Though the majority of Jesus’ ministry was performed within predominantly Jewish areas of Palestine, the Gospels also record several occasions when Jesus traveled beyond Israel and ministered to Gentiles, including a visit to Tyre and Sidon in Syria and possibly multiple visits to the region of the Decapolis southeast of the Sea of Galilee. It is difficult to be certain of the exact order of the various events of the Gospels, so it is unclear if some of these trips beyond Israel were part of a single, larger trip or if they were all made separately. Jesus’ visit to Tyre and Sidon was likely an attempt to take some time away from the great crowds he was increasingly drawing in Galilee, for Matthew specifies that Jesus “withdrew” to the region with his disciples, and Mark notes that Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was staying (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30). Nevertheless a Gentile woman found him and begged him to cast a demon out of her daughter, and Jesus did. Another time Jesus and his disciples got into a boat and crossed over the Sea of Galilee to the Decapolis, though the exact location is unclear. Some manuscripts record that he landed at the region “of the Gadarenes”; others read “of the Gerasenes” ; and still others “of the Gergesenes.” Gadara, Gerasa, and Gergesa were all located within the Decapolis, meaning “Ten Towns,” which had been granted a special autonomous status with Rome. There Jesus cast demons out of two men, leading the residents to plead with him to leave their region (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39). On another occasion while Jesus was in the Decapolis he healed a deaf and mute man, and those who heard about it were amazed (Mark 7:31-37). The Gospels also record that Jesus traveled to the town of Caesarea Philippi at the foot of Mount Hermon in the far north of Israel (though this was technically still within the jurisdiction of Judea). Caesarea Philippi was one of the sources of the Jordan River and home to a prominent pagan shrine to the Greek god Pan. Here Peter famously declared to Jesus: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30). It was likely also here that Jesus was transfigured before his disciples on a “high mountain” (Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:1-13; Luke 8:28-36).
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Omri Rises to Power
1 Kings 16:8-28
Though most Bible readers would hardly recognize the name Omri among the list of Israel’s rulers, this king played such a pivotal role in Israel’s history that 150 years later the kings of Assyria still referred to Israel as the “land of Omri” in their annals. During (or perhaps before) the brief two year reign of Elah son of Baasha (c. 886-885 B.C.), Omri rose to the rank of commander among Israel’s forces, as did another man named Zimri, but Elah himself does not appear to have been a very strong leader. While Elah was getting drunk at the home of one of his palace officials in Tirzah, Zimri came and killed him and succeeded him as king. News of Zimri’s coup quickly spread to Omri and his forces, who were attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon, and their reaction was to immediately proclaim Omri as king instead. So Omri and his men withdrew from Gibbethon to lay siege to Tirzah, leading Zimri to commit suicide by retreating into the citadel of the royal palace and setting fire to it, thus ending his short seven day reign. But then another man named Tibni also tried to set himself up as king, and a five year civil war ensued between Omri and Tibni, with the people of Israel evenly divided between the two men. Eventually Omri prevailed over Tibni and became king. Soon after this he built a new capital city named Samaria on a hill at a strategic juncture northwest of Shechem. From the Mesha Inscription it is also clear that Omri continued to shore up Israel’s power by attacking Medeba and regaining control of this region. The Mesha Inscription acknowledges that Medeba had long been inhabited by Israelites, but Moab often vied for control over this region ever since Israel split from Judah. Omri may have also regained control over the towns in the far north of Israel, which had been captured by Aram during Baasha’s reign (1 Kings 15:9-24), or it may be that these towns were recovered later as part of a treaty between Aram and Omri’s son Ahab (see 1 Kings 20:26-34).
The City of Philippi
Acts 16:11-40
During the time of the apostle Paul the city of Philippi in Macedonia was home to military veterans of a great battle fought nearby as well as to the very first Europeans who responded to Paul’s message of the good news of Jesus Christ. During his second missionary journey Paul traveled to Troas, just across from Macedonia. There Paul received a vision of a man from Macedonia calling to him for help, so Paul and Silas sailed to the town of Neapolis on the Macedonian coast. From there they headed to Philippi, a leading city in the region, by traveling along the Egnatian Way, the primary Roman road throughout Macedonia. On the Sabbath they went outside the city gates to find a place of prayer, likely along the Krenides River about a mile east of the city. There they shared the gospel with some women who were gathered there, including Lydia of Thyatira, who became a believer. She and her household were baptized, and she invited Paul and his companions to stay at her house. Later as Paul was going again to the place of prayer he encountered a female slave who told fortunes as a way to make money for her owners. Paul cast out the spirit from the woman, which angered her owners, because it destroyed their means of making money from her. The men dragged Paul and Silas before the magistrates at the marketplace, who then ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten and thrown into prison. That night while Paul and Silas sang hymns in their cell an earthquake loosed all the prisoners’ chains and opened the prison doors. The jailer prepared to kill himself, because he thought all the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called out to him and assured him that all the prisoners were still there, leading the grateful jailer to become a follower of Jesus Christ. The next day the magistrates released Paul and Silas, who then visited Lydia and the other believers before leaving for Thessalonica further west along the Egnatian Way. Paul likely revisited the believers at Philippi years later on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:1-2), and he wrote his Epistle to the Philippians sometime during one of his later imprisonments.
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Geshur and Maacah
The remote region surrounding the Upper Jordan River was home to two small nations that are frequently overlooked regarding their role in Israelite history: Geshur and Maacah. The land occupied by these two nations fell within the allotted territories of Naphtali and Manasseh, but Israel was never able to drive them out (Joshua 12:5; 13:1-13), and they remained as small, autonomous enclaves within Israel much like the Philistines along the coast. During David’s time, the nation of Maacah (also called Aram-maacah) contributed warriors to the coalition that fought against David after his messengers were humiliated by the Ammonites (2 Samuel 10:6-8; 1 Chronicles 19:6-7; see “David Defeats the Ammonites and the Arameans” map). The nation of Geshur, on the other hand, appears to have enjoyed a more peaceful relationship with Israel during David’s time, likely due to David’s marriage to Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. David’s son Absalom was born to Maacah, so when Absalom killed his half brother Amnon, he fled to Geshur for refuge (2 Samuel 13-14; see “Absalom Rebels against David” map). Sometime later, perhaps during an era of Aramean dominance, Geshur joined Aram to capture all of Bashan (1 Chronicles 2:23). Centuries later, Jesus and his disciples traveled to Panias (which was called Caesarea Philippi by Jesus’ time), and it was there that Peter made his great declaration that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus was transfigured before them (Matthew 16:13-17:13; Mark 8:27-9:13).
The Land of Midian
The heartland of Midian was located immediately east of the Gulf of Aqaba, although the Midianites’ nomadic lifestyle often took them far beyond this region and even into the land of Israel. The Bible mentions the Midianites as early as Joseph’s time (Genesis 37:25-36) and as late as Isaiah’s time (Isaiah 60:6), but they may have existed in some form into the time of the New Testament as well, because the first century writers Josephus and Ptolemy mention places named Madian (likely also called Madiam and Madiana) and Modiana. Genesis notes that the Midianites were descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1-6), but when Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph is sold to Midianite traders while at Dothan in Canaan, it appears that they are also referred to as Ishmaelites, suggesting that there must have been some categorical overlapping of these groups by the Israelites. Later Moses fled to Midian after killing an Egyptian, and he married Zipporah, a daughter of the Midianite priest named Reuel (Exodus 2). Later Reuel (also called Jethro) visited Moses and assisted him while he was with the Israelites at Mount Sinai (Exodus 18). When the Israelites were preparing to enter the Promised Land, however, the Midianites were involved in the plot to bring Balaam to curse to the Israelites (Numbers 22:4-7), and they led the Israelites into idolatry, leading Moses to curse them (Numbers 25). The Israelites later fought against the Midianites and defeated them (Numbers 31). During the time of the Judges, Midianites regularly raided places in Israel such as the Jezreel Valley (Judges 6:1-6), and the Lord raised up Gideon to defeat them. Centuries later Isaiah foretold of a time when the wealth of the nations, including Midian with its young camels, would be brought to Israel (Isaiah 6:1-7). Primarily because of Moses’ interactions with the Midianite Reuel, various mountain peaks within the land of Midian have been offered as possible locations of Mount Sinai, although the Bible specifically notes that Reuel (or Jethro) left Mount Sinai to return to his own land (Exodus 18:27; Numbers 10:30), suggesting that Mount Sinai was not located in Midian.
