Page 117 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies

Upper Galilee

Connect…

Do you know where Hell is? Do you think it is a real place or a spiritual place? Today, we are going to
take a journey to the entrance of Hell. Back in the Bible days, there was a place that the pagans thought
was the very entrance to a place called Hades or Hell. Here, they built temples to various Gods and the
Caesars and worshipped them. They offered sacrifices at this place. Jesus decided to take his disciples
to the entrance of Hell and asked them some important questions. Let’s take a journey to this place and
see what Jesus asked them…

The Lesson ...

The upper Galilee straddles the present-day
northern Israel to the border of Lebanon,
from the Mediterranean Sea to the Hula
Valley to the east. It contains approximately
180 square miles.

Banias (Caesarea Philippi)

Banias was a pagan community located at the
foot of Mt. Hermon, the tallest mountain and
northernmost corner of Israel. The Jordan
River begins here in dramatic fashion, though
it was even more dramatic in ancient times.

The river begins today at the base of a great
cliff. Before an earthquake on New Year’s Day
in 1830, the river came out of a great opening
in the cliff, a cave that appeared to be full of a
never-ending supply of water. While two
other tributaries also contribute water to the
Jordan River, the water of Banias is closest to the mountain and therefore the birthplace of the river.

Because the Jordan is so important to Israel, several pagan religions were attracted to this mysterious
hole that gave life to the land of Israel. Even today, one can still see the evidence of great temples and
altars given to the worship of pagan gods on the cliff and near the cave.

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