Day 3: Barley in the Jordan Valley

Day 3: Barley in the Jordan Valley
February 25, 2026

Total miles traveled to date: 8642

Steps taken today: 12,009

Steps taken to date: 35,371

Details: Tel Aviv to a En Malqoah - to Gilgal - to Checkpoint Charlie - to Jordan River Baptismal Site - to Sea of Galilee

Total Miles Driven Today:146 miles

Today, our day started like the others.  We met in the breakfast room and enjoyed a nice breakfast and much needed coffee.  After breakfast, we made our way to our cars.  I confess, walking to the cars is one of the nerve-wracking parts of the day.  That's because drivers in Israel are a unique breed.  I've been all over the US, and drivers can be a little aggressive and sometimes rude, but in general people follow the rules and obey traffic laws.  In Israel drivers are a little bit more fluid with the rules.  That being the case, it is essential to pay attention and for the pedestrians to have self-preservation in mind.  We headed to the Jordan River Valley.  I was so impressed with the beauty of the drive.  We went over the mountains, which is so much fun for an Oregonian!  At the bottom of the mountains, we stopped and had some snacks in a little village called En Malqoa.  The cream cheese danish was delicious, and I met this sweet, funny kitty!!  

Yes!  This is how he sits. 

 

After the restroom break and snack stop, we got back on the road and made our first tourist stop of the day.  We went to someplace everyone reads about in the Bible, but it doesn't really strike most people to consider - where is this place?  From now on I will see it clearly in my mind.  

Gilgal:

Joshua 3:19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

Gilgal is the first location that the Israelites camped up after crossing the Jordan.  We turned down a dirt road, then another dirt road, passed through a farm and a flock of sheep with a shepherd, donkey, and a dog, and then on up to a huge flat spot.  Here we found the first and oldest footprint of the Holy Tabernacle in Israel. 

Footprint of the Tabernacle

The other end of the footprint

 

Their view as they camped here.  Try to imagine it without the farm in front.

This is the place that they made sharp tools (there are flint-napped stones everywhere) and they circumcised all of the men and then they celebrated Passover for the first time "in the land."  This is what it would have looked like!  They crossed over in the first month - the month of Aviv!!  There are signs of them here!  You can see the rock walls in the photo, we found worked stone for the cutting tools, and we saw many, many pottery shards here.

We moved on and stopped a few places and then passed through "Check Point Charlie," a security checkpoint where they look at passports and ID, to a farmer's field nearby a little village.  Here is a video in response to some rules that people have made up for this search.  In fact, there is a group of individuals who follows this weird idea of keeping the feasts according to the barley. But most of them add other rules to the barley search.  Such as it cannot be in a rocky field, or under a power line, or in a ditch, or along a road, or it must be every field in the whole nation, etc.  None of these things are in the Bible.  The Bible just says when the barley is Aviv.  The rest is "takanote" or made up, extra rules people have put around the rules.  Here's a video of Joe took.

Leaving this place, where we found a very small amount of barley, we drove on down into the Jordan valley and found a farmers field that was plumb FULL of barley on the edges.  We walked a long ways - and up a hill,  and we found....something - I'll come back to that in a minute. 

After a very long walk and a thorough search of the barley, we proceeded to the Jordan River!!  We went to the official Jordan river baptism site.  This is the place where Yeshua (Jesus) is reported to have been baptized by John the Baptist and the spirit came down upon him like a dove.  It's a beautiful location, but we did not decide to be baptized here.  One of the features is the relevant scripture repeated, in tile, in so many languages.  It's very lovely.  We enjoyed the view and the ambience, and moved on to dinner.  

Because basically across the street from the Jordan river is the Sea of Galilea!  Yes!  The Sea of Galilea!!  The place where Yeshua walked on the water and spent so much time hanging around.

We went a restaurant in Tiberius called "Pavilion" and it had a big beautiful enclosed deck where we dined, watching the sun set on the sea at this amazing site which is such a pivotal and important place.  

I want to post about 100 pictures of it, but here are a few!!

Sea of Galilea

Rose                                 Shawna                     Mitzi

Photo by Shane

I can't say enough good things about the food at the Pavilion.  The staff was excellent, the chef took personal care of us, and the food was so good we could not stop eating it!!  Basically it was a huge pile of meat, after a huge presentation of salad.  I have had a LOT of good food in my life, but this meal will always be one of the best ever.  

Photo of an excellent dinner
Courtesy of Joe

About the Barley

Returning the subject of the barley, we believe the barley will be aviv by the time of the wave sheaf offering, which is when the barley must be ripe.   The reason this is so important is that the festival of First Fruits, which requires the barley, is exactly 7 days after Passover.  If the barley is Aviv at the time of the Passover, then you will be able to go out to the barley, cut the omer, and it will be ready to turn into the bread for the First Fruits offering.  If the barley, which grows wild everywhere, is left to continue until it gets to the accepted Jewish calendar, the Hillel calendar, than there will be no barley.  

When grains are ripe they are still green and you cut them, then farmers leave them in the field.  In response to being cut, the stalks send all of their essence into the grain to make it ripe before it dies.  The barley is then gathered the next day and turned into bread for the offering.  If the barley is not picked at the right time, it will simply fall to the ground and replant itself.  If one waits until the "official" Hillel calendar, and YHVH's calendar is actually earlier than that, than there will be no "first fruits" for the First Fruits offering.

Based on the growth cycle of barley, it should look a certain way at this time.  The barley looked ripe and will be perfectly right by the time it's time to make the First Fruits offering.

That is WHY I'm here.  To learn about the barley, to announce the aviv barley, and by association, to keep the Passover in Israel.  Every year at the end of the meal, the people shout, "NEXT YEAR IN ISRAEL."  But for me, it's THIS YEAR IN ISRAEL!!!

Since we cannot do more about the barley, tomorrow we are going sightseeing.  We'll be visiting Ancient Shilo - it's a long drive, and a large attraction to visit, so I will be sure to share all about it.  

Thanks for reading, friends!  I enjoy sharing with you, so I hope you enjoy reading.

Shalom!