January 2026 Israel Tour, with Dr. John DeLancey, BIMT

Day 6 – Thursday, January 15: Qumran, Judean Desert/Wadi Qelt, Shiloh, Beth Shean, Tiberias

Today was a brilliantly sunny day, with temps around 60 (a bit cooler at Shiloh). We appreciated having a sunny day today after the wind and colder rain yesterday. After breakfast at Kalya, we headed to Qumran, only two minutes away. We read from Jeremiah 32:14 (about putting documents into clay jars to preserver them) as we drove to Qumran’s entrance. We arrived at 8 a.m.

Qumran

The most significant discovery in all of Israel was the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found here at Qumran in 1947. We walked up towards the edge of the cliffs of the Judean Desert (we saw Cave 6 form a distance). In a total of 12 caves fragment of scrolls or artifacts were found. These ancient texts of Scripture and other sectarian texts were written by the Essenes. At the site itself we saw many ritual baths (miqveot, plural; miqve, singular), cisterns, and the scriptorium. In front of Cave 4 (and 5 & 10), we read from Psalm 19 and “151,” an extra psalm found here. We also read from the Essene “Beatitudes.” These were written in the same format as Jesus’ Beatitudes (Matthew 5). We also remembered 2 Timothy 3:16 about God’s inspired Word. Thanks be to God for the preservation of His Word and the joy, instruction, direction, and hope it provides us!

Wadi Qelt/Judean Desert

We drove back past Jericho and began our ascent towards Jerusalem. We turned off the road for a fabulous view of the Wadi Qelt, part of the Judean Desert. Here we heard “Isaiah the prophet” share from chapter 40 of his book. We also heard Shlomo sing Psalm 23 in Hebrew. The experience was incredible.

Desert of Parat/Shiloh

Next, we drove through the Desert of Parat. Jeremiah hid a linen belt here (Jeremiah 13). The beauty of the desert (and the few gazelles we saw) was impressive. We drove into the Central Benjamin Plateau, passing my Michmash (1 Samuel 13-14), and eventually Bethel (Genesis 12, 28), Ai (Joshua 7-8). These sites are located in the Hill Country of Ephraim.

We eventually made it to Shiloh (located 20 miles north of Jerusalem ). When we arrived, we first saw a hologram about the Tabernacle. Then we made our way up this ancient site where the Tabernacle once stood here for over 300 years. It was destroyed by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4). After walking to the top of the site, we watched a short movie about the biblical events that took place here. Among the ruins we saw the suggested “Holy of Holies.” Further below, we saw the massive Middle Bronze wall and gate complex that was incorporated into the Israelite site.

Additionally, we remembered the story of young Samuel responding to the voice of God. It was young Samuel who said, “Hineni” (“Here I am!”) When God called Him into service. Abraham, Jacob, Moses and Isaiah also used this meaningful word in response to God’s calling upon their lives. It may be that Jesus also used the word (Hebrews 10, quoting Psalm 40). What an amazing site.

“We enjoyed another amazing day today as we traveled north. Once again, we connected with both OT and NT sites. We also enjoyed beautiful views of the Judean Desert, the Hill Country of Samaria, the Jordan Valley, and even the Hills of Gilead in Jordan today. Our final destination today was Tiberias.”

Beth Shean

We traveled north from here along the Jordan Valley to Beth Shean. The ride took about an hour and a half. Since we arrived late, we were allowed to stay well beyond the closing time. 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. Many in the group climbed to the top of the OT site (with the outstanding visibility, we could see as far west as the Carmel Range). 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.

Tiberias

At 4:45 p.m. we drove about 18 miles to the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, and then another five to Tiberias. We checked into our hotel (Ron Beach, located right on the water’s edge), followed by a wonderful dinner (with chocolate sufley and ice cream!) and a restful evening. We are staying here four nights!