Go to Galilee
“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” – Matthew 4:23 We learned yesterday that in Jesus’ day, Israel was divided into three regions: Galilee in the north, Judea in the south, and Samaria in the middle. Galilee was an area inhabited primarily by Jews who had returned home from exile in Babylon. Though they were released 400 years earlier, many of them did not immediately come back to Israel. Instead, they settled in Greek-speaking cities like Alexandria in Egypt or in other parts of Babylonia, where they practiced Judaism but also picked up some of the local culture. As they trickled gradually back to their homeland, most of them settled in the northern region. Though they were very much Jewish and believed in Torah, they also believed in miracles and were more prophetic