Israel Holy Sites Tour: Christian Sites, Bible Tour of Israel, Holy Land Travel, Tourist Attractions

[Music] welcome to the Holy Land in this video we're going to see around 50 of the most important and outstanding biblical holy sites in Israel see the Bible come to light as you walk in the footsteps of Jesus and see the places where the events of the Bible took place the Bible is not a fairy tale that took place in a distant unreal place instead it took place in real time with real people in a real place it's all true and it strengthens our faith and understanding of the Bible tremendously as we see the context in which it took place in order to see the holy sites in an organized way we're going to divide the holy land into three sections will first see the northern section then the central section and then the southern section now let's start with the northern section the Sea of Galilee is breathtakingly precious Jesus ministered around its Shore around 50 to 70 percent of his ministry time on earth it's a freshwater lake about 8 miles wide by about 12 miles long and is located about 700 feet below sea level it is the main freshwater source for much of Israel because of its location storms can arise quickly and drop down onto its surface without much warning it is about 70 miles north of Jerusalem and was located on the main crossroad of the known world during the time of Christ which linked travel between the three continents of Africa Asia and Europe Abraham entered the promised land through the Gateway of the Sea of Galilee when he first journeyed from ur of the chaldeans in matthew 4 we find that Jesus established his home ministry based in the town of Capernaum which is located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee and at least six of the twelve disciples were from this region these were Peter Andrew James John Matthew and Philip according to acts 1 the rest of the disciples were from the galilee area as well Jesus called the sea here several times and as a result Jesus's disciples stood in awe and worshiped him Christ fed by thousand on its shores four thousand people on its shores and this amount didn't even include the women and children who were present large multitudes of people follow Jesus here which could have easily reached 15 thousand people inside Christ walked on the water here after calming a storm and Christ did the majority of his miracles here in this region Jesus performed every class of miracle to show that he was Lord of every aspect of creation the wrongs of people came to the Mount of Beatitudes where Christ preached the Sermon on the Mount which is his most famous and longest sermon preached it has a spectacular view of the Sea of Galilee as his backdrop in a place today called kursi Christ cast out a legion of demons from a demon-possessed man these demons then entered into a herd of pigs which ran down this steep Bank and drowned in the Sea of Galilee along the seashore by the town of Capernaum Christ preached the parables of the kingdom and after performing countless miracles and preaching many times Christ cursed the towns of Khorasan that site of and compared them or their unbelief in Christ and hardness of heart that Sita was the hometown of Peter Philip and Andrew before they became disciples of Christ and moved to Capernaum Mary Magdalene from whom Christ passed out seven demons was from the town of Magdala on the west side of the Sea of Galilee Mary was a devote follower of Christ and deeply loved her Savior she was present at Christ's crucifixion and the first woman Christ appeared to after his resurrection Mount Arbel on the west side of the Sea of Galilee is the tallest mountain around this area it has a spectacular view and is the believed place where Christ gave the Great Commission after Christ's resurrection he appeared to his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee he performed the miracle of the catching of fish wherein the net was so full that they could not drag it up into the boat Caesarea Philippi is the place where Peters famous profession that Christ was the Messiah the son of the Living God took place Matthew 16 says now when Jesus had come into the district of Caesarea Philippi he was asking his disciples who do people say the Son of Man is and they said some say John the Baptist and others Elijah but still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets he said to them but who do you say that I am Simon Peter answered you are the Christ the Son of the Living God Caesarea Philippi was a place where worship of alts and gods and demons took place and was considered a gate to the underworld therefore Christ took his disciples to this place to reveal to them that the church would be so powerful that the gates of Hell would not be able to stand against it in the northern part of Israel is where the tribe of Dan finally settled here is the location of their main city gate entrance later the common phrase from Dan to Beersheba was used to speak of all Israel the city of Dan is one of the places where Jeroboam set up an altar to a golden calf he made and forced the northern ten tribes of Israel to worship in Dan and in bethel instead of going to the temple in jerusalem this major sin of idol worship was then followed by most of the succeeding kings of the northern tribes of israel it would eventually be a dominant sin that became the downfall of the northern ten tribes in 722 BC God allowed Syria to capture the northern tribes of Israel because they refused to turn from their idol worship after God had sent them prophet after prophet to warn them to turn from their sin and worship the only true and living God the Jordan River is mentioned around 180 times in Scripture it begins in the very northern part of Israel then arrives at the Sea of Galilee and then continues to the Dead Sea it's the main river in Israel and it's the place where lot chose to dwell in the beautiful valley and watered plains of the Jordan the Israelites crossed the Jordan River opposite Jericho on dry ground as God miraculously stopped a river flow as they entered the promised land and name in the leper was healed in the Jordan River by the prophet Elijah and a miracle performed by Elijah that made the head of an axe float was performed at the Jordan River John the Baptist baptized in the Jordan River and Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist also the disciples of Jesus baptized many in the Jordan River the Jordan River was the source of life to the Israelites and they were totally dependent upon God to send them rain to water their dry and thirsty land the Israelites were a desert people and understood the importance of water so when Christ said I am the water of life they fully understood what he meant by that statement he was declaring that he was their existence and their life Caesarea was built by Herod the Great around 25 years before the birth of Christ it was the capital of Israel during the time of Christ and the Roman occupation of Israel after the Apostle Paul received Christ he was sent to Tarsus from this seaport Cornelius the first Gentile to receive the Holy Spirit live here as well and Caesarea was the place where the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles an amazing and monumental event Philip the Evangelist lived here in Caesarea as well the Apostle Paul stood trial here for his faith and Paul was in prison here two years because of his faith then the Apostle Paul after his two years of imprisonment here sailed from here to Rome where he stood trial for his faith and King Herod Agrippa the first the son of Herod the Great met his death here in Caesarea on Mount Carmel is where the great showdown between Elijah the Prophet and the 850 false prophets of Vail and Asherah happened Elijah prayed and God performed an incredible miracle God sent fire from heaven that burned up the sacrifice the altar the wood the stones and the water on and all around the altar the fire licked up everything completely clean afterward Elijah killed the 850 false prophets of Vail and Asherah the Israelites then returned to the Lord as a result of this amazing miracle and God blessed them again with rain and fruitfulness the name Megiddo comes from two words har Megiddo which means Armageddon today this place is called Megiddo and is located in Israel's most fertile valley more battles have been fought here than in any other place in the world for this reason Solomon fortified this city and used it as a fort of protection also many other kings used Megiddo as a fort in order to control a major travel and trade route here called the via Maris or the way of the sea this route linked Africa with Asia and Europe after King Solomon King Ahab built a water tunnel down to its water source so attacking armies couldn't cut off their water source part of the last battle of Armageddon which takes place at the end of the Great Tribulation Period will be fought here and in Jerusalem in what appears to be a simultaneous battle Nazareth is estimated to have had a population during the time of Christ of around 300 to 500 people Nazareth was the hometown of Joseph and Mary and the place where the angel Gabriel was sent to announce to the Virgin Mary that she would be the mother of Christ the Son of God the Messiah after living in Egypt for some time after Christ's birth his parents returned to Nazareth where Jesus grew up Jesus lived in Nazareth until he started his earthly ministry at the age of thirty from Nazareth Christ relocated and set up his ministry home based in Capernaum Matthew 4:13 says and leaving nazareth he came and settled in Capernaum which is by the sea in the region of Jeb Yulin and Naphtali sadly those who knew Christ the best rejected him and attempted to throw him off a cliff close by to their town and you can see in this video this rocky point from which they attempted to throw him off and kill him however scripture says he passed through their midst and continued on from Nazareth today there is a church in Nazareth called the Church of the Annunciation which is located on the believe home where Mary received a message from the angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of Christ the Messiah Cana is close by to Nazareth and is the place Jesus performed his first public miracle by changing water into wine Jesus also healed an official son here in Cana and Nathanael one of the close followers of Christ and close friend or possibly brother of the Apostle Philip was from Cana the Apostle Philip led Nathanael who was from Cana to Christ there is a church here today called the wedding church marking the place where the miracle of Christ turning the water into wine took place Mount Tabor rising like a dome from the plain of jezreel some 1500 feet above the valley floor is the mountain where Christian tradition places the Transfiguration of Christ Matthew 17 says and after six days Christ took with him Peter and James and John his brother and led them up on a high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured before them and his face shone like the Sun and his clothes became white as light there is a church located on top of the mountain where it is believed Christ was transfigured [Music] this spring called gideon spring is the place where God led ideon to choose 300 men out of 32,000 to fight a miraculous battle to free the Israelites from the oppressive control of the Midianites judges seven says so he in Gideon brought the people down to the water and the Lord said to Gideon everyone who laughs the water with his tongue as a dog laughs you shall set by himself likewise everyone who kneels down to drink and the number of those who laughed putting their hands to their mouths was three hundred men but all of the rest of the people knelt down to drink and the Lord said to Gideon with the three hundred men who laughed I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand that shayin was one of the key to capitalist cities of the Roman Empire during the time of Christ much earlier than Christ a because of Saul's persistent disobedience to God and his continual of use of presuming upon God's grace God allowed him to be killed in battle and his body was hung on the hill here overlooking that sha'n there is a marker you can see on the hillside that supposedly commemorates this event the upper mound is the old city of Saul's time and the ruins below are from Christ's time now let's look at the central section of Israel upon entering the promised land Abraham first reared an altar here to the Lord in Shechem it was here that Jacob came and settled after his meeting with his estranged brother Esau upon his return from Adam Aram Dinah's defilement also took place here and Shechem and it was in Shechem that Jacob buried his foreign gods and committed himself fully to the true and living god of his forefathers through the rich pasture land near Shechem Joseph came to seek his brethren and was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt right here close by to Shechem and it was in Shechem which lies between the two famous mountains of Mount Ebal and mountain air assume that Moses commanded the Israelites once they had entered the promised land to pronounce the blessings of God for their obedience to him and the curses of God for their disobedience to him when his end was approaching Joshua gathered the tribes of Israel here and addressed to them his final words of counsel and exhortation after Joshua and the Israelites had conquered the Promised Land Joseph's bones were buried in the parcel of ground and Shechem which Jacob had bought and you can see here this tomb where Joseph's bones were placed Shechem called sicker in John chapter 4 is the place Jesus met the woman at the well and conversed with her so right here you can see the well where Jesus would have been healed all is located close by to Jericho and is the place the Israelites first camped after crossing the Jordan and entering the promised land and it became a central camp and meeting place of the Israelites throughout much of their history it's also the place where Joshua erected 12 stones taken from the Jordan River when they crossed it and a monument was erected so their children after them would have a site of remembrance and Gilgal was the first place the Israelites celebrated the Passover after entering the Promised Land it was at Gilgal that the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites into making a covenant with them so they would survive Gilgal was the place from which faithful Caleb one of the two faithful spies Moses sent to spy out the promised land asked Joshua for his portion of land the prophet samuel visited and taught the Word of God regularly in Gilgal and Saul the first king of Israel was made king here at Gilgal unfortunately King Saul's reign over Israel also came to an end here in Gilgal because of his disobedience and God pronounced judgment upon Israel here at Gilgal because of their disobedience the legend holds that the founder of Joppa also called Jaffa was Japheth one of Noah's sons Jaffa was the main seaport and entry gate to Israel for thousands of years until just before the time of Christ when Herod the Great built another seaport at Caesarea about 35 miles north of here the sea port of Joppa is where the trees of Lebanon arrived that Solomon used to build the temple in Jerusalem around 950 BC and Joppa was the seaport from which King Solomon ships came and went on their journeys around the known world at that time Jaffa was the seaport where the logs once again arrived for rebuilding the second temple that the priest Ezra over saw after the return of the Israelites from their deportations in about 520 BC and Joppa was the sea port from which Jonah sailed when he attempted to disobey the Lord's calling and flee to Tarshish rather than preach a message of repentance to the Ninevites in the New Testament we find that Jaffa was the place a famous woman named orcas live and was raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter Simon the Tanner lived here in Jaffa as well and it was the place the Apostle Peter was staying when he received the vision to take the gospel to the Gentiles about 35 miles north of here to the city of Caesarea [Music] Shilo located in the territory of ephraim played a key role in israel's history and was the place where the temple resided or around 369 years here territory was allotted to the seven tribes who had not yet received their portions under Joshua in Shiloh Israel assembled under Joshua at the close of the war of conquest as found in Joshua 18 and here Joshua gave his last words to the Israelites before his death [Music] inshallah the Levites were assigned their cities in the territories of the various tribes as recounted in Joshua 18 The Maids of Shiloh were captured by the Benjamin Knights on the occasion of a feast while dancing in the vineyards this having been planned by the other tribes to provide the Benjamin Knights with wives because of their disobedience and judgment as found in Judges 21 at Shiloh can appraise for his son and God heard her prayers and blessed her with Samuel and through Shiloh Hannah brought Samuel and consecrated him to God's service as found in / Samuel 1 and it's the place that the great prophet Samuel then grew up the sanctuary was presided over a lie and his wicked sons and through Samuel the doom of their house was pronounced the capture of the Ark by the Philistines the fall of hophni and Phineas and the death of the aged priest Eli and his daughter-in-law happened here in Shiloh as found in her Samuel 3 the sanctuary in Shiloh was called a temple as noted in first Samuels chapter 1 and 3 and had doorpost and doors it was there for a more durable structure than the old tent it appears to have been destroyed probably by the Philistines sometime later on as found in 1st Samuel 22 close by to AI the Lord appeared to Abraham as he was traversing the promised land and as a result Abraham built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord here AI is the second town Joshua and the Israelites conquered after they entered the promised land it was a small town compared to Jericho but because of a sin among one member of the Israelites Joshua and the Israelites had a hard time conquering this city and were taught a major lesson about how God feels about sin in the midst of his people Misbah is first mentioned in Genesis 31 where Jacob and Laban made a covenant were in Jacob promised Laban that he would take care of his daughters and grandchildren the city of Mizpah was established as an important site early in the history of Israel in the time period of the judges and Misbah was used as a national rallying point for a man of the Levites who asked for national justice at the end of the time period of the judges when his concubine was raped and killed by several members of the Benjamin eye tribe Samuel judged the nation from Mizpah and held national gatherings at the city and Israel's first king Saul was presented to the nation at Mizpah in myth mash Jonathan the son of King Saul exercised great faith and courage as he began a significant victory over the army of the Philistines first samuel 14 says between the two passes by which jonathan sought to cross over to the philistines garrison there was a sharp crag on the one side and a sharp crag on the other side and you can see these two crags here in this video Jonathan loved God deeply and humbly submitted himself to the will of God even when it meant giving up his future kingdom he didn't pursue his own interest but those of gods [Music] Jericho claims to be the oldest existing city in the world and is called the City of Palms Rahab the prostitute who hid the Israelite spies was from here and the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River not far from here it was the first city captured by the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land and the amazing miracle of the Sun standing still for a day for Joshua and the Israelite army took place not far from Jericho the prophet Elijah and Elijah traversed here often and Elijah the prophet healed the water source here in Jericho the miracle of a blind man healed by Jesus also occurred here and Zacchaeus the tax collector was from Jericho as well at this location of the Jordan River is the traditional site where it's believed John the Baptist baptized many people and the place where Jesus was baptized by John today many people come here to be baptized in the Jordan River just like Christ was the story of the Good Samaritan took place on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho st. George's monastery commemorates part of this story it's also the believed place where God supernaturally fed the prophet Elijah by Ravens there is a cave here commemorating this event this site is just five miles west of Jericho in a deep gorge called wadi qelt this well-traveled road was used regularly by Jesus and multitudes of Jews as they made their pilgrimages to and from Jerusalem it begins at Jericho and climbs up to Jerusalem it has an elevation rise of about 3,500 feet within 20 miles so it was a very steep grade it was a dangerous road that was desolate curvy and had crooks and crannies where bandits and robbers could hide out and get away easily in the desert where there was very little police protection another site marking the story of the Good Samaritan is this place called the inn of the Good Samaritan it's located about halfway between Jerusalem and Jericho Christ used this road as the setting for the story of the Good Samaritan who teach us who our neighbor is the Good Samaritan and the Samaritans were considered sinful and unclean by the Jews helped out a fellow traveler who both a priest and Levite failed to do in the Judean Desert area is where John the Baptist lived and ministered as an adult multitudes came to him to be baptized for the repentance of their sins in the Jordan River in this area it's also the place where Jesus was tempted for forty days and nights after his baptism Gibeon is located about six miles northwest of Jerusalem its name means Hill City today it's known as Nabi samuil just below this high place is the ancient city of Gibeah close to the town today known as al hip it was a high place of worship throughout much of Israel's history and the tabernacle was located here during the times of King David and King Solomon the tomb of the prophet Samuel is believed to be located here inside the Jewish synagogue today there is a mosque here that is built upon the ruins of a crusader Church which was built upon the ruins of a Byzantine church which is built upon where the tabernacle was once located during the reigns of King David and King Solomon it has a spectacular view and you can see Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives from here this is the amazing place where as Joshua prayed that the Sun would stand still and God heard and answered his prayer this ancient city is named after the Gibeonites who tricked Joshua into making a treaty with them the Gibeonites succeeded in the treaty because Joshua failed to pray to the Lord about them it was at Gibeon the tabernacle was set up during the reigns of David and Solomon soon after Solomon came to the throne he paid a visit to Gibeon to offer sacrifices and the Lord appeared through Solomon in a dream and gave him supernatural wisdom wealth and power to lead his people after Solomon built the temple all the men of Israel assembled themselves through King Solomon and brought from Gibeon the tabernacle and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle to Jerusalem Jerusalem plays a major role in the life and history of Israel in a unique way Jerusalem is the special dwelling place of God on this earth Psalm 132 says for the Lord has chosen Zion he has desired it for his habitation this is my resting place forever here I will dwell for I have desired it for this reason we'll be looking at several key places where important events happened here in Jerusalem it was in Jerusalem that Abraham was to offer Isaac his firstborn son to God on the very place the temple of God would later be built by King Solomon Jerusalem was partially conquered by the Israelites as they entered the promised land but not completely Jerusalem was later fully conquered by King David and he purchased the original Temple Mount in Jerusalem when it was just a threshing floor in order to build an altar there to the Lord afterward King David set up his throne in Jerusalem and it became the ruling center of Israel from then on King Solomon then built the temple in 960 BC on the exact location where Abraham was going to offer Isaac and the very threshing floor that King David had purchased and at the dedication of the temple Solomon built the temple was so filled with the glory of God that the priest had to withdraw and suspend dedication service Jerusalem then became the center of worship in Israel the kings of Israel reigned from here the prophets of Israel spoke and ministered here however the first temple built by Solomon was destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians because of God's judgment on Israel for their disobedience to him the second temple under Ezra was rebuilt in 538 BC and around the same time nehemiah rebuilt the city walls here the temple was refurbished by King Herod from 37 BC to 4 ad as well and was made more beautiful than any temple before him it was this temple built by Herod where Christ and the disciples would minister on a regular basis Christ died on the cross here in Jerusalem in Christ ascended to heaven from here in Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit happened here and the early church was born in Jerusalem Stephen was martyred here close by as recounted in act 7 as well unfortunately Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans as a result of Christ's judgment on it or the Jews rejection of him as their Messiah it was later conquered by Muslims in 636 ad and the Dome of the rock was then built on its site in 691 ad the mountain of Olives is an extremely important place located just opposite of the Temple Mount on the east side of old Jerusalem the destruction of Jerusalem and future events was foretold by Christ from the Mount of Olives as found in Matthew 24 on top of the Mount of Olives is the place from which Christ ascended back to heaven it's also the place to which Christ all the angels and all believers will return when Christ comes back in power and great glory at the end of the great tribulation period Zechariah 14:4 says on that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem to the east marking the place where Christ ascended back to heaven from and the place to which he will return to at his second coming is the Chapel of the Ascension the triumphal entry is located on the side of the Mount of Olives and is the path Jesus used at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday the Garden of Gethsemane is located at the base of the Mount of Olives and is the place to which Christ went to pray and his sweat became like drops of blood and it's the place he was arrested at just before his crucifixion on the side of the Mount of Olives is a church commemorating the life of Mary Magdalene from whom Christ cast out seven demons a church called dominus flevit which means Christ wept in Latin marched the spot where Christ wept over Jerusalem during the triumphal entry because he knew they would reject him and be destroyed as a result in 70 AD the valley of jehoshaphat were also called the Kidron Valley is the place where the unbelieving nations will be gathered at the end of the Great Tribulation in the winepress of Christ to be judged the blood will come up to a horse's bridle and will run from this place for a distance of about 180 miles to the Red Sea the eastern gate or also called the Golden Gate or beautiful gate was one of the most used gates were entering onto the Temple Mount area it is the gate that Christ would have entered and exited through repeatedly it's also the gate Peter and John entered through to heal a lame man as found in acts 3 - the Temple Mount area is the location or the original temple was and is the place where the early church gathered and met at for many years the western wall is considered the most holy site in Jerusalem for the Jews it is part of the original wall that Herod the Great built just before Christ's time today it's the closest large meeting area the Jews can get to the original temple that existed in Christ's time because they are not really allowed upon the Temple Mount for political reasons the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the traditional site where it's believed Christ was crucified buried and rose from the dead it was built by Constantine's mother Elena in 326 ad there's another place called the garden tomb that is considered an option where Christ was crucified buried and rose from the dead close by there is an interesting rock formation that looks like a skull which could have been gagana which means the place of the skull today many Christians visit this site because it's a beautiful place to reflect and meditate upon what Christ did for us it has an empty tomb for all to see in old city Jerusalem is the Via Dolorosa which means the painful path it has 14 stations marking biblical and traditional events that happened to Christ as he carried his cross to be crucified it is a highly visited route today in old Jerusalem is the Pool of Bethesda it's the place where Christ healed a man who had been sick with some kind of infirmity for thirty-eight years there was another important pool in old Jerusalem called the pool of Salome here there was a blind man that Christ healed by anointing his eyes with mud he had made with dirt and his saliva afterward Christ told him go wash in the pool of Siloam so he went and washed and came back seeing during Christ's time the pool of Salome was large and was used for ritual purification purposes before the Jews entered a Temple Mount area the Upper Room marched the traditional site where it's believed Christ ate the Last Supper with his disciples before his crucifixion it's also likely that Pentecost started here and then moved to the southern stair area by the Temple Mount the house of caiaphas is the place where Christ was condemned to crucifixion by the high priest and the Jews it's also where Peter denied Christ three times before the rooster crowed it's also where Christ lightly spent the night in a wet cistern awaiting his trial before Pilate the next day he was led up the stairs on his way to be tried and condemned to death by crucifixion the southern stairs leading up to the temple area were also known as the rabbi stairs it's extremely certain that Christ taught his disciples on these very stairs it's also very likely that Pentecost took place here or ended up here afterwards as it was a main entrance to the temple area and had many mitzvahs also known as purification water pools that were likely used for the 3,000 who were saved after Peter preached the City of David is located just south of the Temple Mount on a plateau ridge it's where all the history of Jerusalem began and the beginning place where God would do so much to speak to the world about himself it has been the most excavated site in Israel over the past 150 years it was 3,000 years ago that King David made the City of David also known as Jerusalem the capital of Israel before David it was Abraham who would traverse here when he met the king of Salem who was called Melchizedek the City of David had an amazing source of fresh water known as the gijón spring the City of David is also referred to as Zion in Scripture before King David conquered this site it was known as the city of Jebus they would build houses for himself and prepared a place for the Ark of the Covenant in the City of David King Solomon was anointed as king at the gijón spring in the city Daimon after david built his palace and much of the City of David his son Solomon built the temple just north of the City of David up the hill just a bit later King Hezekiah built a tunnel to divert the water from the gijón spring which was the city's water source down to the pool of siloam in order to keep the water inside the city walls so warring armies like the Assyrians couldn't shut off the water to the city close by to Jerusalem is the town of Bethlehem Bethlehem means House of bread Joseph's wife Rachel was buried in Bethlehem Naomi was from Bethlehem and Naomi and Ruth returned from Moab to Bethlehem to live after the death of their husbands then Ruth married boas who was from Bethlehem King David was from Earth Laham so it is also known as the City of David Christ was born in Bethlehem as prophesied and there is a church marking this place today called the Church of the Nativity the angels appeared to the Shepherd's watching their flocks by night just outside of Bethlehem and the wise men or Magi from the east visited and worshipped Christ here bringing him gold frankincense and myrrh just before Christ's time King Herod the Great built a huge fortress called the Herodian that was located just outside of Bethel ahem it was built for King Herod's protection and glory after Christ's birth King Herod had all the male children 2 years and younger murdered here in his attempt to kill Christ Beth Shemesh is the place where the Philistines returned the ark of the covenant to the Israelites carried upon a wagon miraculously pulled by two female oxen who had no guidance and had just given birth to their calves who were tied up and kept at home around the area of Timnath which was a Philistine town and where Delilah live is where Samson began the process of delivering the Israelites from the dominion of the Philistines the Valley of Elah is where young David slew Goliath the Israelites were camped on this mountain and the Philistines on the opposite mountain there was a pasture between the two mountains David killed Goliath in this past year you can see here later after David became king of Israel he built a palace overlooking the area where he killed Goliath as a place to remember and contemplate his faith in God and rise to fame as a result of trusting in God and serving him with all his heart now let's look at the southern section of Israel Qumran was made up of a group of people called the Essenes they lived here from about 200 BC to around 68 AD they were extremely devoted to God and left Jerusalem because they felt the priesthood had become too corrupt they devoted themselves to seeking God living a life of purity copying and studying the manuscripts of the Old Testament when they saw the nation of Israel falling to the Romans they hid these manuscripts in various caves above their community overlooking the Dead Sea the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered in eleven caves between the years of 1947 and 1956 in all there are 973 manuscripts that have been found and are called the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times these manuscripts make up the same Hebrew Bible that Christ used and are virtually identical to the Old Testament we have today this verifies that God protected his word and the Bible we have today is extremely trustworthy lacus was first settled and inhabited by the Canaanites in around 3000 BC it was then conquered by the Israelites under Joshua during the conquest of the promised land after the Kingdom of Israel was divided lacus became a thriving Israelite city during King ray Obama's reign in around 9:20 DC and around 10,000 people lived in the city at that time lacus was the last city destroyed by the Assyrians in 701 BC as they headed north to take Jerusalem however God supernaturally protected Jerusalem under King Hezekiah z' godly leadership after Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and led them into captivity to Assyria in 722 BC King Sennacherib set his sights on Egypt and Judah in 701 BC second Kings 18 says that in the 14th year of King Hezekiah Sennacherib king of Assyria area came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them and in second chronicles 32 9 it says after this pink Sennacherib king of Assyria who was besieging blackish with all this forces sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah the king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem saying thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria on what are you trusting that you endure the siege in Jerusalem so Sinatra began to mock as Akaya and those in Jerusalem saying that he had destroyed all the other cities and now he was going to destroy Jerusalem however God supernaturally protected Jerusalem so at this time all of the northern kingdom had fallen and all the southern kingdom had fallen and Lakis was the last of the major cities to fall before Sennacherib went to jerusalem to conquer it however King Hezekiah sought the Lord he humbled himself and prayed and as a result God spared Jerusalem by sending one angel and this one angel killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrian army so King Sennacherib and his few remaining soldiers led back to Nineveh in the destruction of lacus as many as fifty thousand people were tortured and killed when Sennacherib took it and based on archaeological discoveries and writings the Assyrians beheaded burned impaled and played those they had conquered and those who escaped death were then deported to Assyria led by rings pierced through their lips in the writings of Sennacherib he mentioned how his army penetrated fortifications using ramps battering rams mines breaches and siege engines the evidence of these tactics can be seen in the siege ramp here at lacus so you can see this area right here where the Assyrians were and their seeds against lacus you can also see this rampe area where they had a large seeds machine were they penetrated and entered and destroyed blackish soul a Koosh was the last major city that fell under the Assyrians God would spare Jerusalem at this time however in 586 BC God would eventually deport Jerusalem and all Judea to Babylon as captives because of their continual disobedience to the bowl and Eddy is located on the west side of the Dead Sea and is a beautiful Oasis and by a large spring in an extremely dry place in the desert and gety is used in a love poem in the book of Song of Solomon and is referred to in prophecy and gety was one of David's main hideouts when he was fleeing from King Saul and Getti is a perfect example of living water in the desert the Israelites were desert people whose whole history was related to the desert God uses imagery from the desert to show how those who abandon him are like a parched desert without water Christ referred to himself as living water to show us our need or him set in the Judean mountains about 20 miles south of Jerusalem Hebron stands 3,000 feet above sea level making it a highest city in Israel in Hebron is the Cave of the patriarchs also known as Michaela it's the burial place of three biblical couples Abraham and Sarah Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob and Leah the Cave of the patriarchs is the second holiest site in Judaism after the Western Wall in Jerusalem it is also sacred to Christianity and Islam as well it was the patriarch Abraham who bought the property when his wife Sarah died almost 2,000 years before Christ was born it was near Hebron that God made a covenant with Abraham that he would be the ancestor of a multitude of Nations and that God would give him the promised land as an inheritance Abraham had pitched his tent by the Oaks of Mamre as found in Genesis 13 five miles north of Hebron here Abraham offered hospitality to three strangers or servant angels of God who told him his wife Sarah then aged 90 would have a son when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt about seven hundred years after Abraham the men he sent to spy out the land of Canaan returned from Hebron with a cluster of grates so heavy that the two men carried it on a pole between them King David ruled Judah from Hebron for seven and a half years before moving his capital to Jerusalem after he became king of all Israel almost 2,000 years before Christ God called Abraham from Mesopotamia to live his family and possessions and journey to a new land with the promise that his descendants would become a great nation Abraham obeyed God and settled in their Sheva and their dug a well for water mare Sheba means well of oat or well of the seven lambs in Hebrew the word Shiva means both seven and oat it was given the name their Shiva due to the oath between Abraham and Abimelech Isaac's son Jacob stole the birthright from his brother Esau while the family camped at mare Shiva has found in Genesis 27 it was from their Sheba that Abraham journeyed with his son Isaac to Mount Moriah in Jerusalem where God had ordered him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering as a test to see how much Abraham loved him and was willing to obey after God saw Abraham's willingness to obey God provided a ram caught in a thicket or Abraham be sacrificed instead of Isaac Abraham's example of love for God and obedience caused God to call him our father of faith Mount Moriah is the exact place that Solomon would build the Temple in Jerusalem where countless sacrifices would be made later on of these the most notable being the sacrifice of Christ on the cross Masada is a natural flat mountain that rises up from the valley floor some 1000 feet it is like a huge column with sheer cliffs on every side that makes it virtually unreachable as a consequence of Israel rejecting Christ as their Messiah Christ foretold that Jerusalem would be destroyed there were approximately 960 seven Jewish zealots who had fled from Jerusalem and the surrounding areas they fled to Masada conquered it and lived there from Jerusalem came the 10th Roman army legion under a commander by the name of Silva the Romans decided to build a siege ramp on the west side of Masada using Israelite slave labor when the Jewish zealots realized they were going to be conquered they decided to die by suicide rather than be conquered by the Romans to be abused or killed so the men gathered in a special meeting and drew lots picking out 10 courageous men who knew about killing and understood how to die then every father went home and killed their wives and children then the 10 courageous men killed the fathers and then one man killed the other nine and then killed himself when the Romans saw what had happened they were shocked and dismayed Masada fell in 73 ad there is growing evidence that the location of sodom and gomorrah is on the southwest side of the Dead Sea there is a ton of grim stone balls the old name for sulfur in these areas in are around 90 percent cure unlike most sulfur which is around 50% pure it is white unlike any other place in the world it is so pure you can light it on fire and it burns a hot blue flame these sulfur balls are only found in the cities God destroyed there is also a lot of Ash and charcoal in these areas which fits the biblical narrative there are many unexplained shapes in these areas that look like buildings sphinxes pyramids and palaces God says he condemned the cities of sodom and gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter the Bible recounts how Abraham looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toured all the land of the valley and the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace Sodom and Gomorrah is used throughout scripture as an example of the judgment that awaits those who reject God and his offer of salvation tell irad has two major settlement periods a Canaanite and an Israelite period the lower part of the tell is from the Canaanite period and the upper fortress part is from the Israelite period the Canaanites were the original settlers of Arad and established a large city here around 3,500 BC it had an estimated population of approximately 2,500 residents Israel captured a rat in the conquest under Joshua later in around 940 BC an Israelite settlement was established here because Arad was so strategically located and important it was destroyed and rebuilt six times from the ninth to the sixth centuries it was most likely destroyed in 701 BC by the Assyrians and again by the Babylonians in 586 BC over 100 pottery shards are also called ostraca were discovered at Tel Arad dating to the 7th and 6th centuries BC two of these shards are of great value as they mentioned to people from the priestly families in the Bible Asher from Ezra 238 and nearer mauve from Ezra 833 to other pottery shards found at teller ad have written on them the name Arad which confirms the identity of the city now what's really interesting about Arad is that it had a functioning temple during the time of the divided Kingdom that was somewhat similar to the Temple in Jerusalem however the measurements of the temple places were not the same as God had specified that were used in the temples in Jerusalem the temple at Arad was strictly forbidden by God because the Israelites were to worship at no other place but Jerusalem at this time what's also interesting at the holy of holies at this temple location is that there were two standing stones there was one stone that represented Yahweh and the other a Shura a false female God this shows the worship of false gods mixed with the worship of God and clearly this was strictly forbidden and angered the Lord and showed just how far Israel had strayed from the Lord in that they mixed the worship of false gods with the worship of Yahweh therefore as God prophesied he deported the southern part of Israel in 586 BC and he departed the northern ten tribes of Israel in 722 BC again because of their disobedience to the Lord now according to the archaeological data the temple in Arad was destroyed during King Josiah's reign and about 6:30 BC it's possible though that the temple could have been removed by King Hezekiah as well under his reforms but the data and the archaeological evidence points more strongly to Josiah now even though it was probably Josiah that ordered that the temple be destroyed the inhabitants of Arad disobeyed and instead they just buried the temple and that's one reason why we discovered it today so when Josiah cleansed the temple in Jerusalem in order that all the altars in shrines to the false gods all throughout the land be destroyed it was most likely Josiah then that ordered the temple here in Arad to be removed and the Bible says there was no king like Josiah who turned to the Lord with all his heart and it says in second Kings 23 before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to the law of Moses nor did any like him arise after him so Josiah is an amazing example of a godly king who became a king when he was just eight years old and led one of the greatest revivals that Israel ever knew a little north of the Red Sea located at Timna Park is an exact replica of how the tabernacle got instituted the Israelites to build has been built every aspect of the replica is through the exact measurement as God instructed there is the outer Court the inner court called the holy place and the most inner court called the Holy of Holies the outer court contained the brazen altar and the brazen Laver the inner court contained the menorah the table of showbread and the altar of incense the most inner court or the Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant on top of the Ark of the Covenant was the mercy seat with two winged cherubim angel figures made from one piece of gold inside the Ark of the Covenant was the Ten Commandments written by God on stone tablets Aaron's rod that budded and a jar of manna growing evidence along with the biblical narrative revealed that the most likely place the Israelites crossed the Red Sea was on the Gulf of Aqaba opposite of Saudi Arabia much research has led to Nueva as the exact location of the crossing the bottom of the ocean floor is sandy and gradual which would have been ideal for the Israelites to have crossed on their have been found amazing discoveries of chariot wheels axles and items that would resemble an Army's weapons in this place and on the opposite side of the Sea of Saudi Arabia they are found as well research over the past 50 years has provided strong evidence that the location of Mount Sinai is in present-day Saudi Arabia near the mountain of jevo al lawz there are remains of an altar Moses erected the altar Aaron erected to the golden calf he made paintings of a golden calf a menorah Elijah's cave and more all this leads to show strong evidence that Mount Sinai is indeed in Saudi Arabia we hope that you have enjoyed this video and that your faith in God has been strengthened as you've seen that the events that took place in the Bible happened in real places with real people our faith in God is based on historical truth so for those who would attempt to discredit the Bible they would need to white israel and nearby places off the face of the earth we have just showed a little about the amazing things that happen at these holy sites to learn more about each holy site and other holy sites please watch more videos on our youtube channel or website we have also written numerous books about Israel we have biblical travel guidebooks a biblical sites Bible companion book and individual travel guide books as well to help you better understand the Bible so thank you for watching and may God richly bless you [Music]

Channel: HolyLandSite

Views: 1,261,451

Rating: 4.8437595 out of 5

Keywords: Israel, Holy Land, Biblical Sites of Israel, Bible Tour of Israel, Israel Travel Tour Guide, Holy Land Tour of Israel

Id: xU44S7VbKZM

Length: 68min 16sec (4096 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 12 2020