Everybody’s Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button. I’ll leave a link in the description where you can order a copy of my book, Where God Came Down: The Archaeological Evidence. Thanks for making it number one in archaeology. I’ll also leave a link where you can make a taxdeductible donation. These are greatly appreciated and used for the production of future videos. This is of the Chaldanss where Abraham is from about a year ago. I was uh thinking and I came up with this crazy idea. I wondered if it would be possible to come here to of the Chaldanss and follow the trail of our father of faith Abraham from his hometown here to the land of Canaan. And honestly, we’re here to try, but I don’t know if it’s possible. We’d have to cross five different countries. I’m not sure which ones we’ll be able to get into. And I’m not sure how much of the trail we’re going to cover, but we’re here to try to get the context of this journey of faith that Abraham and his family went through as they left here and journeyed all the way to Canaan, the promised land. So Abraham is from of the Chaldanss. It gives that distinction. And so how do we know that this archaeological site is of the Chaldans that the Bible is talking about? Well, interestingly, in the first excavation here by John Taylor in the ziggurat behind me, he found four cylinder inscriptions that gave the name of this city as But again, is this the of the Chaldans? What’s a Chaldian? A Chaldian is a native of Chaldia. And Chaldia is in the extreme southern part of Mesopotamia near the Gulf, which is exactly where this city is. And so this is the city of Er that is in the ancient land of Chaldia. This is of the Chaldans where Abraham is from. In the New Testament, we’re told more about God’s call to Abraham. Acts chapter 7 says that God appeared to Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haron. God told Abraham to leave his country and his people and go to the land he would show him. We know from this verse that it was here at of the Chaldans that God appeared to Abraham and told him to go to Canaan. So I have the city plan of from the excavation report from the time of Abraham and behind me here though we can’t see it today was the north harbor and in the city wall a gap which was the main city gate. It had a canal of water where the boats could come in and also was used as a city gate. This likely since it’s going up the Euphrates towards Canaan is the gate that Abraham and his family would have left from. When they went out that gate and started on their journey to Canaan, they never ever came back here again. They never saw their home again. They literally forsook this place and its gods to follow God most high and what he had called Abraham to do to go to the land that he would show him. And then we’re told in Hebrews 11:8 that as Abraham did that he didn’t even know where he was going. Why would you leave your country, your nation, your culture, your city to go somewhere you don’t know anything about? Well, we’re told this in Acts chapter 7 that this is where God most high appeared to Abraham and told him to go to follow the footsteps of Abram, later called Abraham, we need to know the route he took from to the land of Canaan. Genesis 11 says Abram set out from of the Chaldanss to go to Canaan but when they came to Haron they settled there. This doesn’t give us much detail but to understand Abraham’s route we need to understand that the most important need about traveling in ancient times was to have access to water. Abraham couldn’t go straight to the land of Canaan because there was a vast desert in between. So he with his herds of animals had to stay close to a water source. Abraham’s route is obvious when we look at the Euphrates River. Abraham would have followed it until the confluence with the Bleak River where he would have turned and gone up to Haron. While the Bible doesn’t say explicitly, we can be almost positive that Abraham would have followed this well-known ancient route up to Haron. So that is exactly what we did on our journey. So let me quickly introduce you to our team members for following the journey of Abraham. am. We have our most important member, Omar, who does pretty much everything. We don’t really know what we’re doing, but Omar knows what he’s doing, which is a very good thing. My son Barry, who is the director of the filming, and our friend Mark, who is a second cameraman. And so, this is our team for the next six weeks. So we are in Babylon and we are at the palace of Saddam Hussein. We see out this window the Euphrates as it continues. We are following the Euphrates River on our journey in the footsteps of Abraham. And Abraham would have passed by Babylon on his uh way up to Haron. From Babylon, we continued our journey up the Euphrates heading towards Syria. So today we’re continuing our drive up the Euphrates River and today we hope to reach the border of Syria. We were just driving and all of a sudden something startled us cuz it hit the windshield. Um, unfortunately it ruined the windshield. We’re going to have to get this replaced. And what do you think hit the windshield, Omar? >> I think it’s a bullet. And so the bullet, they weren’t shooting at us, but they were shooting up in the air and then the bullet came down on the windshield. >> Yes. So, the province that we are now going through in Iraq as we’re following the Euphrates, uh, much of it was destroyed. Billare says uh several of these cities up to 75% of the cities were destroyed by ISIS uh back during that conflict. And so still today it’s a very sensitive place. People are very suspicious. Lots and lots of checkpoints. We just spent 30 minutes getting through a single checkpoint and there’s one checkpoint after another. And so it’s kind of stressful trying to do all this because uh we look especially as foreigners suspicious and we have our cameras and everything like that and we we can’t just access the river whenever we want to. Um we have to find places that there’s not a lot of people around in order to get to the river and uh get some shots of the river. And so it’s not easy. It’s it’s it’s a it’s a challenging trip that we’re on and shoot that we’re on. Meaning filming shoot, not getting shot, even though we did get hit by a bullet uh today. Oh yeah, look at this. We’ve been following the Euphrates River and uh we’ve come across these old water wheels that are pretty cool here. The way that they work is they’ve got those pegs on the wheel and they’re attached to these clay vessels that pick up the water and go up the wheel like this and then dump into an aqueduct that goes and flows out this way to the agricultural fields. We’re uh as close to the Syrian border as we can film. So, we’re going to pick it up on the other side. Abraham would have continued up the Euphrates to Haran. However, we needed special permission to enter Syria, and it still hadn’t come through. So, we backtracked to Baghdad to wait. We finished our shoot down in southern Iraq and we’ve been holed up here in Baghdad for the last few days. And what the situation is is that we, as you can imagine, it’s not easy for us as Americans to visit uh Syria. And so we need special permission in order to enter that country. And that’s what we’re waiting for. Uh, honestly, I’ve been putting this project off until it was possible to go into Syria. And so, I’m a bit nervous uh of whether or not that permission is going to come through. You just never know in the Middle East. So, what we’re going to do is we’re going to take off early in the morning. We’re going to head north and we’re going to hope for the best. Hey, hey, hey. After spending the night in D hook, we finally received our permission to enter Syria. So, how do you guys feel about going into Syria? >> Um, a little bit nervous. We are across the border and in Syria. So, we have just come from the Syrian border. Omar is still our driver, but now that we’re in Syria, he is also armed. We are in Syria following the Euphrates River. Well, we’re continuing up the Euphrates River. We’ve crossed over from Iraq to Syria. And so we’re going to continue going up river and exploring. So here in Syria, we’re going to continue up the Euphrates until we come to the confluence of the Ble River. And that’s where he would have turned off and followed the Ble River because Haron where he settled for a time is on the Ble River. So likely on this journey, Abraham at least some of the time would have ridden on a donkey. So in order to celebrate this, then Omar was willing to jump on a donkey and give it a ride in honor of Abraham. >> Omar, the donkey can’t hold you. Hey, hey, hey. So, we’ve come to the confluence of the Ble River where it flows into the Euphrates and we turned and we are now heading north of up the Bleak tributary. And this is what Abraham would have done because he’s following the Euphrates River and then Haron where he settles for a while is up the Bik River and so in following his uh trail then it’s necessary for us to leave the Euphrates and follow the Ble River up north. We are not too far away right now from the Turkish border and so we’re going to it’s going to be quite the ordeal for us to get into Turkey. There’s no place to cross the border. While Abraham continued up the Bleik River to Haran, because of the modern borders, we had to go all the way back to the Iraqi border, cross back into Iraq, cross into Turkey, and then drive all the way back to pick up the Bik on the other side of the border. So, we’ve been traveling for just over three weeks from of the Chaldanss and have finally arrived at this place, the ancient city of Haron. So, we are at the archaeological site of Haron here in Turkey. And for some reason, we’re not really told the reason Abraham and his family end up coming here and settling here for a time. So, we’re down in the ruins of what is called the Grand Mosque. Uh, this was excavated by David Storm Rice back in the 1950s. And what was found here that was very very significant were inscriptions of the last king of Babylon, Nabonitis. Nabonitis worshiped the moon god Nana, also called sin. And he was uh repairing a temple, a famous temple to the moon god here at Haron. The main god that they worshiped here was the moon god. And so he left these inscriptions behind that were found later through archaeology and they gave the name of this city as Haron. And so we know that this city is the city that the Bible is talking about called Haron where Abraham and his family settled for a time on their way to Canaan. Now why did they come to this place? Cuz it seems like it’s off of the main route on the way to Canaan. They came up the Bik River into the Bleak Valley here and then decided to settle. Well, we’re not told, so we don’t know for sure, but it seems to be connected to Abraham’s father, Tara. Tara may have been a worshshiper of the main god, the moon god called Nana and also called Sin. This is the main god that is worshiped in. And this is also the same main god that is worshiped in the city of Haron. He worshiped him back where he’s from in of the Chaldanss. And then maybe he was interested in coming up here because this city worshiped the same god as their main god. It seems to be Terara that is the connection to this because we’re told in Genesis 11, the last verse, that Tara died at Haron. And then in Genesis 12, we learn that Abraham with his wife Sarah and with his uh with his nephew Lot uh set out from Haron for the land of Canaan. Now we have to keep in mind that when Tara the father of Abram dies here uh and then when Abram leaves this place sets out from this place with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot that he’s 75 years old. He’s 75 years old and he’s childless. And so he leaves here really with the call of God and the promise of God that through his offspring all peoples on earth are going to be blessed. And that’s really what he has. He has the call of God and the promise of God, not much else, which is why he’s the father of our faith. He set out from here trusting that God was going to fulfill what he had promised to him even though it looked so impossible. So, just as Abraham did thousands of years ago, we are making our way out of Haron and setting out for the land of Canaan. So, the book of Genesis doesn’t tell us the details of Abraham’s route from Haron to the land of Canaan. However, later in the book of Genesis, we’re told about his grandson Jacob’s journey from Padonar, which is right here in the area of Haron uh to the land of Canaan. And so, we’re given some details there. And that’s what we’re following now. And it makes sense that uh it would have been the same route that Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather, would have traveled earlier. Heat. Heat. This is where Jacob crossed the Euphrates River. So we’re here on the Euphrates just above where the Bik River comes in and Genesis account says that Jacob and therefore earlier very likely Abraham would have crossed the Euphrates at this point. If I just look at it then I’m not going to retain it very well. But if I cross the Euphrates River then that’s going to help me remember this place for the rest of my life. Heat up here. Heat up here. How does it feel? >> So, there’s two channels there and they’re divided. And so, by swimming there and back, that’s the same context as crossing the entire Euphrates. Surely Abraham and Jacob would have crossed the Euphrates above where the Bleak River comes in because the Bleak River is a huge tributary that adds a lot of water to the Euphrates in general. So good context. So we are heading south right now across Syria. We are heading towards Damascus and more importantly we’re heading towards the hills of Gilead. And this is where we’re told in Genesis 31 that uh Jacob headed towards after he crossed the Euphrates. And then that makes sense that this is Abraham’s journey route as well. So that’s why we’re headed this way. We have to be very very careful. Uh even today there was an ISIS cell attack on the military in the province where we’re staying and that we’re driving right now. And so there’s some very dangerous areas ahead of us that we have to avoid. So, we’re going to pick up the trail of Abraham on the other side of Damascus in the country of Jordan. Behind me here is the border of Syria. And we are in now the country of Jordan. This is the fourth country that we’ve been in as we followed the route of Abraham from Er to Canaan. And so, uh, now that we’re in the country of Jordan, our next geographical destination are the hills of Gilead. These are the hills of Gilead. Behind me here is the hill country of Gilead. This is what Jacob was headed for. And they are a very distinct geographical feature in this region to the east of the Jordan River in the country of Jordan. We’re now in the hill country of Gilead. This is where it says in Genesis 31 that Jacob’s uncle Laban uh pursued Jacob for 7 days and caught up with him here in the hills of Gilead. The next geographical feature that we’re looking for is a deep river canyon. And this is what is in the Bible as the Jbach River. And this is where the route of the patriarchs turns west towards Canaan. It says for both Abraham and Jacob that they grew in wealth during their time in the Haron area. Uh this means that they had a lot of livestock, huge herds of animals. And so it makes sense that as much as possible they would follow a waterway, a river, so that they could water their animals whenever they needed to. So this is in the Bible the Jbach river. It is flowing out of the hills of Gilead and down to the Jordan River which is the border of the land of Canaan. So, we’ve been traveling for 6 weeks now. We are exhausted. We are excited though because as we follow the Jbach to the west, we are seeing for the first time uh the land of Canaan out to the west here. And so one thing about doing trips like this is it really helps with context. What would it have been like for Abraham and his family to make this huge journey all the way back at of the Chaldanss where God appeared to Abraham and told him to leave his own country and go to the land that God would show him this is the land that God showed him. And on his long journey of over a thousand miles, it would have been coming along the Jbach towards the west that Abraham would have seen the finish line for the first time, the land of Canaan. So how do we know that Jacob and earlier his grandfather uh Abraham followed the Jbach river to the land of Canaan? Well, we know this because of Jacob’s account. Uh behind me here is the tell of Pineal. Jacob called it Pineal because he wrestled with God there. And before he wrestled with God, he says that he sent his family across the Jbach river. So this shows that Jacob on his way to Canaan is following the Jbach River. Heat. Heat. So, we followed the Jbach River as far as we can today. We are approaching a very sensitive area, the border between Jordan and Israel. And I have had many experiences with how uh much you can get in trouble with the military in this area. And so we’re going to uh leave it at this point and pick it up on the Israel side after we cross the border. So we have come to the King Hussein bridge. This is the border between Jordan and Israel, the land of Canaan for Abraham. Unfortunately, our dear friend Omar is not going to join us in the promised land. He got so close to the promised land and yet isn’t going to enter. I’m sorry. But one day, one day he will go to the promised land. Unfortunately, that day is not today. >> Thank you, Omar. Literally, we could not have done this trip without Omar. And uh so we appreciate you very much. Thank you. >> Thank you. We’ll see you in the promised land. >> Yeah, one day. >> So, we’ve made our way into Israel. We spent the night in Jerusalem last night. It is now 5:30 in the morning, and we are making our way down into the Jordan Valley, up the Jordan Valley to Adam, where Abraham entered the promised land. Uh this is going to be our final day of filming uh on a very very long trip. Uh we plan to make it to Shakam today and this is our fifth and final country as we follow the route of Abraham. So, a few days ago, We were over on the Jordan side of the Jordan where Abraham crossed into the promised land. Now we are on the Israel side. And this sign is telling us that Adam Bridge is down there on the Jordan River. A bridge that’s no longer in use. But this bridge marked a popular crossing point even that goes back into ancient times. And this is where the Jbach River comes into the Jordan. uh because it is a crossing of the Jordan River, which is the border between Israel and Jordan. It’s a very sensitive place. We’re not going to be able to get down on this side either. However, I think from this side, we’ll be able to give you an aerial view and uh show you what this very important place looks like. This is where the Jbach River flows into the Jordan. And this is the ancient mound of the city of Adam, which guarded the fort of the Jordan River, where Jacob and earlier Abraham entered into the land of Canaan. From Teladom, Abraham traveled up Wadifara to the Canaanite city of Sheckchum. So we did the same Heat up here. Heat. Heat. This is Sheckchum, the end of Abraham’s journey. This is the end of our very very long journey. Uh when I think back to of the Chaldanss, that seems a very very long time ago. Certainly it seems longer than the six weeks ago that it was. and over a,000 miles that Abraham journeyied to get here from uh for us it’s been more than a thousand miles because of backtracking and everything like that. We’ve crossed eight borders, been in five different countries and all to get to this place. But it was all worth it because I will never read Abraham in the Bible the same again. I’ll never think about Abraham the same again. Uh the concept of him as uh the father of our faith in the Bible makes so much sense to me having gone through this journey. Hebrews 11:8 says that by faith Abraham when called to go to the place that he would later receive as an inheritance obeyed and went even though he didn’t know where he was going. How could he have known where he was going over a thousand miles away in of the Chaldans? He had no concept of this place. But it’s occurred to me on this trip that even though he did not know where he was going, he did know who he was following. It’s also occurred to me that it’s the same for us who follow Jesus. Jesus comes to us and calls us to follow him. And if we follow him, then we follow him by faith. We leave all the old life behind and we have a new life in following him. He’s taking us to an amazing place that we will inherit, an eternal place, but we can’t conceive of it. I certainly can’t conceive of it. But I know the one that I’m following. And I encourage everyone to follow Jesus, the son of God and the son of Abraham. Thanks for joining us on this amazing journey. Uh it’s your generous donations that made this possible and how we produce these videos. I’ll leave a link in the description where you can make a taxdeductible donation. Uh, I’ll also leave links where you can order a copy of my book, Where God Came Down, the Archaeological Evidence, uh, and where you can learn about the tours that I lead. We’ve started those up again. And, uh, you can watch other videos on our YouTube channel. We have many videos like this one. And, uh, thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.