The document provides an overview of a Holy Land tour focusing on upper Galilee, highlighting key biblical locations associated with Jesus, such as Capernaum, Chorazin, and Hazor. It discusses the significance of Galilee in the New Testament, noting that most of Jesus' ministry, including many miracles and teachings, occurred in this region. The document also touches on the historical and archaeological importance of Galilee, mentioning various sites and artifacts relevant to the biblical narrative.

1. HOLY LAND TOUR
Lecture 2
UPPER GALILEE

2. $3,842
(incl all tips & taxes)
from Pittsburg
Where Jesus Walked
$4,099
(incl all tips & taxes)
from Tampa

3. UPPER GALILEE
• Sea of Galilee (Gennesareth)
• Dan
• Caesarea Philipi
• Hazor
• Chorazin

4. Galilee
Located: in the North of Israel
Traditionally Divided:
• Upper Galilee
• Lower Galilee
• Western Galilee
Size: 1/3 of the State of Israel
Hebrew :‫הגליל‬
Meaning: literally “a circuit”

7. Keshet Cave or Rainbow Cave
"PikiWiki Israel 4518 Keshet Cave" by ‫אלה‬‫פאוסט‬ . Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia "AmudHorses" by Maglanist
Horses roam in Amud stream

10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=66BKA9bWjHI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6dbRr7VYs4

14. • His parents were from Nazareth in Galilee.
• 11 of the 12 disciples were from Galilee. They were, in
truth, “Team Galilee.”
• Jesus told 19 of his 32 recorded parables in Galilee
• 25 of his 33 recorded miracles were performed in
Galilee, including the feeding of the 5,000.
• The site of his transfiguration was in Galilee.
• Capernaum in Galilee is referred to as “his own city.”
• The Great Commission was given on a mountain in
Galilee.
Jesus association with Galilee

15. Isaiah 9:1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon
her who is distressed, as when at first He lightly
esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of
Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed
her, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in
Galilee of the Gentiles.
Galilee of the Nations

16. Mark 14:70 But he denied it again. And a little
later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely
you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and
your speech shows it.”
Different Speech
The people of Galilee could speak Hebrew (and
many of them Greek, too) but with a different
accent. The Jewish elite in Jerusalem would have
considered it a “farmer’s” way of speaking–not
polished, not sophisticated . . . not respected.

17. Different Attitudes
Judges 5:18
Zebulun is a
people who
jeopardized their
lives to the point
of death, Naphtali
also, on the
heights of the
battlefield.

18. Matthew 22:16–17 And they sent to Him their disciples
with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You
are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You
care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of
men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful
to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
Different Attitudes
A great resource for understanding Galilee is Richard Horsley’s Archaeology, History, and
Society in Galilee

19. After the time of Yeshua, when the Jewish war with
Rome broke out in 66 CE, Josephus said of the Galileans,
who were under his command, “they had always been
numerous and warlike” (Jewish War 3:41-43).
Different Attitudes
The descendants of the Canaanites, Persians, Assyrians,
Greeks and Romans were well-represented in the
population of Galilee. The people of Galilee were far
more familiar and often more comfortable living
alongside pagan culture.
A great resource for understanding Galilee is Richard Horsley’s Archaeology, History, and
Society in Galilee

20. Matthew 4:13–17 And leaving Nazareth, He came and
dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions
of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15 “The
land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of
the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of
death Light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began
to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.”
Mixed Racial Heritage

21. Mark 14:70 But he denied it again. And a little
later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely
you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and
your speech shows it.”
Hotbed for Revolution
If all of these difficulties were not enough to raise
concern about people from Galilee, the area was
known as a hotbed for revolution. Simon, one of the
twelve that Jesus called, was called “The Zealot” for
a very good reason.

22. Compared to Judea
Around Jerusalem in the southern
highlands, was the center of the
Hebrew religious and political
aristocracy. These were the wealthy,
educated, powerful city people, more
pure in their lineage.
In Galilean north, living among its
fields and swamps and mixed
population, were the rural, “up
country” people, less respected, less
trusted, more likely to be open to
outside influences.

24. Galilee was a place not expected to produce much of
anything good, and of no place was this more true than
Nazareth. And yet it was into a working class family from
Galilee, from Nazareth, that God chose to send his son. It
was in Galilee that the major years of Jesus’ ministry
occurred. The people of Galilee rallied to Him. More
important still, it was men of Galilee whom He chose “to
be with Him” and that He “sent out” to minister.
John 1:46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can
anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said
to him, “Come and see.”

25. Andrew M.
Fairbairn
“The marvel is not that fisherman of
Galilee conquered the world, but that
Jesus of Nazareth made them its
conquerors. The wonder lies in the
making of the men, not in the their
doings.”

26. The Tribe of Dan was originally
allocated a coastal region of land
after Joshua and the people of
Israel conquered the promised
land. However, due to a lack of
faith and holiness, the tribe never
occupied their allotted territory.
Judges 17:1-13; 18:1-31 describes
their migration north and the
establishment of the ancient
Canaanite town of Laish, also
known as Leshem (Joshua 19:47),
which they renamed Dan.
The city of Dan is the most
northern of Israel, not far from
Mount Herman and the
headwaters of the Jordan River.

27. The largest of four sources of
the Jordan River, the Dan
Spring emerges at the base of
Mt. Hermon next to Tel Dan. It
flows for four miles before
joining the second largest
source of the Jordan River, the
Banias Spring. Together the
four sources (also the Lyon and
Hasbani) of the Jordan River.

28. Built about 1800 B.C., this mudbrick gate was in use approximately 50 years
before it was covered (and thus preserved) by an earthen rampart.
The style of the gate is typical for this period; it is a "Syrian gate" with three
pairs of piers and four chambers, like those found at Megiddo, Shechem
and Gezer.

29. On the northern frontier of the kingdom, Dan was particularly well
fortified. This gatehouse was built in the ninth century, probably by
Ahab, and is part of a series of gateways discovered.
The foreground of this picture is the area of the discovery of the
Dan Inscription which mentions the "House of David."

30. 2 Samuel 18:4
“So the king stood
beside the gate
while all the men
marched out in
units of hundreds
and of thousands.”
2 Kings 23:8
“He broke down
the shrines at the
gates.”
You too can sit where
Old Testament kings
once sat.

31. Nearly all archaeologists agree that this excavated podium was the one that
Jeroboam constructed to house the golden calf at Dan. Archaeologists now think
the platform was roofed.
Evidence of a four-horned altar has been found as well as religious objects such as
three iron shovels, a small horned altar, and an iron incense holder.

32. Tel Dan is one of the most important sites for the archaeological and
historical recovery of ancient Israel. It was here, 2900 years ago, that
King Hazael of Damascus punctuated his invasion of Israelite territory
with the erection of the famous House of David inscription, the
oldest document to mention the historical King David. It is here that
visitors can explore King Jeroboam’s temple, which the Hebrew Bible
indicates he established to house the golden calf and challenge the
temple in Jerusalem for religious supremacy. It was here that Bronze
Age inhabitants constructed the world’s oldest known gated
archway more than 1500 years before the Romans supposedly
invented the arch.

33. One of the interior city gates. The enormous side chambers may have
functioned as guard stations, storage rooms, or commercial cubbies
for a bustling bazaar of tradesmen, artisans, and market goods.

34. At this location Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon
Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh
and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And
I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church,
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:15–18)

35. The Largest Tell in Israel
Known in Joshua's day as "the
head of all those kingdoms,"
the tell of Hazor is today the
largest in Israel at 200 acres.
At its height in the Canaanite
period, the city encompassed
the entire tell. Later when it
was inhabited by Israelites,
the fortified city included only
the Upper City.
Canaanite Temple
(15th-14th centuries B.C.

36. Solomonic Gate
Archaeologists have uncovered a six-chambered gate at Hazor,
which is nearly identical in size and design to gates at Megiddo and
Gezer.
The best explanation for this is that these gates were all built by
the same government. These gates are a remarkable testimony to
Solomon's building activity as described in 1 Kings 9:15.

37. Water System
A century after Solomon's time the Israelites built a massive shaft
40 meters deep into the tell, reaching the water table below.
The 19 m vertical shaft was about 15 m square and ended at a
wide, sloping stepped tunnel that led 25 more meters. This system
is similar to those at Megiddo and Gibeon.

38. Storehouse/Stable
This type of building, better known as an Israelite tripartite pillared
building, has been found at numerous sites throughout the
country.
Many functions for this type of structure have been
suggested. Some archaeologists believe that these were used for
the storage of food; more likely, the primary function of this
building was for housing the royal cavalry.
The tripartite pillars can be seen in the
background of the picture on the right. In
1969 I pushed wheelbarrows at the site.

39. Four-Room House
This popular building style would be better known as a "pillared
house" than by the number of rooms in it. Found throughout Israel
from the time of the settlement of the Israelites, the number of
rooms in the dwelling may vary, but always it is characterized by a
row or two of pillars separating the central court from the side
room.

40. Matthew 11:21
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to
you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty
works which were done in you
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would have repented long
ago in sackcloth and ashes.”
Located on the side of a large hill about two and one-half miles north of
Capernaum. This city is remembered as one of the three key cities in which Jesus
spent much of his ministry. These cities, Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida
formed what is called the “Evangelical Triangle,” the small area where most of
Jesus’ miracles were displayed (Matt. 11:20). Chorazin also has the dubious
distinction of being one of the cities that Jesus cursed. The city is mentioned only
twice in the New Testament (Matt. 11:21; Lk. 10:13), and both instances concern
the curse that Jesus placed upon it.

41. Ruins of Chorazin
Seat of Moses
An unusual find in the ruins of the synagogue
was the Seat of Moses carved out of a single
basalt block, from which they would have
been read. On its back was an inscription in
Aramaic. The original seat is in the Israel
Museum in Jerusalem, but a copy remains in
the ruins at Chorazim.

42. Millstone
It is estimated that
ancient millstones
weighed approximately
¾ of a ton.

43. Jerry Hunter
Associate Pastor of the Greenville Alliance Church
Greenville, PA 724-301-0174