Page 56 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies - Textbook w videos short

Study Section 8: A Survey of Israel

8.1 Connect.

Traveling to Israel is a special privilege. I have done it twice. It is an amazing experience to see
all the places described in the Bible stories. A few years ago I went to the Valley of Elah. That
is where David fought Goliath. It was just an onion field and not really marked in any way. So
we drove down into the field and stood in the little dry riverbed where David picked up five
smooth stones: one for Goliath and four more for his brothers. I could visualize the armies
stationed on the high ground on both sides of the valley. It is about two football fields wide. I
could imagine David running toward Goliath as both armies looked on. It just brings those Biblical
events to life to be able to see it in person. Today, we will begin a tour of Israel from the south to the
north with pictures of many of the places. Try to imagine you are there.

8.2 Objectives:

1. The student should be able to identify on the map the major cities and sites in Southern Israel

2. The student should be able to tell someone what happened at each site.

8.3 Southern Israel

The Bible is filled with references to cities,
towns, villages, mountains, bodies of water and
other locations in Israel.

Jesus spent most of his ministry in the Galilee,
but traveled several times to Jerusalem. He also
spent time in the Judean Wilderness, Samaria, in the
region of the Decapolis (primarily in modern-day
Jordan), and in the far north at Caesarea Philippi and
the region of Tyre.

That leaves of lot of Israel that Jesus did not visit,
including Caesarea by the coast of the Mediterranean.
That city was four times larger than Jerusalem.
According to the Book of Acts, Caesarea was visited by
Philip (Acts 8:40), Peter (Acts 10) and by Paul and his
companions on multiple occasions. Paul’s time in prison
started in Caesarea also.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, along with a host of other people we know from the Old Testament, spent
time in the Negev Desert and southern-most part of Judea. Samuel, Saul, David (and Goliath), Solomon
and every king of Judah knew of the foothills between Gaza and Jerusalem. And practically everyone in
the Bible knew firsthand how difficult it was to walk the rocky road between Jerusalem and Jericho. That
road was so well known; Jesus used it as the setting for the parable of the Good Samaritan.

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