Day 10 – Monday, February 24: Qumran, Shiloh, Beth Shean, Tiberias
Today we traveled from the Dead Sea area to Tiberias in the north along the Sea of Galilee. Our travels once again included great sites and experiences along the way. Today was the coldest of our days so far, with highs in the morning only in the low 40s. It actually snow-flurried at Shiloh off and on! We read from Jeremiah 32:14 about preserving documents in clay jars. This was a good verse in preparation for our first site. We left our hotel at 7:45 and drove three minutes to Qumran.
Qumran
Qumran is the most important site in Israel because of what was discovered here! When we arrived, we walked directly to the cliff area of the desert to get a glimpse of Cave 6 (one of 12 caves in which fragments of ancient scrolls were discovered). We also saw the beginning of the aqueduct system that brought rain/flood water into the site.
It was here at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found! The discovery began in 1947, while the excavation took place through 1956. We walked through the limited ruins where a small community of Essenes lived (or retreated here from Jerusalem, as a new theory suggests). To date, about 930 scrolls and fragments of texts scrolls have been discovered. The scrolls/texts date primarily from the late 3rd century BC – 1st century AD. At the small archaeological site we saw cisterns, ritual baths (mikvot), and the scriptorium. In front of “Cave 4” (where the majority of texts were found), we read from “Psalm 151,” and Psalm 19. We celebrated the perseverance of God’s Word! We were invited to take joy in God’s Word.
Shiloh
Next, we drove into the Hill Country of Ephraim to Shiloh. On the way, we drove through the Desert of Pareth (Parat) where Jeremiah hid the linen belt (Jeremiah 13). We even saw a few gazelle’s on the way as well as the backside of the Mt. of Olives further to the west.
When we arrived at Shiloh, we made our way up this ancient site where the Tabernacle once stood here for over 300 years. The almond trees were in full bud too (Jeremiah 1). It was destroyed by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4). We watched a hologram as well as a short movie about the events that took place here. We also read from 1 Samuel 3 (the call of Samuel) and Jeremiah 7. Among the ruins we saw a massive Middle Bronze wall that was incorporated into the Israelite site. Other structures, including perhaps the Holy of Holies area (as proposed by archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling) could also be seen. It was young Samuel who said, “Hineni” (“Here I am!”) When God called Him into service. Abraham (Genesis 22), Moses (Exodus 3) Isaiah (Isaiah 6), and even God (Isaiah 65:1) used this word. Before leaving Shiloh, we saw the five red heifers brought here from Texas. Already, two of them are deemed unclean to serve as heifer for eventual temple use.
“The next leg of our trip took us to northern Israel and to the city of Tiberias. It was another great day, taking in Qumran, the Judean Desert, Shiloh (a highlight for many), and Beth Shean. We are looking forward to three nights her in the north.”
Beth Shean
Leaving Shiloh, we traveled through the Desert of Samaria to Beth Shean. The ride took about an hour and a half. This ancient site is an incredibly large site, with many ruins from the Roman Period. We saw colonnaded streets, the bathhouse, agora, public latrenes, and the theater. Some in the group climbed to the top of the OT site. According to 1 Samuel 31 (and 1 Chronicles 10), the body of Saul was hung on the walls of the town square after he died on near by Mt. Gilboa. The men from Jabesh Gilead (located on the east side of the Jordan Valley), came at night to rescue the body of Saul.
At the end of our visit of Beth Shean, we had bus engine trouble. David diligently tried to start the bus, but even with a mechanic coming to assist, the bus would not start. However, another bus from Tiberias came, and after we transferred all our luggage, we drove to our hotel on the northern end of Tiberias. We checked in to our hotel and enjoyed a wonderful dinner together. We are looking forward to spending three nights here along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee.
Day 11 – Tuesday, February 25: Hippos, Gamla, Syrian Border, Caesarea Philippi, Tel Dan, Lebanon Border
