Names,,,, Israel 6...

Names....Israel 6...

“Biblical Place Names

https://places.behindthename.com/names/usage/biblical

ABILENEΑβιληνη (Region) Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek

Probably from Hebrew אָבֵל('avel)meaning "meadow, grassy place". This is the name of a place briefly mentioned in the New Testament.

ARARATאֲרָרָט(Mountain) Armenian, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Near Eastern

From the name of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. This is the name of a mountain in Turkey (formerly part of Armenia).

BABYLONΒαβυλων (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek

Greek form of Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠(Babili), which appears to mean "gateway of God", from Akkadian 𒆍(babu)meaning "gate" and 𒀭(ilu)meaning "God", though it may in fact derive from a non-Semitic language. This was the name of a major city in ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian Empire. It was located in present-day Iraq.

BETHANY(Settlement) Biblical

From Greek Βηθανια(Bethania), which is of uncertain meaning. The first part of the name is derived from Hebrew/Aramaic בַּיִת(bayit)meaning "house". Suggestions for the second part of the name include עָנָה('anah)leading to "house of afflication" or תְּאֵנָה(te'enah)leading to "house of figs". In the New Testament the town of Bethany is the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha.

BETHELבֵּית־אֵל(Settlement) Biblical

Means "house of God" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is a town north of Jerusalem, where Jacobsaw his vision of the stairway.

BETHLEHEMבֵּית־לֶחֶם(Settlement) English, Biblical

Means "house of bread" in Hebrew, from the roots בַּיִת(bayit)meaning "house" and לֶחֶם(lechem)meaning "bread". This is the name of a city in Palestine. It appears in the both the Old Testament and the New Testament, notably as the town where Jesusis born.

CARMEL(Mountain) Biblical, Biblical Latin

Form of KARMELused in the Latin and English Bibles.

EDEN(Region) Hebrew, Biblical

Possibly from Hebrew עֵדֶן('eden) meaning "pleasure, delight", or perhaps derived from Sumerian 𒂔(edin)meaning "plain". According to the Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people, Adam and Eve, lived before they were expelled.

GETHSEMANE(Region) Biblical

From Γεθσημανι(Gethsemani), the Greek form of an Aramaic place name meaning "oil press". In the New Testament this is the name of the garden where Jesuswas arrested, located on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem.

ISRAELיִשְׂרָאֵל(Country) English, Biblical

From the name of the Old Testament hero Jacob, who was also called ISRAEL.

JERICHOיְרִיחוֹ(Settlement)”

Meaning uncertain, possibly related to the Hebrew word יָרֵחַ(yareach)meaning "moon", or otherwise to the Hebrew word רֵיחַ(reyach)meaning "fragrant". This is the name of a city in Palestine, mentioned several times in the Old Testament.

JERUSALEM(Settlement)

From Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם(Yerushalayim), from an earlier Canaanite form like Urushalim, probably meaning "established by (the god) SHALIM". This is the name of a city in Israel and Palestine. Originally a Canaanite city, it was conquered by the Israelites under King Davidat the beginning of the 10th century BC. It is now regarded as a holy city by Jews, Christians and Muslims.

JORDANיַרְדֵן(River & Country) English, Danish, Norwegian, Croatian, Serbian, German, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Biblical

River which flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is יַרְדֵן(Yarden), and it is derived from יָרַד(yarad)meaning "descend" or "flow down". The river has lent its name to the country to the east (in German, Swedish, Finnish and Polish this is only the name of the river, with the name of the country taking a different form).

LEHIלֶחִי(Region) Biblical

Means "jawbone" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of the site where the hero Samsonkilled 1,000 men using only a donkey's jawbone.

MORIAHמֹרִיָה(Mountain) Biblical, Biblical Hebrew

Possibly means "seen by YAHWEH" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is both the place where Abrahamis to sacrifice Isaacand the mountain upon which Solomonbuilds the temple.

NAZARETHנָצְרַת(Settlement) English, French, Biblical, Biblical Latin

Possibly means "branch" in Hebrew. This is the name of a town in Galilee in Israel. It was the home town of Jesus.

NINEVEH(Settlement) English, Biblical

From Akkadian 𒉌𒉡𒀀(Ninua), possibly related to 𒄩(nūnu)meaning "fish". When written, the name is usually prefixed with 𒌷indicating a city. This may have referred to an aspect of Ishtar, as from an early time the city was a center of worship of the goddess. The cuneiform symbols used to represent the city's name depict a fish within a house....

PHILADELPHIAΦιλαδελφεια (Settlement) Biblical, English

Means "brotherly love" from Greek φιλεω(phileo)"to love" and αδελφος(adelphos)"brother". This was the name of a city in Asia Minor mentioned in Revelation in the New Testament. It is now known as Alaşehir(in Turkey). It is also the name of a city in the United States...”

Netanya,   “gift of God” town on the coast of Israel

It seems like everywhere we went the places had name which had meanings...we still that today...but when you look at some, you see that there may be deeper meanings, spiritual lessons...or symbolism...a “simple name”  can mean so much...

We visited the springs which are basically are the beginning of the river Jordan in the North...they seeming flow out of a mountain...cold, rushing waters...head south into the Sea of Galilee, heading out south again into the Dead sea ...Jordan=flow down....

We drove across a little valley, suddenly stopping near a little bridge over a dry stream, the Brook Elah...some people scrambled out of the bus, climbing down into the dry stream bed to pick up pebbles...just where David gathered his to face the Giant Goliath...one meaning for Elah is God...a fitting name as David has full faith in God in facing down this giant Philistine...

Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

1 Samuel 17:40,45-47 

We toured a portion of Bethlehem, “house of bread” where the Bread of Life was born....

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 6:35

We walked around Gethsemane...under the ancient olive trees...”oil press”...where Jesus prayed...the night he was betrayed...how fitting after viewing the great stone oil presses...the weight of the world was about to be pressed upon his being...

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Mark 14:32-42

Mt. Carmel or Karmel= the vineyard of God

Emmaus= one meaning is City of Victory....followers were taught or enlightened on their walk by the risen Jesus...victory over death...

There were so many....I could go on and on..seeing each place, touching places that I had only read about...finding deeper meanings again....thank YOU....

Caesarea....Israel 5...

Caesarea.....Israel 5

I am currently reading through the book of Acts...today, chapters 9 and  10...my eyes shutting after the reading, remembering the beautiful ruins we wandered through recently...it was one of the first ruins we visited after the long flight from the US...we were tired, but soooo very excited to actually be walking on/in history...the day was sunny, warm....sea breezes off the Mediterranean were soft....and we were standing where the apostle Paul may have walked, talked...where Peter may have spoken to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, a “ God-fearing man”...amazing...

The blue of the ocean, the pools built by king Herod, still holding water...

The scriptures read about Peter...

While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?” Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Acts 10:27-48 

Peter was shown that the Gentiles were accepted...just as the Jews...the Holy Spirit was given to everyone that believed...what a gift...I benefited by this meeting of Cornelius and Peter...what a blessing...I am not a Jew...this was “earth shattering “ ...Good News...for generations to come...thank YOU that you sent your Son for the “whosoevers” ( John 3:16)...

“According to the Acts of the Apostles, Caesarea was first introduced to Christianity by Philip the Deacon,[26] who later had a house there in which he gave hospitality to Paul the Apostle.[27] It was there that Peter the Apostle came and baptized Cornelius the Centurion and his household, the first time Christian baptism was conferred on Gentiles.[28] When newly converted Paul the Apostle was in danger in Jerusalem, the Christians there accompanied him to Caesarea and sent him off to his native Tarsus.[29] He visited Caesarea between his second and third missionary journeys,[30] and later, as mentioned, stayed several days there with Philip the Deacon. Later still, he was a prisoner there for two years before being sent to Rome.[31]”. Wikipedia.org

Lost coin....Israel 4...

We visited a multitude of diggings and ruins from Byzantine, Canaanite, Crusader, Muslim, various Biblical cities, Christ’s times, Paul’s times, etc. up to present day sites...

The technology and technical work may seem like we have it all right now, but, their man power and skills were amazing...the carvings, the stonework, the pure sizes of these structures were phenomenal...how did they get huge stone work into place??? Lots of man power and skill...

Intricate mosaics lined the floors and sidewalks of the wealthy...rocks lined the floors of the less fortunate....we visited several day to day homes of the common ordinary people...cobblestone or flat rocks or small stones filled in with smaller stones—- lots of variety as there are stones of all shapes and sizes in that land...

I looked at the common house and wondered about the families who once lived there...children playing in the small courtyards or running to meet friends, maybe going to nearby countryside to herd the animals or plant, harvest crops, or artisans sharing their talents with others...day to day living just like today...their voices ringing over the ages...

I imagined the lost coin in those cobbled floors...it would indeed be a cause for rejoicing to find a coin in the many crevices, nooks and crannies found in them...not like the smooth floors of today’s homes...

Thank YOU for the sights and sounds of yesteryear...the words written for our learning and review....the common, ordinary of the past and how it relates to our lives thousands of years later...Your Word is alive, teaching us anew every time we open it and open our hearts to its teachings...

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:8-10

It’s the simple things...Israel 3...

It’s the simple things...Israel 3...

I am still decompressing from my amazing trip to Israel...still have 1200 pictures to cleanup, delete or use out of 2000...other things, like doctor visits, company, bill paying, weeding have had to take precedence, but am itching to relive the trip through the pictures again...processing the moments, the emotions, the sights, the sounds, the people....

I wrote down titles as they came to me along the fast paced, drop into bed each night way, knowing that if I was to blog, God would bring to remembrance the words that went with each...discarding the ones that weren’t to be used...

This was one....as I have been asked over and over “ what was the best?”....it was all great...but I keep coming back the the simple things...we saw amazing sights, sites, ruins from thousands of years and a few years, heard amazing singing, brushed shoulders with amazing people...but, simple things caught my heart...

It was finding a shepherd with his sheep in a field deep with flowers and deep green lush grass....simply standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where fisherman still fish or Jesus fixed a meal of bread and fish....it was looking at the city of Jerusalem, seeing it as Jesus saw it and wept...it was sitting inside a Bedouin tent receiving their hospitality as Abraham might have done for the visitors...it was walking down the narrow streets of the cities surrounded by crowds of people like Jesus did...having communion in the garden under ancient olive trees...seeing a 2000 year old sycamore tree in Jericho where Zacchaeus May have climbed to better see the Savior of the world...walking on ancient stones uncovered  where Jesus may have walked...the dry parched desert of the Engedi where David hide from Saul....seeing the skull in the rock formations on the hill of Golgotha...it was seeing an empty tomb where Jesus may have been laid....none of these worthy of worship...but it was just glimpses of history...written in God’s Word that came alive ....

Jesus was  a real man who came, God walking in the everyday life of mankind...living here to love us, to die and live for us...He came to seek and save the lost...and now He lives, preparing a place for his followers...He walked, talked, healed, taught, loved...in these places...the simple places...His Word is simple and deep...as is His love...the call is plain....Seek...Come...Find...Look...Believe...and you shall be saved...

thank YOU for the simple things....

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:10 

8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:8 

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Luke 19:10

Spring....

Spring....

This  devotional caught my eye recently....and it was worth sharing....the joy of waiting, discovery, beauty, hard work, patience, little eyes....

“How to Biblically Celebrate New Life in the Spring

Bible / Bible Study / Topical Studies / How to Biblically Celebrate New Life in the Spring

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April Motl

 Wednesday, April 11, 2018

“Daffodils!!! Momma look! Daffodils!” These words have been ringing out loudly in our car the last few weeks from my little three year old son.

Last Fall, he and I planted 150 bulbs. I told him we would have to wait and then in a few months we would have a beautiful surprise! It was a lot of work. We have ground that is very rocky, and where it isn’t rocky, it’s clay. I was just hoping the gophers wouldn’t steal our labors when we finally got them all in - and that those bulbs would actually deliver on what I’d promised!

He couldn’t quite fathom “months” to wait for them to grow and so when he'd go look for some sign of life where we toiled, he was a bit unimpressed, for quite some time. When those bulbs eventually sprouted their little green tops about a month ago, I ran inside to get him and show him they were finally growing up. They didn’t look like much. He wasn’t that thrilled.

But once the driveway was lined with smiling yellow flowers that he helped plant, he was very proud and has been more than a little excited. And he also began loudly and urgently pointing out all the other daffodils along the roadside ever since, as if some how he knows and celebrates the work and waiting that went into those flowers too.

Our little daffodil planting taught him a small, but valuable lesson. Life is precious! It takes work and it takes patience.

O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions. Psalm 104:24”

Last year I too planted a bunch of trees, bulbs, bushes in my new yard...after a long winter, it was with rejoicing, I saw new little leaves poke through the mulched ground to delight us with blooms of various colors...then the trees bloomed to begin their eventual harvest of promised fruit...I showed one of my 4 year old grandsons around the yard, my daughter even took videos to send me as I travelled...

But, as I was traveling, in a foreign land, Israel, I found a vast array of new flowers as well.  They had had an abundant rainfall this spring, so the hills and valleys were covered with flowers of all kinds amid tall grasses, blooming trees and bushes...I was blessed to be amongst the beauty of a new spring at home and abroad...thank YOU for the gift of seasons....the beauty of the array colors and variety...

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. ” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning —the third day.

Genesis 1:11-13

It is time to write....capernaum...

It is time to write....

I sit on the 19 th floor in Tiberias, overlooking the Sea of Galilee....some mornings a mist covers the sea... haziness covering the mystery of area....but yesterday it was crystal clear as we stepped aboard a wooden boat to cross to a kibbutz along the other side...

The owner/captain of the boat is a messianic Jew who sang praise songs in Hebrew and English.... as we glided peacefully on glassy water....

Tears began to flow from heartfelt praise and deep thankfulness....awe that we were stepping on places that our Saviour stood, walked, healed, comforted, confronted, blessed, taught...not to worship the place but the deep sense of connection...it fills your soul...

We viewed an ancient boat they call a Jesus boat, it’s called. Found and Brought out of the sea, preserved from Jesus time.... like one he may have sat in and taught the multitudes...,his voice carrying across the water, teaching of the kingdom...

Then on to Capernaum...Nahum’s village, the village of the “comforter”, how fitting the Jesus started his ministry here...we sat under a tree on stone benches, on the edge of the Galilean sea, soaking in the word of a Hebrew Christian pastor...exhorting to dig deep into the Word...find what God is saying to each of us...

 ( under a close by tree sat another group, chanting ritual songs and sayings, covered with ornate vestments, complaining that we were preaching about Jesus!)

Whom do we serve?  How do I serve? Am I digging deep? Do I trust? 

A living Creator. Who loved us so much that he sent his son....thank YOU...

Lord, let this land, this light, this :Savior permeate my soul to it depths...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5 

Open my eyes 2....

Open my eyes 2....

Yesterday I sat through a visual kaleidoscope of  a man’s pictures from a life time of work...he has published over a hundred photography books of all subjects, worked with a multitude of organizations all over the world...and is still learning new things and teaching others how to see the world with open eyes from the minute sea foam bubble prisms on the Oregon beach to the panoramic mountains of Patagonia...from the rust patterns on old box cars to the painted elephants in Asia....what a privilege to be a part of this class...(his first time to teach in this “smaller” town with 150+ students), widening the visual horizons of each person in attendance....seeing art in life...

I just know God must love color...he created it after all...in the thoughts of the night I was reminded of microscope slides my husband made of the rocks from his thesis area to look at to find the type of crystal structures found within....or the pictures taken by the Hubble spacecraft of the systems it was traveling through...

We delight in seeing the beauty of the first flower that peeks through the  brown soil in the early spring...or the scrunched up face of a newborn baby...taking as many pictures as possible....

Thank YOU for eyes to see...help us to delight in the creation You have given us...to see with new eyes, new hearts...open each to Your salvation through the beauty of your plan...Jesus...

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Romans 1:20

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning —the first day. And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning —the second day. And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. ” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning —the third day. And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning —the fourth day. And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning —the fifth day. And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. ” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food. ” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning —the sixth day.

Genesis 1:1-31