Wayne Stiles is an author who has never recovered from his travels in Israel and loves to write about them from his desk in Texas.
Unmistakable. Majestic. Distinctive. Graceful. All descriptions seem appropriate
for an isolated hill wedged in the northeast corner of the Jezreel Valley.
Rising from the valley floor 1,843 feet (575 m), Mount Tabor’s smooth contours
honor it with a distinguishing outline recognizable from any vantage point. From
the Plain of Bethsaida north of the Sea of Galilee, I have seen the top of Tabor
peeking over over the hills of Arbel. From the other side of the Jezreel Valley
on Mount Carmel, I have studied Mount Tabor’s exceptional form in its
geographical context. Many times as I traveled in the Galilee, Mount Tabor would
surprise me with its presence. “I had no idea you could see Tabor from here,” I
would find myself saying.
From any direction, the mountain stands alone in both
beauty and topography. The Prophet Jeremiah has recorded, “As I live [declares
the Lord] surely one shall come who looms up like Tabor among the mountains”
(Jeremiah 46:18).
No wonder Mount Tabor played a noteworthy role in history. It
offered a geographical landmark for travelers, a military advantage as the high
ground, and it even provided an illusory spiritual benefit as a high place. For
thousands of years, the International Highway that stretched the length of the
Land of Israel passed at the foot of Mount Tabor. Countless travelers, traders,
and armies would have recognized Tabor as a familiar landmark.
The borders of
the tribes of Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar came together at Mount Tabor
(Joshua 19:22). Perhaps for this reason, the Lord commanded Barak: “Go and march
to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and
from the sons of Zebulun. I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of
Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I
will give him into your hand” (Judges 4:6–7).
One of the best places to envision
the battle is atop Mount Tabor itself or from the adjacent Nazareth Ridge,
overlooking the Jezreel Valley. Every time I stand there, I imagine Barak and
Deborah and ten thousand troops standing on Tabor’s green slopes, silent and
waiting with weapons in hand. Suddenly, Barak and his army rush as one man down
the slope into the waiting army of Canaanite charioteers. God “routed” Sisera’s
army and Barak chased them west across the valley toward Megiddo.
Normally,
chariots in the Jezreel Valley would offer a deadly advantage. But chariots do
little good when stuck in the mud. Naturally, the Kishon flows as a narrow,
snaking river that a person taking a good running start could jump over!
Evidently, God sent a cloudburst that caused the Kishon’s waters to rise,
flooding its banks and bogging down nine hundred iron chariots (Judges 5:20-21),
allowing victory for Barak’s army.
During the time of the divided kingdom, the
Prophet Hosea directed a message to the northern priests, people, and king. The
leaders had lured the people into the trap of idolatrous false worship—and one
of these sites was on Mount Tabor: “You have been a snare at Mizpah and a net
spread out on Tabor” (Hosea 5:1). Mountains often served as “high places” in
cult worship, and Mount Tabor’s isolation, beauty, and height would have seem
very attractive in the this way.
During the first century, Josephus led the Jews
under him to construct a wall around the summit of Tabor in forty days—only to
be defeated by the Roman general Placidus. Josephus notes that a village existed
on the summit at this time, perhaps the remnants of a garrison fortified by
Alexander Jannaeus a century earlier (War 4:54-61).
For this reason, it seems
unlikely that Mount Tabor represents the authentic site of Jesus’
transfiguration—although a number of early church fathers believed that it did.
At the time of the Transfiguration, Jesus and his disciples were in the area of
Caesarea Philippi, at the base of Mount Hermon—a more likely designation for the
term “high mountain” in Matthew 17:1. Regardless, a visit to the Basilica of the
Transfiguration seems appropriate when on top of Tabor. The beautiful Franciscan
church commemorates the significant occasion in the life of Jesus, an event that
offered hope to the perplexed disciples who had just heard for the first time
that Jesus would die in Jerusalem and rise again.
The panorama Mount
Tabor provides rewards every visitor who journeys to the top. From this vantage
at several locations, the eye can see the mountains of Upper Galilee, the Horns
of Hattin, Mount Hermon, the Nazareth Ridge, the mountains of Samaria, the edge
of the Carmel Range, and the vast expanse of the Jezreel Valley. In addition to
the armies of Deborah and Barak, Mount Tabor has seen the likes of Thutmose III,
Alexander the Great, Napolean, and more recently, General Allenby. Trying to
picture them trudging by Tabor is a fun exercise.
Speaking to God, the psalmist
writes: “The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon shout
for joy at your name” (Psalm 89:12). Indeed, I think the only element that could
make Tabor more beautiful would be hearing it shout for joy at the name of the
Lord.
Until then, I’m content just to gaze upon its beauty.
What to Do There:
Visit the Basilica of the Transfiguration. Find a panorama facing west and read
the account of Deborah and Barak’s battle in Judges 4-5. Try to pick out the
various geographical points of interest mentioned in this article.
How to Get
There: From Tiberias, take Route 77 west and turn south on Route 65 at the
Golani Junction. At the Tavor Junction, take 7266 to the top of the mountain.
Read Wayne's blog and subscribe to his weekly podcast at http://waynestiles.blogspot.com/