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By Marc Turnage

The land of Edom lay south of the land of Moab in the Transjordan. The Zered Ravine, which empties into the southern end of the Dead Sea, formed the boundary between these two kingdoms. The Bible refers to Edom also as Mount Seir (Genesis 36:21; Ezekiel 35:15). 

The plateau that forms the heartland of Edom, south of the Zered, is over 5000 feet above sea level, and some of its peaks reach a height of 5696 feet. Deep gorges cut through the western part plateau opening into the Rift Valley; only on the eastern frontier does the form of a plateau remain. Only a narrow strip on the western edge of the mountains received sufficient rainfall (200 mm) to produce any significant vegetation, mostly in the form of natural forest. Along this line, a line of towns was established. 

The limited agricultural potential of this region is acknowledged in Isaac’s blessing of his son Esau, who the Bible identified as the father of the Edomites (Genesis 27:38-39). Its agricultural limitations were compensated for by its presence along the southern end of the King’s Highway, the gateway from the Arabian Peninsula for incense, gold, and other luxury items. 

Also, Edom controlled the copper mines and trade in the southern Aravah (the southern portion of the Rift Valley north of the Gulf of Eilat). The port of Ezion-Geber on the northern shore of the Gulf of Eilat also received goods from the Red Sea, which would then be conveyed to various destinations via the trade routes that ran through Edom. 

The capital of Edom in the Old Testament period was Sela. Edom’s location along important trade routes put them in conflict with Judah for control of the Aravah (south of the Dead Sea) and Ezion-Geber. 

When Israel sojourned in the Transjordan, they sought to pass through the land of Edom following the King’s Highway, but the king of Edom denied their request. They had to circumvent Edom using the Desert Highway, which lay further east of the kingdom of Edom (Numbers 21:4; Deuteronomy 2:8; and Judges 11:16-18). The Old Testament condemns Edom’s lack of hospitality (Deuteronomy 23:3-6). 

Throughout the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, conflict arose between the people and the Edomites, especially with the kingdom of Judah. During the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, a coalition of the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites sought to invade Judah (1 Kings 22:47-49; 2 Chronicles 20). The Edomites revolted in the time of Jehoram and established their own king (2 Kings 8:20-22). 

The prophet Obadiah condemned the Edomites for gloating at the destruction of Judah (Obadiah 1:13-14; see Psalm 137:7; Ezekiel 16:57; 25:12-14; 35). The Babylonian deportation of Judeans left a population vacuum in Judah; this led to a number of Edomites immigrating into the biblical Negev and the southern Judean Hill Country around Hebron. 

In the Hellenistic period, these Edomites living in the southern Judean Hill Country and the biblical Negev were known in Greek as Idumeans. Herod the Great’s (Matthew 2) family came from Idumean stock.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

Excavations in the 1990s at the site of Dan in northern Israel, which sits at the foot of Mount Hermon, uncovered three fragments of an inscription from the 9^th century B.C. Written in Old Aramaic the fragments form part of a victory stela of an Aramean king (Hazael?) who claims to have killed the king of Israel and the king of the “House of David,” i.e., Judah. It seems that this stela was erected in connection with the events of the revolt of Jehu (2 Kings 9-10).

From its initial discovery, scholars have noted the significance of this inscription, and especially the mention of the “House of David” with reference to the king of Judah. This is the first ancient inscription that connects the royal house of Judah with David. Moreover, this language, “House (meaning a dynasty) of David,” appears a number of times in the Old Testament.

For example, in 2 Samuel 7, God makes a covenant with David that his heirs will sit on the throne in Jerusalem: “Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:11-12; see also 1 Kings 12:26; 14:8; 2 Kings 17:21; Isaiah 7:2; 22:22; Jeremiah 21:12; Zechariah 12:10; 13:1).

The inscription from Tel Dan indicates that within the 9^th century B.C. the royal house of Judah identified itself as belonging to the House of David, as can be seen from the biblical text. Since the discovery of the Tel Dan stela, an inscription discovered in the 19^th century in Transjordan, the Moabite Stone, which is also a victory stela of Mesha, king of Moab, has been reread, and some scholars have detected a reference to the “House of David” also in the Moabite Stone.

The Tel Dan inscription is also important because, if it refers to the rebellion of Jehu, it provides extrabiblical evidence that can shed light on how we understand this event recorded within the Bible. It suggests that Hazael, king of Aram-Damascus, and Jehu conspired in the rebellion, which may be hinted at in 1 Kings 19:15-18.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

By Marc Turnage

Lachish was one of the largest cities within the kingdom of Judah. Located in the Judean lowlands (Shephelah), it sat in the southern branch of the Beth Guvrin-Lachish Valley system, which provided an east-west corridor between the hill country (the area around Hebron) to the coastal plain (towards Ashkelon). Ample water meant that settlement prospered at Lachish in all periods and enabled the cultivation of the land around it. Even today it is in a very fertile area of the Judean lowlands known particularly for its cultivation of grapes. 

The ancient site of Lachish encompasses about thirty-one acres. It first appears mentioned within ancient sources in the 18^th century B.C. in an Egyptian document. Excavations at the site have uncovered twenty layers of settlement, which underscores the site’s importance and prominence. 

According to 2 Kings (14:19; 2 Chronicles 25:27), Amaziah, king of Judah, fled to Lachish following a revolt against him in Jerusalem. The rebels killed him at Lachish. During the Assyrian invasion of Judah in 701 B.C., under Sennacherib, the Assyrian army laid siege to Lachish (2 Kings 18:14, 17; Isaiah 36:2; 37:8; 2 Chronicles 32:9). While besieging Lachish, Sennacherib sent a force against Hezekiah in Jerusalem. 

Excavations at Lachish have revealed the extent of the Assyrian siege. In addition to the biblical account, Sennacherib documented his conquest of the city on wall reliefs, with which he decorated his palace in Nineveh. Both Sennacherib’s wall relief and the archaeological excavations show that the Assyrians built an earthen siege ramp that was used to bring siege engines against the walls of Lachish. Excavations uncovered a number of iron military implements like arrow heads. Archaeologists found a large number of slingshot stones. 

The Assyrian siege devastated Lachish and the kingdom of Judah, but they did not conquer Jerusalem. Lachish was rebuilt after the Assyrian siege but was again destroyed by the Babylonian conquest of the kingdom of Judah in the 6^th century B.C. This conquest destroyed Jerusalem as well. During the Babylonian conquest, the prophet Jeremiah notes that the only cities remaining to Judah were Jerusalem, Azekah (in the Elah Valley), and Lachish (34:7). 

Excavations at Lachish uncovered a number of inscriptions written on broken pieces of pottery. One of them, a letter, notes that the people of Lachish could no longer see the signal fires of Azekah, which lay to the north. Azekah had fallen, and the Babylonians were coming to Lachish. 

Excavations at Lachish also yielded a number of royal, Judean, storage jars and jar handles bearing a stamp with the Hebrew phrase, lemelek, meaning “belonging to the king.” These type of storage jars have been found at certain sites throughout Judah and date to the reign of King Hezekiah. Excavations at Lachish have uncovered more of these storage jars than any other site in the kingdom of Judah.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

 By Marc Turnage

The Galilean village of Yodfat lies in the hills three miles north of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, across Beit Netofa Valley, an easy day’s walk. Its primary industries were textiles and pottery manufacturing. The inhabitants of Yodfat herded sheep and goats for the purpose of converting their wool into fabrics and textiles. Archaeologists discovered a number of loom weights in the area, which indicates that an industry of textiles came from Yodfat.

Yodfat provides an important window into the world of Jesus. During the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 66-73), the first century Jewish historian Josephus relates that he commanded the Jewish forces in Galilee. He fortified villages throughout Galilee including Yodfat. 

The Roman army laid siege to the village building a siege ramp for soldiers to cross over its wall. As the Roman forces besieged Yodfat, Josephus and some of his men hid in a nearby cave. He convinced them to commit suicide rather than surrender to Rome. When the moment came for his death, however, he changed his mind and surrendered to Rome. He was taken to the camp of the general Vespasian. Roman forces destroyed Yodfat. It was never rebuilt.

Yodfat provides a time capsule into the Galilean world of Jesus in the first century. Archaeological excavations at Yodfat show the social strata of a Galilean village. A home with beautifully painted frescoes was discovered similar to other wealthy homes excavated in Jerusalem. The finds also indicate the presence of both merchant and artisan classes, who owned and distributed, manufactured and produced textiles and pottery. We can also assume the presence of poor people as well, but they do not leave remains within the archaeological record.

The excavations at Yodfat speak to the religious life of first century Galileans. While a synagogue has not yet been discovered, archaeologists uncovered Jewish ritual immersion pools (mikva’ot). These stone vessels indicate a concern for Jewish ritual purity laws. The animal bones discovered at the village show a distinct avoidance of pigs in accordance with Jewish law. The archaeology of Yodfat indicates that the people living in this area were Jews concerned with observance of Jewish law.

These were the Galileans to whom Jesus taught, healed, and ministered. Yodfat was destroyed a little over 30 years after Jesus’ crucifixion. When we touch the site of Yodefat, we touch the Galilee of Jesus and his disciples. The pottery that litters the ground of this site is the kind of pottery used by Mary in Nazareth. Yodfat’s close proximity to Nazareth suggests that Jesus would have known this Galilean village, and likely visited it. And it offers a view of the hills and valleys that Jesus and his disciples traveled.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

By Marc Turnage

Ashkelon sits on the southern Mediterranean coast in the modern State of Israel. The Bible identifies it as one of the five Philistine cities along with Gaza, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. Ashkelon sits on the Mediterranean coast between Gaza and Ashdod. The ancient site sat on a ridge of cemented sandstone called kurkar. Its elevated vantage point allowed for the observation of the sea routes from Egypt to Lebanon. 

Ashkelon receives, on average, almost fourteen inches of rainfall a year, which, while not a lot, is sufficient for viticulture and the cultivation of gardens. The high-water table meant that the city had an abundant supply of freshwater throughout its ancient history. Over a hundred ancient wells have been uncovered in excavations. 

The land around Ashkelon consists of sand ridges that run parallel to the coast. The local kurkar served as a basic stone for building at the site. Its location on the sea and just west of major land trade routes made Ashkelon a maritime trading center. Ancient seafaring vessels traveled using the trade winds and currents, tacking their way following the coast. Thus, Ashkelon served as an important location along the sea route between Egypt and Lebanon. 

Its close proximity to the most important overland route in the Ancient Near East, a route that connected Egypt with Damascus and Mesopotamia, meant that Ashkelon could capitalize upon its location for both land and sea trade. Throughout its history it maintained this dynamic; in the Byzantine period (4^th-6^th centuries A.D.), wine from Ashkelon was found in England. 

Ashkelon functioned as an important site in the Middle (1950-1550 B.C.) and Late (1550-1200 B.C.) Bronze Ages. Its fortifications from the Middle Bronze period are quite impressive including an arched gate, which is one of the oldest arches in the world. In Iron Age I (1200-1000 B.C.), Ashkelon underwent a change within its material culture. 

Excavations have revealed that during this period a distinct Philistine material culture emerged. With the Philistine appearance, both pig and dog entered the diet of the people; food avoided by both the Canaanites and Israelites. Excavators have uncovered tools and elements necessary for the manufacturing of textiles. 

Two Phoenician shipwrecks discovered off the coast of Ashkelon illustrate the importance of Ashkelon for maritime trade. These vessels contained over four hundred wine amphorae. Ashkelon, like Gaza, Ashdod, and Ekron, was destroyed around 600 B.C. by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The strategic importance of the city meant that it was rebuilt in the Persian period, and it continued to serve as in important trade center through the Byzantine period. It was eventually destroyed in A.D. 1270. 

The Bible says little about Ashkelon. That was likely due to the biblical writers being unfamiliar with the cosmopolitan center of Ashkelon. The prophets Amos, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Zechariah denounced the city, but it did not serve as an important focus of the Bible. That, however, does not reflect the significance of this ancient site.  

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

By Julie Stahl

“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. … Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 23:34-35, 42-43 NIV).

Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is one of the three major festivals in Judaism. It is both an agricultural festival of thanksgiving and a commemoration of the forty-year period during which the children of Israel wandered in the desert after leaving slavery in Egypt, living in temporary shelters as they traveled.

Some call this holiday a Jewish camping trip with the conveniences of home. It’s an ancient biblical command that’s still being kept today and it begins just four days after Yom Kippur. For thousands of years, Jewish people around the world have followed the biblical injunction to live in temporary dwellings during the week-long Feast of Tabernacles.

“It helps us remember,” says Israeli Seth Ben-Haim. “First of all, we’re commanded to remember the Exodus from Egypt and how we needed to wander through the desert for forty years without permanent dwellings, but it also reminds us that even though we’ve been brought into the land of Israel, we haven’t reached our final destination,” he says.

Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, when Jewish people were commanded to go up to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to worship.

For seven days, families eat, sleep, study, and pray in the sukkah or “booth.” Rabbis say it must have at least three sides and the roof must be made in such a way that the stars are visible through it at night and it’s open to the elements. Most people use either palm fronds or a straw mat for the roof. And many are decorated at least in part by the children.

“Otherwise, we’d be in the protection of our homes and the purpose of living temporarily in this flimsy tabernacle is so that we can remember that ultimately we’re under HaShem’s [God’s] protection,” says Ben-Haim.

Another part of the Sukkot celebration is recorded in Leviticus 23:40 (NLT), where the Bible commands the Israelites to take four species of fruit from beautiful trees—a citron or Etrog, a palm branch, a bough of leafy trees (myrtle), and a willow branch and “celebrate with joy before the LORD your God for seven days.”

Great care is taken to choose an Etrog without a blemish but with many bumps. During morning prayers each day, Jewish men wave the Lulav (the three branches) and Etrog before the Lord.

“We wave them in many different directions, and we really look above and that’s what this type of roof helps us to remember. We’re looking above because that’s where our help is going to come from,” says Ben-Haim.

The New Testament records that Jesus went up to Jerusalem for Sukkot: “The Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, so His brothers said to Him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea so Your disciples can see Your works that You are doing.’ … When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple complex and began to teach” ( John 7:2-3, 14 HCSB).

For Christians (actually the whole world), the Feast of Tabernacles has prophetic significance. In the book of Zechariah, the prophet says that one day all nations will come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast.

Since 1980, thousands of Christians from around the world have come up to Jerusalem every year to see prophecy fulfilled and to celebrate at the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem’s Feast of Tabernacles event. Other Christian ministries also hold Feast celebrations now.

“They’re following the invitation of Zechariah 14, where it says that one day all the nations will come up to celebrate this biblical feast here in Jerusalem, to worship the Lord and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Our showing up here now for this feast is a statement of faith that there’s coming a day when the Messiah will rule here,” says David Parsons, ICEJ spokesman.

Zechariah 14:16-18 says, In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, and to celebrate the [Feast of Tabernacles]. Any nation in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will have no rain. If the people of Egypt refuse to attend the festival, the LORD will punish them with the same plague that he sends on the other nations who refuse to go (NLT).

Holiday Greeting: Hag Sameach (“Happy Holiday!”) and during the intermediate days, Moadim L’Simcha (“a joyful holiday!”).

Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel full-time for more than 20 years. Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN—first as a graduate student in Journalism at Regent University; then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91; and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. She is also an integral part of CBN News’ award-winning show, Jerusalem Dateline, a weekly news program providing a biblical and prophetic perspective to what is happening in Israel and the Middle East.

By Marc Turnage

The ancient site Gamla sits in the central Golan Heights about six miles east of the northern end of the Sea of Galilee and the Bethsaida Valley. The ancient village sat on the spur of a hill created by two streams, Nahal Gamla and Nahal Daliyyot. The spur that the village of Gamla sat on can be seen easily from Bethsaida and the Bethsaida Valley; thus, while we never find mention of Jesus in Gamla, he would have known the site. The first century Jewish historian, Josephus, describes the village and the battle that took place there during the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 66-73). 

Gamla offers an important window into Jewish village life in the Galilee and Golan during the first century. Once the Roman army of Vespasian destroyed the site (A.D. 67), it was never reinhabited, and therefore, functions as a time capsule into a first century Jewish village. The primary settlement of the site began in the Hellenistic period. It started as a Seleucid fort. The fort eventually became a village inhabited by Jews in the first centuries B.C. and A.D. 

Excavations at Gamla uncovered only a small percentage of the village, but they provide significant information about the Jewish life in the village. Towards the upper part of the hill, excavations uncovered a large olive oil press with a Jewish ritual immersion bath (mikveh) attached to it. This indicates that the inhabitants sought to prepare olive oil with concern for ritual purity. Excavators also uncovered a second large, industrial olive oil press indicating that Gamla served as a center for olive oil production exporting it to other Jewish communities. The community also seems to have grown grain and even practiced viticulture. 

Excavators uncovered the largest known urban synagogue discovered in Israel from the Roman period. At the entrance of the building, they found a ritual immersion pool. The synagogue itself consists of the main hall, with benches around the walls of the hall. The focal point being the center of the hall where the reading of the Scriptures and explication would have occurred. To the right of then entrance, in the north wall, was an inset into the wall, which most likely housed a cabinet where scrolls were kept. A small study room is also next to the main hall. 

Excavations also yielded evidence of an affluent class within the village. Painted fragments of plaster indicate the presence of wealthy homes. Finger rings and earrings, as well as gemstones and other jewelry attest to an affluence among some of the citizens. The presence of Jewish ritual immersion pools, as well as stone vessels indicate that the population of the village adhered to Jewish ritual purity. 

Excavations also attest to Josephus’ story of the fall of Gamla. Evidence of battle, destruction (including the breach in the city’s defensive wall), arrow heads and ballista balls were discovered throughout the excavations. Its destruction preserved this first century Jewish village, which offers one of the best examples of the villages known to Jesus.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

By Marc Turnage

Many travelers to Israel make the mistaken assumption that the boundaries of the modern State of Israel overlap biblical Israel. Apart from the fact that even within the Bible what constitutes the boundaries of Israel shifts from period to period, the modern State of Israel does not share the same footprint as biblical Israel. 

Biblical Israel extended east of the Jordan River into the area of Gilead. The southern part of modern Israel south of the Beersheva basin, towards the Gulf of Elat, lay outside of biblical Israel; in fact, this area comprised the Wilderness of Zin and Paran. Thus, one can tour the Wilderness of Zin in modern Israel and discuss how Moses sent spies from here into the promised land (Numbers 13:21). 

So, Moses made it into the modern State of Israel, but not inside the boundaries of biblical Israel. What further compounds this confusion is the use of biblical place names within modern Israel that do not refer to the same geographic areas, for example, the Negev. Today, the Negev refers to the land south of the Hebron Hills down to Elat. In the Bible, the Negev refers to the Beersheva basin, which cuts east-west across the central hill country that continues to the south. This can be confusing to the modern traveler to Israel. 

The largest river west of the Jordan River is the Zin River, which extends from the hills south of the Beersheva basin east towards the Jordan Valley. This river does not always run with water, but around Avdat (a Nabatean trading center) springs flow into the Zin year-round. It is fitting that in this area Moses sought water for the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness (Numbers 20). It was here that Moses in his frustration with the people struck the rock to bring water from it rather than speaking to it as God had commanded. 

Because of his disobedience, God did not permit Moses to enter the promised land; he could only look into it from Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34). Water was essential in the dry wilderness, yet shepherds, like Moses, often herded their flocks in such inhospitable terrain. The sheep depended upon the shepherd to provide water for them; thus, shepherds became adept at finding water in seemingly waterless wastes. 

The Nabateans, a desert people, who lived in the region in the first century, whose capital was the rose red city of Petra, learned to navigate the desert by sophisticated water collection. Their water reservoirs were known only to them, which enabled them to traverse the harsh dry land and capitalize on the trade routes between Petra and the port-city of Gaza. Avdat, which sits above the Zin Valley, served as one of their stations along these desert trade routes.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

By Marc Turnage

The first century Jewish historian Josephus described the Jerusalem Temple in great detail. He noted that the large outer court was separated from the holy precincts by a balustrade that had inscriptions in Greek and Latin forbidding non-Jews from passing this wall. Non-Jews were permitted to be in the outer court, which lay outside the sacred area of the Temple. 

A thick marble slab with seven lines inscribed in Greek warning “foreigners” (non-Jews) from passing the balustrade of the Temple and entering its sacred precincts was discovered in 1871, north of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The inscription reads: “No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and forecourt around the sacred precinct. Whoever is caught will himself be responsible for (his) consequent death.” It currently resides in the archaeological museum in Istanbul, Turkey. A broken marble slab with six lines inscribed in Greek was discovered in the area of Lion’s Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. It resides in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. 

Both inscriptions verify Josephus’ description of the warnings on the balustrade of the outer court of the Temple. Paul was accused of violating this prohibition by bringing non-Jews past the partition (Acts 21:26-30). Paul also used this physical partition, which separated non-Jews from the sacred areas of the Temple when he wrote to the Ephesians: 

“So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called ‘the uncircumcised’ by those called ‘the circumcised,’ which is done in the flesh by human hands. At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh, He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it” (Ephesians 2:11-16; emphasis added). 

According to Paul, that which served as a sign in the Jerusalem Temple for the separation between Jews and non-Jews had been abolished in God’s redemptive community, in which Jews and non-Jews were now reconciled.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

By Marc Turnage

The most mentioned city in the Bible is Jerusalem. From the time that David made it the capital of his kingdom, it became the focal point of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and later of the Jewish people and faith. 

Jerusalem’s origins date back to over four thousand years ago. It originally grew up around the Gihon Spring, a karstic spring, which served as the water source of the city for thousands of years. Over its history, the city expanded and contracted. The original city that David conquered from the Jebusites occupied the eastern hill of the city, where the modern City of David sits (this was biblical Mount Zion). 

David’s son Solomon expanded the city to the north building his palace, administrative buildings, and the Temple. As the importance of the city grew, and with the collapse of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C., people began to settle on the western hill (modern day Mount Zion), which lay outside of the walls of the city at that time. King Hezekiah encircled the western hill with a wall, portions of which are still visible in places where it has been excavated. 

This was the city destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. When the Judahites returned from the Babylonian Exile, they resettled the eastern hill, and the city shrank in size. This was the situation during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. 

In the second century B.C., during the Hasmonean kingdom, a wall was built around the city that followed Hezekiah’s wall line and even incorporated portions of it. Then, sometime in the first century B.C., a second wall was added that incorporated a northern, market section of the city. This was the extent of the Jerusalem known to Jesus. It had two focal points, on the east the Temple Mount, and in the west, the palace of Herod the Great with its three towers perched on its northern side. 

During the reign of Agrippa I (A.D. 41-44), a third wall was begun, but construction was halted at the request of the Roman Emperor. This third wall was not completed until shortly before the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt. At this point, the city reached its largest size in antiquity. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and tore down the three walls. The destruction of the city was so complete that the footprint of the city moved north and west. 

Jerusalem would not reach or exceed the size it was prior to the destruction in A.D. 70 until the modern period, when, in the 19^th century, people began to settle outside of the modern Old City Walls, which were constructed by the Ottomans in the 16^th century.

The modern Old City, which has little to do with biblical Jerusalem, follows the layout of Jerusalem established in the Late Roman Period. Subsequent centuries left its imprint on the city, Byzantine Christians, Umayyads, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Ottomans, and British all left their marks on Jerusalem. 

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

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