Bet She’an

Bet She’an was a huge city in the days of Jesus and has been a part of many passages of scripture. It is here that Saul’s body was hung after he was defeated in battle and took his own life, falling on his sword.

Personally, I was not overly excited to visit this location. As we were walking in through the gates Jodi asked me, “What is the significance of this place?”

I shrugged my shoulders…

Then we walked in past the gate and our jaws dropped to the ground.

Wow!

There was an entire city that has been excavated and is just sitting there, waiting to be explored. It was fantastic to walk through and explore. My imagination ran wild as I thought of ancient people walking the streets and filling the coliseum.

There was a large hill that we climbed. At the top of the hill was set a large, dead tree. It is set on the supposed location of where Saul would have been hung on the city gates.

This city would not have been conquered by Israel until the days of King David. In Jesus’ day it would have been one of the city states that would make up the Decapolis.