Well, I am standing just off the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Behind me here are the ruins of Sodom. And in the Bible, the Sodommites are described as being these notorious sinners, which is what got this place destroyed with fire coming down out [music] of heaven some 4,000 years ago. But this video is not about [music] Sodom. It’s actually about a Jewish fishing village over a hundred miles to the north of here called Capernaum. So what am I doing here? Well, it has to do with what Jesus [music] said to Capernaum in Matthew 11. He said, “If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would remain to this day. [music] I tell you that it’ll be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” So what on earth did Capernaum do to get a harsher judgment than Sodom? And [music] what does the archaeology of Capernaum tell us about it? This massive synagogue points to this massive church which is built [music] over a first century AD time of Jesus house. Why? [music] 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. From Sodom, located on the east side of the Dead Sea, we traveled north to Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Matthew chapter 4 says, “Jesus went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake.” In 1865, the British scholar Charles Wilson became the first to excavate the impressive ruins on the northshore of the Sea of Galilee called locally tell whom. Wilson [music] wrote, “We were soon amongst these ruins, which if they are as we believe them to be, those of Capernaum.” So Wilson understood that the name Capernaum which comes from the Greek Kaepernam and then from the Hebrew original name uh Kafar Nahim Kafar meaning village and neahu meaning comfort. And so what seems to have happened over time is that uh the kafar the the village became a tell meaning ruin and then nah was shortened to whom. So Wilson knew when he went to excavate Tel whom that this was Capernaum and this identification of Telum as Gafarnneahum Capernaum uh is known with certainty. This is a picture of the northshore of the Sea of Galilee. This is where the Jordan River enters into the lake. Flowing into it from the north and a few miles west of the [music] mouth of the Jordan are the ruins of Capernaum. In 81st century, Capernaum was a Jewish fishing village. And to this day, the waters just off Capernaum shore remain a popular [music] destination for the local Jewish fishermen. So the first to excavate here at Tel Whom is Charles Wilson in [music] 1865. And he starts excavating the ruins of this building and he’s trying to identify what kind of building this is. And one thing that gave it away was these benches that run along the walls which are typical of synagogues. Uh also in the synagogue we see the front of the synagogue over here in three separate entrances. So you have this monumental white limestone building in the midst of this black basaltt ruins of Capernaum. [music] Wilson partially excavated the White Synagogue, but in 1905 and 1907, a German team directed by Heinrich Cole and Carl Watsinger excavated it much more thoroughly and published their plans and reconstructions of it in a 1916 book entitled Ancient Synagogues in Galilee. This is considered a groundbreaking work to this day. The Germans did a reconstruction of the White Synagogue. And this picture showing the rubble of this destroyed building shows what a complicated mess they were dealing with as they studied each piece of architecture to determine [music] what part of the building it had come from. In this way, they produced this top plan [music] and these reconstructions. And what we have to understand when we see their reconstruction of the White Synagogue is that this wasn’t just speculative. It was based on the archaeology. It’s important to understand that just as you find a shattered pot and you glue it back together into a whole pot, this is what the Germans were doing uh with this building. They took each one of these pieces of architecture and they tried to determine where it had collapsed from or fallen from and how it fit into uh the reconstruction of this whole building. And so, for example, if they put a window at the front of the building, it’s because when they were excavating at the front of the building, they found parts of this stone window sills that that had fallen down and they’re reconstructing then uh the building based on their finds. And when we did our own 3D model of this white synagogue, then we based it on the plans and reconstructions of Cole and Wattser who based it on what they had found in the ground during their excavations of this building. It’s important for us to understand how the Jews were using this building for its worship because this is going to help us connect to the biblical accounts that we’re going to read later. On the east side was an open air courtyard and west of it the synagogue building itself. Inside low walls supporting rows of pillars enclosed a rectangular area at the center of the building called the nave. Between the rows of pillars and the walls of the building were three aisles on the east, [music] west, and north with stone benches running along the eastern and western walls. There were four entrances into these aisles, but the main entrance of the synagogue was in the middle of the southern wall. Looking north at the outside of the southern face of the building, we see three entrances with the main one in the middle and above them windows. We get the opposite [music] perspective when we enter the synagogue and turned back so that we are looking towards the south. The elders would have sat on the benches with most of the people sitting eastern style on mats on the floor facing south towards [music] the front of the synagogue. The reason the synagogue is oriented towards the [music] south is because south of Capernaum was the temple at Jerusalem. In fact, both Wilson [music] and Cole and Watsinger uh excavated and studied many of the synagogues in the Galilee area and all of them were oriented towards Jerusalem. And this is because this is the direction of prayer. Solomon’s prayer of dedication is described in first kings 8 where King Solomon prays over this temple I have built. hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven your dwelling place and when you hear forgive for there is no one who does not sin. The direction of prayer is directly related to forgiveness because we see Solomon understanding that uh everybody sins and so in the future when Israel sins then they can pray towards the temple that he has built towards Jerusalem and [music] the Lord will hear their prayers and forgive them their sins. [music] And we see Daniel during his exile in the city of Babylon practicing this direction of prayer. Daniel 16 says that Daniel went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed. So we see these windows in Daniel’s room opening towards Jerusalem are like the entrances and the windows in the synagogue in Capernaum. Just as Daniel during the Babylonian Empire is praying towards Jerusalem and her temple, so too in the Roman Empire, we have the Jews in Capernaum praying towards Jerusalem and where the temple had been built. In their report, Cole and Watsinger explain what they found from the interior architecture on the south [music] side of the synagogue. They write, “It seems that the small architecture was built across the entire width of the nave, forming a kind of holy of holies. In the center under the gable, the Torah shrine, probably a small podium with steps in the front. Here is their reconstruction of the podium on a raised platform and behind it the Torah shrine where the sacred scrolls of Hebrew scripture were kept and brought out to the podium for public reading.” As he excavated down in between these entrances, he found what are called Torah arcs where the scriptures were kept. He also found a podium which was used by the rabbi or by whoever was publicly reading scripture from here. So this is the front of the building and it is facing like all Galilean synagogues do south towards [music] Jerusalem. >> [music] [music] [music] >> The next excavate at Capernaum was Gaens or Folly and he excavated there in the 1920s and in front of the white synagogue he uncovered an octagonal church which dated to the 4th century AD. And so now we have this Jewish synagogue and in front of it an early Christian church. Now the one who made the most significant discoveries at Capernaum was Virgilio Corbo. And he started his excavations at uh Capernaum starting in 1969 and he dug through the 1970s and into the 1980s. And one reason that he made such significant discoveries was because he dug deep. He wanted to know what this octagonal Byzantine church was commemorating. And so he dug down underneath it and found a house that very clearly dated from the coins and the pottery to the first century AD, the time of Jesus. In Corbo’s excavation report, he excavated below the octagonal church. On his top plan, he shows the remains of house walls from [music] the first century in black. This house wall is seen in this excavation photo below the walls of [music] the church. And these 81st century walls can [music] still be seen at Capernaum today. Inscriptions were found on these early house walls [music] that mention both Peter and Jesus Christ. And so [music] you have this house from the time of Jesus. Built on top of that is this early church, octagonal church. And if you visit the site today, you’ll see that built over that is the modern church. Now, behind me here are the basaltt buildings, houses that make up this fishing village of Capernaum. And so, as we look at this village that’s been uncovered and we ask the simple question, which one of these houses is the famous house that the Messiah lived in and ministered from? Well, it’s fairly obvious, isn’t it? It’s the one that has one thing built on top of another. So, we have these phases of different churches that when we go back to the earliest one, then we have a house from the first century AD, which is obviously the famous house in this fishing village where Jesus lived and had his ministry. And so, we have this stack of archaeology for the churches. and Corbo went back to the synagogue then and dug below the floor. So in 1981, Corbo and his excavation team dug through the floor of this white synagogue and then underneath it, they found the basalt floor of an earlier synagogue that dated from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD, the time of Jesus. And you can see part of that synagogue in the layer underneath the white synagogue. and it’s at a slightly different line than the synagogue building above it. They’re a little off from each other, which shows that the um the black basaltt walls underneath it weren’t made as a foundation only to uh to the white limestone synagogue on top of it. So, we have this stack of synagogues. And keep in mind again, this is typical. The synagogue didn’t move around in a town. If it was destroyed then and a new one was built then that new synagogue was built over the ruins of the old synagogue. And that’s what happened here at Capernaum. So in order to really more thoroughly understand and excavate the black basaltt synagogue, you would have to remove this spectacular white limestone synagogue. And that never happened. So the excavations were able to determine that the plan of the white limestone synagogue was almost identical to the underlying black basaltt synagogue. However, because that wasn’t removed, they were not able to find any entrances in this earlier synagogue. Um, but based on the the same plan of the one above it, then it’s logical that the main entrance of the earlier synagogue and the orientation was the same as the one built on top of it. If the plan was almost identical for the upper synagogue to the lower one, then the orientation also logically would be the same. Now, we are going to bring the Bible into it. But keep in mind that as we do, we need to go down to that layer that uh Corbo excavated and it’s the house and the synagogue made of the local basalt stone. These are the buildings that are being talked about mentioned in the writings of the New Testament. And a good place to start is Luke 7 because it mentions both of these buildings [music] that were discovered and excavated by Corbo. So Luke 7 starts with [music] the words when Jesus entered Capernaum. So we know that this uh account took place in Capernaum [music] and we are told about this centurion who sends a message to Jesus uh because he has a sick servant and he wants Jesus [music] to heal his servant. And the people of Capernaum tell Jesus, you should help him because this is the man who built our synagogue. So here we have a matching [music] date because Corbo said that based on the coins, this early synagogue was built at some point in the first half [music] of the first century AD. And then we’re told here in Luke 7 that [music] this centurion who’s living in the first half of the first century AD is the one who built that synagogue. So Jesus went with them and it says specifically that he was not far from the house. Uh what house [music] is it talking about? Well, obviously the house where Jesus lived and [music] the house that he used as a headquarter for his Galilean ministry. And [music] so this other message comes to Jesus where the uh centurion says don’t don’t bother yourself. Uh don’t you don’t have to come here. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. And when Jesus heard this, he was amazed by this man’s faith. And he said, I haven’t found such [music] great faith even in Israel. And so isn’t it awesome that uh that the man that Jesus is amazed by his faith and says this about I [music] haven’t found such great faith not even in Israel is the same man who built the synagogue at Capernaum. Mark 1:21 says they went to Capernaum and when the Sabbath came Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. We know that Jesus taught in this early [music] synagogue in Capernaum. And we can picture it because we can see the people sitting on the mats and along [music] the benches facing towards the south towards Jerusalem and Jesus standing at the podium and then behind him would [music] be the Torah shrine where the scrolls were kept. So keep this view in mind and then think of Acts 15:21 which says [music] that from ancient generations Moses has been read every Sabbath in the synagogue. And of course this would be the case also for the Capernaum synagogue. So you have Jesus [music] who’s teaching in this synagogue standing up at the podium. Everybody’s facing him and behind him is the Torah shrine where the scrolls of Moses are kept where for generations they’ve been read to the [music] people of Capernaum. And here you have the one teaching now in the synagogue who says of himself, if you believed Moses, you would believe me because Moses wrote [music] about me. Not only was Moses read every Sabbath in the synagogue, but also the prophets. And this [music] would of course include Isaiah and Isaiah 9 that has the prophecy that talks about the tribal territory of Zabulan and Nefali, Galilee of the nations. This is the location of Capernaum. And then it says that the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. And so [music] Jesus living in Capernaam and using it as a headquarters for his Galilean ministry is the fulfillment of this prophecy. [music] And we see this in Matthew 4 who quotes this same prophecy from Isaiah 9. And then [music] uh finishes it by saying that from that time forth Jesus began to [music] preach repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near. Now, of course, that Moses was read, that the prophets were read every week in the synagogue is what led to this expectation by the Jews of a coming Messiah. So many miracles take place in Capernaum. I don’t have time to go through all of them, so I’ll limit myself to just two. One that takes place in the synagogue and the other that takes place in the house. Both of these buildings were found by Corbo in his excavations at Capernaum. So in Mark chapter 1, we see that in Capernaum when the Sabbath came, then Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. And as he’s teaching, a man who’s listening to him that is possessed by a unclean spirit cries out, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” And Jesus sternly says to him, “Be quiet and [music] come out of him.” And so this man is shaken violently and this unclean spirit comes out of him with a shriek. The people when they see this are amazed and they [music] say to themselves, “What is this thing? What is this new teaching? How does this person have this authority? He has authorities even over demons because keep in mind that uh demons are more powerful than people and God is more powerful than demons. And so if this person who is teaching them [music] in the synagogue has authority over demons, then that means that he has the power of God to deal with this unclean spirit. And then we read at the end of this account that the news about him and this miracle spread throughout the region of the Galilee. And we start to see why Capernaum became known, became famous for the miracles of Jesus. So Mark chapter 2 tells us that Jesus once again entered Capernaum because he had come home. And so he begins teaching in the house where he lives. And this huge crowd gathers to this house. And we have these four men that are carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and they can’t get to Jesus because of this crowd that is even outside the door of the house. So they go up onto the roof and keep in mind this is the house that Corbo found in his excavations that was later commemorated by this early Byzantine church. And so they go up onto the roof of this house. They dig a hole. They lower this paralyzed man in a mat down before Jesus. And when he sees the paralyzed man, he says, “Your sins are forgiven.” And the teachers of the law that are sitting there say, “This is blasphemy because God alone can forgive sins.” Jesus says to them, “So that you know that I do have the authority of God to forgive sin.” Then he tells the paralyzed man to get up and take his mat and walk. And when the people see this paralyzed man walk, they’re amazed and they say, “We have never seen anything like this.” Think about again where the synagogue is pointing. Because remember, the direction of prayer has to do with forgiveness of sin. It was pointed towards the temple. But more immediately, the synagogue in Capernaum was pointed towards the house where Jesus lived and used as a headquarters for his Galilean ministry. I mean, if you’re there at Capernaum, you see where the synagogue is, where it points to, and right in front of it, to the south, is the excavation of this house under this octagonal church. The two main functions of a synagogue are first of all for the public reading of scripture. What does scripture do? It proclaims this coming Messiah. And the Messiah came right there in the house that later became different phases of a church. One thing built on top of another. The other thing that they do in a synagogue is prayer. And some of the main prayers that they gave back in the first century AD were for the coming of the Messiah who again came right there in this village in that house that has been commemorated ever since. If you think again of Jesus standing at the podium at the front of the synagogue, then behind him is the direction of Jerusalem where he soon will go to give his life on a cross for the forgiveness of sins. And he is the one that we are to direct our prayers towards because he is the one that accomplished the work that then allows God to maintain justice while at the same time forgiving us of our sins. So in John chapter 6, we have this very controversial sermon that Jesus gives. [music] And if you skip to the end of it in verse 59, it tells us that Jesus said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. This bread [music] is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” And the response to this sermon in Capernaum is that from that time on many [music] of his disciples that had been following him turned back and no longer followed him. And Jesus [music] says to uh the 12, do you want to leave as well? And Peter says, where would we go? We know that you are the holy one of God. The sin of Capernaum is that they had their scriptures read in the synagogue from generation to generation. [music] The writings of Moses and the prophets uh proclaiming the coming of this Messiah and even that he would come as a great light to the region of the Galilee. [music] And then he comes and not only that he teaches in [music] their synagogue and he lives in a house in their town and he performs miracle after miracle after miracle. And despite all of this [music] uh the vast majority of the people living in Capernaum reject Jesus and do not believe in him and follow him as their Messiah. >> [music] >> And this is the sin that then will bring them a curse and bring them [music] uh a more harsh judgment on the day of judgment than the sodomites will receive. Something that really struck me was how amazed the people of Capernaum were with Jesus. They were amazed at his teaching. What is this new teaching? They’d never heard somebody teach with such authority. They were amazed by his miracles. We have never seen anything like this. And yet the same people that were amazed by Jesus in the end the majority of them did not believe in him or follow him as the Messiah. And it makes me think now uh today when we look back into [music] history, the historical figure that stands out the most from all of history is Jesus of Nazareth. [music] And um people are amazed by his teachings. Uh people are amazed by his [music] miracles uh that he went to the cross and gave his life that he rose from the grave. But it struck me that it’s not enough [music] to be amazed. The people of Capernaum demonstrate this. You also have to eat his [music] flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life. In other words, you have to partake [music] of the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross so that justice could be maintained for sins [music] while at the same time by grace forgiveness for sins could be offered to us. [music] So don’t just be amazed by Jesus. Believe in him and [music] follow him as Messiah. It’s so helpful if you are willing to hit that subscribe button. It really helps [music] get this information out. Also, I’ll leave a link where you can order a copy of my book, Where God Came Down, the Archaeological Evidence. Thanks [music] so much for those of you who have left reviews and for making this number one in archaeology. I’ll also leave a link for donations. Keep in mind, we are a nonprofit and so all donations are taxdeductible. [music] These are so appreciated because these are used for the production of future videos. You can watch other videos like this on our YouTube channel. You can watch another video right here. [music]