Shalom and welcome to the Satellite Bible Atlas video #6: Map 1-4.
The focus of Map 1-4 is The Jezreel Valley and Lower Galilee.
The general location of the terrain of Map 1-4 is situated in the North Central area
of the Land of Israel.
We described in Video #3 how the Jezreel Valley is a wide, flat plain between the Central
Hill Country to the south and mountainous Galilee to the north.
This makes the Jezreel Valley a hub of international routes that crisscross Israel --
a kind of Grand Central Station.
Before we take a closer look at the Jezreel Valley
and the routes that come in and out of it from all directions...
lets first see the regions that surround the Jezreel Valley.
To the west is Mt. Carmel, including the Shephelah,
or foothills of Carmel.
Northwest is the Plain of Asher,
which spreads out from the modern Sea port city of Haifa on the slope of Mt. Carmel,
to Acco/Ptolemais in the north.
North of the Jezreel Valley is Lower Galilee,
a series of east to west running mountain ranges that are bisected by wide plains.
Note the town of Nazareth on mountainous ridge just north of the Jezreel Valley.
On the east note Eastern Lower Galilee, and to the
southeast Mt. Gilboa.
Between Eastern Lower Galilee and Mt. Gilboa is the
wide Harod Valley, which serves as a route to and from the east.
Finally, note the Jordan Rift Valley,
including the Sea of Galilee and the Lower Jordan River plain.
From a high spot on Mt. Carmel, let's get a view
of the Jezreel Valley from West to East.
Note the agricultural productivity of the Jezreel Valley.
The Name Jezreel, means "God will plant". Looking across the Valley, some 10 to 15 miles
away, are the Nazareth Ridge,
Mt. Tabor, and the Hill of Moreh.
Turning just a bit to the south -- Here's the Hill of Moreh,
the Harod Valley, and Mt. Gilboa.
Now let's take a closer look at the routes and site locations
associated with the Jezreel Valley. One Bible geographer called the Jezreel Valley
a stage with entrances and exits that lead to and from other nations.
The southwest entrance - exit of the Jezreel Valley leads to the Coastal Plain and ultimately
to Egypt. These gates are called the Mt. Carmel Passes.
They follow valleys that pass through Mt. Carmel. Where the passes enter
the Jezreel Valley, one pass is guarded by the city of Megiddo,
the other by Jokneam. Above Jokneam on Mt. Carmel is the traditional location
of Elijah's contest with the prophets of the Phonecian god, Baal.
We are on Mt Carmel where Elija contested with the prophets of Baal
showing that Baal is nothing and Yahweh is the true God.
Here is an aerial photo of the ruins of Megiddo, well situated to
oversee activity in the Jezreel Valley.
Most importantly , Megiddo supervised the important pass connecting
the Jezreel Valley with the coastal Sharon Plain.
The modern highway runs through the Megiddo Pass.
Map 2-5 shows a campaign of Pharoah Thutmose III. This Pharoah
may be the one who caused Moses to flee to Midian
Thutmoses III made multiple campaigns into Canaan in an effort to secure control of trade
routes in the plains On one of those campaigns
Thutmose boasted of attacking Megiddo via the narrow Megiddo pass, giving a pep talk
to his troops, he declared: "Capturing Megiddo is like capturing 1000
cities!"
The Northwest gate of the Jezreel Valley is the Kishon Pass
All of the Jezreel Valley is drained by the Kishon River which
exits the Valley along the foot of Mt. Carmel to the northwest, ending at the Mediterranean
Sea. The route follows the river along Mt. Carmel
to the Plain of Asher.
This Google Earth photo shows Mt. Carmel and the Kishon Pass
The photo is oriented to the west. North is to the right. Here's the tip
of the Jezreel Valley. Here is Mount Carmel, and the
Kishon Pass that connects the Jezreel Valley to the Plain of Asher and the Mediterranean
Sea. Also visible are the Jokneam Pass through Mt. Carmel and Tel Jokneam
where the route joins the Jezreel Valley.
As Map 6-3 shows, The Israel-Phoenicia alliance in the days of
Ahab and Jezebel utilized the Kishon Pass in the transfer of materials, culture and
religion between these two nations.
The North gate to the Jezreel Valley is the Shimron Pass. The Shimron Pass
uses a valley to join with an important east-west route that connects Acco with the Sea of Galilee.
More remote in the hills above this region is the village of Nazareth,
where Jesus grew up.
Behind us is a Nazareth a town where Jesus grew up.
We are here in the town of Nazareth and this is the hometown of Jesus.
Where He was teaching in His Galileean ministries. And the reactions from people there was so
strong that they wanted to take Him up to the hill (and to kill Him.)
In the same hilly region near Nazareth, only two miles away is
Gath-hepher, the hometown of the prophet Jonah. Also nearby is
Sepphoris, an important Roman town, the regional capital
of Galilee when Jesus was a youth. To the north, across the wide Bet Netofa
plain is Jotapata, where the Jewish general and historian Josephus Flavius was captured
by the Romans, and Cana, where Jesus performed His first
miracle.
Hi. We are here in the city of Sepphoris near Nazareth.
And Behind me across the valley is the ruin of Cana where Jesus did His first miracle
turning water into wine.
Archaeological excavations at Cana have exposed a late First century AD building,
likely a synagogue , including this base and pillar.
The Northeast gate exits the Jezreel Valley between the
Hill of Moreh, and Mt. Tabor. Therefore we call this gate
the Tabor pass.
Right now we are at a ridge near Nazareth and to my
right you can see Mt. Tabor also the valley of Jezreel
where Barak and Deborah fought a battle against Sisera of Hazor and Jabin and the Lord gave
them a great victory. Also
behind me is Mt. Moreh where a city known as Nain sits on the ridge
where the Lord Jesus Christ raised a son of a poor widow from the dead.
The Tabor Pass is a part of the Great International route
that connects with nations further north. Note the Wadi Arbel where the route drops
down to the Plain of Genessaret along the Sea of
Galilee.
This photo shows the Wadi Arbel region. The International route
comes along the northwestern side of the Sea of Galilee, then north.
On Map 1-3, note the continuation of the Great International route, from the
Jezreel Valley to the Sea of Galilee, the route climbs north to the city of Hazor
in the Hulah Valley. The route continues north
in the Hulah Valley to the region around Dan, where it branches to Lebanon or Damascus of
Syria, and beyond to Mesopotamia.
The east Gate of the Jezreel Valley is the Harod Valley Route, connecting the cities
of Jezreel and Beth-shan. The Jezreel Valley
is shaped like an arrowhead. The Harod Valley is the shaft of the arrow, running along the
north side of Mt. Gilboa.
On Map 1-3, note how the gateway to the east, the Harod Valley, intersects
with the important route in the Jordan Rift Valley at the city of Beth-shan.
From here there is access up into Gilead. One route intersects with the Transjordan
International highway, or the Way to Bashan, at the city of Ramot-Gilead.
Here is a beautiful aerial photograph from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands collection.
We are looking at Mt. Gilboa and the Harod Valley from West to east.
Here is the modern kibutz, and ancient Tel Jezreel.
Mt Gilboa. The Harod Valley.
The modern route in the Harod Valley, maneuvering past irrigation and fish ponds to Beth-shan.
A portion of The Rift Valley, and off to the east, the Hills of Gilead
.
There are many Biblical events that show the Harod Valley was an important route.
As marked on Map 4-6, the Lord chose three hundred men in the days of Gideon at the
Harod Spring, near the city of Jezreel at the base of Mt.
Gilboa. The Midianites
were across the Harod Valley at the foot of the Hill of Moreh.
When Gideon blew the trumpet, the Midianites panicked and fled down the Harod Valley,
crossed the Jordan River and tried to escape further east through Gilead.
We are at the Spring of Harod where the LORD chose 300 men in the days of
Gideon to conquer the Medianites.
In Saul's final days the Philistines encamped at
Shunem near the Hill of Moreh. They were in position to not only compete
for control of the important routes in the Jezreel Valley,
but also to drive a wedge between Israelite northern and southern tribes.
King Saul gathered his forces at Jezreel, and then snuck
around the Philistines to get counsel from a witch at En Dor. To no avail.
The next day Saul was wounded, retreated and died on Mt. Gilboa.
The Philisitines found his body and hung it on the walls of Beth-shan.
We are at Beth-Shan. We are standing on a Roman street.
And behind us is the Caanaites-Israleites mound where the Philistines dragged Saul's
body and hung it up.
Ahab, the Baal worshipping king of Israel, killed Naboth of Jezreel and confiscated Naboth's
land. Not long afterwards Ahab convinced Jehoshaphat of Judah to go up to Ramoth-gilead
to battle with the Aramens. Ahab was killed
at Ramot-gilead by a stray arrow.
The Harod Valley to Gilead connection is illustrated by the wild
chariot ride of Jehu, who was anointed to
wipe out Baal worship in Israel.
We are at the city of Jezreel. Behind us is the Harod valley
and Jehu rode his chariot wildly up the valley and came here to the city and killing both
the king of Judah and king of Israel and having Jezebel thrown out the window.
Very good. That's it.
And finally, the southern gate of the Jezreel Valley the Bible calls
the Ascent of Gur.
The continuation of this route is shown on Map 1-
It ascends into the Hills of Samaria at Ibleam, and just
before Dothan splits. One branch toward the city of Samaria,
the other toward Tirzah. The routes rejoin
at Shechem, where it continues south on the Watershed route, the Road of the Patriarchs.
So these are the gates in and out of the Jezreel Valley.
The Mt. Carmel Passes to the Coastal plain and Egypt.
The Kishon pass to the the Plain of Asher and the Mediterranean sea.
The Shimron pass beyond the Nazareth Ridge. The Tabor pass, a continuation of the great
International route to the Northeast, the Harod Valley route with connections to
the Jordan Rift Valley and Gilead, and the Ascent of Gur into Samaria.
This video was written by Professor William Schlegel
Translated by Dr. Simon Liu and Miss Anny Zhang
And edited by Dr. Joseph Kim Please visit www.logos101.org for more information.
Again please visit Dr. Joseph Kim's website, www.logos101.org for more information.
Thank you.