the one God of the Hebrews.”
Elpida told him that after she settled in, she found a small settlement of Jews nearby. She befriended an old Jewish couple, who were the only ones of that tight-lipped little community that would talk to her. From their tutelage, she learned of the one God that created the world in just six days; and who have flooded the entire Earth for the evil of early man. This one God had chosen a single man, Abraham, from among all mankind to build the nation of Israel. The same nation he later saved in such a spectacular way from the four hundred year clutches of Egypt into the very land she lives on today. Time after time, the people of Israel needed saving and every time the one God had redeemed them undeservedly and quite miraculously. Interestingly enough, Elpida had observed that in every form of the Lord’s salvation, he had imparted the use of a redeemer… a human savior.
Though this short story is basically fiction, the character of Elpida is based on an actual female personality described in Mark 7. She was a gentile who showed great faith.
There are many such characters in the Bible, many of them were not named at all, but yet there are worthy stories to tell about them. With the help of some sanctified imagination and some artistic license, I felt their stories should be told especially of their faithful encounters with Jesus Christ.
Elpida bent down to read the worn out and somewhat small inscription on the base which read “Agnostos Theos”, that is “Unknown God”. Shrugging her shoulders, she went on her way to do her business, forgetting it. But then in a country lane, she found another shrine; then another; then another. For the past month, she had discovered over ten of them mostly in Athens with a few in surrounding villages.
The priests told her that some three generations or so ago, the city was in the midst of a great pestilence. Epimenides of Crete, a prophet of great fame, came to the city at that time. It was he that counseled a rather odd plan after the sacrifices to the other known gods resulted in nothing. Flocks of hungry sheep were to be let loose throughout the city and the surrounding districts. Priests and their acolytes were to follow the sheep and observe them. Epimenides had instructed them to take note of any hungry sheep that stops to rest instead of naturally racing to the fields to graze. He also suggested that the sheep may identify which god was strongly offended by the Athenians. Skeptics were surprised that a great number of sheep did not graze but instead rested in numerous clusters in different parts of the city, none in front of any temple. Wherever the sheep rested, the priests erected an altar and sacrificed them there. Epimenides then declared that the god that was offended was a foreign deity and altars to this god was to be erected. Not long after, the plague ended.
Elpida was so intrigued that she would pester her teachers about this god, but most offered very little. She finally left that temple, moved to Athens and hounded the wise men of the different temples. Many speculated about this god but she was not satisfied. Eventually, her single mindedness for this foreign god had branded her as a heretic and was being driven out of the city. Her relatives told her that maybe she should return to the land of her birth.
“And so, you returned here in Sidon,” said the old cart driver. “I take it your travels down south not once but four times have something to do with your search and ah… for your daughter. How is she?”
“You are perceptive,” she smiled at him. “Before I left her over a month ago, Yllana was showing signs of no more than two evil spirits tormenting her. At times, one or both spirits would cause her to fall on the floor and shake uncontrollably. It was painful to watch. I have seen this before.”
“So have I, especially among the Jews. And I have also heard of a Jewish teacher with wondrous healing power. I take it that was your reason to go south.”
“Yes. I heard from a friend who was recently healed by him and that he was in the Capernaum district. I missed him by a week.”
“So, is there a connection between him and your mysterious unknown god?”
“I will know when he heals my Yllana.”
“When! You sound convinced. Besides the rumors, what made you think that this Jew can do this?”
Though this short story is basically fiction, the character of Elpida is based on an actual female personality described in Mark 7. She was a gentile who showed great faith.
There are many such characters in the Bible, many of them were not named at all, but yet there are worthy stories to tell about them. With the help of some sanctified imagination and some artistic license, I felt their stories should be told especially of their faithful encounters with Jesus Christ.
It had been a long five weeks. Elpida knew she had been away from home longer than she desired. But when she had received a message from a fellow Greek acquaintance who had come to her some seven years ago, she had to go. On the back of a slow moving cart drawn by a pair of oxen, one of a dozen transporting wheat to Tyre, her eyes were glazed, mesmerised on the passing dusty road under her dangling feet.
“Elpida… Elpida?” Elpida looked up to the craggy old face of the cart driver who left his place up front. She blinked twice then glanced at the empty seat.
“Who is doing the driving?”
“Ah… the road is fairly straight for three miles. My oxen will not veer… I hope,” he chuckled. “You have been quiet back here for some time. I thought maybe you fell asleep and fell out.”
“No… I was just deep in thought.”
“And by the look of your face in this entire return trip, you were not successful in your search.”
She slowly shook her head and stopped with her head bowed.
“Well, let us see,” said the old cart driver thinking to change the subject. “When we last talked, you were telling me about the reason you left Greece. You stopped short of the unknown god. Who is the unknown god again?”
That is a good question. To this day, she still did not know. At one time, she was a seeress to the Temple of Hermes. This always amused her. As a young girl, she was abandoned by her relations to the priests of this impoverished and unpopular small temple just in the outskirts of Athens. Hermes was not as widely venerated as the more prominent gods and goddesses of Athens. Since his temple lacked the kind of in-pouring of gifts like the other temples, the priests saw in her a cunning opportunity to increase their coffer. The priests did not hesitate to train her the art of being a seeress. The training took no more than three days. Her part was to rant on cue and always end with her eyes rolled back and twitch crazily on the floor. Her reward was a clean bed and good food to eat. And there was food aplenty, especially after the priests scoured the district announcing that they had sheltered a child touched by the gods. But her time there was not just play acting. One of the older priests took it upon himself to educate her. She was taught to read and write and the secrets of herblore. When she grew to womanhood and the temple had other little girls to fill her place, she was given other tasks, one of which was to visit other temples basically to spy on them.
It was on a narrow street to the Acropolis that she came upon an unusual non-descript shrine in a recessed alcove between two houses. She thought that it was ransacked and it’s carved image was stolen for what was left was the carved pedestal base and inscription. But then an old couple walked up to it left a handful of flowers on the pedestal. Elpida approached it curiously. She lifted the flowers and found that no statue ever sat upon the pedestal. She bent down to read the worn out and somewhat small inscription on the base which read “Agnostos Theos”, that is “Unknown God”.
To be continued…
Author’s note:
Though this short story is basically fiction, the character of Elpida is based on an actual female personality described in Mark 7. She was a gentile who showed great faith.
There are many such characters in the Bible, many of them were not named at all, but yet there are worthy stories to tell about them. With the help of some sanctified imagination and some artistic license, I felt their stories should be told especially of their faithful encounters with Jesus Christ.
Module 6 – Google Maps Tour of the Bible by Johann Quisumbing
In module 6, we will visit the Bible sites of where the Holy Spirit led followers of the Way from Asia and then through Europe during the early years of the church. So, let us start in the…
1 – Middle East
Before ascending to Heaven, Jesus Christ gave His disciples the Great Commission.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
The question is, how did they do it? The chosen twelve disciples still had SIN issues. Simon Peter, the leader, said he would never abandon Jesus but he ended up denying Him three times. Except for one, ten of them abandoned Him and was not even there when He was crucified. And sadly, the one who betrayed Him, did not believe enough that he could still have been forgiven, if he did not commit suicide. Everyone of them (like all of us) could not fulfill the Great Commission by themselves. With Jesus in Heaven, what were they to do? Well, as promised, God sent help. For this, we go back to the…
I hope you don’t mind, but I’m making an assumption that you already know that you are inside the Cenacle, also known as the Upper Room. And if you went through Module 5a, you would also know that this place is located on Mount Zion, just outside the Old City walls, west of the City of David. I guess that I don’t have to remind you that the Upper Room was where Jesus held the Last Supper (John 13). As special as that was, this room was witness to an even more spectacular event. For true Christians all around, it was called Pentecost.
The Christian Pentecost
For the Jews, Pentecost is the Feast of Harvest which is mentioned in the five books of Moses. This feast came during the months of May and June. It was at this time, that the Chosen Twelve (including Judas’ replacement), Jesus’ mother and siblings, with a 100 or so other believers were gathered together in this room to pray. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1-4)
This filling of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was different than the Spirit filling that occurred during the Old Testament. In the Old Testament it was mostly temporary. But Jesus said in John 14, that this time, the Holy Spirit will be with them (and yes, with us who believe) FOREVER (14:16).
What exactly happened here? Jesus said that they (& us) became born again (John 3:3-8). Everyone who were filled with the Spirit became NEW creations (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Being filled with the Holy Spirit meant change. What kind of change? And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability (Acts 2:4). Peter especially showed a great change and we will see this at our next site.
You are looking at southern side of the Temple Mount of the Jerusalem Model. I chose this site as a probable location of where the Apostle Peter (newly Spirit filled) may have addressed for the very first time a large crowd about the Gospel of Christ. Meanwhile, let us go to to the actual site of the Temple Mount’s south wall.
You are standing before the south wall of the Temple Mount. Of course, this is not actual stone wall. The first century structure is really underground. But imagine that this street was the plaza before the southern entrance into the Temple complex.
Peter’s Sermon
In Acts 2, after the Holy Spirit entered the disciples in the Upper Room, the Holy Spirit made such a big noise, the people of the city heard it. Among the people were Jews from foreign lands that spoke the languages of the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Cretans and Arabs (2:9-11).
When the Spirit-filled disciples came out of the upper room, the Jews from the different land heard the disciples speaking their languages. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “How is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?” (2:7) Many thought that they were drunk out of their minds.
Enter the Apostle Peter who boldly exposed the good news of Jesus Christ to them. The entire sermon can be read in Acts 2:14-36. Here is the amazing point, Peter never thought that he could ever give a sermon like this ever. He probably felt that he was inadequate especially since a few months back, he denied the Lord. But he did give the sermon and guess what, because of the Holy Spirit in him, about 4000 new believers were added to the church.
Let’s jump a few years ahead. The church in Jerusalem grew and grew and grew. To most, this was a good thing. But then the Holy Spirit never intended the church to be in just one place. After all, Jesus did tell His disciples that…
“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
As the church grew, so did the persecution. Non-believers clashed with members of the Way (early Christians). Then, when the religious leaders came into play, it became deadly.
2 – Stephen, a Man of Grace
There was man named Stephen who was chosen by the Apostles to be one of seven deacons of the church in Jerusalem. In Acts 6, he was a man filled by the Holy Spirit with grace and power. He had performed great wonders and signs among the people. Some tried to debate with him, but they were unable to cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking. So, they made up false accusations of blasphemy against him and turned him over to be tried before the religious leaders, the Sanhedrin. He testified before them with a summary oration of biblical history starting with Abraham leaving his home in Mesopotamia to the time when Solomon built the Temple for God. At first, some members of the Sanhedrin were loving what they were hearing until his defense of his faith in the Jesus being the Son of God whom they crucified enraged his Jewish audience. He was taken out of the city, through what tradition claim is the…
The Lions’ Gate, a.k.a. St Stephen’s Gate, is one of the Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is associated with the ancient Sheep Gate. After the trial, Stephen was forcibly taken out and they began stoning him…
They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:59-60)
More persecution hit the church which actually caused Jerusalem believers to leave the city to foreign lands bringing the Gospel with them which Jesus intended when He gave out the Great Commission. Among those that were scattered was…
3 – Philip the Evangelist
Philip the Evangelist was one of the seven deacons appointed to tend the believers of Jerusalem, thereby enabling the Apostles to freely conduct their missions. His energetic preaching, however, earned him the title of the Evangelist and the Holy Spirit led him to minister successfully in Samaria. So, let us go to what was once a…
You are standing on some ruins of a Samaritan city on top of Mt Gerizim. This archaeological excavation is part of the nearby Samaritan Museum, which is an Ethnographic Museum that explores and present the culture of the “Samaritans” people. The museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to Samaritans and their language.
Philip began proclaiming Christ to the Samaritans. The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. So there was much rejoicing in that city. (Acts 8:5-8) Among them was the conversion of the infamous magician named Simon Magus (vs9–13). Philip was so successful that when the apostles heard what he did, they sent Peter and John to pray for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit. When they began laying their hands on them, they were receiving the Holy Spirit. (vs14-17)
Then an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (Acts 8:26)
You are on one of many National Trails of Israel, west by south-west of Jerusalem. This is not exactly the actual site where the angel told Philip to go to, but it does parallel a modern highway that will take you to Gaza.
So, it was like on this dusty road that the Holy Spirit guided Philip the Evangelist to rendezvous with an Ethiopian official riding on a posh 4-wheeled chariot. Coaxed by the Spirit to get closer, Philip heard the official reading out loud a Messianic passage from Isaiah 53:7. Philip saw an opening to use the passage to share who Jesus Christ was to him. The official was so convinced that he asked Philip why he should not be baptized (by water) right there and then.
The work of the Holy Spirit is never done and even an Apostle need to learn from Him. Let’s go to a church at the coast. Let’s go to…
Welcome to the inside of the St. Peter’s Church which is a Franciscan church in the historical part of Jaffa. Jaffa was once known as Joppa, a trading and fishing port where once the Prophet Jonah tried to run away from God by going to sea. About a block from the pier, the church was constructed on its present location because of the significance this city has to Christianity. It was in Jaffa that the Apostle Peter raised Tabitha, one of Jesus’ disciples, from the dead according to the Acts 9:36–42.
Zoom-in onto the painting behind the Altar. That painting depicts the lesson that Peter needed to learn. You see, the Holy Spirit had to break Peter away from choosing tradition to obeying the Lord. In a vision, a sheet of all sorts of animals were presented to him including non-kosher* ones. God then told him to kill and eat. But Peter refrained siting that he had never eaten anything unholy and unclean. Then a voice would say that, “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” To make sure he got it, this test happened three times. (Acts 10:9-16)
Peter was perplexed in mind to what it all meant. But the Holy Spirit made it all clear.
[* Kosher means food satisfying the requirements of Jewish law]
You are virtually standing among the archaeological ruins of Caesarea which is an affluent town in north-central Israel. It inherited its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima. It was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE as a major Roman port and it served as an administrative center of the province of Judaea in the Roman Empire.
In Acts 10:1, we meet an unusual God-fearing Roman centurion named Cornelius. And he too received a vision to send for Peter. Four days later, Peter was knocking on his doors. After which, he confessed that he understood the lesson that the Holy Spirit was teaching him. Peter proceeded to share the Gospel to Cornelius and his entire household, but before he could lay his hands on them, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message (v44).
When it came to the Gospel, the Lord uses even the most unusual people.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” [Isaiah 55:8,9]
Enter…
4 – The Apostle Paul
We first met Paul back in Acts 7. Of course, at that time, he was known as Saul of Tarsus, a young Pharisee on his way up the ladder into Jewish leadership. Saul was there when Stephen was stoned to death. He was there, not as a spectator, but as an honored participant (v58). That was when the great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and leading the attack was a very zealous Saul. He ravaged the church, entering house after house; and he dragged away men and women and put them in prison (Acts 8:1,3). It did not stop there. When he heard that members of the church escaped to as far as Damascus, he intended to chase them down and drag them back in shackles.
So, we will g0 north, about 133 miles from Jerusalem to an even more ancient city of…
Welcome to the House of Saint Ananias also called the Chapel of Saint Ananias. It is an ancient underground structure located in old Damascus, Syria. This site is said to be the remains of the home of Ananias. We’ll get to his identity in a sec, for now, please zoom-in on the three framed relief sculptures above the altar. These reliefs depict how the Spirit chose the most notorious person in early Christian history and converted him to become the most influential Apostle who wrote 14 out of the 27 books of the New Testaments. Let us start with the right one.
Relief 1 [Act 9:3-9]
On the road to Damascus, Saul was struck by a brilliant light, fell to the ground, heard a voice from heaven identified as the voice of Jesus asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” After receiving instructions, Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Relief 2[Act 9:10-19]
Enter Ananias of Damascus, a believer who left Jerusalem to escape persecution. One day, the Lord told him to go to Saul and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight. Ananias was reluctant, for he knew Saul’s reputation. But the Lord revealed that Saul was to be a chosen instrument of His. So, Ananias came before Saul, regained his sight and was filled with the Spirit.
Relief 3[Act 9:20-24]
Saul began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” He kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.
Antioch was a Hellenistic city by the Orontes River. Its ruins lie near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey, to which the ancient city lends its name. Antioch was one of the largest cities in the first-century Roman world, accommodating a population between 100,000 and 300,000. The city was home to a wealthy and thriving Jewish community. The first mention of Antioch in the New Testament is in reference to Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Christianity who was one of seven Greek-speaking (Hellenist) leaders chosen to serve as deacons at the church in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1–7).
The church at Antioch played a crucial role in the book of Acts. Here believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). With its mixture of Jews and Gentiles, the church at Antioch became fertile ground for the growth and spread of Christianity and a model congregation in the early days of the new Christian church. It was from here that Paul and other believers were sent on a mission by the Antioch church… inspired by the Holy Spirit, of course… to bring the Gospel to all of Asia Minor (Turkey).
Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. [Acts 13:1-3]
Paul’s Journeys
Apostle Paul 1st, 2nd & 3rd Evangelical Missions
The Apostle Paul traveled over 10,000 miles proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His journeys on land and sea took him primarily through present day Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Greece. Paul walked the roads built by the Romans to facilitate their control over their Empire. In 2 Corinthians 11: 25-27, he described being shipwrecked; in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from his own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea; experienced toil in hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fasting, through cold and exposure.
I wish we could visit all the places that the Holy Spirit led the Apostle Paul to. One of these days, I’ll create a detailed itinerary tour specifically of his journey. For now, we can only visit 6 particular sites starting on the island of Cyprus at…
St. Barnabas Monastery near Famagusta is dedicated to the patron saint of Cyprus, St. Barnabas. The church is now an icon museum housing a stunning collection of Cypriot artefacts dating back as far as the 7th Century BC which are kept in the monks’ old cells. Barnabas was Jewish and hailed from Salamis. He travelled to the Holy Land to study law and whilst he was there studying, he met Paul, the apostle, and was converted to Christianity. He was made the Archbishop of Salamis and when he returned from the Holy Land to Cyprus, he became a preacher, taught others about Jesus Christ.
According to the Acts 13:5-12, after landing at Salamis (eastern Cyprus) and proclaiming the Word of God in the synagogues, the prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Paul of Tarsus, traveled along the entire southern coast of the island of Cyprus until they reached…
You are standing on the ruins of the archaeological site of Nea Paphos which is located in southwest Cyprus. Nea Paphos was founded on the sea near a natural harbor. It was here that Sergius Paulus, the Roman governor, was converted after Paul, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, confronted and rebuked the Sorcerer Elymas who was advising the Roman governor to not listen to Paul’s teaching. The Holy Spirit caused Elymas to be blind.
Welcome to the ruins of Antioch of Pisidia which was a city in the Turkish Lakes Region. This ancient city was at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, Aegean and Central Anatolian regions, and formerly on the border of Pisidia and Phrygia, hence also known as Antiochia in Phrygia. The site lies approximately 1 km northeast of Yalvaç, the modern town of Isparta Province, Turkey.
Paul the Apostle and Barnabas, as recounted in Acts 14, visited Antioch of Pisidia in the course of Paul’s first missionary journey, and Paul’s sermon in the Jewish synagogue there caused a great stir among the citizens and the ensuing conflict with the Jews led to Paul being stoned and then their expulsion from the city. They returned later and appointed elders for the Christian community there. Paul also visited the region in both his second and his third journeys. Paul’s “persecutions and sufferings” at Antioch are spoken of in 2 Timothy 3:11.
During Paul’s second mission in Acts 16, the Holy Spirit, strangely enough, actually blocked him from preaching the Gospel in the northern regions of Asia Minor (Turkey). Instead, he and his companions were (more or less) herded toward the west coast. (By the way, it was here in verse 7 that the Spirit of Jesus was used in conjunction with the Holy Spirit.)
You are virtually standing amongst the ruins of Alexandria Troas. This is the site of an ancient Greek city situated on the Aegean Sea near the northern tip of Turkey’s western coast, the area known historically as Troad, a little south of Tenedos (modern Bozcaada, Turkey). It was here that Paul understood why the Holy Spirit was blocking his way to bring the Gospel north.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, they immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called them to preach the Gospel to them. (Acts 16:9,10)
6 – Macedonia/Greece
So, from Troas, they ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis, Macedonia; and from there to…
You are looking at a 360 aerial view of the ancient amphi-theatre of Philippi. These ruins were once a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides but was renamed after Philip II of Macedon in 356 BC. The present municipality, Filippoi, is located near these ruins and is part of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace in Kavala, Greece. It was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.
The New Testament records a visit to this city by the Apostle Paul during his second missionary journey (likely in AD 49 or 50). On the basis of the book of Acts and the letter to the Philippians, early Christians concluded that Paul had founded their community. Accompanied by Silas, by Timothy and possibly by Luke (the author of Acts), Paul is believed to have preached for the first time on European soil in Philippi. One story stuck out for me…
Conversion in Jail [Acts 16:16-34]
During their time here, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination would hound Paul day after day. Annoyed, Paul commanded (by the authority of Christ’s name) that the evil spirit come out of her which it did. Then Paul got trouble from the master of the slave woman. Apparently, the woman’s fortune-telling ability once brought much profit to the master. Without the spirit meant no more profit. They were brought before the magistrate, convicted, beaten with rods and thrown into prison with their feet fastened into the stocks.
That night, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened. The jailer thought that all the prisoners had escaped and was about to kill himself when Paul called out that they were all still there. This act of Christian behavior and faith eventually led the jailer and his household to saved.
The Holy Spirit led Paul down the Greek peninsula through Amphipolis, Apollonia, Thessalonica, Berea until they reached the center of Greek culture & philosophy, the great city of…
Welcome to Mars Hill, best known as the Areopagus. It is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. (Look east – That’s the Acropolis up there on the mountain.) Mars Hill was sometimes used as an open air council or court of justice.
According to Acts 17, while he was waiting for his companions, Silas and Timothy to arrive, Paul was distressed to see Athens full of idols. According to a commentator, Paul’s soul was troubled and his heart was grieved, …he was exasperated and provoked to the last degree… he had a burning fire in his bones, and was weary with forbearing, and could not stay; his zeal wanted vent… and he gave it [by John Gill]. So, Paul went to the synagogue and the Agora (market) on a number of occasions to preach about the Resurrection of Jesus. Some Greeks then took him to a meeting at the Areopagus, the high court in Athens, to explain himself.
Imagine Paul standing on this rock surrounded by a people who considered themselves as philosophers & stoics. Wise men in their own sight. Paul knew that the Athenians needed to be made to see that what they believed lacked a true foundation before they would accept his teaching. So, he started with something that they were familiar with. He started with one of their altars that had this inscription, ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.’ He used what they didn’t know about this unknown god to introduce GOD.
Paul conveyed to them that the unknown God was not Zeus or some other deity, but the true God, Jesus Christ, who created all things and every man. The sermon ended with the mention of the resurrection of the dead. Some scoffed but a lot more wanted to hear more. and many believed. [Acts 17:22-34]
7 – Paul’s 3rd Mission
The church grew and Paul went amongst them again during his 3rd mission. And one of the places that he visited was…
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city located about 2 miles southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC by Ionian Greek colonists, when the western coastal region of Turkey was under Greek influence. During the Classical Greek era, it was one of twelve cities that were members of the Ionian League. The city was famous in its day for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC). The city came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC.
Acts 19 – It was here that Paul found some disciples of John the Baptist. Paul asked them if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed. They answered that they had not even heard of the Holy Spirit and also that their baptism was the baptism of repentance. So, Paul completed their education by sharing the full Gospel to them, which they accepted willingly. So, when he laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Since, we are here in Ephesus, we might as well visit one other site that is a favorite of many pilgrims.
8 – Apostle John & Mary, Mother of Jesus
According to tradition, Ephesus also became the final home of the Apostle John and the mother of Jesus. If you recall at the crucifixion, Jesus had handed the welfare of His mother, Mary, onto the hands of John. Jesus did this because He knew that His brothers as well as the Apostles (except John, of course) would eventually be martyred. So, the Holy Spirit (I assume) inspired John & Mary to leave Judea and migrate to Ephesus which already had an established church.
So, they had to have lived somewhere and… guess what I found???
The House of Mary is a Catholic shrine located on Mt. Koressos in the vicinity of Ephesus, about 4 miles from Selçuk in Turkey. Catholic pilgrims visit the house based on the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by the Apostle John and lived there for the remainder of her earthly life.
By the way, the Gospel of John may have been written here… well, not exactly in this place, but close.
8 – Journey to Rome
Let us leave the vicinity of Greece and Turkey… and go across the Mediterranean Sea about 750 miles to the island of…
Welcome to eastern side of Malta. Malta is a tiny nation made up of 3 islands. It is located about 60 miles south of Sicily and is about 160 miles from the boot tip of Italy. What are we doing here? Well, for now, I want you to be a tourist and explore this side of the island. Meanwhile, allow me to quickly summarize how the Holy Spirit led Paul to here.
At the tail end of Paul’s third mission, he called to himself the elders of the church in Ephesus and said this…
And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me. [Acts 20:22,23]
So, Paul went back to Jerusalem knowing full well what to expect. And sure enough, while completing a Jewish purification rite, he was seized by the Jews that opposed his teaching to the Gentiles. They wanted to put him to death but the Romans intervened. The Jews were persistent and tried to get custody of him several time. But by the Lord’s grace, Paul’s Roman citizenship kept him away from their clutches. From Acts 22-26, he was tried before his own people, before 2 Roman governors and a Herodian king. Each time, his defense was the Gospel of Christ. Though his testimony won over the hearts of the judges, they could not resolve his case mainly because he, as a Roman citizen, demanded to be brought before the Roman emperor. So, off to Rome he went… and by ship.
Now, like every sea going adventure, they were bound to hit a storm… and so, they did. With their keel broken and leaks throughout the hull, Paul’s crippled ship limped into what today is called…
You are virtually standing in-front of the Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck. I am not making this up. This little place is a Roman Catholic parish church in Valletta, on the western side of Malta. It is one of Valletta’s oldest churches. The Apostle Paul is considered the spiritual father of the Maltese. His shipwreck on Malta reads like an adventure story in Acts 27:14-44.
Now, the Holy Spirit has a funny and even strange way of giving us an opportunity for the Gospel. How?
When Paul, the crew and passengers landed on the beach, the Maltese showed them extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took them all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold. As Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.
You are standing in-front of the Basilica of St Paul in Rabat, about 5 miles from the bay where they shipwrecked. Annexed to this church is the smaller chapel of St Publius. Publius was an island leader whose father was afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul, who was guest, prayed over him and healed him. The word of the healing got out and the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured. [Acts 28:7-9]
Sorry that it is a little dark down here. This underground grotto is the place where, according to tradition, Paul lived and preached during his three months stay in Malta in 60 A.D. Then Paul took ship for…
9 – Rome
Rome is the capital city of Italy. According to Wikipedia, Rome’s history spans 28 centuries. While Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement for almost three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Europe.
The Roman Forum are the remains of those buildings that during most of Ancient Rome’s time represented the political, legal, religious and economic centre of the city. Image & footnote from Wikipedia.
Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls, is one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas. The basilica was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine I over the burial place of Saint Paul, where it was said that, after the Apostle’s execution, his followers erected a memorial, called a cella memoriae.
The Bible did not record the death of Paul. But in his last epistle addressed to Timothy, he knew his time was close.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. [2 Timothy 4:6-8]
But let’s go back a little. When Paul entered Rome, he was allowed to stay by himself, but always with a soldier guarding him. Essentially, he was still under arrest. Now, Paul called together the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he explained to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. For the people who listened, some were persuaded while others did not believe. So, as those who did not believe were leaving, Paul called after them with this prophetical warning…
“The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,
‘Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’
So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.” [Acts 28:25-28]
The final verses of the book of Acts spoke of the Apostle Paul spending the next two years, welcoming all who visited him including members of the elite Roman Praetorian guards, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him. According to tradition, Paul never got to go before the emperor. When Emperor Nero increased persecution against the church in Rome, he ordered Paul’s execution.
Now, about 3 miles from Paul’s Tomb is one more site to visit.
You are standing on the Piazza San Pietro or St. Peter’s Square located in the center of the Vatican City. Before you is the majestic St. Peter’s Basilica which was built in the Renaissance style.
Catholic tradition holds that Peter, after a ministry of thirty-four years, travelled to Rome and met his martyrdom there along with Paul on 13 October 64 AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. His execution was one of the many martyrdoms of Christians following the Great Fire of Rome. According to Jerome, Peter was crucified head downwards, by his own request because he considered himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. The crucifixion took place near an ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Circus of Nero.The obelisk now stands in St. Peter’s Square and is revered as a “witness” to Peter’s death.
9 – Apostle John & Revelations
Before we end this module, we have one last stop. Let’s go to…
Patmos is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It was the location of where the Apostle John was sent when he was arrested in Ephesus during the height of the persecution of Christianity. The white building is the Monastery of St. John. It located approximately halfway up the mountain, along the road between the villages of Chóra and Skala. Within the monastery is a memorialized grotto called the…
This grotto marks the spot where the Spirit of Christ gave distinct visions of the future to the Apostle John. From those visions, he wrote the Book of Revelation.
The Book of Revelation – also called the Apocalypse of John, Revelation to John or Revelation of Jesus Christ – is the final book of the New Testament and consequently is also the final book of the Christian Bible. Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: apokalypsis, meaning “unveiling” or “revelation”.
The book of Revelation provides the clearest biblical portrait of the events of the tribulation, dealing with the specifics of that terrible time (chapters 4–18). The tribulation will be a time of judgment, a time when those left on the earth after the rapture will suffer deeply for their nonbelief. John pictured this judgment as a series of twenty-one events—inaugurated by the breaking of seven seals, the blowing of seven trumpets, and the pouring out of seven bowls. This grand judgment on the sinfulness of humanity shows the seriousness with which God views sin—payment will be exacted from those not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. [www.insight.org]
Revelation is not all bad news. Chapters 19–22 portrays Christ’s future triumph over the forces of evil and His re-creation of the world for the redeemed. Ultimately, the book—and the world—end in a final victory for truth and goodness and beauty. As Christians, we look forward to this and joyously shout…
HALLELUIA!
This ends our tour of Module 6. Thank you for joining me in Trailing the Acts of the Holy Spirit.
Module 5a – Google Maps Tour of the Bible by Johann Quisumbing
In module 5a, we will visit the Bible sites of where Jesus Christ walked during His last year of His ministry on Earth.
1 – Preparation
Jesus had done what He had to do in the north country. His final task was to happen in Jerusalem. But first, certain events needed to happen. So, our first stop is…
This is a 360 aerial view of the southern side of the metropolitan city of Jerusalem. The drone that took this shot was hovering over the Mount of Olives. Look east. Then, look past the cluster of trees. Two thousand years ago, the village of Bethany was located there. And in that village was the home of some people that Jesus loved dearly.
You are inside the Church of St Lazarus. There are four frescoes painted under the four arches; north, west, east & south. Each of the frescoes represent a biblical scene of Jesus’ relations with Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Let’s start with the western fresco.
West – Luke 10:38-42 – Jesus met the 2 sisters, Martha & Mary for the first time. Mary was intently listening to Jesus. Meanwhile, Martha was working frantically to prepare and serve the meal for her quests. Frustrated, she scolded Him, asking Him whether He cared that her sister had left her to fix the meal alone. Jesus, in-turn, pointed out in a calm voice, that her need was not to be a perfect hostess but instead, to be spiritually fed by Him which was her greatest need.
North – John 11:1-34 – Lazarus had died and was buried. Jesus had purposely stayed away. On the 4th day, He returned. Martha went to meet Him first. Her words to Him may have sounded more like a reprimand for being late. Jesus consoled her that Lazarus will live again. She mistakenly thought He was referring to the final resurrection. Then Jesus said these crucial words: “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (v25,26) When Mary came to Him next, her words mirrored Martha but her tone was that of a grieving young girl. Jesus wept with her and went to the tomb.
East – John 11:38-45 – When they came to the tomb, Jesus again was deeply moved. He ordered the tomb to be opened but Martha tried to stop it. Jesus reminded her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (v40) This was His intent. After He prayed out loud, Lazarus came out of the tomb alive and many believed.
South – Matthew 26:6-13 – Jesus’ final task was near. Jesus and all His followers were in Lazarus’ house for supper. Mary approached Jesus with a bottle of expensive aromatic oil which she lovingly dribbled on His head. Then, when Judas made a fuss about the perfume not being sold and given to the poor, Jesus acknowledged the righteousness of Mary’s deed and declared that what she did was to prepare Him for burial.
The next day, Jesus went to Jerusalem riding on a young donkey which was prophecy-come-to-life thing. The people lined the road waving palm fronds at Him. They recognized it as the coming of the King (Zechariah 9:9). When they went over the Mount of Olives, this was what was waiting for them.
You are looking at a beautiful scale model of the ancient city of Jerusalem circa 63AD. The model is about 22,000 square feet and is located at the Israel Museum about 2 miles west from the Dome of the Rock. From this viewpoint on the observation deck, you are looking at the eastern side of the city. Note the image below of what you are looking at.
The scaled facsimile Temple you see was based on the Second Temple built by the returned Judean exiles, then opulently refurbished by Herod the Great. In Mark 13, when standing on the Mount of Olives, the disciples pointed out the lavishness of the Temple complex and was awed by it. But for Jesus, all it brought was tears to His eyes, for He saw its destruction (v2) which did occur 35 years from then. But we are getting ahead of the story. Let’s go to the…
You’re virtually standing on the eastern slope of Mt Moriah. Yes… the same mountain that Abraham almost sacrificed his son, Isaac (Genesis 22). What you are looking at, is the remnant of the east wall of the Temple Mount. Now, look east. That’s the Mount of Olives and that pyramid-topped monument is Zechariah’s Tomb, who was a priest whose stoning was recorded in 2 Chronicles 24:21. Below that is the Kidron Valley.
Imagine on that valley road, some 2000 years ago, hundreds of people waving palm fronds leading a man riding on a white donkey. The people were joyously shouting…
“Blessed is the King, the One who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38)
Among the crowd were Pharisees who were demanding that Jesus stop them of their praise. But Jesus came back with this, “I tell you, if these stop speaking, the stones will cry out!” (v40) Then, Jesus entered through the east gate which was also called the ‘Beautiful Gate’ into the Temple Complex. It was called the ‘Beautiful Gate’ in expectation of the arrival of the promised Messiah.
Welcome to the southside of the Temple Mount. You are standing on what was once called the Court of the Gentiles. This courtyard was vast and was able to hold thousands of people. Now, what you see before you are the broken crowns of the columns that once surrounded the entire courtyard. They were called Solomon’s Colonnades.
When Jesus entered, it was during the beginning of the annual Passover Festival which was the celebration of what God did to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12). Jews from all over would congregate here to offer their sacrifices to the Lord and they would have to purchase the animals required. But here lied the situation, the money changers, with the blessings of the Temple establishment, would routinely cheat the people. Hence, whenever Jesus came to the Passover Festival, He would drive away the animals and turn over their tables, spilling their coins on the ground. Then, He declared, “My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” (Matthew 21:13)
As Passover approached, Jesus sent two of the disciples into the city to find a man carrying a pitcher of water and follow him. That man led them to our next site…
You are inside the Cenacle, also known as the Upper Room. It is located on Mount Zion, just outside the Old City walls, west of the City of David. The Upper Room was where Jesus held the Last Supper (John 13). Of course, this room is not the actual room. That room was destroyed with the city back in 70AD.
The original Upper Room had witnessed, on that same night, the Son of God wrapping a towel around His waist then proceeded to wash the disciples’ feet (13:5-12). Besides all the spiritual lessons for His disciples, Jesus revealed that He would be betrayed by one of the Twelve (vs21-25). Of course, that would be Judas Iscariot whom the Devil entered (v27). We’ll see him again at…
Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives, east of the Temple Mount. Jesus went there after the Last Supper. It was a favorite place of His to pray as was His habit to seek isolated places for this purpose.
Going Through An Oil Press
According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Gethsemane is translated from the Greek to mean “an oil press.” Jesus going to Gethsemane to pray because of what awaited Him can be compared to Him going through an oil press… a spiritual and emotional press, that is.
Filled with anguish and deep dread over what He would soon experience, Jesus withdrew with His inner circle, the three disciples closest to Him, and took refuge here. Alone on His knees in the dark night beneath the shelter of olive trees, where He sweated blood, Jesus cried out to His Father God with these words.
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39)
Jesus passed the final test. The set for the final scene was staged.
Jesus woke up His companions to tell them that His betrayer was here and sure enough, Judas Iscariot arrived to betray Him with a kiss (26:49). After which, Jesus was arrested and brought to our next site.
Before you is the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu which is a Roman Catholic church located on the eastern slope of Mount Zion, just outside the Old (walled) City of Jerusalem. According to tradition, this church was built over the ruins of Caiaphas’ house. Joseph ben Caiaphas was the Jewish high priest who, according to the gospels, organized a plot to kill Jesus. He famously presided over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus.
You are now standing in the church’s courtyard and are facing a sculpture of Peter. Interestingly enough, the church took its name from the Latin word “Gallicantu” which means a ‘cock’s-crow’. Take note the small statue of the rooster above Peter. The sculptures depict a servant recognizing Peter as Jesus’ follower but he denied knowing Him three times. Then, the cock crowed as prophesied by Jesus a few hours before.
Meanwhile, Jesus was standing beaten and spat on, before Caiaphas and his ‘kangaroo court’ which he secretly assembled for one purpose. He wanted to declare Him as a blasphemer and have Him killed. (Matthew 26:65-68) But they could not kill Jesus themselves, so they brought Him to the Romans.
You are standing on the west side of the Jerusalem model. Centered on your screen, left of the man in a suit, is the Fortress Antonia which was built by Herod the Great for Mark Anthony. It was built attached to the northwest corner of the Temple Mount as a constant reminder to the Jews that it was Rome that was in control. It is not clear if Pontus Pilate held residences here but according to tradition, Jesus’ public trial was conducted before the main entrance into the fortress which takes us to the…
You’re in the courtyard of the Church of the Flagellation which is a Roman Catholic church and Christian pilgrimage site located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is part of the Franciscan Monastery of the Flagellation, which also includes the Church of the Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross. This church was built on the same site of the Roman fortress.
Imagine some 2000 years ago, Jesus stood before the Roman Governor awaiting the verdict of the highest judge of the land. And that verdict was ‘NOT guilty’! (John 18:38) But the High Priest and the worked-up crowd wanted Him dead. So, Pilate , trying to appease the mob, brought out a notorious criminal named Barabbas and had them choose between them for release. But the crowd chose Barabbas to be free. Pilate was still not willing, so he had Jesus cruelly flogged. After which, He was brought before the people again. He was bloodied from the scourging and cruelly imbedded on His head was a crown of thorns. But it did not appease the crowd which kept insisting for His blood. So, Pilate washed his hands on this affair and sent Him to His death. (John 19:1-16)
This narrow bricked street is the Via Dolorosa which is Latin for the “Way of Suffering”. Every Holy Week, this street becomes the processional route of the cross in the Old City of Jerusalem. It represents the path that Jesus would have taken, forced by the Roman soldiers, on the way to His crucifixion. Pilgrims, some carrying heavy crosses, would work their way through this cr0wded and winding route, from where the former Antonia Fortress was, to the place that tradition say was the hill of Golgotha — a distance of about 2,000 feet. Along the way, they would pause at nine (9) ‘Stations of the Cross’, each one commemorating the events of Jesus as He carried the cross based on Luke 23. Below is 4 minute music video of the Via Dolorasa.
Then, after walking the Via Dolorosa, the procession would end at what… today, is the…
This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is located in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to traditions dating back to the fourth century, it contains the two holiest sites in Christianity: the site of Calvary or Golgotha, and the tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea which was supposedly be nearby.
Nailed to the Cross
As a prisoner, Jesus was stripped of His outer garments leaving just a loin cloth enough to cover Him. Then, He would have been roughly shoved down onto the cross. He would have winced as His bare torn back touched the rough surface of the cross. He braced himself with expectation as His arms were stretched out onto the cross beam. Strong calloused hands pinned His forearms down with his palms facing up. The executioners then simultaneously set the tips of nine inch iron spikes over the prisoners’ wrists. They then, simultaneously pounded those nails through his wrists, expertly missing the arteries with no bones broken. The pain would have been indescribable.
The executioners turned their attention to His feet. First, they tied His knees together. Then, they bent His legs a little to the left about a quarter of the way up. They rested His feet on an anchored triangle shaped wooden block. With one foot over another, they drove another long spike through, pinning them securely on the sloped block.
Just as He was bearing up to the pain of those spikes being driven into His skin, His own cross was lifted up and manhandled into position. The jarring effect brought even more excruciating pain bringing Him to tears and then blacked out.
The Bible recorded Him giving 7 statements on the cross. For our purposes, we’ll focus on the two that best spoke of His character.
The Son of God spent almost 4 hours nailed to that cross but yet His voice reflected His heart – “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
At the end of His final hour on the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.” [John 19:30] In Greek, it would say ‘tetelestai’. Jesus was declaring for all to know that the task He set out to do… that the reason of His birth… was completed! Our debt of SIN was paid for by His blood.
You are standing under the big dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. When this part of the church was being built in the fourth century, the rock-slope that the empty tomb was under was mostly excavated. What was left was the chamber and it’s opening. Then, they built this shrine over the tomb.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead has been at the heart of the gospel message from the beginning. Paul expressed what most believe to have been a creed of the early church.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)
The empty tomb tells us that the grave could not hold Jesus. That He bodily rose from the grave. Jesus demonstrated his mastery over death and it holds promise for believers as well; that we also will have victory over death. And it’s all because the tomb of Jesus is empty. [www.christianity.com]
For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time… (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)
You are just outside the Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh (a.k.a. St Mary of the Resurrection Abbey). Who was St Mary? In Matthew 28:1, when Mary Magdalene went to see the empty tomb, she was accompanied by another woman also named Mary. Mary was a very common name among the Jews. It had been determined though that this particular Mary was none other than Mary the mother of James and Joses (Matthew 10:3 and Luke 6:15).
This monastery is about 7 miles from Jerusalem. By the way, there are 3 other sites that is being considered as Emmaus. Whichever is the true destination, what was significant was what happened on the road to Emmaus.
Two disciples, downcast by the death of Jesus, and confused by reports that His body was missing, were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They encountered a stranger who listened to their concerns, then gave them a Scripture lesson that made their “hearts burn within them”. (Luke 24:32) That stranger was the risen Christ whom they failed to recognize. And He said to them…
“You foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to come into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures. (24:25-27)
5 – Final Instructions
In John 14:19, Jesus told His disciples that the world no longeris going to see Him. What He meant was that He was going to return to His Father in Heaven. But first, instructions needed to be given. So, we head back north to…
You are standing on a beach at the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. Behind is the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter which is a Franciscan church located in Tabgha. Yes, we are very close to where Jesus fed 5000 men.
What was special about this place?
Look out at the water and go back in time about 2000 years. Peter and the other disciples went out fishing all night. It was almost morning and they hadn’t even caught a minnow. Suddenly, a man on the shore shouted to them to cast their nets on the right-hand side of the boat. Peter probably shrugged his shoulders but decided to do it anyway. To their surprise, the nets got heavy with fish. Then, John peered hard at the figure on the beach and his eyes went wide and he told Peter that the person was Jesus. Without hesitation, Peter jumped into the water and swam to the shore where Jesus had hot coals and fo0d waiting for them.
Now when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again, a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.” (John 21:15-17)
Essentially, Jesus had reinstated Peter as chief among the Apostles.
Matthew 28:16…the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated to them.
You are virtually walking on a hiking trail on top of Mt Arbel. Elevation is about 594 feet above sea level. That body of water is the Sea of Galilee. Just below this mount is the town of Migdol once known as Magdala (home to Mary Magdalene).
It was here that Jesus gave the Great Commission to His Apostles… and as you read this now, this is your marching orders now.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
There is still one last mountain we have to climb.
Welcome to one of the most visited sites on the Mount of Olives, the Chapel of the Ascension. It was here that eleven men got the best news, not just for themselves, but for all of us who believe.
Acts 1:6-8And after Jesus had said these things…What things?
Well, the disciples asked Him, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus told them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”
After saying this, Jesus was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight.
And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, and they said… “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11)
Jesus Christ will return!
This ends our tour of Module 5a. Thank you for joining me in Walking the footsteps of Jesus – Part 2.
Click here to go to MODULE 6: Trailing the Acts of the Holy Spirit
Module 5 – Google Maps Tour of the Bible by Johann Quisumbing
In module 5, we will visit the Bible sites of where Jesus Christ walked during His first 2 years of His ministry. Now, the Son of God covered a lot of ground.
1 – Start of His Ministry
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. (Hebrews 1:1,2)
The prophets said He was coming… and it was to a prophet that He made Himself known. So, we go to a place where the Prophet John the Baptist was crying out loud saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)
You are virtually standing on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. On this side as well as the more modern looking site across the river is the traditional site of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist which is about 6 miles east from Jericho.
For 400 years, the Israelites have not heard from God. For 400 years, they had to contend with the conquests of the Persians, the Greeks and now… the Romans. Then, a voice of one calling out in the wilderness (Matthew 3:3) made his appearance dressed like another prophet-of-old (who was Elijah). Jews from all over came to the Jordan River to see the wonder of God’s latest messenger. But little that they knew, One among them was the Messiah himself. He looked quite ordinary, like someone you’d not even notice.
…He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. Isaiah 53:2
He came from Galilee… from Nazareth, to be exact. Why was He here? To be baptized like everyone else? Well, not exactly…
Why did Jesus, the Son of God, need to be baptized?
John the Baptist asked the same question. “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” (3:14)
Jesus responded, “…it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (3:15)
Righteousness? The ‘righteousness’ He spoke of was that John had to witness what came next.
After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove andsettling on Him, and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (3:16-17)
The Judaean Wilderness or the Judaean Desert stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El (Bethel), and is marked by naturalterraces with escarpments. It ends in a steep escarpment dropping to the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. This particular canyon is about 11 miles from where Jesus was baptized. Now, I’m not saying that our Lord was here. But it does give us an idea of the environment that Jesus was in when he was tempted by the devil. You can read the entire story in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.
After that time of temptation, Jesus went north. Why north? Why not straight to Jerusalem first? The answer is, He’s following God’s plan.
In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. (Isaiah 9:1,2)
So, we go to…
2 – Galilee
Galilee was the venue for most of Jesus’ 3 year ministry. It is located in modern-day Northern Israel, which in Jesus’ day was part of Roman jurisdiction. One of three Roman provinces of ancient Palestine, it included the whole northern section of the country, the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee forming the Eastern border. Lower Galilee, with its great plain and hill country running down into the Jordan, was one of the richest and most beautiful sections of Palestine. Upper Galilee, known biblically as “Galilee of the Gentiles,” was mountainous.[www.biblestudytools.com]
But before Jesus got to work, He had a wedding to attend.
You are standing in-front of the Wedding Cana Church located in Kafr Kanna which is an Arab town in the Galilee, part of the Northern District of Israel. This Catholic church is a favorite destination for weddings and tourists. However, is this town the actual biblical site of Cana? Many believe not. Six miles north of KafrKanna is a hill with ruins of a Jewish village. It is believed that this may be a good candidate for Cana.
[By the way, there are 2 other sites being considered as well.]
In John 2, Jesus Christ, His mother and His disciples were invited to a wedding (probably of a close relation). When His mother noticed that the wine had run out, she turned to her son. He knew what she wanted. Jesus gave her a loving and gentle rebuke saying, “What business do you have with Me, woman? My hour has not yet come” (2:4). But He relented by changing water into the best wine ever made. The Gospel writer had written that this act was the first sign of Jesus’ divinity.
Well, enough of parties, let us go on a boat ride.
The Sea of Galilee, also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a fresh water lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world (after the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake). [wikipedia.com] You know what made this lake special for me personally. It is the only body of water where Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:25). By the way, here’s some trivia for you, Jesus was not the only one who walked on water. Peter the fisherman also walked on water, if only for a few steps anyway before sinking (14:29,30).
One other thing needs telling. One night, Jesus and his disciples were crossing the lake in the middle of a raging storm. The disciples were afraid that the storm would swamp their boat. As they panicked, Jesus was at the stern sound asleep, like one who had no worries at all. Finally, they shook him awake pleading to be saved. With a word, He calmed the sea. His words to them was, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8:23-27)
Since, we’re on the lake, let us go to the north end to the shoreline village of…
This is a 360 aerial view of where the fishing village of Bethsaida once was situated. If you look north, at the copse of trees on the waterline, archaeologists had excavated there and had found remnants of the fishing village.
Bethsaida was best known in the Bible as the birthplace of three of Jesus’ disciples: Phillip, Peter, and Andrew (John 1:44–45; 12:21). Bethsaida was the scene of several miracles. One of those miracles performed was when Jesus restored the sight of a blind man (Mark 8:22–26).
This is a 360 aerial view of the area where the biblical Capernaum was located. Capernaum was one of the main trading towns in the Gennesaret area. It was a vibrant and prosperous part of Galilee. Many travelers, caravans, and traders passed through Capernaum on the Via Maris. It was a main trade route connecting Damascus in the north and Egypt in the south. It was no wonder that Jesus used it as His home base during His first 2 years of His ministry.
Below you is the Kfar Nahum National Park. If you zoom in, you can just make out archaeological excavations of this ancient town. The circular structure is the museum with see-through glass floors for visitors to get a better look of the ruins.
It is a modern Catholic church which is part of the Franciscan monastery. Archaeological excavations carried out in this place discovered another layer of residential structures, on which the first half of a first century church was built. It is believed that it was built over the house of Peter’s in-laws.
Jesus stayed mostly in the house of Peter’s in-laws. His healing of Peter’s mother-in-law’s fever was the start of a daily influx of the sickly, the lame and the possessed. One story in particular was when a group of friends tore an opening through the roof of that house and lowered their paralytic companion to the floor before Jesus. Seeing their faith, He said to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. But some thought this as blasphemous. Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus justified His authority by healing the man (Mark 2:1-12).
To the right of the museum (white structure) was the location of the Synagogue.
This synagogue that you are currently viewing may have been built around the 4th or 5th century. Beneath the foundation of this synagogue lies another foundation made of basalt, and it was suggested that this is the foundation of a synagogue from the 1st century.
According to Luke’s Gospel, the Capernaum synagogue at the time of Jesus’ ministry was built or funded by a Roman centurion based there. He was the same centurion who’s beloved ill servant was healed by Jesus in Matthew 8.
One other event that happened here was when Jesus was teaching, He controversially healed the withered hands of a man on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10-13).
Jesus had taught much in this town. When He went to the shoreline followed by a crowd, He found Peter and Andrew cleaning their nets after a failed night of fishing. Jesus climbed onto their boat and taught the crowd the parable about the farmer sowing his seed unto 4 types of soils (Matt 13:1-9). [The lesson, of course, was that the Word of God cannot work in our lives unless we have receptive hearts.] After the lesson, Jesus convinced Peter and Andrew to push their boat out back onto the lake to go fishing. Peter was skeptic until they started to haul in a net full that almost swamped their boat. That was when Peter really believed and followed Him (Luke 5:1-11). Now, speaking of fishing…
A Fish of a Tale
Have you heard a fishing yarn* lately? Well, I think some fishermen would probably love this biblical story in Matthew 17:24-27, except that this was no yarn.
Some tax collectors came to Peter one day inquiring if Jesus ever paid the two-drachma tax. He told them yes. When Peter went to ask Him about it, Jesus asked him first, “whom do the kings of the earth collect poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” After Peter gave his answer, Jesus rightly said that He and him should pay their taxes anyway. How? He instructed Peter to go fishing and in the first catch he got, just inside the fish’s mouth he found four-drachma coins.
[* Yarn – a long or rambling story, especially one that is implausible.]
Speaking of tax collectors, it was also here in Capernaum that Jesus called Levi the tax collector to leave his counting table and follow Him. Levi was renamed Matthew and became one of the chosen Twelve. He also wrote one of the 4 Gospels of the New Testament.
A little over a mile, west from Capernaum is a mountain top where Jesus gave His…
Again, you are looking at a 360 aerial view 0f what tradition claim to be the site of where Jesus gave His sermon. Technically, this is not really a mountain but a large hill known as Karn Hattin. Below is the Church of the Beatitudes.
The Sermon (Matthew 5-7)
So, one day while He was traveling near the Sea of Galilee, Jesus decided to speak to His disciples about what it means to follow Him. Jesus went up on a mountainside (5:1) and gathered His core disciples around Him. The rest of the crowd found places along the side of the hill and at the level place near the bottom in order to hear what Jesus taught His closest followers.
The Message
The Sermon on the Mount is by far Jesus’ longest explanation of what it looks like to live as His follower and to serve as a member of God’s Kingdom. In many ways, Jesus’ sermon represent, even today, the major ideals of a true God-centered life.
For example, Jesus taught about subjects such as prayer, justice, care for the needy, handling the religious law, divorce, fasting, judging other people, salvation, and much more. The Sermon on the Mount also contains both the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) and the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).
In the end, Jesus made it clear that His followers should live in a noticeably different way than other people because His followers should hold to a much higher standard of conduct — the standard of the love and selflessness of Jesus Himself.
[www.learnreligions.com]
By the way, in this same neighborhood, to my surprise, is a place that I thought was located south-southeast from Bethsaida. But according to tradition, it was located a lot closer to where Jesus gave His sermon. What site was that? I’m speaking of the event of the…
Welcome to the Tabgha Church of the Loaves and Fish. Neat name for a church, isn’t it? It was named after the biblical reference of the boy who had a lunch basket of 5 loaves and 2 fish.
In Mark 6, John the Baptist was just executed by Herod Antipas. When Jesus heard, He withdrew in a boat to a secluded place. People followed Him on the land. When He came ashore and saw all the people who followed Him, His compassion only saw sheep without a shepherd (6:34). When the disciples wanted to send the multitudes away to the nearby villages for food, Jesus saw a lesson opportunity for them on how God provides BIG time. A lesson that Jesus used to drum into them repeatedly.
[Note: Scripture said ‘5000 men’ were fed, but if you add women and children in the mix, there may have been over 10,000 that were fed.]
After the mass feeding, Jesus had His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side… to Bethsaida (6:45). He went up to what I call…
You are standing on Ein Nur Observation which is the closest hill to the Tabgha Church. This hill is the logical site where Jesus went to pray and to get a high vantage view of His disciples straining at the oars—for the wind was against them (6:48). Jesus walked on water to give them a hand.
Now, Jesus’ ministry was not limited around the Sea of Galilee. Sometimes, He went home.
Set on the outskirts of old Nazareth, the Nazareth Village is built on ancient agricultural land that boasts the area’s last remaining first-century wine press. The original farm has been restored with its ancient wine press, terraces, irrigation system and stone quarry, and exact replicas of first-century houses, a synagogue, a watchtower, mikveh and olive presses have been carefully constructed using the original building methods and materials.
At Nazareth Village, bible scenes are brought to life by “villagers” who populate the farm and houses, living and working with the same type of clothing, pottery, tools and methods that Mary and Jesus would have used. Gifted and knowledgeable guides lead visitors through a living representation of the parables of Jesus within their original context before offering the opportunity to seal the experience with an authentic biblical meal.
You are standing on the edge of a cliff on Mount Precipice located just outside the southern edge of Nazareth. What are we doing up here? It may be that Jesus may have climbed up and down these cliffs once upon a time. He did have a practice of going up to high places like this to pray in solitude. We just don’t know, but what we do know was that He was almost thrown off this precipice.
Luke 4:16-30
One day, Jesus and His disciple came home to Nazareth. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and He read a famous Messianic passage from the Prophet Isaiah. After that, Jesus rocked the very foundation of that synagogue when He boldly declared that what was just read had been fulfilled. Everyone there knew what was implied. It was an incredible thought. Is Jesus the Messiah? At first, the people spoke well of Him, but surprise and admiration soon gave place to a spirit of unbelief. Was he not a local boy? …a rather insignificant one being just a son of a carpenter? How had he gained such eloquence, such learning and poise? However, when, as he continued speaking, he pointed to their disbelief and compared it to stories of earlier biblical prophets, their puzzlement turned to anger. In the end, they vainly sought to throw him from a cliff near the town. But He passed through their midst and went on His way.
Six miles southeast from Nazareth is the biblical site of…
Nain was a fortified town built on a hill. From our high vantage point, Nain was located at the modern day Arab village of Nin just ahead.
It was there, according to Luke 7:11–17, Jesus raised a young man from death and reunited him with his weeping mother. According to Luke’s account, this young man was the only son of an unnamed widow. When Jesus saw the dead son being carried out and the mourning widow, he felt compassion for her. He walked towards the bier or stretcher, touched it, stopped the funeral procession and told the man: “Young man, I say to you, arise!” The man came alive, sat up, and began to speak. The people who were standing around were all struck by the event, seen as a sign that ‘a great prophet’ had arisen among them, and the report of it spread widely across Judea and the surrounding region. [www.wikipedia.com]
Nearby is another mountain… a very important high-place… for this was where Peter, James and John were allowed a vision of who Jesus really WAS, IS & IS TO COME.
You are virtually standing before Church of the Transfiguration which is a Franciscan church located on Mount Tabor some 6 miles east from Nazareth.
The Transfiguration was the glorification of the human body of Jesus. On this occasion His body underwent a change in form, a metamorphosis, so that it shone as brightly as the sun. At the time of the Transfiguration, Jesus’ earthly ministry was coming to a close. He had acknowledged that He was the Messiah and predicted His death and resurrection. Now He was to reveal, to a select few, His divine glory. [Don Stewart – http://www.blueletterbible.org]
Jewish villages and enclaves were not the only places that Jesus made His appearances.
You’re standing on the ruin courtyards of what was once the Sanctuary of Faunus (Pan). It was a Roman pagan worship center of the Roman city of Caesarea Philippi which was about 26 miles north of the Sea of Galilee.
It was in this area that Jesus asked the question that needed to be asked of His disciples. It was the question of, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ Only Peter got it right with the answer that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13). Then Jesus declared that upon this rock… that is, the FAITH expressed by Peter (as well as all believers)… He shall build His church (16:18).
These are the ruins of Tyre which was an ancient Phoenician city in modern-day Lebanon. It was in this vicinity, that Jesus brought His disciples for a ‘weekend get-away’. But Jesus’ healing reputation had preceded Him even here deep in Gentile country.
Upon entering a house of an acquaintance, He was noticed by a woman of Greek descent* who had a daughter inflicted by a demon. She loudly pleaded for His help but Jesus said nothing until His disciples urged that she be sent away. Then, I believe, Jesus saw a teaching opportunity for His disciples; a lesson of grace and relentless faith. So, Jesus and her had an exchange of what can only be described as banter.** He said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she countered with an undeniable and logical reply that even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. I can just imagine Jesus with a pleased expression on His face when He told her that her faith was great. She went home to find her child free of possession.
[* Syrophoenician woman; ** banter: playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks.]
Again He left the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. (Mark 7:31)
The Decapolis in Greek translate into the TenHellenistic cities established during the post days of Alexander the Great. They were also known as the Free cities, that is, independently governed outside Roman rule. And one of those cities was located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was called…
As you can see, Hippos was a city built on a high hill overlooking the inland sea. On that shore, Jesus freed a gentile who was tormented by a legion of demons (Luke 8:28-30). Unfortunately for the residences of Hippos, there was a shortage of pork when the demons that were in the man went into a herd of pigs that went crazy and drowned in the lake (8:33). The man freed from the demons became a missionary for Jesus to Hippos and the surrounding region (8:38,39). It was probably because of his testimony that when Jesus returned, that people from throughout this region brought their sick and impaired to Him. For 3 days, He ministered and taught them. Just like the feeding of the 5000, He fed 4000 men in this location (Matthew 15:29-38).
One other place, we must visit is not exactly Gentile. However, to the Jews, it was worse than worse than being Gentile. Our next stop is to…
You are virtually inside an Eastern Orthodox church and monastery, in the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank. The well of Jacob can be viewed in a chamber under this chapel. Jacob dug this well back when this town was once called Shechem. During Jesus’ time, it was the Samaritan village of Sychar.
In John 4, Jesus and His disciples were on their way back to Galilee. Instead of going back via their traditional route, Jesus surprised the disciples by leading them through Samaritan country which to a Jew was somewhat taboo. Why?
Here’s a quick background. There was great animosity between Jews and Samaritans. You see, the Jews considered the Samaritans as ‘half-breeds’; that is, half Israelites, half Assyrian exiled rejects (2 Kings 17). Back when Solomon’s Temple was rebuilt by the returned Judean exiles, the Samaritans were rejected as true Israelites. So, they went their own way. The Jews took great pains to avoid their territory.
Jesus arrived just outside Sychar where Jacob’s well was. While the disciples went to find food, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. She was there to quench her thirst but instead got an everlasting lesson on ‘Living Water’. She became a believer and her testimony convinces an entire town to believe, too. [4:15-42]
For over two years, Jesus focused His ministry in the north country. For Him to complete the work for the salvation of us all, He had to take…
You are facing what is called the Tree of Zacchaeus which is located at the Al-Jummezeh Square in the City Center of Jericho. Is this the remains of the tree where a short tax-collector by the name of Zacchaeus climbed to get a glimpse of the Messiah? Well, this particular sycamore tree is more than 2000 years old. Even if it wasn’t, it was alive here in Jericho when Jesus walked the streets.
Imagine, if you will, Jesus walking the streets of Jericho, surrounded by a crowd. As He was walking under a tree, He looked up to find a rich man straddling precariously on a big branch. With a chuckle, He called him by name and told him that He was dining at his house. During the meal, there were critics that questioned Jesus’ wisdom of being a guest of a sinner. Well, Zacchaeus surprised them by testifying out loud that he was giving half his possessions to the poor and making it right for those he cheated. Then Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house… For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:9,10)
This is Highway 1. This goes from Jericho to Jerusalem and it probably follows the ancient caravan road that Jesus used. And it is on this road that we…
This ends our tour of Module 5. Thank you for joining me in Walking the footsteps of Jesus – Part 1.
Module 4 – Google Maps Tour of the Bible by JQuisumbing
Welcome to Module 4. Here we will visit the Bible sites where God influenced the lives of the Kings and the Prophets that He sent to them during the Kingdom era. In Module 3, we ended the tour with God rejecting Saul as king and God secretly sending Samuel to choose David to replace him.
1 – Young David
When the anointing oil of Samuel touched upon the brow of David, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward (1 Samuel 16:13) and through out his entire life, even when he faltered, David was always the apple of the Lord’s eye.
Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings… (Psalm 17:8)
And we will see this as we follow David’s life from one adventure after another. Starting at…
You are looking at a 360 degree view of where a young David bravely confronted Goliath from Gath who stood over 8 feet tall.
Imagine if you will, the forces of King Saul gathered on the hill on the north side of the valley and the Philistine army were arrayed on the opposite hill. Then Goliath would come forward from the army encampment of the Philistines to mock the God of Israel and challenge the Israelites to send out their champion to fight him one on one. Everyday, the Israelites cowered and no one came to challenge him until David came to visit. And when he saw and heard Goliath insulting his God, David cried out…
“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he has dared to defy the armies of the living God?”(17:26)
With King Saul’s doubtful consent, David, with no armor and shield, armed with only a shepherd’s sling and five smooth stones, bravely went down to fight this giant. From the Philistine’s side, they expected a slaughter but were shocked to see their champion quickly brought down by a well aimed stone striking him between the eyes. When they witnessed Goliath’s head chopped off and the army of Israel charging their lines, they panicked and was defeated.
After David killed Goliath, Saul was compelled to place young David at the head of his army (I Samuel 18:5) and eventually became part of the household when David married his daughter Michal. David was successful in all that he did and so his fame rose with the peoples making this praises, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” (18:7)
Not long after, an intense rivalry developed between David and the king. Saul began to try to have him killed.
2 – Saul Pursued David
So, David fled the presence of the king. After he and his handful of men received nourishment from the priests of a nearby village (21:1-6), he hurriedly left and went to a hidden stronghold. So now, we come to our next site…
The Cave of Adullam is located at the south end of the valley of Elah about 20 miles away from Saul’s palace at Gibeah.
It was there that David’s father and brothers joined him to also escape Saul’s rage. Not long after, everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. They numbered about four hundred men (22:1,2).
But Saul found out where David was, when he and his men went to rescue a nearby village that were harassed by marauding Philistines (23:1-5). So, David had to escape to another stronghold farther south which takes us to our next site.
You are virtually standing atop of Masada that scholars believed was the Rock of Escape mentioned in verse 28. But being found out where he was, Saul tried to trap him but he had to give up the pursuit to face a Philistine army threatening his borders. So, David had to move again to another stronghold…
En Gedi is the largest oasis along the western shore of the Dead Sea. It served as one of the main places of refuge for David as he fled from Saul (23:29). One time when David was fleeing from King Saul, the pursuers searched the “Crags of the Ibex” in the vicinity of En Gedi. In a cave near here, David refused to kill the Lord’s anointed but instead he just cut off the corner of Saul’s robe (24:1-7). This was not the only time that Saul’s life was spared. David hated the thought that as long as he was still within the kingdom, Saul would continue to go after him and maybe in one of those encounters, he would have no choice but to strike down the Lord’s anointed. So, he and his followers left Saul’s domain (1 Samuel 27,29).
Now, let us shift focus to King Saul for awhile…
3 – Last Days of King Saul
In 1 Samuel 28, the Philistines had come up to fight with Saul again and when Saul saw their camp, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. So Saul inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him. He was so desperate for guidance but Samuel the Prophet had passed away back in chapter 25. So, Saul secretly went to a medium/witch at the outskirts of En-dor.
You are standing on highway 7276 (8 miles from Nazareth). The road to the right goes to the modern village of Ein Dor. If you look at the signs at the corner, one of them says ‘Archaeology’ indicating that this village may be the ancient site of where the only ghost story told in the Bible occurred.
When Saul (in disguise) came before the medium, he demanded the she summon the spirit of Samuel. She was startled when her conjuring suddenly worked and an apparition of an old man appeared like a god coming up out of the earth (28:13). Saul, seeing that it was Samuel, fell to the ground. When asked why he was called back, Saul shared his fears. The response he got back was not good news.
Saul was reminded that the LORD had left him and had become his enemy. The LORD has done just as he said he would. He had torn the kingdom from him. And on top of that, the LORD will hand him and the army of Israel over to the Philistines, and he and his sons will be dead. (28:16-19) Saul returned to his encampment like a condemned man.
Beth Shan or Beit She’an (in Hebrew) is a city in the Northern District of Israel, which has played an important role in history due to its geographical location at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley.
Five miles from Beth Shan, on the slopes of Mt Gilboa, the army of Saul clashed with the Philistines and they were badly defeated as prophesized. Wounded and seeing his sons killed, Saul purposely fell on his own sword. When the Philistines found the bodies of King Saul and his sons, they hung them on the walls of Beth Shan (31:10-12).
But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth Shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies. Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days (31:11-13).
After Saul died, David eventually became King of all Israel. And as his capital, he chose to rule in…
This is a 360 aerial view of Jerusalem today. It currently occupies an area of about 78 square miles and has a population of about 1 million. For the past 3000 years or so, this city had been destroyed and rebuilt countless times.
During the early days of David, it was known as Salem, the city of the Jebusites. A small remnant population of Canaanites that managed to keep their city from being conquered by the Israelites in Joshua’s time. Outlined below and shaded in yellow mark where the small city was located.
Google Earth image of modern-day Jerusalem Jebusite City layout in yellow
According to 2 Samuel 5, David had laid siege on the Jebusite city which was fortified with high walls and situated on a mountain spur which made it practically difficult to capture. The Jebusites even bragged about it to David saying, “You shall not come in here, but even those who are blind and those who limp will turn you away” (5:6).
You are standing on the observation platform that overlooks the archaeological site of the Millo (5:9) remnants of the original Jebusite ruins. Under the ruins was the well that tapped the underground Gihon Springs. It was through the well, that David’s men penetrated the Jebusite defenses (5:8) and captured the city.
David expanded the city and it became the City of David.
Google Earth image of modern-day Jerusalem City of David layout in green
Today, you can drive along on where the western wall of the City of David once stood. There is also a museum where you can go underground to view archaeological excavations of the old city.
You are standing on an observation platform on where tour guides would start their tour to an underground labyrinth of structures including Hezekiah’s Tunnel (a favorite for exploration). This platform is also over a part of David’s royal palace which makes it an ideal setting for a sad story of David’s SIN.
David’s royal chamber probably had a high vantage view of the city just like this observation platform. As you look down unto the houses below…
Story of David & Bathsheba [2 Samuel 11-12]
…imagine a bone tired king, home instead of being with his men in a military action against the sons of Ammon (11:1). It was Spring in Jerusalem. He had just eaten his dinner and was about to go to his bed, but that night, he was restless. He poured some wine for himself and wandered up unto the roof of his chamber. As he gazed around at the starlit valley below, his eye was attracted to a house below and there she was. Her name was Bathsheba.
Allow me to sum up what happened. David went from temptation to temptation to sin. The result was a pregnancy of woman who was someone else’s wife (11:3-5). David sent for the husband, Uriah the Hittite (one of his own men off at war) to return. He had hoped that Uriah would have relations with his wife, but out of a sense of loyalty he did not. Then David arranged that Uriah died in battle. After the mourning period, David took Bathsheba as his wife and a son was born to them. (11:6-27)
Then God sent Nathan the Prophet to David. After his rebuke, David repented greatly (Psalm 51). God forgave him (12:13) but he had to live with the circumstances of that sin. The son that was born to him & Bathsheba died (12:15-23); and then much later in his life, his other son Absalom took his throne and tried to kill him as well (chapter 15). But for David, the worst was that because of the blood he shed, the Lord denied him the privileged to build His Temple (1 Chronicles 28:3).
Mt Zion is the high hill opposite from the City of David across what was the Tyropoeon Valley. You are virtually standing before a sculpture of King David holding a lyre, an iconic symbol because of the many psalms that he wrote since he was a simple shepherd boy. A short distance north from here is the Tomb of David.
We say our good-byes to David here, but before we continue on, it is right to remember that though David faltered in his sin, the Lord helped him to amass such great wealth that it will be used to erect the first Temple which by the way was built by his son, Solomon, whose mother was also Bathsheba. And before he died, the Lord reiterated to him that his kingdom will go on forever.
5 – Solomon’s Temple
Solomon became king after David and with the help an old Phoenician allay and king, he expanded the city (below in blue). And on Mt Moriah, he erected the first Temple.
Google Earth image of modern-day Jerusalem City of David layout in green; Solomon’s expansion in blue; Temple complex in red
There was great fanfare when the Temple was finished. But when the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the innermost room called the Holy of Holies, the entire Temple was filled with God’s glory to a point that even the priests could not enter (1 King 8). I invite you to watch this 3 minute video of Solomon’s Temple in 3D.
6 – The Divided Kingdom
After Solomon died, his son, Rehoboam, became king. And in 1 King 12, due to an act of foolishness, Rehoboam lost the loyalty of the northern tribes and the kingdom was divided. Rehoboam ruled the southern kingdom of Judah with the tribe of Simeon who lived more in tents and were mostly nomadic. Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, became king of the 10 northern tribes of Israel.
The Lord allowed it for as long as ALL of Israel & Judah remained faithful to Him which meant that they still go to the center of worship at the Temple at Jerusalem. But Jeroboam, the king of Israel, feared losing his rule if his people continue to go to Jerusalem. So, he made 2 golden calves and declared, “behold your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt” (12:28). One idol, he set in Bethel. The other, he set at…
Once, the tribe of Dan were situated in the south. They were suppose to push out the Philistines during the conquest era of Canaan, but failing that, the tribe moved to this area of the north.
Tel Dan is one of the most important sites in the ancient Near East, in general, and for biblical archaeology, in particular. Situated at the base of snow-capped Mount Hermon on the headwaters of the Jordan, Dan has major fortifications and what is apparently an Israelite temple from the Iron Age II (ca. 1000-700 BCE) where Jeroboam placed one of the golden calf idols. [www.teldanexcavations.com]
The steel beams you are looking at was where a massive four-horned altar once stood for the offering of animal sacrifices.
What Jeroboam had d0ne had set a precedent for all the kings of the northern kingdom. Nineteen kings ruled over Israel and all of them did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Eventually, the northern kingdom was overthrown by the Assyrian Empire then exiled. As to the southern kingdom, 19 kings & 1 queen ruled over Judah. A few of them did right in the Lord’s eyes, but most sent the kingdom on a downward spiral until it too was handed over to exile.
Now, the Lord God sought repentance from the kings and so, He would send men to them to be His mouth. They would either be their guide to redemption or a thorn on their sides. These men were known as…
7 – Prophets
From the divided kingdom era, one of the most famous prophets of the Bible, mentioned both in the Old and New Testaments, is Elijah. And when it comes to him, one place always come to mind.
Mt Carmel is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel. Its name is derived from the Hebrew “Karem El” which means “vineyards of God.” You are standing on the observation deck of the Deir Al-Mukhraqa Carmelite Monastery. The vast valley before you is the Jezreel Valley which will be the future site of the prophetical-end-time battle of Armageddon.
‘High places’ were frequently considered to be sacred, and Mount Carmel was no exception. A high place of Mount Carmel was devoted to Yahweh during the Israelite monarchy, but it had fallen into disuse by the time of Ahab, king of northern kingdom of Israel, when it was devoted to Baal, a god of Phoenicia.
Carmel’s greatest claim to fame was the battle that took place there between the prophet Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal, together with 400 prophets of Ashera, to decide which deity was more powerful. Underlying the contest was the question of why neither Baal nor Yahweh, both supposedly capable of producing rain, had not done so during a long period of intense drought (1 Kings 18). Here, the mountain, located in a kind of coastal no-man’s-land between Israel and Phoenicia, represented a strategic high ground where the Phoenician Baal and the Israelite Yahweh contended for superiority. After repairing the old altar of Yahweh, Elijah put the prophets of Baal to shame when he was able to produce fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice to Yahweh, while the prophets of Baal failed to produce fire from Baal to consume their offering.
Having proved his point spiritually, Elijah proceeded to a physical conquest as he ordered the assembled crowd of onlookers to slaughter the prophets of Baal in the valley below. He then prayed to the Lord to end the drought and a rain cloud appeared in response to his plea. [http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org]
Elijah’s whole story can be read from 1 Kings 15 to 2 Kings 2.
Now, Elijah had a protégé, who used to maintain a dwelling place here at Mt Carmel. His name was Elisha which means ‘My God is salvation‘. In the biblical narrative, after Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind, he gave Elisha a double portion of his power and he was accepted as the leader of the sons of the prophets (2 Kings 4).
Interestingly enough, though Elisha went on to perform twice as many miracles as Elijah, he seems to be the least thought of. And what is funny yet is that, compared to other Old Testament characters, Elisha’s miracles seem to be a precursor to Jesus’ own miracles. Oh sure, he may have not walked on water, but he did make an iron axe head float (6:6,7). For one particular miracle, I think we should go to…
You are on the north-end side of the modern day village of Sulam, but back in those days, this used to be the village of Shunem. Unfortunately, there were no archaeological site in the area. However, the houses of the neighborhood would be as posh as the prominent Shunemite woman’s house back then (2 Kings 4). She often invited Elisha to stay in her house during his ministry circuit of the area. This woman had no son and her husband was too old, so, he prophesied that she will give birth to a son next year, which she did. Then a few years later, the boy died. He prayed to the LORD. Then he got up on the bed and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands, and he bent down on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. The boy came to life and returned to his mother (4:33-37).
So far, we talked about Elijah and Elisha. God had also sent other prophets like Amos and Hosea to minister in the Northern Kingdom, calling on the kings and the people to repent. At the same time, even the prophets of Judah like Isaiah and Micah, also warned the people of the Northern Kingdom of their coming destruction if they did not repent. But God also sent a prophet (a reluctant one anyway) to the enemies of Israel. His name was Jonah. To tell his story, let us go to…
You are standing at the end of a jetty protecting the small harbor of Jaffa. During Jonah’s day, this coastal city was known as Joppa. Joppa is a very old city. You can see the contrast by its old world architecture to the ultra modern style of skyscrapers of Tel-Aviv on your far left.
Imagine yourself as Jonah on that jetty boarding on a ship bound for faraway Tarshish which was in Turkey. He was very jittery, knowing full well that he was doing wrong. You see, God had commanded him to go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness had come up before Him (Jonah 1:2). But Jonah feared what God had intended. The people of Nineveh was the enemy of His own people and if after he spoke to them that they repent their sins, he knew God will forgive them. So, he decided to run away from God. But he had a problem.
Psalm 139:7-10 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
God sent a storm and to make a long story short, Jonah ended up being in the belly of a fish for 3 days (1:4-17). After his prayer of repentance, out he came (2:1-10). He did go to Niniveh, and sure enough, after hearing him speak, the people repented. So, God forgave that generation and delayed the city’s inevitable destruction for another time (3:10). Meanwhile, God had a lesson for Jonah who went outside the city to… ahem… pout (4:1-5). At his camp, God caused a plant to grow quickly to give shade to his shelter but then it withered. At first, Jonah was overjoyed but when it died… then the Lord said…
“You had compassion on the plant, for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not also have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many animals?” (4:10,11)
Even with the warnings of the prophets, both kingdoms fell. The northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians and the population deported as per Assyrian military policy (resulting in the so-called Lost Ten Tribes of Israel). A hundred forty years later, as prophesied by Isaiah, Jeremiah and even Ezekiel who was already at exile, Judah fell to the Babylonians with their most influential citizens exiled to Babylon. Seventy five years later, exiles returned to Judah to rebuild.
8 – The Prophet for the ‘Kingdom Come‘
Within the message of the prophets, God had implanted… clues (so, to speak)… of the ultimate hope of a future kingdom for the faithful. Everyone of them put together points to the promised Messiah. One prophet, in particular, had written in his book some details that was not found in any of the other books of the Old Testament. Who was the prophet? Well, first, we go to…
You are standing on the site of the ruins of ancient Babylon located by the Euphrates River 53 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. Before you is the archaeological site of the city central. If you look west, on top of the hill, you’ll see one of Saddam Hussein’s abandoned palaces. It was probably built on top of the royal palace of Babylon’s kings. Turn again towards the south, you’ll see a replica city built for the tourists.
Why are we here? Well, on the first conquest of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a group of young noble Hebrews were brought here to be trained and then serve the kingdom. One of them was Daniel and like the patriarch, Joseph, he too gained a very high position in the government because the Lord had given him the ability to interpret the king’s dream. Through time, Daniel maintained a high position through three other kings and went through the transition from the kingdom of Babylon to the great Persian Empire.
Daniel’s prophecies
Beloved and chosen by God to foretell future events, Daniel prophesied through visions and dreams about what was going to happen throughout history, including what would happen to Daniel’s people in the ‘latter days’ (Daniel 10:14) and to the whole world.
In the repetition of the prophecy about human world-ruling empires, Daniel further noted: “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14). He saw the Messiah.
In Daniel 9:24-27, we find a prophecy that predicted the year [A.D. 27] that the Messiah would begin His ministry. The prophecy also predicted his ministry to ‘confirm the covenant’ would be cut off ‘in the middle’ of the 70th prophetic week. The New Testament shows that this occurred after 3 1/2 years, just as Daniel had prophesied.
From Daniel’s prophecies, we get a peek of where we will go from here. We say goodbye to the sites of the Old Testament and end our tour of Module 4. The next step for you is…
Module 5 – Walking the footsteps of Jesus– Part 1 – where He went fishing with his disciples; gave the Sermon on the Mount and changed water into wine
Module 3 – Google Maps Tour of the Bible by JQuisumbing
Welcome to Module 3. Here we will visit the Bible sites where God moved the lives of the Judges that saved the early nation of Israel from themselves.
We will start taking up this tour…
after the time when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt & slavery;
after Joshua took over leadership and led them into the promised land;
after Israel successfully (more or less) conquered the Canaanites and other inhabitants;
and after the land was divided into the Twelve tribal territories.
The Promise land divided into the 12 Tribes of Israel
Welcome into the time of the Judges.
1 – Judges
Before Israel had a king, it had a series of tribal leaders called judges. But why ‘judges’?
When Joshua and his generation died, so did the Israelites’ knowledge of God (Judges 2:10). They began to worship other gods and forgot their vow to Him. So, the Lord God handed them over to plunderers, and they plundered them (Judges 2:13) until they could not stand up to their enemies no longer. So, God raised these judges to save them from their enemies but mostly lead them back to Him.
The Book of Judges mentions twelve leaders. For our purposes, we will visit the sites of where the Lord raised three of them to do His bidding. We will also include a fourth leader who was not menti0ned in the Book of Judges; mainly because the Bible mentions him in two other books named after him.
Welcome to Tel Hazor. You are looking at a 360 aerial view of the archaeological site of this ancient city which is located north of the Sea of Galilee.
Hazor was the royal city of the Canaanite King Jabin (Joshua 11:1). This city, before the Israelite conquest, seemed to have been the seat of wide authority in this region (Joshua 11:11). It was taken by Joshua, who exterminated the inhabitants, and it was the only city in that region which he destroyed by fire (11:11-13). At a later time though, the Jabin Dynasty recovered power and restored the city after the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD (Judges 4:2). King Jabin had his army commander, Sisera, who’s army was well equipped with nine hundred iron chariots to oppress the sons of Israel severely for twenty years. Enter Deborah, a prophetess, who was already judging Israel at that time. And she called Barak, from the tribe of Naphtali, to lead the fight against Sisera. But Barak was timid in his faith. Even when Barak was promised victory (Judg. 4:6–7), he resisted, saying that he would go only if Deborah went with him (v. 8). So…
Deborah said, “I will certainly go with you; however, the fame shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” (Judges 4:9)
Well, the Lord helped Barak route the Canaanite army in a valley south of Hazor. But the victory was not complete. Sisera had escaped Barak, however, as prophesied by Deborah, he ended up being killed by a woman. As for the Canaanite King Jabin, he was eventually subdued and eliminated.
We go now to our next site which is about 35 miles south.
Welcome to the Ma’ayan Harod National Park. This national park is located at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley just south of Mt Moreh. You are facing a pool that is called the Spring of Harod. The water comes from a copious stream of clear cold water rising from within a rocky cave just behind you. (Note the white block house up the hill.) This spring is more famously known as Gideon’s Spring.
The story of Gideon in the Bible is from the Book of Judges chapters 6-8. He was known as the reluctant warrior who eventually earned the position as a hero of faith referenced in Hebrews 11:32-34.
Again, like every situation in the Book of Judges, Israel had greatly sinned against the Lord. So, here in chapters 6 & 7, Israel suffered under the hands of the marauding tribe of Midian for 7 long years; after which, as expected, they cried again out to Him. Enter Gideon…
The Story of Gideon in a Nutshell
Gideon was a farmer whose hometown was Ophrah, in the Valley of Jezreel. He was of the tribe of Manasseh. In Judges 6, we find him hiding from marauding Midianites in a wine press beating out wheat. God appeared to Gideon as an angel and patiently encouraged him to lead the Israelites, promising He would be with him. I said patiently because God allowed Gideon to test Him thrice even after he witnessed His power at work (6:20-24;36-40).
So, Gideon managed to gather almost twenty thousand warriors to him. But God had some thing else in mind. He declared, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to hand Midian over to them, otherwise Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has saved me.’ “ So, Gideon brought them to the spring of Harod to test the men of Israel. Those that did not lap the water with their tongues like dogs will fight the Midianites. Only three hundred men were chosen. With the help of God, Gideon with his 300 men routed an army of about 130,000.
And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon… who by faith … quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. (Hebrews 11:32-34)
You are standing within the remnants of a Philistine village once called Timnah located just within the border of the territory of the tribe of Judah. At this time of the Book of Judges, all of Israel again had sinned greatly against the Lord. So, the Lord had allowed the northern tribes to be oppressed by the Ammonites and the southern tribes to be bullied by the Philistines. The Philistines had made several infractions into Judah’s fertile lands establishing farming communities. Timnah was one of those communities and it was the setting of where the Philistines were introduced to Israel’s most colorful & controversial Judge, Samson.
You can say that Samson was Israel’s superhero because he displayed such inhuman strength. Well, according to biblical accounts, Samson was repeatedly seized by the “Spirit of the Lord,” who blessed him with such incredible strength. What made Samson so privileged? That story in itself is a story worthy for reading on your own. [Click here > Judges 13] Meanwhile, let’s go back to Timnah…
The Marriage at Timnah
In Judges 14, Samson, who was just a young man, went down to Timnah and saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. He impulsively wanted to marry her. His parents were not happy because they preferred he marry one from their own people. Of course, what they did not know was that this was of the LORD, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. [v4]
Let’s jump forward. At the wedding feast, Samson gave a riddle to his thirty groomsmen who were all Philistines. If they can solve it, he will give them thirty pieces of fine linen and garments, but if they cannot they must give him thirty pieces of fine linen and garments. After failing to guess, they were infuriated by the riddle, so much so, that they threatened the bride and her family to discover the answer. In tears, she implored Samson to gives her the solution, which he eventually did. Knowing the answer, they surprised Samson with right answer.
Samson knew where they got the answer. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, so, he traveled to the Philistine city, Ashkelon (roughly 30 miles away) where he slayed 30 Philistines for their garments; he then returned and gave them to his thirty groomsmen.
The story then went sideward when Samson found out that his bride was given to one of the groomsmen. Samson then went out, caught 300 jackals, and tied them together in pairs by their tails. He then attached a burning torch to each pair of foxes’ tails and turned them loose in the grain fields and olive groves of the Philistines. The Philistines learned why Samson burned their crops and they burned Samson’s bride and her father to death in retribution. Samson in return retaliated by ruthlessly slaughtering a great number of them to a point that the Philistines assembled an army to go after one man.
Other biblical accounts showed Samson displaying his immense strength by the slaying of a lion with his bare hands; massacring an entire army of Philistines using only the jawbone of a donkey; and the tearing down of the gates of Gaza, then carrying them on his shoulders about 40 miles into the hills. He judged Israel for 20 years until his weakness of lust caused him to lose his super strength. But forgiveness and divine restoration prevailed when his final act was the demoralization of the Philistines as Samson, this one man of the True God of Israel, chained & blind, brought down their temple killing tens of thousands.
So, we finish the Book of Judges, but by no means was Samson the last Judge of Israel. For this, we go to two other books.
5 – BOOKS OF SAMUEL
Samuel was the principal author of the Books of Samuel. He was also both Judge and Prophet of Israel. He was a key figure who, in the narratives of the Bible, played a key role in the transition from the period of the biblical judges to the institution of the Kingdom. Based on these books, we will visit these following sites.
In the beginning of the first Book of Samuel, we shall go to the place where the people used as their center of worship. Let us go to…
Click on Google Map Photos of Shiloh [SET A] [SET B]
Shiloh (Shilo), pronounced as ‘Shee-low’, was God’s home on earth or what we know as the Tabernacle by Joshua during the conquest of Canaan.
Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there… Joshua 18:1
For over 300 years, Israelites performed aliyah l’regel (pilgrimage) and brought offerings to this location until the death of it’s High Priest named Eli. But we are getting ahead of the story.
In 1st Samuel 1, our story started with Hannah, the second wife of Elkanah, an Ephraimite. Hannah came to the Tent of Meeting, to desperately plead for a child to end her shame of being barren. She begged for a son with the vow that she will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head (1:11). Eli the priest was watching her and thought the she was drunk. He started to rebuke her when she tearfully explained of her desperate prayer. He relented saying, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of Him.” (1:17) And God did!
Hannah gave birth to Samuel and when he was weaned she brought him back to Shiloh where he grew up as a Nazarite*.
By the way, the Lord had blessed Hannah even more by giving her three other sons and two daughters. (2:21)
[* According to Numbers 6, the Nazarite was one who was consecrated to serve the Lord. He was required to abstain from all wine and anything else made from the grape vine; refrain from cutting the hair; and to stay ritually pure by avoiding contact with corpses or graves, even those of family members.]
Now the boy Samuel was attending to the service of the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days; visions were infrequent. (3:1)
Samuel was being raised to serve the priesthood. But the Lord intended him to be a prophet charged with announcing His word to Israel. Ironically, his first prophetic act was to announce to Eli the Priest of his fate.
When Samuel was asleep in the temple, God called out his name. Thinking that Eli called him, he went to wake him. Eli thought he was dreaming and sent him back to sleep. But the Lord called his name again. This happened three times.
On the third time, Eli surmised that it was the Lord calling Samuel’s name. So, he told him to answer the Lord, which he did. God revealed very bad news for Eli and his family and instructed Samuels to speak what was told to him. In that morning, he was reluctant to talk to Eli, but Eli insisted. So, Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And Eli said, “He is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him.” (3:18)
Now Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of his words fail. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. (3:19-21)
Before we go to our next site, there is one other incident that we need to talk about and it is related to the prophetical fate of Eli and his family.
Eli had two sons who were serving as priests but they had greatly sinned against the people. But the real problem was that Eli allowed them to continue even after the Lord warned him. Then, there was war again with the Philistines. After the Israelites were badly defeated in the first battle, they sent for the sons of Eli to bring the Ark of the Covenant to their camp in the hope that the Lord would grant them victory. But the Philistines won the battle, killed the sons of Eli and worst of all, they captured the Ark of the Covenant. When Eli the Priest finally heard the news about the Ark, he literally dropped dead as was prophesied by Samuel.
6 – The Ark of the Covenant & The Philistines
Ark of the Covenant
So, victorious from the war with the Israelites, the Philistines brought the captured Ark of the Covenant back to their cities.
The 5 cities of the Philistines were Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron & Gath.
To set the stage for the next story, let us go to the ruins of…
The ancient site of Ashkelon is now a national park on the city’s southern coast. The walls that encircled the city are still visible, as well as Canaanite earth ramparts. The park contains Byzantine, Crusader and Roman ruins. Here’s an interesting note – the largest dog cemetery in the ancient world was discovered in Ashkelon.
When the Philistines brought the Ark into their cities, they placed it at the feet of their idol god Dagon. The next day, they found Dagon face down before the Ark. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place. But, again the next time, the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the torso of Dagon was left.
Meanwhile, where ever the Ark was brought, the hand of the LORD was heavy on them, and He made them feel devastated and struck them with tumors (5:6). Therefore they sent word and gathered all the governors of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people!” (5:11) So, the leadership, advised by their priests, placed the Ark on a wagon with a guilt offering of 5 golden mice & tumors corresponding to the number of the governors & the cities devastated by plague.
Now, to see, if the plagues were really from the God of Israel, they hitched two milk cows (which recently just had calves) to the wagon and let them go on the road that went up into the hills of Judah. If the cows strayed off the road, then they will know that the plague were not from God. Bellowing as they went, the cows did not turn off to the right or to the left. And the governors of the Philistines followed them to the border.
You are looking at the 360 degree aerial view of the ruins of the ancient biblical city of Beth Shemesh within the territory of Judah. It is an archaeological mound situated immediately west of modern town, Beit Shemesh.
Now, look west where the highway runs past this mound and imagine the Israelites seeing the Ark of Covenant on the road with nobody driving the wagon. The cows drew the ark up to the village of Beth-Shemesh, where the people were reaping their wheat harvest on the hillsides. They saw the Ark and were glad.
The cows stopped beside a great stone in the field. Then the men of Beth-Shemesh cut up the wagon, and with it made a fire, and on the stone as an altar offered the two cows as an offering to the Lord.
But the men of Beth-Shemesh opened the ark and looked into it. This was contrary to God’s command, for none but the Levitical priests were allowed to touch the Ark. God sent a plague upon the people of that place and many of them died, because they did not deal reverently with the Ark of God.
They were filled with fear and sent to the men of Kirjath-jearim, asking them to take the ark away. They did so, and for twenty years the Ark of the Covenant stood in the house of a man named Abinadab in Kirjath-jearim (1 Samuel 7:1,2).
They did not take the Ark back to Shiloh, for after the death of Eli, the place was deserted, the Tabernacle fell into ruins, and no man lived there again.*
Today, Gibeon is known as the Nebi Samuel National Park. Nebi Samuel is translated to the Tomb of Samuel. The park is situated atop a steep hill at an elevation of 908 meters above sea level. You are virtually standing on the ro0f of a blocky structure that is both Synagogue & Mosque.
From the high vantage point of where you are standing now, if you look southeast between the cell tower and the watch tower, you can see the fringes of Jerusalem, though during Samuel’s time it was called the city of Jebu. Look east and zoom in a little. Can you spot a light-blue water tank? The hill behind it was the site of Ramah where Samuel was born and where his house was. South of Ramah on another hill was the biblical site of Gibeah which I will tell you more about later. Unfortunately, Google Maps does not provide any 360 degree scenery of any archaeological ruins of both Ramah & Gibeah. However, take note of their vicinity to Gibeon.
Israel Demanded a King
From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel mourned after the LORD. (7:2)
Samuel had been ministering to the people mostly from his hometown of Ramah during the time that Shiloh fell into disarray. He was known as the Seer. It was said that he would often go up the ‘High Place’ which was Gibeon where he built an altar. As he grew old, he had appointed his 2 sons as judges over the people. But they turned out to be disappointments to Samuel. They went after dishonest gain, took bribes and perverted justice (8:3). The people were not happy. So, they came to Samuel at Ramah to demand for a king. This did not please Samuel but then the Lord said to Samuel…
“Listen to the voice of the people regarding all that they say to you, because they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have abandoned Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you as well. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall warn them strongly and tell them of the practice of the king who will reign over them.” (8:7-9)
And a warning he did give them in 1 Samuel 8:10-18. But yet, they refused to listen to him and the Lord. Enter Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin. According to the Bible, he was not just a young and handsome man. He was described as more handsome than among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up, he was taller than any of the people (9:2). Based on mankind’s standard, he was the ideal choice for King.
This is an aerial view of Tel A-Nasbe. Tell en-Nasbeh, likely the biblical city of Mizpah in Benjamin, is a 3.2 hectare (8 acre) tell located on a low plateau 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) northwest of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
It was on this plateau about 5 miles northeast of Gibeon, Saul was chosen by lot to be the first anointed king of all Israel. He was apparently reluctant to be king, for the Lord had to reveal to the elders where he was hiding (10:22).
Mizpah
Saul’s fledgling kingdom had a rocky start, for not all wanted to follow him as king (10:27). Then his first test as king came in 1 Samuel 11 when the Israelites who lived at Jabesh-gilead which was east of the Jordan River came under siege by the Ammonites. To complete this story, let’s go to our next site.
This site of Gilgal, which is just west of the Jordan River, is in actuality one of several Gilgals mentioned in the Bible. This place, in particular, was designated as a permanent encampment for religious & national rites. Gilgal means in Hebrew “circle of stones”. Pan your screen a little to the right, you’ll see a circular tower of large block stones built for tourists rising about 20 feet high.
Now, if you look north at the mountain range, you’ll see a dip on the horizon. Just a little beyond that was Jabesh-gilead.
What happened here in Gilgal?
When Saul heard the call for help by the people of Jabesh-gilead, the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul (11:6) and he assembled a fighting force of about 300 thousand. He attacked the Ammonites and destroyed them. Then, all of Israel was behind Saul. After which Samuel summoned the entire congregation to the encampment of Gilgal where they offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD and Saul’s kingship was renewed (11:14,15). From there, Saul returned to his own hometown of Gibeah and built a fortress where he reigned. But his reign will be short lived.
In 1 Samuel 15, Saul had greatly sinned against the Lord. His commandment to Saul was… ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, in that he obstructed him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ But in a nutshell, Saul disobeyed God by sparing Agag, king of the Amalekites, & the best of the animals for his own gain. But when Samuel confronted him, Saul used the lame excuse that those choice animals were for sacrifices. God saw through his lies and Samuel spoke…
“Does the LORD have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice, And to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry. Since you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.” (15:22,23)
So, here at Gilgal, Samuel hewed King Agag into pieces (v33), completing the task assigned to Saul. Samuel returned home to Ramah mourning for Saul.
You are virtually standing on a rock outcrop that overlooks Bethlehem. Above it is the Shepherd’s Field Chapel dedicated to a supernatural event of the New Testament. But I felt that this would be a good background for the tale of an ordinary shepherd boy who would become king.
Now, God does not look on us as we see each other. We might think that God blesses those who are strong, but the Lord blesses those whom He will strengthen and who will accept His help. [from http://www.jareddees.com]
And the story below will reflect it.
Samuel Anointed David (1 Samuel 16)
God was disappointed in Saul, the king of Israel. So, He secretly sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse and anoint another person as king. When he arrived, he invited Jesse and his sons to a blessing ceremony. Samuel requested that Jesse present his sons one by one.
Jesse brought forth his oldest son, Eliab. Samuel saw the young man and thought to himself, ‘Surely this is the one the Lord wants me to anoint as king.’ For he was tall & strong. But the Lord said to Samuel…
“Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (16:7)
Now, Jesse presented seven of his sons before Samuel, but the Lord said that none of them fitted His criteria. Finding out that there was still one more son, the youngest, tending sheep out on the hills, Samuel sent for him. When Samuel first set his eyes upon David, the shepherd boy, he saw a gangly but handsome lad in his teens. He saw one that no one would ever c0nsider kingly.
The Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” (16:12)
Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel set out and went to Ramah.
Here is food for thought for you.
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. [1 Corinthians 1:27]
Samuel returned to Ramah and after a long time, he died was buried at Ramah (25:1). According to tradition, his remains were later moved to the cavern under Gibeon.
So, as you gaze around the room where the Jews come to pay homage, say goodbye to Samuel who was instrumental in launching the Kingdom Era that will last forever and ever.
So, we close our third module here. Thank you for walking with us, following the steps of the Judges. The next step for you is…
Module 4 – The Way of Kings & the Prophets where you will visit the sites where David slew Goliath; where Elijah confronted 400 Baal priests; and where Solomon gained his great wisdom.
The Old Testament of the Bible always point to the ultimate saving grace of the Gospel. Are you new to this? If you are, I invite you to watch this 3 minute informative video below.
![THE SYROPHOENICIAN WOMAN OF MARK 7:26 [part 5]](https://johannquis.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/syrophoenician-woman-w.jpg?w=761)
Johann Quisumbing 