 Friday, March 2, 2007
Beit Shean
After breakfast and a devotional we packed up from the Scotts Hotel and head south around the Sea of Galilee and down along the Jordon Valley (300 feet below sea level) on highway 90 to Beit Shean. Today it was a lot nicer weather but still a bit chilly. At least there was sun. Beit She'an is a National Park featuring Roman-Byzantine remains, a theater, two bathhouses and a colonnaded street. It was here on the walls of this city that the Philistines hung the bodies of King Saul and his sons after their defeat at Mt. Gilboa. We had a Bible study on 1 Samuel 31 here and then walked around the ruins. This city was called Scythopolis during the Second Temple Period and was part of the 10 city Decapolis under Greek or Helenistic rule.
Located 17 miles (27 km) south of the Sea of Galilee, Beth Shean is situated at the strategic junction of the Harod and Jordan Valleys. The fertility of the land and the abundance of water led the Jewish sages to say, "If the Garden of Eden is in the land of Israel, then its gate is Beth Shean." It is no surprise then that the site has been almost continuously settled from the Chalcolithic period to the present. The large hill in the background of this photo is a Tel which covers one of those older civilizations.
Pompey and the Romans rebuilt Beth Shean in 63 B.C. and it was renamed Scythopolis ("city of the Scythians;" cf. Col 3:11). It became the capital city of the Decapolis and was the only one on the west side of the Jordan. The city continued to grow and prosper in the Roman and Byzantine periods until it was destroyed on January 18, 749 A.D. by an earthquake. Evidence of this earthquake includes dozens of massive columns that toppled over in the same direction.
 Gideon's Spring
Back on the bus heading west along highway 71 to Ma'ayan Harod National Park where a spring stems from a cave at the foot of Mount Gilboa. From biblical times to more recent history this one spot has been a place where armies gathered prior to battle, where great battles were fought, and where an army in the making, trained. The Spring of Harod flows from Gideon's Cave. This is the place where Gideon gathered his men before fighting the Midianites. Judges 7:1. Larry did a Bible study on Gideon and this passage and then back on the bus to head south. The thought that hits you as you are at this park which is a National Park where Jews relax in a beautiful park with the largest pool in Israel at its center how much this land belongs to the Jews yet this particular area is in the land on the "West Bank" that the world wants to give "back" to the Arabs. It takes a bit of imagination to look at all of the development here and picture it as it was to Gideon as flat, beautiful plains fed by this stream that comes out of a rock. With a little imagination you can see Gideon sneaking up on the Midianites and blowing his horn. Once again this was a place where old Bible stories now come alive with the visualization of where it took place.
Jordan River Valley - Drive south to Dead Sea
This is part of the security fence that runs along the boarder of the Jordan River. Off in the distance on the other side of the fence is the river valley and then on the far side is Jordan. This fence is high with electronic sensors then there is an area of sand then concrete where the IDF runs patrols and finally another area of dirt all designed to show foot prints should the area be breached. Here you become painfully aware of the state of war that Israel is constantly experiencing. It is hard to skip beyond this road to see the beauty of the valley and the river as we drive south toward the Dead Sea. Off in the distance the mountains are in Jordan and demonstrate the military advantage Israels surrounding enemies have of holding the high ground. Along this way our guide tells us more about the history of Israel.
As we get further south along highway 90 near the town of Jericho we come upon this Bedoin goat heard in the Judean Desert. Again we are aware that this land and this site would probably not be possible to us if this territory did not have control by Israel. The difference in life style is obvious here in this area of the country. To turn our thoughts away from current politics we think how this land is in the same general location of where Israel first came into the Promised Land with Joshua thousands of years ago. It is a harsh and difficult land to live on.
 Le Meridien Dead Sea Hotel
Located on the western shore of the Dead Sea and just a short distance from Masada and the Qumran Caves this is a beautiful resort. This was a holiday weekend for Israel celebrating Purim. We got to see a number of large families all celebrate Shabbat or the Sabbath together. We arrive at this hotel in the late afternoon and had a chance to hang out at this pool or walk a short distance to the Sea and experience the high salt swim where you float on the water.
Notice the salt pile at the shore on the photo at the bottom. Notice also how far out of the water this person is. Swimming here can actually be dangerous as any of this water that gets into your lungs can cause major problems. Off in the distance is Jordan or the land of Moab as it was in Biblical times.
The photo of McDonalds speaks for itself. We saw a number of these in Tiberias and Jerusalem. First opening in 1993 there are over 150 McD's in Israel today with a few of them serving Kosher food. This little oasis in the Judean Desert was beautiful but a major contrast to the life style of the area we drove through to get here. The food was fantastic at the LaMeridian even though it was all Kosher. The hard part of that is getting used to bread without butter. For this one day we were more a part of the Jewish culture of this area and did not have much of a focus on the ancient times other than the idea that this is part of the desert area where Lot and Sodom and Gamora once lived. The Sea was less salty then.
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