Gilgal
… archeology in Israel has
identified three interesting sites of … similar geographic selection …
intentional design … and … consistent construction methodology … at … YAFIT …
MASUA … and … ARGAMAN … each of these three locations are on the west side of
the Jordan River valley … each is found to have originated from the late bronze
age or the very early Iron Age … a little over 3,500 years ago … these and four
other similar archeological sites are all found within Israel and are mentioned
in multiple biblical references over a significant period of Old Testament history
… in which they are termed a … GILGAL … at this time a total of seven Israeli
Archeology sites have been identified with this same modeled construction to which the term Gilgal is applicable … all are
from the same period of time … they appeared just after the Hebrew ( Jewish )
people crossed the Jordan River under the leadership of Joshua to enter the
Promised Land … these Gilgal sites can be viewed Google Earth … each Gilgal is
in the shape of a footprint of a right foot … the toes of each Gilgal face the
site of the city ADAM which is the location where the Jabbok river joins the
Jordan river … each Gilgal is about the size of a football field in both length
and width … each Gilgal is situated at the foot of a large hill or a raising
cascade of hills that permitted tens of thousands of spectators to view the
proceedings within the Gilgal site with good sound reception for everyone … essentially
… each Gilgal site is a natural amphitheater … considering the ancient city …
ADAM … the Jordan River backed up from JERICHO to ADAM when Joshua and the
Hebrew ( Jewish ) people crossed over into the Promised Land … this is also the
area of the city PENIEL ( PENUEL ) … where … 500 years before Joshua’s cross
over event … Jacob’s name was changed … by God … to Israel … MASUA is directly across
the Jordan River from ADAM … MASUA is in the hills that line the West bank of
the Jordan river and ADAM on the East bank … at the time of Joshua’s crossing
over … the Jordan river water backed up the Jordan river and vented into the
Jabbok River gorge … each Gilgal was an open space with an entrance onto its
footpath at the instep of the footprint … at each Gilgal there is a footpath that
follows the perimeter of the footprint which has a low wall on the outside and
inside of the path … the height of these walls is approximately eighteen inches
above the ground … each of these walls has an equally deep foundation made of
gathered stone and broken pottery … the pottery in each of the Gilgal
foundations is late bronze age Hebrew ( Jewish ) pottery … the Hebrew pottery
most often found at the Gilgal sites are fragments of cooking pots … this is
because folks traveling at that time would use animal skins for water or wine
and plant based sack and basket containers for equipment and dry goods because when
traveling there is always a high probability of breakage for pottery … the only
clay container needed was for cooking over an open fire … the clay cooking pots
would break quite often due to routine use … at that time … more affluent folks
would have metal cooking pots which would not be found discarded due to
breakage … the Old Testament of the Holy Bible also records the presence of a
GILGAL site near JERICHO by Joshua … however … urban expansion of JERICHO over
hundreds of years has completely obliterated any physical record or remains of
that site … in the Samarian hills there are two other GILGAL sites identified …
one at Mount EBAL and the other a little North East of that site at .,, UL
UNUCK … also … there is one other GIGLAL site that has been identified in what
was once the tribal land Benjamin ... at … RIMONIM … so … six of these seven archeological
sites are observable from the air and also on the ground … over the years many
of the sites have been used for various ancient and modern uses therefore at
this time there are only select remnants of their original construction …
… on Google Earth you can see
ariel views at …
GILGAL at YAFIT 32° 03’16”N . 35° 28’04”E
GILGAL at MASUA 32° 06’24”N . 35° 29’37”E
GILGAL at
ARGAMAN 32° 09’40”N . 35°
30’45”E
… moving South to North along the
rising ground of the west bank of the Jordan river at the time periods of and
after Joshua … we would encounter the Gilgal sites of … JERICHO … YAFIT … MASUA
… and … ARGAMAN … in that sequence … built by the Hebrew people … they are pretty
much equally spaced along the sixteen miles of river bank between the cities of
JERICHO and ADAM … though MASUA is almost directly across from ADAM where the
Jabbok river enters the Jordan river and ARGAMAN is just a little bit north of
MASUA … this presents an interesting consideration for the Jordan river
crossing … at that time the Hebrew nation and the other folks with Joshua
numbered somewhere between two and a half million to three and a half million
people … even considering the women and children of the tribes of … RUBEN … GAD
… and the half-tribe of MANASSAH who would be remaining on the East side of the
Jordan river … the shelf on which the Hebrew nation crossed over the Red Sea
was perhaps a mile to a mile and a half wide at its narrowest point and they
saw the waters of the Red Sea heaped up as walls on each side as they crossed
over … the river distance from JERICHO to ADAM is sixteen or seventeen miles
depending on how you walk along the river bank … in our analysis … the Hebrew
nation crossed over the Jordan river in four separated groups along the Jordan
river and these four Gilgal sites were established to reorganize people and
their belongings at four separate central points of communication for
information and strategic instruction … essentially they built them at
predetermined sites when they arrived at them … after that initial use they
became centers for the renewal of their faith in God and were also used for
other civic purposes … eventually … they degraded into centers for pagan
worship … Gilgal sites are a wonderful reminder that YAHWEH is with His people and
that their congregation is a meaningful and useful expression of their faith … an
important aspect of their relationship with God … draw close to the LORD and
He will draw close to you … their faith in YAHWEH was and is dynamic … our
faith in Jesus Christ is dynamic … the existence of the Gilgal sites in Israel
is very largely the work of many years by a single Archeologist from Israel
named Adam Zertal … Israeli Professor of Archaeology at the University of Haifa
… we recommend his book … The Footsteps God … ISBN-13:978-0-9996202-9-8 …
ISBN-10:0-9996202-9-0 …
Zechariah chapter 1, vs 3 God speaking
1:3 אסף אדם ובהמה אסף
עוף-השמים ודגי הים והמכשלות את-הרשעים והכרתי את-האדם מעל פני האדמה נאם-יהוה
… return to Me … and … I will
return to you … thus says the LORD …
Malachi chapter 3, vs 7 God speaking
3:7 למימי אבתיכם סרתם מחקי ולא
שמרתם שובו אלי ואשובה אליכם אמר יהוה צבאות ואמרתם במה נשוב
… return to Me … and … I will
return to you … says the LORD of Hosts ...
Galatians chapter 4, vs 9
4:9 וְעַתָּה אַחֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר־יְדַעְתֶּם
אֶת־הָאֱלהִים וְיוֹתֵר שֶׁנּוֹדַעְתֶּם לֵאלׂהִים אֵיךְ תָּשׁוּבוּ
אֶל־הַתִּיקּוּנִים הָרָפִים וְהַדַּלִּים הָהֵם אֲשֶׁר תִּרְצוּ לְהִכָּנֵעַ
לָהֶם כְּבַתְּחִלָּה
… now that you have come to know
God … or rather … to be known by God …
James chapter 4, vs 8
4:8 לָכֵן הִכָּנְעוּ לִפְנֵי
הָאֱלׂהִים הִתְיַצְּבוּ נֶגֶד הַשָּׂטָן וְיִבְרַח מִפְּנֵיכֶם
… draw near to God … and … He
will draw near to you …
Isaiah chapter 41, vs 10 God
speaking
41:10 אל-תירא כי עמך-אני אל-תשתע
כי-אני אלהיך אמצתיך אף-עזרתיך אף-תמכתיך בימין צדקי
… do not fear … I AM … with you …
do not be afraid … for … I AM your God … I will strengthen you … I will help
you … I will uphold you with My victorious right hand …
Psalm 91
91:1 ישב בסתר עליון בצל שדי
יתלונן
91:2 אמר ליהוה מחסי ומצודתי
אלהי אבטח-בו
91:3 כי הוא יצילך מפח יקוש מדבר
הוות
91:4 באברתו יסך לך ותחת-כנפיו
תחסה צנה וסחרה אמתו
91:5 לא-תירא מפחד לילה מחץ יעוף
יומם
91:6 מדבר באפל יהלך מקטב ישוד
צהרים
91:7 יפל מצדך אלף ורבבה מימינך
אליך לא יגש
91:8 רק בעיניך תביט ושלמת רשעים
תראה
91:9 כי-אתה יהוה מחסי עליון שמת
מעונך
91:10 לא-תאנה אליך רעה ונגע
לא-יקרב באהלך
91:11 כי מלאכיו יצוה-לך לשמרך
בכל-דרכיך
91:12 על-כפים ישאונך פן-תגף באבן
רגלך
91:13 על-שחל ופתן תדרך תרמס כפיר
ותנין
91:14 כי בי חשק ואפלטהו אשגבהו
כי-ידע שמי
91:15 יקראני ואענהו עמו-אנכי
בצרה אחלצהו ואכבדהו
91:16 ארך ימים אשביעהו ואראהו
בישועתי
… everyone who dwells in
the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty
… let us say to the LORD … You are our refuge and our fortress … You are our
God in Whom we trust … for … You deliver us from the snare of those who would
trap us and You deliver us from deadly pestilence … You cover us with Your
pinions … under Your wings we seek refuge … Your faithfulness is a shield and a
bulwark … and so … we will not be afraid of the terror by night … nor … of the
arrow that flies by day … we will not be afraid of the pestilence that stalks
in darkness … nor … of the destruction that lays waste at noon … though a
thousand fall at our side … ten thousand at our right hand … evil will not come
near us … we will look with our eyes to see the recompense of the wicked … for
… the LORD is our refuge … the Most High is our dwelling place …
no evil will befall us … no plague will come near our home … for … the LORD
gives His angels charge concerning us … to guard us in all of our ways … they
will bear us up in their hands so our feet will not strike a single stone … and
… if we were to … tread upon the lion or the viper … the young lion or the
serpent … we will trample them down … because … the LORD God Almighty loves us
… He delivers us … we are held securely from on high … the LORD God Almighty
knows each of our names … He will call to us and we will answer Him … He is
with us in a time of trouble … He rescues us … He honors us … and … through
Him we will see our salvation … He blesses us in everlasting life with Him
forever …
Note the aspect of proximity
Joshua chapter 4, vs 19
4:19 והעם עלו
מן-הירדן בעשור לחדש הראשון ויחנו בגלגל בקצה מזרח יריחו
… the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people … came up out of the Jordan
river bed on the tenth day of the first month … they camped at GILGAL … on the
West bank of the Jordan River … at the Eastern border of JERICHO …
… גלגל
… GILGAL … Strong# Hebrew 1537 … the literal meaning is … a circle of stones …
the root is Strong# Hebrew 1536 … also translated to English as GILGAL … the
literal meaning is … a wheel … the construction similarities at all the Gilgal
sites with a peripheral pathway indicates that part of the activity at a Gilgal
included processions which originally were to honor and praise YAHWEH … the
root of Strong# Hebrew 1536 is Strong# Hebrew 1534 … also spelled the same and
translated as GILGAL … the best literal meaning is … a whirlwind … the root of
Strong# Hebrew 1534 is Strong# Hebrew 1556 … גָּלַל … this is Hebrew verb … GALAL … the best literal
meanings include … to roll … or … to roll away … in our analysis … the prefix
BET for GILGAL in Joshua 4, vs 19 adds the emphasis … at this place … e.g. at the
GILGAL … we note also that the numerical equivalent for Strong# Hebrew 1537 is
… 66 … interesting for a future numerology study …
Genesis chapter 46, vs 26
46:26 כל-הנפש הבאה ליעקב מצרימה יצאי ירכו מלבד נשי בני-יעקב
כל-נפש ששים ושש
… there were … sixty-six men of Jacob’s own offspring who went down
into Egypt with him … this does not count the wives of his sons …
Judges chapter 3, vs 18 - 19
3:18 ויהי כאשר כלה להקריב
את-המנחה וישלח את-העם נשאי המנחה
3:19 והוא שב מן-הפסילים אשר את-הגלגל ויאמר דבר-סתר לי אליך המלך ויאמר הס
ויצאו מעליו כל-העמדים עליו
… Ehud finished presenting the
tribute and he sent the men who had carried the tribute on their way … but … he
himself turned back at the sculptured stones near the GILGAL and said to the
king … I have a secret message for you … and so … the king said to his
attendants … silence - go out from my presence …
… in Judges chapter 3, vs 19 …
note the … ALEF-TAV … directly associated with the Hebrew word … GILGAL … very
interesting considering the context of this action by Ehud … in our analysis of
this verse … the prefix … HA … with the Hebrew word … GILGAL … adds the
emphasis … this specific GILGAL … additionally … the phrase translated in
English as … sculptured stone … is the Hebrew noun … PASIL … פְּסִילִ֙ … Strong# Hebrew 6456 … the best literal
meaning in this context is … a carved idol … the root of PASIL is Hebrew verb …
PASAL … פְּסִל
… Strong# Hebrew 6458 … best literal meaning … to hew into a shape …
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, vs
23
5:23 וֵאלהֵי הַשָּׁלוֹם הוּא יְקַדֵּשׁ אֶתְכֶם
בִּקְדֻשָּׁה שְׁלֵמָה וְכָל־רוּחֲכֶם וְנַפְשְׁכֶם וְגוּפְכֶם יִשָּׁמֵר תָּמִים
בְּבוֹא אֲדֵינוּ יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ
… the God of peace … Himself …
will fully sanctify us … so that … our … spirit … soul … and … body … is kept
sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … the
One Who calls us is faithful and He will do this …
2 Samuel chapter 19, vs 39 -
40
19:38 ישב-נא עבדך ואמת בעירי עם
קבר אבי ואמי והנה עבדך כמהם יעבר עם-אדני המלך ועשה-לו את אשר-טוב בעיניך
19:39 ויאמר המלך אתי יעבר כמהם
ואני אעשה-לו את-הטוב בעיניך וכל אשר-תבחר עלי אעשה-לך
19:40 ויעבר כל-העם את-הירדן
והמלך עבר וישק המלך לברזלי ויברכהו וישב למקמו
19:41 ויעבר המלך הגלגלה
וכמהן עבר עמו וכל-עם יהודה ויעברו את-המלך וגם חצי עם ישראל
Note
the ALEF-TAV in vs 38
… King David answered … Chimham
will cross over with me and I will do for him what is good in your sight …
whatever you את request of me I will do … King David kissed Barzillai
and blessed him … then … the people crossed over the Jordan river with the king
… and … Barzillai returned to his home … King David went to the GILGAL
accompanied on his way by Chimham … people from Judah … and … people from
Israel …
… so … it is not unusual for the
verse numbering of Hebrew Old Testaments and the verse numbering of our English
translations to vary in some chapters … this is a good example … the verse … 2
Samuel chapter 19, vs 40 … in our English translations … is actually vs 41 in
the original Hebrew … in our analysis of 2 Samuel chapter 19,vs 18 – 41 … the
HA as both a prefix and suffix adds the emphasis … this specific GILGAL …
1 Samuel chapter 7, vs 15 - 17
7:15 וישפט שמואל את-ישראל כל
ימי חייו
7:16 והלך מדי שנה בשנה וסבב
בית-אל והגלגל והמצפה ושפט את-ישראל את כל-המקומות האלה
7:17 ותשבתו הרמתה כי-שם ביתו
ושם שפט את-ישראל ויבן-שם מזבח ליהוה
Note
the ALEF-TAV in vs 16
… Samuel judged Israel all the
days of his life … he went on a circuit year by year to … BETHEL … the GILGAL
at JERICHO … and … MIZPAH … Samuel judged the people of Israel את in all these
places … then … he would return to his home at RAMAH … and there … he would
also administer justice to the people of Israel … at RAMAH … Samuel also built
and alter to the LORD ( YHVH ) …
… in verse 18 note there are two
prefixes on the noun GILGAL … a VAV and a HA … an interesting combination of
prefixes because the VAV indicates … many … and … the HA indicates … this
specific one … so … in our analysis and interpretation of this verse the
referenced GILGAL’s prefixes define for the reader … this specific Gilgal of many … interesting
…
1Samuel chapter 11, vs 14 - 15
11:14 ויאמר שמואל אל-העם לכו
ונלכה הגלגל ונחדש שם המלוכה
11:15 וילכו כל-העם הגלגל
וימלכו שם את-שאול לפני יהוה בגלגל ויזבחו-שם זבחים שלמים לפני יהוה וישמח
שם שאול וכל-אנשי ישראל עד-מאד
… note the prefix HA for GILGAL
in vs 14 indicating … this specific GILGAL … note for the first occasion of
GILGAL in vs 15 the prefix HA repeats … however … for the second occasion of
GILGAL in vs 15 the prefix BET in our analysis and interpretation indicates
that the action of the statement … that is the renewal of the kingship … will
be … in … that specific GILGAL …
… Samuel said to the people …
come let us go to the GILGAL and renew the kingship … so … all the people went
to the GILGAL and there made Saul king before the LORD ( YHVH ) … and … they
sacrificed offerings of well being before the LORD ( YHVH ) … and … Saul and
all the people of Israel rejoiced greatly …
2 Kings chapter 2, vs 1
2:1 ויהי בהעלות יהוה את-אליהו בסערה השמים וילך
אליהו ואלישע מן-הגלגל
… when the LORD ( YHVH ) was
about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind … Elijah and Elisha were on
their way from GILGAL …
2 Kings chapter 4, vs 38
4:38 ואלישע שב הגלגלה והרעב בארץ ובני
הנביאים ישבים לפניו ויאמר לנערו שפת הסיר הגדולה ובשל נזיד לבני הנביאים
… when Elisha returned to …
GILGAL … there was a famine in the land … he said to his servant … put the
large pot on and make some stew for the company of prophets … for … the company
of prophets was sitting before him …
Micah chapter 6, vs 5 God speaking
6:5 עמי זכר-נא מה-יעץ בלק מלך מואב ומה-ענה אתו
בלעם בן-בעור מן-השטים עד-הגלגל למען דעת צדקות יהוה
… My people know the saving acts of the LORD (
YHVH ) their God … they remember what
happened from … SHITTIM … to … GILGAL … they remember what Balak the king of
Moab devised … they remember what Balaam the son of Beor answered …
… the reference here is to the
GILGAL near JERICHO … SHITTIM is an area on the plains of Moab that is to the
East directly across the Jordan River from JERICHO … this was the last camp of
the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people before they crossed over the Jordan River into the
Promised Land with Joshua … this is the camp that Balak and Balaam viewed from
the three separate mountain point vantiges …
… interestingly … in the camp at
SHITTIM … the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people are first enticed into BAAL worship …
previously in this bible study we noted that … some years later … at the time
of the Judges … EHUD crosses the Jordan River … East to West and then turns
back to the City of Palms at the BAAL idol which was standing at the GILGAL
near JERICHO … no one lived at the GILGALs … there is no archeological record
of … house or building structures … there is no archeological record of …
cattle or sheep/goat pens … no archeological record of established long term
habitation at any type at any of the GILGAL sites … they were places of
assembly … for communication … for the celebrate=ion of festivals … to worship
the LORD ( YHVH ) their God … and … unfortunately also … other purposes when
the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people forgot Whom the LORD ( YHVH ) their God is …
Amos chapter 4, vs 1 – 5 select verse segments in
sequence
4:1 שמעו הדבר הזה פרות הבשן
אשר בהר שמרון העשקות דלים הרצצות אביונים האמרת לאדניהם הביאה ונשתה
4:2 נשבע אדני יהוה בקדשו כי
הנה ימים באים עליכם ונשא אתכם בצנות ואחריתכן בסירות דוגה
4:3 ופרצים תצאנה אשה נגדה
והשלכתנה ההרמונה נאם-יהוה
4:4 באו בית-אל ופשעו הגלגל
הרבו לפשע והביאו לבקר זבחיכם לשלשת ימים מעשרתיכם
4:5 וקטר מחמץ תודה וקראו נדבות
השמיעו כי כן אהבתם בני ישראל נאם אדני יהוה
… hear this word you cows of
Bashan … you who live on mount Samaria … you who oppress the poor … you who
crush the needy … the LORD ( YHVH ) God swears by His holiness … there is a
time is coming upon you … your enemy will take you away with fish-hooks … you
will leave through the breaches in your city walls … you will be flung out of
your homes and each of you will walk straight ahead … thus says the LORD ( YHVH
) … so … continue to go to Bethel and transgress against the LORD ( YHVH ) your
God … continue to go to the GILGAL and multiply your transgressions with idols
… for you … the people of Israel … love to do so … says the LORD ( YHVH ) God …
… in these verses … Amos is
speaking to the people of ten northern tribs of Israel at a time when they
worshiped a golden calf at Bethel and Dan … there are BAAL stone idols in many
places like the GILGALs … this prophesy looks forward to the time of their
defeat and the deportation from Israel by Assyria …
Hosea chapter 4, vs 15 select verse segments
not necessarily in sequence
4:15 אם-זנה אתה ישראל אל-יאשם יהודה ואל-תבאו הגלגל
ואל-תעלו בית און ואל-תשבעו חי-יהוה
… people of Judah do not become
guilty as are the people of Israel …for … they play the whore … they swear to
one another … as the LORD ( YHVH ) lives … do be like them … do not go up to
BETH-AVEN … do not go up to and enter the GILGAL …
… the prophet Hosea is referring to BETHEL
where Jeroboam set up one of his two calf idols … the other was in the North of
Israel at the city of DAN … Hosea uses the term BETH-AVEN as a derogatory
reference as its literal meaning is … house of nothingness … the GILGALs at
this time were centers of Baal worship …
Hosea chapter 9, vs 15 select verse segments
not necessarily in sequence
9:16 כל-רעתם בגלגל כי-שם שנאתים על רע
מעלליהם מביתי אגרשם לא אוסף אהבתם כל-שריהם סררים
… I can love them no more … all
their officials are rebels … I will drive them out of My house … because of the
wickedness of their deeds … they embrace every evil at the GILGAL … there I
came to abhor them …
Hosea chapter 12, vs 11 – 12 select verse segments
not necessarily in sequence
12: 11 ודברתי על-הנביאים ואנכי חזון הרביתי וביד
הנביאים אדמה
12:12 אם-גלעד און אך-שוא היו בגלגל שורים זבחו גם
מזבחותם כגלים על תלמי שדי
… in the GILGALs there is
iniquity for there they sacrifice bulls … those alters will come to nothing and
become stone heaps … because … there the people have embraced iniquity …
… in our analysis … there are
multiple candidates for the GILGAL(s) noted in Hosea … as a good guess we could
consider the GILGALs at MASUA or ARGAMAN
which are on the West bank of the Jordan river near ADAM … however … other good
candidates include the GILGAL at Mount EBAL or a little North East of that site
is .,, UL UNUCK … and … in the tribal land of Benjamin is a GILGAL at RIMONIM …
regardless … we have reviewed the use of GILGAL sites as … initially … sites
for gathering and strategic communications during the time of Joshua … congregational sites for worship of the LORD
( YHVH ) … Samuel used these sites to provide judicial services for Israel …
Saul’s coronation was at a GILGAL … and also … as the people of Israel and
Judah intermittently turned away from the LORD ( YHVH ) to idol worship so unfortunately
did the use of these GILGAL sites … we note in the time of the kingships of
Josiah and Hezekiah the idols of the people of Israel were purged from the
GILGALs and other sites only to reappear again after a period of time … what
stays consistent is the image of the footstep or footprint of God … the walls
of Jerusalem were gradually expanded over time … David originally rebuilt the
walls of the city of David … North and adjacent to the city of David Solomon
built the walls of what we now consider to be the old city of Jerusalem which
includes the temple mount … Hezekiah at the time of the fall of Israel to
Assyria extended the walls to include Mount Zion to the West of the cld city
and the city of David in order to house and protect the refugees who came to
him from Israel … when Solomon built the walls of the old city of Jerusalem the
shape of the wall was the footprint of a right foot with an orientation of the
foot to ADAM … essentially the city walls were built in the shape of a GILGAL
which even at Solomon’s time were ancient … a lasting representation
intentionally designed to remind the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people that YAHWEH their
LORD and God is with them …
1 Kings chapter 3, vs 1
3:1 ויתחתן שלמה את-פרעה מלך
מצרים ויקח את-בת-פרעה ויביאה אל-עיר דוד עד כלתו לבנות את-ביתו ואת-בית יהוה
ואת-חומת ירושלם סביב
… Solomon married the daughter of
Pharaoh king of Egypt as a marriage alliance … and … he brought her to live in
the city of David until he finished building … his own house … the house of the
LORD ( YHVH ) … and … the wall around Jerusalem …
