Day 11, June 11, Luke 9:21-22,51

Itinerary:

·       Hwy. 90

o   Jordan River Valley/Rift

o   Modern day Monument

·       Hwy. 60 N (Jerusalem to Shechem/Nablus; Way of the Patriarchs; Judges 21:19)

o   Abraham (Gen. 12:6-9; 13:1-18)

o   Jacob (Gen. 28:10-22; 33:18-20; 35:1-29)

o   “Hill Country of Ephraim” (Josh. 7:14-18; 1 Sam. 1)

·       Mt. Gerazim (John 4:20-26)

o   Mt. Ebal (Josh. 8:30-35)

o   Shechem/Nablus (Gen. 12:6; 33:18-20; 34)

·       Shiloh (Josh. 18:1-10; Psa. 78:56-64; Jer. 7:12-15)

·       Bethel

o   Abraham, Jacob (he had a dream here, Gen. 28:10-22)

o   Look for “Ebenezer”, Gibeon

o   Altar of Jereboam (1 Ki. 12:25-33)

·       Dinner with a family of Palestinian believers (Maqluba)

Today began again with a wonderful breakfast at our hotel in Gidona and then a quick grocery store stop in Bet Shean for lunch supplies.  Then we set out for some important Biblical sites. 

First was Mt. Gerizim, on the south side of Nablus (Shechem), opposite Mt. Ebal.  On these two mountains the people of Israel gathered when they first entered the land, half on one mountain and half on the other.  One half recited the blessings and the other the curses related to the Law.  It was also the mountain referred to in John 4 by the woman at the well as the place of worship for Samaritans.


But it was also the center of worship for the “Samaritans”.  When the Northern Kingdom was taken captive by the Assyrians other nations (and thus other religions) were transplanted to Israel.  The mix of those religions with the religion of Israel resulted in the Samaritan worship.  We learned from Ilan Cohen, the man on site, that the Samaritans used as a holy book a copy of the Torah that has over 2000 differences with the Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy) of the Jews (and thus of Christians). 

Among those changes were the belief that Abraham did not bring Isaac to Mt. Moriah but to Mt. Gerizim.  Another was that Mt. Gerizim was the mount of blessing instead of Ebal as our Bible indicates.  Thus today, on Mt. Gerizim today, there is a place that is supposed to be where Isaac was offered.  Also they believe the 12 stones are there that were taken from the Jordan and used as a memorial.  There are still Samaritans today and they still offer sacrifices for the Passover on Mt. Gerizim.  Mr. Cohen did tell us that the Samaritan manuscript was never submitted to scientific dating to determine the age they claim for it.


We then moved to another worship site, Ancient Shilo.  When Israel first entered the land this was the site for the tabernacle and from which Joshua “governed” (i.e. the first capital of Israel).  They have found that actual site where the Tabernacle sat.  We read from Jer. 7 and Ps. 78 about why God eventually rejected Shilo and chose Jerusalem instead.


We then went to Bethel where there is a great view (if it were not so hazy) of Israel in all four directions, as God indicated to Abraham and Jacob.  It is the place where Jacob had his dream and where he built an altar.  Sadly, in the days of the Northern Kingdom this was one of the two sites Jeroboam established worship of the golden calf, a sin that dominated Israel’s existence until the carrying away by the Assyrians.


Lastly we worked our way through Jerusalem to meet up with Rami and Sandi, Palestinian believers.  We had Maqluba (traditional Palestinian food) at “the farm”, a wonderful location with vineyards and orchards that has been in Rami’s family for hundreds of years.


So here’s a summary of what we saw today.  1) False worship at Mt. Gerizim, mixing truth and error.  2) False worship at Shilo in trusting in the Ark of the Covenant instead of God.  3) False worship at Bethel under Jereboam.  4) And true worship on a Palestinian farm with wonderful believers.

We will put a couple of items related to Jerusalem: the ancient map of Jerusalem and a map of the Old City today.