BIBLICAL GEOGRAPHY
Dr. Paul Wright, President of Jerusalem University College has the ability to bring the topography of the Bible alive. Dr. Wright, who received his Ph.D from Hebrew Union College (Cincinnati) in the area of Bible and Ancient Near East, helped us to see that the landscape of the Bible intersects with the topography of the Holy Land. As we read scriptures we are encouraged to linger over the details of place and the details of weather, rain, winds when they are mentioned and to ask "why" are these things named? Why did the writer include these details? What is it that the writer wants us to know about these things? How does the matter of rainfall affect the thinking and the outlook of the person who lived 3,500 years ago?
Moses led God’s people from Egypt, a land of plenty with plenty of water and a rich, fertile valley to a promised land that was not nearly so hospitable. The land of Canaan was hilly, the soil was rocky, water was scarce. Why not stay in Egypt and take over the government and make it the land of God’s people?
In Deuteronomy 11:10 we read that this new land is not like the land of Egypt. Imagine the people rejoicing, thinking that God has prepared something even better. Then Deuteronomy goes on to describe this new less hospitable land in verse 11. In the following verses scripture lets the people know that when they follow God’s commandments, God will give them everything they need.... rain, grass, livestock, grain, wine, olive oil and the assurance that they will eat their fill. In other words, with some human effort to make a go of it and with faithful hearts, God will look after them. The geography of this new land gives cogent advice to God’s people. Here, they WILL need to reply upon God, unlike the easy life they knew under human masters in Egypt.
The land is the playing board upon which is played out the life of God’s people. When one understands the impact of the land and all its elements upon the lives of its inhabitants, one begins to understand more fully the attitudes and outlooks, hopes and hurts of the people living there. It is one thing to read about the rain and the wind of the winter season in the Holy Land, it is yet different and enriching to feel it and live it. It is one thing to read about the Jezreel Valley that stretched before Jesus in his time and to read of the battles and the living characters that passed through the valley. It is quite a different experience to stand on top of Mount Tabor and see the valley opened wide before one’s eyes.
Through archaeology and various technical means of "dating" one can re-construct life as it might have been lived in Joshua’s time, or Jesus’ time. The geography of the land speaks of the lives that were lived and the peoples that left their imprint here.
It is not easy to find a politically neutral term to describe the land in this area. A relatively new term is "the land between." This term refers to the geographical placement of the Holy Land as the connecting point or "land bridge" of several large land masses.... Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Saudi peninsula. For thousands of years empires have marched through the "Land Between" in order to secure the land that was beyond. The "Land Between" was a stopping point and it was strategic to conquer and hold in order that the land route was open and available to each empire that aspired to raise its flag. This was true of the empires of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Parthians, etc, etc.
The times that Israel and Judah truly flourished as self governing entities were times when no one else aspired to become an empire, times such as during the Old Testament reigns of King David and his son Solomon and the rulers and Kings that followed. During these times the people were not ever overflowing with wealth or resources, but they had enough, as God had promised.
Moses led God’s people from Egypt, a land of plenty with plenty of water and a rich, fertile valley to a promised land that was not nearly so hospitable. The land of Canaan was hilly, the soil was rocky, water was scarce. Why not stay in Egypt and take over the government and make it the land of God’s people?
In Deuteronomy 11:10 we read that this new land is not like the land of Egypt. Imagine the people rejoicing, thinking that God has prepared something even better. Then Deuteronomy goes on to describe this new less hospitable land in verse 11. In the following verses scripture lets the people know that when they follow God’s commandments, God will give them everything they need.... rain, grass, livestock, grain, wine, olive oil and the assurance that they will eat their fill. In other words, with some human effort to make a go of it and with faithful hearts, God will look after them. The geography of this new land gives cogent advice to God’s people. Here, they WILL need to reply upon God, unlike the easy life they knew under human masters in Egypt.
The land is the playing board upon which is played out the life of God’s people. When one understands the impact of the land and all its elements upon the lives of its inhabitants, one begins to understand more fully the attitudes and outlooks, hopes and hurts of the people living there. It is one thing to read about the rain and the wind of the winter season in the Holy Land, it is yet different and enriching to feel it and live it. It is one thing to read about the Jezreel Valley that stretched before Jesus in his time and to read of the battles and the living characters that passed through the valley. It is quite a different experience to stand on top of Mount Tabor and see the valley opened wide before one’s eyes.
Through archaeology and various technical means of "dating" one can re-construct life as it might have been lived in Joshua’s time, or Jesus’ time. The geography of the land speaks of the lives that were lived and the peoples that left their imprint here.
It is not easy to find a politically neutral term to describe the land in this area. A relatively new term is "the land between." This term refers to the geographical placement of the Holy Land as the connecting point or "land bridge" of several large land masses.... Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Saudi peninsula. For thousands of years empires have marched through the "Land Between" in order to secure the land that was beyond. The "Land Between" was a stopping point and it was strategic to conquer and hold in order that the land route was open and available to each empire that aspired to raise its flag. This was true of the empires of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Parthians, etc, etc.
The times that Israel and Judah truly flourished as self governing entities were times when no one else aspired to become an empire, times such as during the Old Testament reigns of King David and his son Solomon and the rulers and Kings that followed. During these times the people were not ever overflowing with wealth or resources, but they had enough, as God had promised.
posted by Philip | 8:10 a.m.
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