Mt. Tabor Overview Tour: Transfiguration of Christ, Israel, Deborah, Barak, Jezreel Valley, Apostles

[Music] [Applause] [Music] well welcome to the Holy Land and this site of Mount Tabor also known as the Mount of Transfiguration now we are on a mountain that rises like a dome right out of the Jezreel Valley it can be seen all around the Jezreel Valley you can see it from Nazareth Mount precipice it just rises up it's kind of like an island right out in the Jezreel Valley that just rises up like a dome shape right from the valley now it's about 11 miles or 15 kilometers southwest of the Sea of Galilee and about five miles or eight kilometers east of Nazareth and this is the place where Christian tradition places the Transfiguration of Christ so it's a key place and we're going to be looking at this Transfiguration and we're going to be looking at why we believe this is the site where the Transfiguration took place now Mount Tabor stands some 1500 feet or 457 meters above the Jezreel Valley plain it held a strategic position at the junction of several trade routes for this reason many battles have been fought around it and it's mentioned as one of the key mountains in scripture it says the north and the south you have created them Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name at Psalm 89 12 so a little bit of the historical background here of Mount Tabor in the Old Testament Mount Tabor is described as a sacred mountain and a place of worship it's not mentioned by name and the New Testament but in the Old Testament it is and throughout its history it has been a place where mankind has sought contact with the divine so it has a long history going way back to Canaanites Israelites has been a key place because of its unique shape and the way it just rises up like a dome and once again we know that all throughout Scripture God did special things on mountains so therefore this mountain was considered unique all throughout the history of the Israelites and even in the New Testament as well and it's best known as the believed place where the Transfiguration of Christ took place an event in the Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upon an unnamed mountain and he speaks with Moses and Elijah right here so right here it's believed that in Matthew 17 1 and in mark 9 2 where God transformed Christ he became transformed and then Moses and Elijah was with him and Christian tradition in the early centuries right after Christ was buried and rose again then this place began to be venerated also by Christians it's also cited in the apocryphal writings they're mentioned that this place was the place where Christ was transfigured now the earliest identification of the Mount of Transfiguration as Tabor as this place here was by Origen one of the Church Fathers of the 3rd century so one of the things that we've talked about is whenever you have a place that has a long history starting early and has historical artifacts has buildings it's an excellent candidate for where the event actually took place now during the Byzantine period and this would be about 400 AD in the 4th century according to the description of the pilgrims visiting this site and in the 6th century there were three churches here and they also considered this the place of the Transfiguration so you had Byzantine churches here in the 4th century the 6th century before that you had from tradition you had Christians venerating this site and then once again connected with the fact that in the Old Testament this was a significant high place or mountain it just continues to add weight after weight after weight that this is the place of the Transfiguration here on top of Mount Tabor now some scholars today and bless their hearts they would question this location as the place where the Transfiguration took place they would place it at Mount Hermon and you really don't know where it would be at because it's a huge mountain and maybe it was part way up or who knows where and the reason why they would say that it is at that site is because it says after Christ was at Caesarea Philippi after the profession of Christ that you are the son of the Living God and then when I Christ it upon your statement upon me upon this rock I will build my church it says six days after that is when he went up on this mountain was transfigured so some scholars would say well Mount Tabor is kind of ways away from that so therefore it was too far but it's only about 40 or so miles away or around 60 kilometers easily walkable within 3-4 days so their argument I mean god bless them but the argument I think is kind of weak like I say the Christ and the disciples were extremely mobile they're walking all the time so to travel you know 40 miles or 50 kilometers or 60 is not wasn't a problem for them so once again we think it's really valuable to to take into consideration that the 2000 years of Christian history that is placed adhere and then plus the fact that it was a significant high place of worship in the Old Testament prior to this time so it would make sense that Christ would come to a significant high place to this mountain to be transfigured it was a known place in the Old Testament now once again it's not critical that we get the place right we worship a person rather than a place so it's not really vital but like I say it really seems like this is the place all of the evidence really points right here and it doesn't point to her now there's some places of interest here on the top of Mount Tabor I think that's important to take into consideration one there's a Franciscan Basilica or Church of the Transfiguration and it's the most visited place here up Mount Tabor there's also a Franciscan monastery here and it was completed in 1924 and it was built upon the ruins of an ancient 4th to 6th century Byzantine church and then a 12th century Church during the Crusader time was here as well so once again a lot of history there's this Saint Elias or Saint Elijah or Elijah Greek Orthodox Church that's here it's just down a ways here and it's named after the prophet Elijah there's towers and walls all around this area's fact as we're walking just look around where we parked behind that or some old ruins there's this milk acidic Chapel that is here there's this the descent dubis Chapel there's ancient cisterns and quarries up here so there's just a lot of ruins for a lot of years that just once again give give evidence or credibility that this is the place where Christ was transfigured so now let's look at this Transfiguration in the Bible and if this is the place and we believe it that it is then right here we're about on the highest point of Mount Tabor so right here is where this Transfiguration took place in fact you could be sitting right here I think it's kind of high it kind of drops a little bit here it kind of drops a little bit there so you could be right on the area where the Transfiguration took place once again this way as well you're about on the highest place and that's where Christ was transfigured so a Mount Tabor is mentioned about twelve times in Scripture once again it says a significant mountain it's first mentioned in Joshua 1922 as a boarder between the three tribes of Zebulun esseker and Naphtali the mountains prominence is due to its strategic location at junction of the Galilee's north and south route along with the east-west highway of the Jezreel Valley so not only does it just supernaturally rise up like a dome but once again it's it's located on the crossroads as well so a lot of traffic were at its base now according to Judges chapter 4 hot sore was the seat of Jabin the king of Canaan his military commander says Sarah led a Canaanite army against the Israelites now Deborah the Jewish prophetess summoned barrack of the tribe of Naphtali and gave him the following command so they so hot sores north of the Sea of Galilee and they were going to come down and fight and so in judges 4:14 it says this and Deborah said to barrack up for this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand does not the Lord go out before you so Barrack went down from Mount Tabor right here with ten thousand men following him so from here Barrack went down this is in the period of the judges fights against a king up in hot sore north of the Sea of Galilee and defeats them but they descend right here and then in the New Testament once again this is the bleep place where the Transfiguration took place and we're gonna read about that now it says in Matthew 17 1 after six days six days after what after Peters confession of Christ at Caesarea Philippi where Christ said the gates of Hell will not prevail against my church now we know in Scripture that after the profession of Peter that Christ began his journey south to be crucified okay and we know that he talked about the cost of discipleship so that's one of the reasons why I think that it's this place because he was headed south after Peters confession of Christ on Caesarea Philippi it says from that time he began to go to Jerusalem to be crucified so he was headed south anyway so Herman is not towards the south so it says after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother and led them up a high mountain by themselves so you had Jesus you had Peter James and John and they come up here on this high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured before them and his face shone like the Sun and his clothes became white as light so he was transfigured his his face shone like the Sun well you can't look at the Sun right so his face became just brilliantly white it says and his clothes became white as light so he just became this powerful radiant supernatural light before them and behold there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him now Moses and Elijah represent two key Old Testament figures the Israelites valued Moses very highly right because he was the author of the of the Pentateuch or the Torah the first five books of the Bible he's the one that led them out and prophecy said that there will arise a prophet like Moses listen to him so they were waiting for this person like Moses to come this / this Messiah and then Elijah of course he is the Old Testament kind of key prophet who did all of these miracles yesterday we were at Mount Carmel where the great showdown between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Bale and the four hundred prophets of Asherah took place so he lied - as a key figure so two key prominent figures in the Old Testament appear with Christ so he's in this radiated form just magnificent glowing light and then Moses and Elijah are with him and they're talking with him and Peter says this - gee Lord it's good that we are here if you wish I will make three tents here one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah so he's just doesn't really know what to say but he's gonna you know we can mark this down here he's just trying to you know trying to say something meaningful he was still speaking when behold a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said so just think about the scene you have Christ in this radiates a supernatural form just glowing like the Sun Moses and Elijah are there now they're resurrected people as well and now this cloud overshadows them and now God Almighty is going to speak now from what other mountain did God Almighty speak Mount Sinai right and who was on that mountain Moses was now it's also said in Scripture that after the great showdown with the prophets of bale and Asherah then Elijah went down to Mount Sinai so you see that these tie-ins that are happening in Christ is reaching back and gathering up evidences from the Old Testament to give great weight that Christ is the son of God and he is among noble Old Testament figures I mean God is just really pounding this truth home to them embedding in their lives that Jesus is the Messiah the Lord and from this cloud this voice says this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased listen to him so once again just imagine that happening right here just think about it think about the reality of crisis glowing Moses and Elijah here the supernatural cloud that gathers over and then God is just speaking from this cloud and we know when God speaks I mean even his whisper shakes the earth right I mean so he speaks this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and when the disciples heard this they fell on their faces and were terrified now that's significant the magnitude of this is significant because Peter James and John had experienced a lot of miracles I mean they were miracle tested okay they were accustomed to seeing miracles all the time so this miracle was not just any miracle this was a massive miracle because they they just fall down and they're worshiping and and they're terrified and so they just they're just in a state of absolute just shock and this holy fear is just upon them and that's right here happens right here but Jesus came and touched them saying rise have no fear and when they lifted up their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only and he was of course back in his natural state and as they were coming down the mountain Jesus commanded them till no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead so he says don't say anything right now guys don't say this maybe it was just too much for the others he says don't say anything until after I have risen from the dead and the disciples then come to him and ask him they they said then why do the scribes say that first Elisha must come he answered Elisha does come and he will restore all things but I tell you that Elisha already has come and they did not recognise him but they did to him whatever they pleased so also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist so they understood that Elisha was a forerunner of John the Baptist that John the Baptist was a type of because it says that I will send you the prophet Elijah so John the Baptist was a type of Elijah so they understood that fulfillment of that prophecy [Music] so anyway this happens right here we believe and now after this is over now they're going to descend the mountain now once again they were in their natural state when they came up the mountain Jesus was in his natural state this is before he died on the cross this is quite a hike up here it's quite a hike up here and once again it's about 1,200 feet or around 450 meters above the valley floor so on their way down this is what happens in Matthew 17 and when they came to the crowd they're descending a man came to him and kneeling before him said lord have mercy on my son for he has seizures and he suffers terribly for often he falls into the fire and often into the water and I brought him to your disciples and they could not heal him and jesus answered Oh faithless and twisted generation how long am I to be with you how long am I to bear with you bring him here to me and Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him and the boy was healed instantly then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said why could we not cast it out this demon he said to them because of your little faith for truly I say to you if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed then you will say to this mountain what mountain is he referring to this mountain so the mountain that Jesus was referring to was not just any mountain when he gave this verse and sometimes you know we hear that verse but we don't really know what kind of a mountain he's talking about it was a little mountains a little hill you know what's he talking about but he was referring to this mountain and he said that if you have faith like a mustard seed you can say to this mountain be moved and cast into the sea and it will be done now they had little faith they couldn't cast out the demon once again you see Christ continued rebuking his disciples for their lack of faith their lack of faith and honestly I think that's one of our weaknesses as well we could say like the one man said Lord increase my faith he says because of your little faith for truly I say to you if you have faith like a grain of mustard see what was a mustard seed in their day it was the smallest seeds that they knew so if you just have faith just like a mustard seed you can say to this massive mountain be moved and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you now in my short life there's been times when I'm just you know I'm either I'm discouraged or I just know what to do and I have problems and and then and this verse comes to me you know I don't need a whole bunch of faith all's I need is just a just a seed just a little bit you know I can pray I can do that you know III can seek the Lord I can do that you don't need a whole bunch you just take what little you have and you just you just seek the Lord and pray with what little you have and if you have just a little bit of faith then nothing will be impossible for you so what are some faith lessons that we can learn from this mountain Wow load it isn't it I mean this is an amazing place another reason why I believe this was the place of the Transfiguration is because everyone knew about this mountain this is a popular mountain you know there really wasn't many people up on Mount Hermon and it goes up onto a big mountain range and it's not really defined that well so once again this was a highly trafficked area highly known so once again I just really think that everything adds up but this is this is the strongest candidate so taking into consideration you know what faith lesson can we learn from this site well once again I want to say it's not important where it happened but that it did happen the Transfiguration did occur now this Transfiguration is another proof that Christ is the son of God that he is God there has been no other person in the history of the world who has been transfigured there's no other religion that has its leader being transformed has its leader claiming to be God has its leader who does all of these miracles has its leader who can forgive sins has its leader who can raise people from the dead has its leader where god almighty speaks no other religion has that in fact just think logically for a moment set aside all of the traditions set aside all of what you've been taught just think logically there is no figure in the history of mankind that has done what Christ has done and he claimed to be God and there was a man who said regarding Christ you have three options either he's a liar because he claimed to be God he either he's a liar so you can't make him a just a good person you can't make him a good prophet because he claimed to be God and if he's not then he's a liar and you certainly wouldn't follow a liar so either Christ is a liar either he's a lunatic he was out of his mind does he claim to do all this stuff and he claimed to meet God or the other option you have is he is indeed truly who he said he was the son of God but you can't have it both ways you can't say he was just a good person because he claimed to be more than that and so if you're just gonna say that he was just a good person one of the prophets and he would be a liar because he claimed to be more than that so either he's a liar he's a lunatic or he is the son of God who claimed to be God in the flesh incarnate that God Almighty among us who died for our sins rose again and in him we have life he said I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but through me he is the only way it says in John that in him was life and he was the light of the world and so he claims to be God in the flesh it says and this is the the testimony that he has given us eternal life and this life is in his son he who has the son has the life he who does not have the son does not have life it's very clear so once again this is another evidence that just shows that Jesus Christ was deity he was God he was who he claimed to be and he died and he was buried and he rose again and died for our sins now also this event cemented in the heart of Peter James and John something very unique right they're gonna kind of be the pillars of the church so he allowed them to see this unlike the others because he wanted them to get some extra special divine revelation the Apostle Peter looked back to this landmark event of the Transfiguration to speak about how sure and solid our faith in Christ and His Word is in 2nd Peter 1:16 it says for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty for when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory saying this is my son with whom I am well-pleased we ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven for we were with him on the holy mountain once again this was considered the holy mountain all throughout Israelite history and and up until this time it was considered the holy mountain but then he goes on to say and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts knowing this first of all that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation or source of wisdom for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit so Peter reaches back and recounts this event and says that I was there I was an eyewitness but even more than this now we have this more sure word of prophecy we have scripture also that is inspired so we we have overwhelming evidence we are it's it isn't it so comforting and and some people say you know that when you believe in Christ it's just kind of like taking a blind leap it's no blind leap the historical evidence is overwhelming it's overwhelming what it is and if you just look at it it's hard to escape in fact real briefly many years ago there was a man named Josh McDowell and he was a lawyer and he was a brilliant lawyer and he set out just to look at the empirical or the evidence of Christ because he wanted to prove and dismiss and do away with it what he thought was a myth once and for all so he went and just looked at the evidence and he wrote two books one was called evidence that demands a verdict and another one was more evidence that demands a verdict he just looked at the evidence and when you look at the evidence it was overwhelming and as a result of it he received Christ so it's not a blind leap our faith is built upon a rock it's built upon historical evidence and it's all here in the holy land also we have the evidence of all of the change lives I mean just look throughout history each one of you can say that Christ has changed your life you are a living testimony I can say it you can say it so our faith is built upon a solid rock on evidence it's here so do we have a faith that's anchored is our faith anchored are we cemented to it we shouldn't be tossed to and fro wandering and doubting our faith is solid also do we have a faith just a grain that can move mountains and maybe what mountains would you want to move you can move a mountain what would you move you know maybe spiritual mountains different things once again Christ continually challenged us and said oh you of little faith so maybe there's something in your life that you would desire of the Lord now the Lord is not going to do something that is not going to be best for you okay so oftentimes God allows us to have weaknesses difficulties trials so it's not like God wants to remove every difficulty in our lives because trials and suffering and pain are our friends to transform us but anyway God wants us to have faith in Him and just a little bit of face so whatever situation you're going through all you need is just a little bit of faith what a great place to be and what a magnificent event that happened right here once again I just can imagine what happened right here it's just overwhelming they like say it goes down the mountain cast out the demon and then says hey if you have faith just like this mountain you can do great things so I hope you've been challenged by this and I hope that you'll have just a grain of faith and understand that your faith is built upon the rock and that you can share that with others so thank you for your participation and your comments and your questions and may God richly bless you you

Channel: HolyLandSite

Views: 87,279

Keywords: Franciscan Basilica of the Transfiguration, St. Elias Greek Orthodox Church, Mount Tabor, Church of the Transfiguration of Christ, Transfiguration of Christ, Descentibus Chapel, Melchizedek Chapel, Jezreel Valley, Holy Land, Mount Tabor Tour, Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36, Israel

Id: AM1Frri96Nc

Length: 31min 8sec (1868 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 28 2019