Page 105 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies

Lower Galilee

Connect…

The Bible states that in the future, the entire world will come together to battle Christ and prevent His
return to reign as King of Kings. The Bible states that the armies of the world will gather in the Jezreel
Valley, known as the Valley of Megiddo or Plain of Esdraelon. It is a huge bowl-shaped valley which can
be seen from Mt. Carmel, Nazareth, the Mountains of Gilboa, and Mount Tabor. Today, we will see
what it looks like from Mt. Carmel. When you see the size and scope of the valley, you can imagine the
magnitude of this battle. Ezekiel says it will take seven years to clean up the mess that is left from the
results of the Battle. Today we are going to travel north to the Lower Galilee area, the breadbasket of
Israel.

The Lesson ...

Lower Galilee is a region within the Northern District of Israel and covers the area of the Jezreel Valley
from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River to the south side of the valley to
Mt. Hazon. It is a fertile valley and provides much of the food grown in Israel.

Nazareth

Nazareth is a town of Lower Galilee perched atop the hills
overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon, which is part of the Jezreel
Valley. Nazareth is midway between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea. The picture to the right is taken from Mt.
Precipice, where the people of Nazareth supposedly attempted to
throw Jesus off to his death.

Nazareth is most famous for being the home of Jesus throughout
his childhood and early adult life. Naturally, this was also the
home of Mary and Joseph. The Christmas story includes
encounters both Mary and Joseph had with angels (Luke 1:26,
Matthew 1:20-21) in Nazareth, and upon returning from a brief stay in Egypt, Mary and Joseph decided
to return to Nazareth as they raised their own family (Matthew 2:22-23).

When Jesus began his ministry, he preached a sermon in his hometown synagogue that caused an
uproar (Matthew 13:54-58, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 4:16-30). His message included the reading of a Messianic
Promise and a brief commentary announcing that he was the promised Messiah. After surviving an
effort by the locals to throw him off the cliff, Jesus left Nazareth for good, being amazed at their
unbelief. Both Matthew and Mark include the detail that Jesus could do no miracle in Nazareth because
of unbelief.

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