Setting: Galilee to the Dead Sea

God So Loved the World by Elizabeth Goudge

“The green hills of Galilee.” Photo and caption by Nicholas Carman

“The name Galilee has a country sound to it but in reality the district about the large inland lake was a busy place, humming with activity and alive with the comings and going’s of the men of many nations.

Our Lord had not come into the world to lead the life of a hermit, he had come to see the souls of men and wherever singing, sorrowing, suffering men and women where to be found there was our Lord in the midst of them…

When our Lord walked along the road to Galilee he would have met Roman legions on the march, Phoenician merchants, jugglers and gladiators going to the amphitheater at Tiberius or to the Greek cities among the eastern mountains. It was a busy industrial district, with die works, pottery works, and ship building yards.”

💛Elizabeth Goudge, God So Loved the World

Magnificent setting for a special story

We are still moving this month through lent and through Goudge’s narrative account of Jesus’ life.

I feel like it’s good right now to slow down and take in the magnificent setting of this special story. Goudge’s insights on the place and the people give this story new life for me, so it’s worth treasuring.

Last week we looked at the location of Jacob’s Well in the center of the region. Here are a few maps and photos to place the stories of Galilee in the north and the progress Jesus makes in the second half of the book towards the south and the city of Jerusalem: