Bless us where we are

January 8: Beth Shean – Jacob H.
Beth Shean was a breathtaking experience and possibly my favorite archaeological site. It is a massive, well preserved site with an expansive history stretching beyond both Old and New Testaments. It offers multicultural artifacts from before, during, and after biblical times. From the Egyptian anthropoid coffins predating the united Israelite monarchy to the remains of Zeus’s temple from the Roman period, Beth Shean offers a rich and holistic example of how God blesses us through biblical archaeology.

This city comes up in scripture multiple times, though I will share just one example. First Samuel 31 tells of how the Philistines found King Saul’s body after an Israelite defeat on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines hung his body from the wall of Beth Shean along with three of his sons. But the town of Jabesh Gilead heard about this. This reference to Jabesh Gilead calls upon another story from the very beginning of Saul’s kingship. Immediately after Saul is reluctantly crowned king, Jabesh is threatened by Ammonites and Saul quickly reacts by uniting all twelve tribes for the first time since they entered the land. By doing so, he leads the nation to rescue Jabesh Gilead. So coming back to the previous story about Saul’s demise, Jabesh sends valiant men over to remove his body from Beth Shean’s wall and give it a proper burial.

This story from I Samuel is not only a beautiful literary device telling of a valiant moment of repayment and respect, but it implicitly demonstrates Beth Shean’s strategic location. Beth Shean’s history is so vast because its location is militarily, economically, and geographically significant. From the Neolithic period, forces have fought over this city which is at the very tip of the Harod Valley, positioned on a major trade route and nestled between two mountain ranges. It’s at a vital crossroads between Megiddo, Damascus, and the Jordan Rift Valley. This is why the Philistines took residence in this city after defeating the Israelites and hung Saul’s body from its prominent location.

Today, upon approaching the ancient site, one is immediately struck by the 150 meter ornate stone street. This road is lined with impressive columns and mosaics, covers a Roman sewer line, and points directly to where the temple of Zeus sat atop the ancient tel. The impressive Roman architecture resembles that of many cities of the early church world that Acts described and New Testament authors addressed. But of all the amazing architectural examples in Beth Shean, my favorite is the theater.

The theater is my favorite not because of any particular historical significance, but because of an incredible experience we had there together. To demonstrate the effective acoustics of this 7,000 seat theater, a member of our group with formal vocal experience in opera took the stage. We all sat in amazement as this gentle-spoken individual filled the empty, open-aired auditorium with beautiful, powerful music. And as we all listened in amazement, God presented me with one of my favorite lessons from this trip:

We can spend endless amounts of time seeking God in the past through various studies, including archaeology. And though He wants to meet us there, he equally desires to meet and bless us where we are, often through the most unexpected people/situations He places in our lives.

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This afternoon we spent our time in two places. The first is the might mountain of Carmel and the second was the mighty city of Caesarea. The first is the sight home to a few different OT stores, none more famous than Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). The Second is the scene of a king with a mighty building plan which was eventually home to Paul during one of his stints in prison.

Mount Carmel sits a few miles from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. From the top you can see the Coastal Plains and the Mediterranean as well as the Mountains across the massive valley of Jezreel home to Nazareth. For many people throughout history this mountain was considered holy to their deities. The Egyptians, when they occupied this land, saw it as a holy place. The Greeks as well saw it as an abode to Zeus. And the people occupying the land at the time of Elijah, the Philistines, considered this a holy site to Baal. So to many ancients this is where the chief deity of the land resides. When Elijah comes to challenge the priests of Baal it is clear who the winner should have been. But, on the top of this mighty mountain, the place where many had claimed that their mighty gods inhabited, the true God enters with Elijah and proves them otherwise. In the moment when God revealed himself to the Philistines on Mount Carmel he reminded the world of who holds the true power and who is the might God of the Universe.

The second sight we visited was the mighty city of Caesarea. This town, during its time, was a modern marvel. In Israel there is no natural port and so Kind Herod the Great decided that he would build one. And he did. It was so large in fact that it could house 300 ships and was bigger than most other ports in the world. Through this feat of engineering Herod was saying that, “I am in control of nature and nature does not control me.” When sailors would enter into this port they were first and foremost graced with the presence of a temple to the Caesar. In placing this temple at the end of the port he is also showing where his true allegiance lies despite being the king over the Jews. In saying he has power over nature and in building this temple he is trying to show the world his power and might. Many years later enters Paul. Under a predecessor of King Herod, Herod Agrippa, Pauls is placed under house arrest in Caesarea (Acts 26). He is there awaiting transportation to Rome and from here, once he leaves, God once again shows that now his might is no longer staying in the realm of Israel but is going into the heart of the enemy Rome. Leaving behind this mighty city for another, Paul goes with the might of God.

In the two places we visited this afternoon we saw two different people groups trying to flex their muscles to show the might of their God or the might of the King. Two times we see God, on the other hand do something mighty in these places to show how powerful he is. This is the story of Scripture. In the places where we often try to show our might, God often shows up to show his.

Written by Christopher T.

Nazareth is farther than Grand Rapids than I could have imagined.

As we ascended the several ridges onto the mountain that likely hosted the small, 1^st century Jewish community called Nazareth, you could not but notice the large, craggy, boulder-like rocks littering the hillsides. Large stalks of grass and other vegetation were positioned between the sea of white rocks. Traversing the hillsides of Jesus’ boyhood village would mean navigating between and over and around these jutting rocks, all while balancing on steep inclines. Perhaps these large stones would later be fashioned and chiseled by Jesus, used to erect the foundations for homes or other edifices.

More importantly, however, is to note that Jesus could walk from his small village to one of the high points of this ridge and have an expansive and lofty view of the Jezreel Valley.

Geographically, the Jezreel Valley is a level passageway leading into the northern area of Israel. Travelers coming from the coastal highway (on the western plains along the sea) or traders coming into the ports from the Mediterranean could connect with inland Israel through the Jezreel, connecting with several prominent routes. From the vantage points near his home, Jesus could have observed these travelers coming through the Jezreel, including those from foreign lands.

Historically, the Jezreel reverberates with the stories of the valley—  he could peer over the valley and observe the stories and traditions of past kingdoms, including those of ancient Israel. Looking left, he would have seen Mt. Tabor rising from the plain, the site where Deborah took on the army of Jabin. Looking across the plains of the Jezreel he would have been looking upon the location of multiple battles, some of which included biblical figures like Jehu. Looking across the valley a bit to the right on another ridge, he would have been looking at Megiddo, the massive ancient city and military outpost for centuries. (We’ll pause to talk about Megiddo, since we had opportunity to visit). And other sites were in view— the hill of Moreh, the city of Jezreel, and the Mediterranean seaboard just over the Carmel mountain ridgeline. Perched and narrated from the vantage points of his hometown, these sites would shape his understanding of the world and color it with meaning. The stories of this valley would allow him to see the layers of history; archaeology allows us to do the same.

The layers of history have been uncovered extensively for one such city. As mentioned, Jesus could see Megiddo across the Valley on the opposite ridge line from his village. Megiddo affords a fully expansive view of not only the Jezreel Valley but all of its surrounding features. It’s incredible to see what they could have seen from multiple points on the large hill. It’s unparalleled. The clear view of sight and the narrowing of several valleys at this location explains why this mound had been a strategic occupation from the time of the Neolithic period. There is evidence of 20 cities having been built on Megiddo and at least 30 major battles fought there or in the valley below. That’s an extraordinary number of layers.

Pharoah Thutmose III, coming up from Egypt to take the city from the Canaanites long before the time of Israel, wrote this: “The taking of Megiddo is like the taking of 1,000 cities.” Among the ruins, you can see where they had hundreds of horse stables for their chariots, an enormous granary dug into the earth, and much more. King Solomon used Megiddo as a major administrative center. Josiah dies at Megiddo when he went up to oppose Pharoah Neco II. Jeroboam II likely held this city. Multiple kingdoms, multiple layers, multiple stories, all within view of Jesus’ boyhood home. He came of age looking over a valley charged with symbolism, but what does it all mean?

Certainly these would have been points for discussion and debate in the close quarters of the Nazareth synagogue. But Jesus’ version they could not receive. In Luke 4, Jesus arises in his hometown synagogue to read from the scroll of Isaiah, a portion from Isaiah 61. And then he self-identified as this messenger of good news, as the one to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Those in the synagogue would call into remembrance the rest of Is 61—there would have been a lot to get excited over: “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated (v. 4)… you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours (v. 7)… and so on.

But Jesus, in their view, betrays them. He would perform no miracle to confirm what he had said, like at Capernaum. They could not receive it; perhaps they would mistake it for something else. Instead he would, like Elijah go out to proclaim his message of good news to the widows of Zarephath— in the Phoenician city of Sidon(!)— just a few ridges over from Nazareth. Or he would, like Elisha, go to the lepers of Syria, to the Naamans. But what about Israel? 

What about reclaiming control of the Jezreel so that they could administer the riches of the world for renovation and justice (Is 61:4-6, 8-9)? Jesus interprets the Scriptures with a different story in mind. The nations, free of charge, would stream to the LORD’s temple, making passage inland, perhaps through the Jezreel (Is 2:2). The nations would owe no debt to Israel for the restoration of all things, but only to the Sovereign Lord (Is 61:11). The promises would be for the nations as they would be for Israel. And because of this, foreign cities are more likely to receive his message than those in Nazareth.

This infuriated them. “And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.” You now could imagine the rocky fall.

There would be no control of the Jezreel, only free passage. There would be no battle to overtake the mighty Megiddo. Instead, lining the valley will be churches, sites for crucifixion, resurrection, and justice— wonderful news for the Valley— proclaiming the word of Jesus, the only sovereign. And this is what we see. Standing atop Nazareth you can see the largest Arab Christian church in the world shining gold among a sea of white edifices huddling on the ridge.

Jesus’ ministry in the world is sometimes not what we expect. Can we receive it? As you peer across the Jezreel Valley in your place, the place near you imbued with layers of symbol and story, what are your plans?

Written by Andrew K.