Throughout Bible times, nature and history combined to make the region of Galilee in northern Israel a land of great diversity. Galilee’s mountainous terrain is covered with lush vegetation made possible by the region’s abundant rainfall. Upper Galilee, which was occupied by the tribe of Naphtali, is home to the highest mountains in Israel west […]
Category Archives: Jesus
Jesus’ Ministry along the Sea of Galilee
It is often said that big things come in small packages. The truth of this saying is no more clearly displayed than in the ministry of Jesus along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. By the time Jesus moved from his hometown of Nazareth to the town of Capernaum, the freshwater Sea of Galilee […]
Jesus’ Birth and Escape to Egypt
The story of Jesus’ birth begins in the village of Nazareth, where Joseph and Mary lived (Luke 2:1-7). The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary there and announced to her that she would give birth to the Messiah. As the time drew near for Jesus to be born, Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, the town […]
Jerusalem during the New Testament
By the time of the New Testament, the ancient city of Jerusalem had been transformed from the relatively small fortress of David’s day (2 Samuel 5:6-10; 1 Chronicles 11:4-9) into a major city with a Temple that rivaled the greatest temples in the Roman world. Just prior to Jesus’ birth, Herod the Great completely renovated […]
Palestine under Roman Rule
At the time of Jesus’ birth, the land of Israel (now called Palestine by the Romans) was ruled by the Romans, who had granted Herod the Great the title of “king” over the region. His domain included most of the land that once belonged to Israel. After his death, the Romans granted Herod’s wishes that […]