Mount Arbel, located just to the west of the Sea of Galilee, offers stunning views of the Sea of Galilee and the area in which Jesus ministered, with extended views of Mt. Hermon in the north and Mt. Tabor in the south. It is a magnificent photo opportunity. There are cliff-side dwellings as well as a nearby synagogue. Because observant Jews during the days of Christ would not set foot in Tiberias, the route to Jerusalem went near Mt. Arbel so it would have been very familiar to Christ and the disciples.
Historically, Mt. Arbel was a place where the Seleucids slaughtered the Jews in 160 BC during the Maccabean Uprising and also where Herod the Great also forced many off of the cliffs of the mountain to fall to their deaths.
Hosea 10:14
12:
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
13:
Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
14:
Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
15:
So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.
Revelation 6:14-17
14:
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15:
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16:
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17:
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Mt. Arbel - God's justice
Viewing Mt. Arbel and its bloody past, it is easy to consider God's justice for the Christian knows that He hates disobedience and rebellion against His statutes. The Christian also knows that vengeance is in God's hand. Consider the passage from Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 32:30-41
30:
How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
31:
For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
32:
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
33:
Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
34:
Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
35:
To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
36:
For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37:
And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
38:
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
39:
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40:
For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41:
If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
Jude 14-16
14:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15:
To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16:
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage