Gifts of Heaven · Volume 3 · Chapter 523

Location of towns in Palestine referred to by John in the

Gospel of John and the Old Testament 29th March 1864

Writer: Leopold Cantily.

[1] Since you have asked Me many times already whether the towns' names and locations are as is stated in some travel descriptions and atlas publishers, specifically in the green booklet (“Biblische Geografie für Schulen und Familien”, 8th edition, by Calwer Verlagsverein – ed.) in which you have been reading already for a while. I have to start out immediately to tell you that there is virtually no place in the whole of Judea where My and My disciples' feet have walked, still in existence, regardless of the names of towns and place being given to it. For many towns have been trampled by the heathen who penetrated this land to such an extent that nobody can even remotely say: look, this is the place where the Lord have taught or did this or that in the presence of His apostles.

[2] The only place, Bethlehem, is still round about on the same place and above the valley, on a mountain, the exact castle of David described by Me, but of which only a few scattered stones still exists. Today, on that place, is built a convent with a church, whose brown clad inhabitants understand very well how to provide noble pilgrims with multifarious relics for payment.

[3] Concerning the location of Jerusalem can no more than one eighth of where the great Jerusalem, be regarded as true any more. Of the resort of Bethany, not a trace can be found any more. On the Mount of Olives is still a few homes with a few ruins, which is called Bethania. During My time, the home and guest house on the Mount of Olives which belonged to Lazarus was called Little Bethany – a place formerly called Bethphage. There is therefore also of Emmaus at Jerusalem, not a trace left.

[4] How much the location of Jerusalem changed, is proved by the Olive Mountain which today has already a completely different form than then, is located right east of the new Turkish Jerusalem, while the old Jerusalem was located more East than West of the Mount of Olives.

[5] Quite some time after Me a Roman Caesar from the morning land (East), called Justinianus, gave permission to the Jews – even a command – to exactly rebuild Jerusalem together with the Temple, whose foundation stones they should still be able to find, as it was in My time. From all parts of the world, many wealthy Jews with many builders and workers came to the site of the previous Jerusalem and began to erect everything as they found the traces of the location of the Jerusalem of old. But a pious man of the region who lived according to the teachings of the apostle Phillipus, warned them that, according to the prophecy of the prophet, to forgo their intentions, for if they would not listen to him, they would be served badly.

[6] They laughed at the prophet, tough – and began to dig in many places where they found traces of the old Jerusalem. But see, the work have lasted barely half a day when a terrible earthquake happened and shortly after, heavy volcanic fire erupted from the inner parts of the earth over the whole region of the old Jerusalem and destroyed the most important part of Jerusalem to such an extent that truly no brick or rock was left unscathed. Bricks and rocks were pulverised to a kind of gravel and forcefully strewn hours away from the site, causing the site to look like a desert even until today and that nobody would even guess that the old Jerusalem could have been at this location. At the eruption of this volcanic fire, many thousand working people have perished.

[7] This miracle was told to the Caesar in Rome by those who managed to rescue themselves in sudden flight and they swore that it really happened this way. He believed the miracle, but after two years he still wanted to erect an impressive monument at this site, to show to posterity where the old Jerusalem was situated.

[8] Again builders and sculptors gathered at the site of the old Jerusalem which was most suitable for a monument. They found such a place and began to dig the foundation. It did not fare better with them than with the first group; fire soon erupted from the depths of the earth and injured many people. Those who managed to flee in time, escaped without damage and since then, no endeavour was ever again launched to rebuild the old Jerusalem.

[9] Only after six hundred years the Saracens from the region of Baghdad came to this region and destroyed everything they encountered that were old cities and towns. Even the old cities that was left undamaged by the Romans, was reduced to ruins. The site of Jerusalem, then being nothing more than a mountain and was later wrongly named 'Zion', and on which stood an old Roman watchtower and a wooden chapel – which already at that time wrongly was indicated and revered as being the site of My grave, even until today – guiding hundreds of thousands of pious pilgrims to the deepest of superstition.

[10] The Saracens later built a completely new city on the western side of the Olive Mountain with the name of Jerusalem, in which time also the named chapel got a bigger and better look. In and around this (chapel) the pious pilgrims have fought every year with clubs and sticks – often for the sake of piety, transforming the open terrain around the chapel into a battlefield. This usually because every sect who honoured the Christ as their God, wanted to prevent the other to do so.

[11] The Greeks wanted to hear and know nothing of this Roman Catholic Christ and vice versa; and as much sects as there where, as much enemies opposed each other and would have destroyed themselves for the sake of all faithful zeal, if the Turkish soldiers would not have maintained peace and order at these occasions. They did that, because there did fall some tips onto their pockets at such uproars.

[12] This is what is happening today at these so-called holy sites. Because I have seen this coming, I let all the named and known places of the Gospels, where I spent most of My time on earth – especially in Galilee, be destroyed, to not let it be discovered by such a Bible-adhering geographer.

[13] There are only some remnants left of the city of Tiberias of that time at the shores of the sea of Galilee. Of all other places which were along the shores of this lake, no trace is left. Besides this, the sea of Galilee retreated all around so much that it is today about a third smaller in surface area than it was at My time.

[14] Of My hometown of Nazareth, no trace is left; in a valley west of the sea of Galilee, today a few hours away, exists a meagre Turkish town which has been appointed as My hometown of old by the profiteering Christian as well as Turkish faith. On the site of My wrongly appointed dwelling now stands a church and a small convent where the local priesthood displays various relics from the workshop of Joseph the carpenter. This find very little acceptance with most sects because every sect pretends to be in possession of those relics, which was brought to them by angels through the air. Other sects anyway have little faith in such relics and thus the current Nazareth fares but poorly with it's merchandise of it's holy site.

[15] Along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Joppe is still the best preserved place. Tyre and Sidon are only ruins, as is Sardis and Laodicea. In place of these old world cities, is today only a few meagre fishermens' huts. Wild animals now roam the ruins, often visited by the jackal and hyena and the fishermen always have to be armed to the teeth when they go fishing.

[16] Of all the cities which I visited especially after the last year of My teaching period as well as along the Eastern shore of the Galilean sea and the Jordan valley, only a few ruins remain, inhabited now and then by Bedouins. They only still exist because they where built with basalt stones which was already 2 000 years old in My time and where inhabited by Romans and Greeks.

[17] In the upper part of Syria there still exist places which I visited. People have not yet taken interest in them because they firstly are too remote and secondly were not named in the current four gospels.

[18] With this you can be satisfied regarding My addressing of the places in Palestine; for I have wiped them from existence exactly because of the predicted idolatry and there remained virtually no sign of them.

[19] The most correct reference still is the Kishon valley along the caravan route which at that time went from Damascus, past Capernaum to Tyre and Sidon. But that valley, which was at that time located right next to the sea of Galilee, is today three to four hours away from it and is a completely barren sandy desert.

[20] The same goes for the Ebahl bay and the Ebahl valley Where the little town of Gennezareth was. Today it is a vast sandy desert and is situated two hours from the mirror of the Galilean lake. In My time the sea had an outflow there and in the time of the Canaanites, it was the main exit of the Jordan. Where it exits now, there was at that time only a brook. During later times this Jordan valley was moved and blocked by landslides which often happened in this region so much so that no traveller or scientist would ever guess that the Jordan previously flowed there. That valley was more open in My time and a side branch of the Jordan flowed through it. Great landslides and earthquakes was the only means by which every trace of it disappeared.

[21] Through these landslides, especially in the region of the lake of Galilee – and especially the floor of this lake, was lowered with more than two hundred fathoms, thus diminishing the surface area of the lake and the Jordan had to form a new main exit where the landslides opened up a new door for it. For about a thousand years after My time, the whole Jordan valley, down to it's exit into the Dead Sea, lowered in it's fullness with a hundred feet, as well as the Dead Sea. The lake can not be reached by a soft shore any more and is currently surrounded with high and steep rocks, allowing man a very few places to see and reach this lifeless lake which is about three times as big as the Bodensee (in the south of Germany).

[22] What I now said about this is the truth, everything else is greatly men's fabrications and speculations. In fact, with regard to the Gospel of John which I dictated to you, there is very little importance to the location or the names of the places, but what is of importance is the teachings of life and truth contained in it.

[23] There is a lot of clowns striving about it; where the Paradise was located, where Adam have fled from there, in which country Cain killed Abel and whereto he fled afterwards, where Adam settled later on. There are so many indications that even a spirit which is close to it's perfection can be confused by it. It is only quarrelling about a few pieces of sheep's wool ! The truth about all this can be found in 'The Household of God' and partly also in [the Gospel of] John. Everything else is worthless, since the earth had at that time quite a different appearance and division, which was significantly changed after the time of Noah. Would you endeavour to determine the living conditions of the primordial arch fathers, you would only randomly shoot in the air, for in that time, Siberia, especially in the East, as well as Central Asia up to the Marks of China, was a richly blessed and fertile country. Have a look at it today, you will find the stark opposite. Siberia have barely anything but eternal snow and ice and the then so blessed Central Asia is avoided by even the wildest and most rapacious vermin, since there is nothing but sand and rocks. This is why it is impossible for the Russian subjects to flee over these vast deserts to at least reach the great Tibetan mountain ranges, because these great deserts of Central Asia are mostly just as terrible as the great Sahara desert in Africa.

[24] From this can be seen that the earth has been greatly changed by the exaggerated pride of mankind – and there will be no geologist, even if he would be a hundredfold Alexander Humbold, have any success. Yet, what everyone need to know to better understand the books of Moses, I

have dictated to you by pen already twenty years ago and is now again doing in John about the places in the land where I lived and taught. Everything else is in vain, that is, nothing more that beating out empty straw.

[25] With this description of Me, you and every other believer can be satisfied. But the so-called world midget riders have to lick the dust of the old ruins to satisfaction, but it will be of little use to them, since they will find little nourishment in it.

[26] I am always the Lord and change the earth to My pleasure and according to My wisdom. Such highly wise minded ones, who even hear how the grass grows and of which some have alleged that they have heard the plants snore while they breathe, have to empty the valley of a river down to the bed and there they will find much feed for their minds ! But they will not find it, but would rather be content with the licking of the damp rock walls, for there man can say to a few highly learned: Friends ! Your tongues will only reach where a few dewdrops are hanging, but with a wondrous rod in your hand, you would bring forth no fountain from the insides of a rock like the prophet Moses, of whose riches millions of people and animals could quench their burning thirst.

[27] I have always been the wondrous rod of Moses, never the vain glory and selfish mind's cumulative worldly wisdom of a graduated doctor of the high universities.

[28] This unto the calming of all those who believe in Me, love Me above all and their neighbour as themselves.

[29] This again say I, your Father, Lord and Master. Amen.