Can you believe the Bible? And does it really matter? How can you be sure that the Bible is all it's cracked up to be? Join David Curry, a pastor, author, and worldwide traveler, as he shares his knowledge of many biblical places throughout the Middle East. He will take you on a journey through numerous archaeological finds that prove the validity of the biblical narrative, showing that you can believe what many have rejected. Welcome to the biblical wonders in the Middle East.
Here is your host, Pastor David Curry. Thank you for turning into our program. Today I'm continuing our presentations in the land of Israel.
Last week we visited the old city of Jerusalem, which has hundreds of small shops, and most of these are managed by Arabs. We finished at the Garden of Gethsemane and its Church of All Nations. The garden and the church are at the base of the Mount of Olives.
The valley between is known as the Kidron Valley. You know, there are lots of tombs in this area, in fact hundreds. And probably one of the most prominent is the Tomb of Absalom.
He was the third son of King David. He had a lot of hair, which was finally his undoing. He was riding his mule which went under a terabynth tree.
His hair was caught up in the branches of the tree. The mule kept going and Absalom was left hanging in midair. While hanging there, King David's, General Joab found him and killed him with three spears in his hand.
David had asked that Absalom's life be saved. Job was so angry with Absalom, who had tried to take the throne from his father, that Job was not giving the prince another opportunity. King David was very grieved about his son's death, and he even wished that he could have died in his place.
However, this was not to be. Eventually, it was Solomon that took David's place when the king passed away. Further up the Mount of Olives, there's a well designed and very attractive Russian Orthodox church called the Church of Mary Magdalene.
One afternoon, I slipped into this church and listened to the beautiful music that was sung by a very small choir. Well, we left there and eventually arrived at the top of the Mount of Olives and its magnificent views of Jerusalem. Here, a number of Arabs are selling pictures of the view that can be seen.
From here, the walls around Jerusalem can be clearly seen. The Dome of the Rock and its glistening golden dome is very prominent. Much further away are the grey domes of the Church of the Holy Seplaga.
In all, it's a great view that many photographers have gathered in their digital cameras almost any time of the day. You can see these photographers taking their personal pictures. On the top of the mount is a small building called the Chapel of the Ascension, in which is supposedly the footprint of Christ.
As he left the earth and ascended to the heavens. This is another place where tradition has taken over from reality in Israel. It's important to understand that many places are traditional sites and often have no sense of being the original place or representing the true event.
However, having said that, Israel has so many places that are the true location, and one can enjoy that place where Jesus lived and ministered, and where the disciples preached and spread the gospel. The museum near the scroll of the Book is an important place to visit. One of the rooms contains ivories from Ahab's ivory palace.
In One Kings, chapter 39, it mentions the fact that Ahab built a house of ivories. Do you know? Many critics have questioned whether he could build a house of ivories. However, archaeologists found many ivories at the site of Ahab's palace, and many of these are displayed in the Israeli Museum at Jerusalem, also in the British Museum and other museums around the world.
I'm amazed at the skill some artisans had in designing these ivories way back at the time of Ahab. Many of these ivories were found in Nineveh, when the Assyrians conquered the ten tribes of Israel. They took them back captive to Assyria and also took with them ivories from Ahab's palace.
Once again, these ivories have silenced the critics who believed that the ivory house was just fanciful writings. I've shown over and over again in these programs that we can have confidence in the Scriptures. It's amazing to me how the archaeologists spade has unearthed artifacts that continue to support the word of God.
It's really wonderful, isn't it? Other items of great interest in the museum were some of the ancient scrolls of the Torah, bridal dresses from Yemen and Morocco, and much pottery from earlier times and from many places throughout the Middle East. You know, another room that caught my eye was one portraying some ceramic jars found in the Dead Sea caves. Some of these were quite large, others were much smaller.
But to think that they held the precious scrolls which were in turn wrapped in the skins of animals and kept in these ceramic jars, they were there for more than 2000 years. In fact, the museum has a lot of pottery apart from these jars found the Dead Sea caves. As I said in another presentation, pottery can be dated to within a 50 year accuracy.
So the museum has pottery that is dated back to 1500 or more years before Christ. That's pretty old, isn't it? When I first went to Israel, I took a bus to Nablus, a city in Samaria. On the way, we passed beautiful fields of grain, almost ready to be harvest.
I was wanting to get some pictures, but the day was fairly dull and the weather disappointing. All of a sudden it started raining and it simply poured down. The bus was full of Arabs and they were just ecstatic with this rain, and they were jumping and dancing out of their seats and the rain lasted for at least an hour.
It was very heavy. I asked one man who spoke English what was all this rejoicing about? I mean, I was trying to get pictures and in those days of transparencies you don't want bad weather. He said, see all the wheat out there? This is the latter rain and means we will get a good harvest.
Well, I was happy for them too, and I hoped the weather wouldn't deter me from getting some good pictures. And later on it came out fine. So I was happy too.
We passed through Berea. This is where Christ's parents first noticed that he was missing. When he was just twelve years of age, they had taken him to Jerusalem.
On the way home they thought that he was with some other children. Instead they found him back at Jerusalem talking with the doctors of the law. When they remonstrated with them that he hadn't followed them, he exclaimed at that time that he must be about his father's business.
The bus went through Emmaus, where two of the followers of Jesus did not recognize him as he walked with them and they talked to the happenings at Jerusalem over the weekend when Christ had been crucified. Only when they offered him a meal and he blessed the food did they recognize the risen Saviour. Our bus eventually stopped at Jacob's well.
The water in this well is fresh and an Orthodox priest will offer visitors a drink of this refreshing water. In John four we read of Jesus stopping at this well while the disciples went elsewhere to purchase food. When they returned, they were somewhat amazed at Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman who had come to fill her water pot with fresh water.
But Jesus offered her living water that he provides all who come to Him. Jacob's well is still there and still has fresh water, providing you let down the bucket in a long rope that reaches many meters down to the water. However, where you are, you can receive of the living water.
This is what Jesus provides for those who come to Him and accept Him as Savior and Lord. What a priceless gift he offered to the woman of Samaria, and not only to her, but to all of us today. Let's drink of this water.
While in the area of Nablus, I knocked at the door of the Samaritan monastery. Three Samaritans came out to meet me. One was the head priest of the monastery and a very nice man who also spoke very good English.
They showed me the Samaritan pentateuch. This contains the first five books of the Bible written by Moses. They claimed that their copy was produced shortly after Moses died.
At least I must say that it certainly looked very old. The priest told me that he believed in Christ as his Saviour. He also said that the other 200 Samaritans who lived in israel today also believed.
He told me that his belief and the belief of the Samaritans went right back to Christ when he spoke with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's. Well, I must say I very much enjoyed speaking with this priest and seeing the very old Samaritan pentateuch. You know, the wildflowers on our journey were wonderful and they're very plentiful.
Throughout Israel in the late spring, we continued our journey to Shechem. There are a few old stones here that go back many centuries. It's not very far from Abolis and was a city of refuge in the first city for the kings of Israel when the ten tribes broke away from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
It also features in the Book of Joshua. It's so interesting to come to these places, mention the scriptures and find that so many places are still there and often called by their original names. Well, we moved on to Sebastia.
This is where King Ahab had a palace and also where his ivory house was found. There are also quite a few Roman columns and ruins here. There's also a restored Roman amphitheatre.
You know, Augustus Caesar gave this area to Herod the Great, who built a palace here. Herod expanded and renovated the city, bring in 6000 new inhabitants, and he named it Sebasti, meaning Augustus in the emperor's honor. Today the name is not very much different.
Sebastia. Well, let's go back to Jerusalem. We climb up the Mount of Olives and then go down to Bethany.
This is a little village today, and there's a home there in Bethany, reputed to be the one lived in by Mary, Martha and Lazarus. You know, they were Jesus'friends, and he loved to come to this home and rest there. Not very far away are some tombs, and one is reputed to be the tomb of Lazarus, where he was placed when he died and where Jesus raised him after he had been laid in the tomb for four days.
This was an amazing miracle which made the Pharisees very envious. They would have loved to have killed Lazarus, to stop the stories about his resurrection. It was over, this resurrection, that the leaders of the Jews decided that Jesus must die.
The tomb of Lazarus can be entered. It's not very large, but two or three people could be in there. At one time.
Outside the tomb, there were several Arab children who were holding little lambs and baby goats. They would rather this than having dogs and cats. They have these as pets, and this is true throughout the Middle East where you'll find children having these goats and lambs as pets.
We visited after this. The patternasta church. It's a Roman Catholic church which has a wall containing the Lord's Prayer, would you believe it? And over 100 languages.
You know, one of the interesting places to visit in Jerusalem is Hezekiah's Tunnel, which King Hezekiah had built in order to bring fresh water. The city of Jerusalem. The building of this tunnel is mentioned in two chronicles, 32 and verse 30.
And here hezekiah brought fresh water from the Gihon Spring into the city. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to go through this tunnel. At times the water is quite deep, so it's best to wear bathers when you're walking through.
It's also wise to carry a torch or two so that you can see where you're going. About halfway through this tunnel is a place where the tunnel builders on the city side met the tunnels coming through the Guillon Spring. They didn't meet exactly and so the tunnel has a bend where each side met.
It's really amazing to me how these builders were able to meet as they did when they didn't have all of the engineering tools available as we have them today. Today the tunnel finishes at the Pool of Siloam. This pool is where Jesus told the blind man to go and wash his eyes.
When he did, he was able to see what amazing miracles Jesus performed. The dead were raised, the blind were made to see, the deaf could now hear and the lepers were healed. You know, Jesus has promised that in the new earth which he will recreate, there'll be no more death, no sickness, no leprosy, no crying, no heartache, no blindness.
What a great promise for us to remember and to live for each day, you know. Another important place to visit in Jerusalem is Mount Zion. There's a room there where it's believed that the disciples and Jesus held the Last Supper.
It's still called the Upper Room. Above it is a minaret. You can climb this and get excellent views of the city.
You can see the Mount of Olives, the Dome of the Rock and many other places. Underneath is the tomb of King David. Due to Israeli Jews being unable to reach the holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, the Tomb of David was promoted as a place of worship.
The building built as a church, then transformed into a mosque, was split in two and the ground floor with the tomb was converted into a synagogue. This was immediately following the end of the 1940 719 49 Palestinian War. The Muslim cover on the tomb was replaced with an Israeli flag.
From then onwards, the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs began the process of turning the site into Israel's primary religious site. Jewish prayer was established at the site and Jewish religious symbols were added. You know, it was considered the holiest Jewish site in the whole of Israel.
There are also many artist galleries and jewellery shops in this area, which is also occupied by Jews. On the Sabbath. Every shop is closed and the people attend the local synagogues.
Unfortunately, many Jews are atheists. They don't believe in God, they don't study the scriptures. They leave these beliefs to the Orthodox Jews who are very faithful in attending a synagogue and reading the Scriptures.
It's these Jews who regularly visit the Wailing Wall and pray for the rebuilding of the temple and for peace in Israel. I took a service taxi to Tel Aviv. These servist taxis remain in their spot until the taxi is full of passengers and then it moves off to its planned designation.
It's a very fast and cheap form of transport in many countries, the Middle East. Well, I didn't have to wait more than just a few minutes. The taxi is full and we could travel by excellent road to Israel's second largest city, Tel Aviv.
This is on the foreshore of the Mediterranean Sea and enjoys an excellent climate. The countryside is very fertile. It's obvious that many different crops can be grown here.
Jaffer, oranges, sunflower, pomegranates, grain crops can be seen growing in the fields near the highway. It's certainly a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Bible says. To the south of Tel Aviv and on the seashore, there is the old port of Joppa.
This has a history that goes back something like 4500 years. Can you imagine that? Today it is called Jaffa. Here you can visit the home that the Apostle Peter was staying in.
It was to this place that Cornelius, a Roman general, sent some of his men to invite Peter to his home in Caesarea. Joppa is a very nice village and another place where artists love to come and have their studios. Well, you can also visit the port of Joppa itself.
It's quite a clean port, not used a lot, but this is where Jonah purchased a ticket to take him to Tarshius. He boarded a boat to go in the opposite direction to where God had asked him as a prophet, a journey. The port of Joppa is mainly used today for fishing and tourist vessels.
From Joppa, there's a very good view along the coast toward Caesarea, which is about 50 km away. That is the distance that Peter walked to the home of Cornelius. Can you imagine that? They had to walk long distances those days and of course, were quite fit.
Of course, there were no service taxis in those days. Well, let's now visit Caesarea, where Peter went to visit Cornelius. This ancient city of Caesarea, Maritima, as it was called, was built by Herod the Great about 25 to 13 years before Christ.
And it was a major port at that time, particularly for the Romans. This was the port for the Romans. And there was a large Roman garrison here at the time of Christ.
The ruins of the ancient city on the coast, about 2 modern Caesarea were excavated between the 1950s and 1960s, so that's not all that long ago. And the site was incorporated into what is now known as the new Caesarea National Park. It includes a large and well kept Roman amphitheater, which often used by Israelis today.
I was there at one time when they were getting all their lights and sound equipment ready. And it was quite a remarkable busy time for modernist rallies. On the site is an archaeological park with pillars and sculptors and the remains of a hippodrome where Romans had horse races.
Most often, the horses would be hitched to chariots. It was in this park that the name Pilate was found inscribed in a stone. You know, this is the first and only time that Pilate's name, the governor who allowed Christ to be crucified, has been found outside of Scripture.
You know, as I've often said, it's important to know that some of the details of the scriptures are supported so often by the spade of the archaeologists. When now move up the coast toward the largest port in Israel, Haifa. Many ships can be seen coming and going from Haifa.
Above this city is Mount Carmel, where Elijah the Prophet had a most dramatic time with King Ahab. Ahab was one of Israel's most corrupt kings. He had married a princess from Lebanon named Jezebel, who brought into Israel the worship of Baal.
After her marriage to Ahab, she brought to Israel hundreds of Baal priests. Then God sent a drought on the land which lasted for three and a half years. At the end of this time, Elijah appeared before Ahab, who even blamed Elijah for the drought.
Elijah asked Ahab to appear on Mount Carmel with all of his Bale worshipping priests. In one King 1718 of the Old Testament, we have this dramatic story of Elijah telling the priests to build an altar on which they could place a bill. They were then called to bail to bring fire onto the altar, burn the bull and the timber under the bull.
The priests prayed most of the day. They even cut themselves, but there wasn't as much as a spark. It was now Elijah's turn.
He built up the altar. He placed a bull on it and asked the people to cover it all with water, which they did three times. He prayed a beautiful prayer to the God of Heaven.
Down came the flames, licked up all of the water and consumed the bull. The crowd who witnessed this then cried out, the Lord hears God. The Lord hears God.
What has changed came to them. Then Elijah asked the crowd to seize the prophets of Baal, who were all executed. Very soon after, rain returned to Israel and the drought ceased.
What a remarkable change came to Israel at this time. It wasn't long after that encounter that both Ahab and Jezebel lost their lives. Well, from Mount Carmel we travel down to Megiddo.
As we do so, we can see Mount Tabor. You can drive to the top of this mountain, though in reality it's just a hill rising out from the plains, but quite a nice hill. This is where Jesus was accompanied by Peter, James and John, and where he was transfigured before them.
God announced at this time that Jesus was his beloved Son. This transfiguration was symbolic of the second coming of Christ. At the same time as Jesus was transfigured, moses and Elijah appeared alongside of Christ.
Elijah represented those who would be living when Christ returns and be translated without dying. Moses, on the other hand, represented the people who would die as he did and be raised from the dead and taken to heaven just as he was. There's a church on the top of Mount Tabor, and inside are some very fine frescoes of Elijah and Moses.
Our next and last stop for today is Megiddo. The description of the Battle of Megiddo is the earliest account of major war in antiquity. The Bible is the King of Megiddo among the Canaanite rulers defeated by Joshua in his conquest of the land.
According to first kings, king Solomon built Megiddo together with Hazor and Giza. Solomon had used this place as a military command place and built stables here for hundreds of his horses. Megiddo's strategic location at the crossing of two military and trade routes gave the city an important spar beyond its size.
It controlled a commonly used pass on the trading route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. It also stood along the northwest southeast route that connected the Phoenician cities with Jerusalem and the Jordan River Valley. It's thought that the word Armageddon is derived from Megiddo, since the prefix Ha means hill in Hebrew.
Hence, Armageddon means Hill of Megiddo. It's probably because of Alan b's victory over the Turks that many have thought that the final battle of Armageddon would also be fought on the plains of Ezrelon that Megiddo overlooks. There are several problems with this idea.
First, the plains of Ezralon are no way big enough for modern warfare. Secondly, the final battle of Armageddon is a spiritual battle between Christ and Satan. The third point is that in Revelation 1612, armageddon comes under the 6th Spinal Plague and mentions that the great river Euphrates would be dried up that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
The term kings of the east is a reference to the coming of Christ. He's on his way back to earth, and the same time, Satan is involved by sending demons to the rulers of the earth to involve them in this final spiritual battle. There's so much on our website where you will get my presentations and many more on your computer, iPad or iPhone.
Key in 3abnaustralia.org.au
Then click on the Listen button and you'll find many interesting subjects. And so we say farewell for now and trust you'll. Tune in next week to Biblical Wonders in the Middle East with Pastor David Curry.
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