A Visual Guide to Bible Events

Transcription

1 A Visual Guide to Bible Events Fascinating Insights into Where They Happened and Why James C. Martin, John A. Beck, and David G. Hansen C

2 2009 by James C. Martin, John A. Beck, and David G. Hansen Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI Printed in Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Martin, James C., 1952 A visual guide to Bible events : fascinating insights into where they happened and why / James C. Martin, John A. Beck, and David G. Hansen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN (cloth) 1. Bible Geography. 2. Bible stories, English. 3. Bible Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Beck, John A., 1956 II. Hansen, David G., 1938 III. Title. Maps by International Mapping Routes, roads, and regions indicated on the maps are approximate. Buildings, and placement of them in city maps, are representative and approximations of actual locations. Maps focusing on the Israel/Palestine/Lebanon area were created on an Albers Conic Equal-Area Projection with a central meridian of 35 E and standard parallel at 33 N. The lines of latitude are curved and bend northward at the edges of the subject area. Maps showing areas outside of Israel were created on an Albers Conic Equal-Area Projection with a central meridian of 40 E and standard parallels at 25 N and 45 N. The lines of latitude are curved and bend northward at the edges of the subject area. Because of these more correct spatial representations and projections, relative locations on maps in this volume may appear slightly different than on maps in other sources. BS630.B dc Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, photos are copyright Dr. James C. Martin. Photographs from the photo archives of Dr. James C. Martin, Bible World Seminars (bibleworld seminars@gmail.com), P.O. Box 2687, Amarillo, TX Photo copyrights include: Dr. James C. Martin; Direct Design; Garo Nalbandian; The Israel Museum; and The British Museum. Credits to all those providing special photographic permissions: Egypt The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. The Isma-iliya Museum. Isma-iliya, Egypt. The Cairo Museum. Cairo, Egypt. France Mus ee du Louvre; Autorisation de photographer et de filmer LOUVRE. Paris, France. Greece The Greek Ministry of Antiquities (Athens, Corinth, Delphi, Thessalonica). Israel Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority, exhibited at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority, exhibited at the Shrine of the Book, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority, exhibited at the Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem. The Church of Annunciation Museum. Nazareth, Israel. The House of Anchors. Kibbutz Ein Gev. Sea of Galilee, Israel. Reproduction of the City of Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple located on the grounds of the Holyland Hotel, Jerusalem. Photographed by permission. The Eretz Israel Museum. Tel Aviv, Israel. The Skirball Museum, Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. 13 King David St., Jerusalem The Yigal Allon Center. Kibbutz Ginosar, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. Italy On licence Ministero per I Beni e le Attivita Culturali Soprintendenza Archaeologica di Roma. Rome, Italy. Jordan The Jordanian Ministry of Antiquities. Amman, Jordan. The Amman Archaeological Museum. Amman, Jordan. Turkey The Turkish Ministry of Antiquities. Ankara, Turkey. The Ankara Archaeological Museum. Ankara, Turkey. The Ephesus Archaeological Museum. Selchuk, Turkey. The Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Istanbul, Turkey. United Kingdom The British Museum. London, England. United States Sola Scriptura. The Van Kampen Collection on display at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida. Interior design by Brian Brunsting

3 Contents Acknowledgments 7 Part 1: The Need for Rescue and the Promised Land Genesis 8 The Temptation in the Garden of Eden 12 Building the Tower at Babel 14 Abram Is Promised the Land of Canaan 16 Abram Heads for Egypt 18 Abram and Lot Separate in Canaan 20 Abraham s Purchase of Land at Hebron 22 Building Memorials on the Ridge Route 24 Joseph Is Taken to Egypt 26 God Assures Jacob at Beersheba 28 Jacob and Joseph Are Buried in the Promised Land 30 Part 2: The Journey from Egypt to the Promised Land Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy 32 The Growth and Affliction of the Israelites in Egypt 36 Israelites Escape through the Sea 38 The Lord Sends Moses to Mount Horeb 40 A Discouraging Report: Investigating beyond the Negev and Hill Country 42 Moses Strikes a Rock in the Wilderness of Zin 44 Israelites Denied Passage through Edom 46 Israel Clashes with the Amorites on the Transjordan 48 The Visits of Balaam and Moses to Mount Pisgah 50 Part 3: Conquest and Settlement of Canaan Joshua, Judges, Ruth 52 Israelites Cross the Jordan River 56 The Lord Brings Down the Walls of Jericho 58 Reading the Blessings and Curses at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal 60 Rescue of the Hivites at Gibeon 62 Israelite Tribes Are Assigned Territory in the Promised Land 64 Israelites Begin Worshiping Baal in the Promised Land 66 The Lord Defeats Hazor s Army in the Jezreel Valley 68 The Lord Confirms His Authority on a Threshing Floor 70 Samson Fights the Philistines in the Sorek Valley 72 Naomi Moves Back to Bethlehem 74 Part 4: The United Monarchy of Israel 1 and 2 Samuel; 1 Kings The Ark Travels from Shiloh to Philistine Territory and Beth Shemesh 80 Choosing a King from Benjamin 82 David Kills Goliath in the Elah Valley 84 David Hides Near En Gedi 86 Saul Fights and Dies on Mount Gilboa 88 David Moves from Hebron to Jerusalem 90 Solomon Prays at the Tabernacle in Gibeon 92 Solomon Builds the Temple in Jerusalem 94 The Cost of the Wedding Gift of Gezer 96 Solomon Builds Up Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer 98 Part 5: The Divided Kingdom and Assyrian Invasion 1 and 2 Kings, Jonah, Isaiah 100 Rehoboam Travels to Shechem 104 Jeroboam Sets Up Sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel 106 Ahab Builds an Altar to Baal at Samaria 108 A Contest on Mount Carmel 110 Assyria Invades the Northern Kingdom 112 Jonah Resists Going to Nineveh 114 The Lesson of the Song of the Vineyard 116 The Assyrian Siege of Lachish 118 Part 6: The Babylonian Invasion, Exile, and Return to the Promised Land 2 Kings 21 25; Ezra; Esther; Jeremiah; Ezekiel; Daniel; Obadiah 120 Josiah Killed at Megiddo 124 The Babylonians Destroy Jerusalem 126 Life Is Proclaimed for the Dead Sea 128 Israelites Flee to Egypt Again 130 Obadiah Exposes Edom s Pride 132 Rebuilding Jerusalem s Temple 134 5

4 Some Jewish Exiles Remain in Persia 136 The Abomination That Causes Desolation at the Temple 138 Part 7: The Birth and Early Years of Jesus Matthew 1 4; Luke 1 4; John The Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem 144 The Angels Announcement to Shepherds in the Fields 146 The Magi and Herod s Soldiers Descend on Bethlehem 148 The Flight to Egypt 150 At the Age of Twelve Jesus Travels to the Temple 152 Jesus Is Baptized at Bethany on the Other Side of the Jordan 154 Three Temptations in Three Locations 156 Jesus Is Brought Up in Nazareth 158 Part 8: Jesus s Messianic Mission in Samaria, Galilee, and Phoenicia Matthew 4 18; Luke 4 18; John Jesus s First Miracle Occurs at Cana of Galilee 164 Jesus Moves to Capernaum 166 Jesus Speaks to a Woman at Jacob s Well 168 Jesus Goes to the Other Side 170 Jesus s Miracles in the Evangelical Triangle 172 Jesus Raises the Widow s Son at Nain 174 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand in a Remote Place 176 Jesus Heals a Canaanite Woman s Daughter near Tyre 178 Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand in the Decapolis 180 Jesus Takes His Disciples to Caesarea Philippi 182 Jesus Is Transfigured on an Anonymous High Mountain 184 Jesus Heals Ten Lepers on the Road to Dothan 186 Part 9: Jesus s Last Days in and around Jerusalem Matthew 19 28; Mark 10 16; Luke 18 24; John Jesus Raises Lazarus in Bethany 192 Jesus Gets on a Donkey at Bethpage 194 Jesus Curses a Fig Tree Near Bethpage on the Road to Jerusalem 196 Jesus Celebrates the Passover in the Upper Room 198 Jesus Prays in Gethsemane 200 Caiaphas Accuses Jesus of Blasphemy in a Whole Court of the Sanhedrin 202 Caiaphas Blasphemes before Pilate 204 Roman Soldiers Crucify Jesus at Calvary 206 Jesus Is Prepared for Burial and Placed in a Tomb 208 The Resurrected Jesus Meets the Disciples in Galilee 210 Part 10: The Good News Travels from Jerusalem to the World Acts 212 The Holy Spirit s Outpouring at Pentecost in Jerusalem 216 Teaching and Healing in the Temple Complex 218 Philip Travels to Samaria 220 Philip Speaks to the Ethiopian Eunuch on the Road to Gaza 222 Jesus Encounters Saul of Tarsus on the Road to Damascus 224 Peter Travels to a Centurion s Home in Caesarea Maritima 226 On the First Journey Paul Departs from Antioch of Syria 228 The First Church Council Is Held in Jerusalem 230 On the Second Journey Paul Speaks to the Areopagus in Athens 232 On the Third Journey Paul Raises Eutychus at Troas 234 Part 11: City Letters and Revelation Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Revelation 236 Paul s Urgent Concern in His Letter to the Galatians 240 Paul s Letter to the Philippians Concerning Citizenship 242 Paul s Rapid Departure Requires Back-to-Back Letters to Thessalonica 244 Paul s Warning to the Church at Corinth about Assimilation 246 Paul Writes to Unify the Jewish and Gentile Believers at Rome 248 Paul Encourages Ephesian Believers to Retain Unity Despite Persecution 250 Paul Responds to Heresy in a Letter to the Colossians 252 John Receives a Revelation on the Island of Patmos 254 Water and Wealth Are Related to the Church at Laodicea 256 The Final Battle at Armageddon Near Mount Carmel 258 Notes 261 Scripture Index Contents

5 Acknowledgments We would like to extend special thanks to Dixie and Gray Keller (the Leader Foundation) and Bruce Bordine for their support and participation in the numerous photo shoots and acquisitions. Additional thanks to Carolyn Hansen, family, and friends for assistance in the development of this manuscript. Personal Note Over the past twenty-five years it has been our privilege to travel, study, and teach the Bible in the land of the Bible. The information provided in this book is a synthesis of information from our professors who walked the land before us, and our own personal experiences with Scripture in its geographical, historical, and cultural setting. This book is not intended to be a proof text for any theory, but rather a door through which to enter the world of the Bible and encounter the power and love of our Lord Jesus and the unity of Scripture. It is our hope that this resource will be a blessing in your journey through God s Word. This book is dedicated to the memory of Robert E. Fraley, an honored friend. 7

6 Part 1 The Need for Rescue and the Promised Land By faith Abraham... made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents (Heb. 11:8 9).

7 Genesis Genesis is a book of beginnings. Throughout this book, we find ourselves reading about events that happened where they did for a reason. We read about gardens and towers, a Promised Land that has no water and unpromised lands that do, roadways and memorials, trips to Egypt, delays at Beersheba, and a longing to be buried in Hebron. Each of these events happened where it did for a reason. In part 1 we will see that water concerns often affected the decisions people made. The Lord placed Adam and Eve in his water-rich Garden of Eden. But when the serpent tempted them to eat the forbidden fruit, he directly contradicted the Lord s warning that this act of mutiny would bring death. The new sin-ruined world became so steeped in mutiny that it threatened the hope of any rescue. The Lord then used water to remove wickedness from the world a judgment on evil that opened the door for a new beginning that Noah s family could enjoy. Mutiny, however, was progressive. Noah s descendants, through his son Ham, moved east and into deep trouble. Thus the new beginning of Noah s descendants ended badly as they tried to set down roots in the well-watered region of Babel only to build structures that misrepresented the nature and power of the one true God and distorted the Lord s purpose for humanity. Thus in the Lord s plan, Abraham was directed to the land of Canaan with its unpredictable supply of water. The Lord chose Abraham and his descendants to be messengers of the one true God whose plan to rescue all nations occurred on the podium of Canaan (the Promised Land). Throughout the life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other members of this family, we observe their struggles, falling, rising, and continuing their journey. Water-rich areas of the Fertile Crescent that espoused self-reliance proved alluring. So we find them weighing decisions to leave the Promised Land only to return to their divinely assigned mission, and a life marked by tombs, altars, and memorials, whose locations and messages go hand in hand. The book of Genesis ends with Abraham s family in Egypt, but their hope for return is forged in the minds of all through the burial requests of Jacob and Joseph, who constantly turn their eyes to the Promised Land and call for their descendants to remember they are messengers of the one true God through whom all nations will be blessed. So although Adam and Eve succumbed to the serpent s temptation in the Garden of Eden a temptation to mutiny against the King of the Universe their loving Creator proclaimed a message of rescue and restoration from the consequences of that mutiny. In time, that promise would intimately involve the family of Abraham and would one day be fulfilled in the coming of the Rescuer. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). Neo-Sumerian cylinder seal ( BC) reveals similarities with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Mount Ararat, eastern Turkey. Noah s ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. NASA. Hubble Space Telescope NGC 2207 and IC Dr. James C. Martin. The British Museum.

8 T a u u r s M o u n t a i n s Haran R T I L E M E D I T E R R A N E A N F E S E A Damascus Region of the Promised Land C A N A A N Jordan R. Hebron Beersheba S y r i a n D e s e r t Giza Nile R. E G Y P T km 100 mi RED SEA 10 The Need for Rescue and the Baker Promised Books, Land a division of Baker Publishing Group, Used by permission.

9 Mt. Ararat K u r d i s t a n CASPIAN SEA M o u n t a i n s C R E S Tigris R. M E S C E Z a g r o s M o u n t a i Euphrates R. N T O P O T A M I A Ur n s P E R S I A N G U L F The Need for Rescue and the Promised Land 11

10 The Temptation in the Garden of Eden Genesis 2:4 3:24 T he beginning of our discussion takes us to the Garden of Eden. While the exact location of the Garden of Eden remains unknown, 1 one thing is certain: the description of this place as a water-rich region is key in establishing the geographical setting for this account and for those to come. The Lord placed Adam and Eve in this highly desirable living space, and the serpent used that place to shape his temptation of Adam and Eve. Although the Garden of Eden no longer exists, following the Bible s lead, our search for its previous location takes us to one general region: Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers (Gen. 2:14). Most place the Garden of Eden either in the Armenian Mountains of eastern Turkey, where we find the source of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, or in southeastern Iraq, near the effluence of those rivers into the Persian Gulf. 2 Nothing more conclusive than that can be said. Even though its location remains a mystery, we do have a description of this place that became the home of Adam and Eve. The writer of Genesis called it a garden (gan), a living space akin to the royal parks and King s Garden (Neh. 3:15) of a later age. 3 Please note that this was not paradise in the popular sense of that term. 4 The Garden of Eden was not a luxury hotel filled with attendants whose job was to dote on vacationing visitors. It was an everyday living space of a royal garden by which the King offered his residents security from harm, plentiful food, and abundant water (Gen. 2:5 6, 10 14). The last item in that list is the one that would have especially caught the attention of those in antiquity living in the Middle East. To put the water issue in perspective, consider the following modern reality. The average United States citizen uses about 10,000 cubic meters (2.6 million gallons) of fresh of Eden. water each year. In Egypt the per capita total drops to 1,100 cubic meters and in Israel to 460 cubic meters per capita. 5 Those of us who live with more fresh water than we need may not be solidly struck by this dimension of God s garden, but the people in this part of the ancient world were. Nothing meant contentment for the residents of this ancient world like a ready supply of fresh water. Because the Garden of Eden had it, Adam and Eve needed to change nothing so as to make their living circumstances better. The serpent, a saboteur, used the blessings found in the King s royal Garden of Eden to sow the seeds of doubt and discontent. Sarcophagus lid (fourth century AD) depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden Painted shrine offering with serpents (sixth century BC). 12

11 He proposed to Adam and Eve that the Lord was holding out on them, implying that the Lord had provided a royal living space and a living experience that was incomplete and less fulfilling than it could have been (Gen. 3:1 5). This first couple was persuaded to mutiny against the legitimate King in his royal garden. As a result, they became enemies of God and were required to leave the garden. But the Lord would not have it be this way forever. So the Garden of Eden witnesses a third great event. Before they were driven into the clutches of a world corrupted and broken by mutiny, God promised that he would fix the problem by providing a Rescuer who would destroy the serpent (Gen. 3:15). When the serpent tempted the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden, he did so for a reason. The Lord gave Adam and Eve dominion over his royal garden and provided them with water, food, and security. But the serpent wanted the allegiance of Adam and Eve, so he tempted them to mutiny against the Lord in God s royal garden. As the Lord warned, this Euphrates River in northern Mesopotamia a suggested location of the Garden of Eden. brought death and destruction into creation and gave the serpent dominion over that which was intended for humanity. Even in the light of this mutiny and its consequences, the Lord promised to bring the Rescuer who would destroy the serpent and provide humanity with a means of rescue and restoration with the King of the Universe. Eden? CASPIAN SEA M E D I T E R R A N E A N SEA F E R T I L E Euphrates R. Tigris R. M E S O C R E P O T A M Z a S C E N T g r o s M o u n t a i n s I A Eden? Fertile Crescent Possible locations of the Garden of Eden PERSIAN GULF Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, Used The by Need permission. for Rescue and the Promised Land 13