by Pastor Patrick Cho
Today was Jezreel Valley Day, Part 2. We began by going to the city of Sephoris, which neighbors Nazareth, and ended our day at Arbel, which is off the west coast of the Sea of Galilee. Sephoris (or Zippori) is a historically important city in Jewish history because the Mishnah was codified here, but it really has no biblical significance. Because of the city’s proximity to Nazareth and the fact that it was constructed around the time of Jesus’ early life (ca. 3 B.C. to A.D. 17), some believe Joseph and Jesus may have helped with the city’s construction. Of course, there really is no way to confirm that, but it is a possibility since they worked as carpenters.
One interesting detail about Sephoris is in the synagogue where there is an elaborate mosaic floor. The floor contains various images from key Old Testament narratives, but in the center of the floor is a giant zodiac calendar. No one knows why the calendar is there, but it certainly doesn’t seem to belong.
Sephoris was a pagan city and another room, called the Dionysius Room, contained a second mosaic floor. This mosaic had images of different mythical creatures including satyrs and centaurs. The theme of the room seemed to be drinking and merriment. One of the images was of Heracles and Dionysius engaged in a drinking contest. On the perimeter of the mosaic to one end was an image of a lady who is commonly referred to as the “Mona Lisa of Zippori.” The detail in the image was really amazing. It was hard to believe it was a mosaic because it looked like a photograph.
Leaving Sephoris, we headed over to a spot in Jezreel overlooking the Harod Valley. This is roughly the area where Ahab and Jezebel took Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21). Naboth was unwilling to give the land to the king because it was divinely allotted property. By refusing to give the land to the king he was demonstrating his faithfulness to God. As the story unfolds in Scripture, Jezebel arranged for Naboth’s murder after unjustly accusing him. As a result, Elijah came and pronounced judgment on Ahab and Jezebel.
The Harod Valley also has a spring that flows out of a fairly large cave. This place, called En Harod, was our next stop. In Judges 7:4-8, the Lord used either this spring or one just like it to whittle the army of Israel down to 300 men. He would use this small number of men to defeat the giant Midianite army (cf. Judg. 8:10). During the spring, the water flow is fairly strong but today it trickled along for us. Of course, our group took turns taking pictures lapping up the water like a dog or scooping it up to our mouths. We didn’t actually drink the water because while Dr. Grisanti taught us about Gideon, a bunch of pigeons came flying out of the cave.
After lunch we made a brief stop at a small community that made olive oil. One of the workers spoke some English so he walked us through the equipment they used for production. Their methods were actually very similar to the way olive oil was made even in Jesus’ day, so the brief tour was really fascinating. We were taught about how good quality olive oil is made, and how factories today do not produce oil of similar quality. It was neat to hear about the process of making olive oil because it helped me to understand how it might have been done in the days of Scripture.
Our final destination for today was the Arbel Cliffs. We began at the top of the cliffs, which overlooked the Sea of Galilee. From the cliff’s edge, we could clearly see the coastal cities of Capernaum and Chorazin. Magdala was at the base of the cliffs where archaeologists are currently excavating the land. I had heard once in a sermon that the Sea of Galilee was so large that if you were in a boat in the middle of it, you wouldn’t be able to see land. I came to realize that’s not true. We could easily see across the water to the other side. The small size of the Sea of Galilee actually surprised me. It was hard to imagine waves rising up that would seriously threaten lives, but because of the strong winds that can run across the water, apparently very large waves can form.
Dr. Grisanti had warned us the last couple days that we would have a fairly major hike down the side of Arbel, but it actually was really enjoyable. Thankfully we walked down it and not up because the face of the cliff was very steep. There were times we had to climb down handholds and metal chains to keep us from falling to the bottom. At different points during the hike, I looked up to see from where we had come and was amazed at how far we had descended. The only part I slightly regret was in the middle where we were given the option to climb up a bit to explore some caves. I suppose the caves were neat, but perhaps not worth the climb. Anyway, I can now say I came to Israel and climbed up Masada and down Arbel.