WI NDOWS I NTO THE BI BLE CULTURAL & HI STORI CAL I NSI GHTS FROM THE BI BLE FOR MODERN READERS MARC TURNAGE FOREWORD BYGREG SURRATT COFOUNDER &PRESI DENTOFTHEASSOCI ATI ON OFRELATED CHURCHES AND BESTSELLI NG AUTHOR OFI R REV REND
WINDOWS INTO THE BIBLE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE BIBLE FOR MODERN READERS MARC TURNAGE
Copyright 2016 by Marc Turnage ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Portions of this work were previously copyrighted in A Pilgrim s Journey and in articles in The Enrichment Journal. Published by Logion Press 1445 N. Boonville Ave. Springfield, Missouri 65802 No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Cover design by PlainJoe Studios (www.plainjoestudios.com) Interior formatting by Prodigy Pixel (www.prodigypixel.com) Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture quotations are the author s own translation. Scripture quotations marked niv are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Scripture quotations marked nrsv are from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible. 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-60731-418-9 19 18 17 16 1 2 3 4 5 Printed in the United States of America
1 THE LAND BETWEEN Among the sacred writings of the world s religions, the Bible alone presents a message tied to geography. It isn t a textbook of geography or a guidebook for travelers; however, the daily existence and experiences of the people of the Bible, religious and political, were framed within a geographical setting. 2 The history of any land and people relies greatly upon the geographical setting the land shapes and affects the story. The historical and religious experiences of the descendants of Abraham took place in relation to their geographical setting. Not only did the land serve as the stage for the historical drama that unfolded, its natural features (e.g., climate, soil, geology, and topography) and geopolitical setting served as God s testing ground of faith and provided the settings, images, and challenges used by biblical authors to communicate their message. The land wasn t merely part of the physical reality of events in the Bible; it provided a wellspring of metaphors and images used within the psalms and by the prophets. To a certain degree, the geography of the land is incidental to the message of the Bible; yet without the geography, that message is often obscured for the uninformed reader. For this reason, the modern reader must seek to understand the geographical setting through the eyes of the ancient inhabitants of the land. We must seek to define words, places, and ideas in terms of 2 Anson Rainey and R. Steven Notley, The Sacred Bridge: Carta s Atlas of the Biblical World (2 nd ed.; Jerusalem: Carta, 2014), 9. 25
WINDOWS INTO THE BIBLE their ancient understanding. The biblical message is embedded in the everyday lives of people who lived in the land of Israel. Israel s geographic location determined its importance in ancient Near Eastern history. It functioned as a strategic land bridge connecting the continents of Asia and Africa. This land bridge, known as the Levant, includes the modern countries of Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. The Levant provided a corridor that connected Egypt in the south with Syria and Mesopotamia in the north. Compressed between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the barren desert to the east, the land of Israel provided an important corridor with trade routes connecting Egypt with Mesopotamia. Its relatively mild topography, with its coastal plain and broad valleys, made it particularly strategic for travel within the Levant. It also had more water than the lands east of the Jordan River. This unique situation between Egypt and Mesopotamia, Mediterranean Sea and desert was the crucial factor in the history and cultural development of the land of Israel. More than any other country in the ancient world, Israel was always directly or indirectly connected with other parts of the Near East and eastern Mediterranean. The strategic importance of the Levant is reflected in the prophet Ezekiel s lament for Tyre (27:1 24), an important maritime trade center of the eastern Mediterranean along the Phoenician coast (in modern-day Lebanon). The prophet described the world economy as conceived by residents of the Levant. He underscored the central role of the land bridge for the commercial economy of the ancient Near East. He begins his lament by reflecting on the maritime power of Tyre (vv. 4 11). Tyre built its ships with wood from Senir, Lebanon, Bashan, and the coastlands of the Kittim. Fabric for the sails of the ships came from Egypt and Elishah. Personnel for Tyre s maritime industry came from Sidon, Arvad, and Gebal (Byblos). 3 Persia, Lud (Lydia), Put (Libya), Arvad, and Gammadim contributed mercenaries 3 These represent the main Canaanite cities. 26
THE LAND BETWEEN who served as marines on the merchant fleet. 4 After speaking of the splendor of Tyre s merchant fleet and its origins, Ezekiel gives a tour of the world economy that flowed through the Levant. He begins by describing the merchants and goods traded from the northwest of the ancient Near East (vv. 12 15); then he progresses to mention the goods coming into Tyre from the Levant. Next he portrays the wares that came from the southeast markets of Arabia. He FIGURE 1 Biblical Israel concludes by cataloguing merchandise arriving from the markets of the northeast. Ezekiel s description of the world economy in the sixth century BC represents an awareness of the strategic importance of the Levant. This preoccupation with the Levant colors the entire biblical outlook. 5 The central role the Levant played in the global economy of the ancient Near East made it the target of imperial ambition, for whoever controlled the land bridge controlled the world economy. Because it was situated between the imperial powers of Egypt and Mesopotamia, security and peace were not characteristics of the land of the Bible. The land was susceptible to attack and invasion from the great river valley civilizations of the Nile and Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia), as nations sought to control the strategic 4 Rainey and Notley, Sacred Bridge, 28. The mercenaries come from Iran, southwestern Turkey, and North Africa. 5 Rainey and Notley, Sacred Bridge, 29. 27
WINDOWS INTO THE BIBLE routes that passed through the land for economic gain. Its location along these highways meant that the settled population of the land came under constant threat from imperial powers to the north and south and desert marauders out of the south and east. Periods of peace and security were few, short, and far between. Even in times of imperial decline, local nations fought to control the land s highways. Personal and national existence could never be taken for granted, and here God called the nation of Israel to live by faith. The insecurity of the region, due to its geopolitical position, served as God s testing ground of faith and provided the stage upon which the redemptive drama played out, where sinner and saint struggled against internal upheaval and external threat. Because of its strategic location, the land of Israel never existed in isolation. The inhabitants were greatly influenced by Egyptians, Assyrians, Hittites, Hurrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. The imperial nations that marched through the land brought their cultural, religious, political, and military systems with them. Merchants and travelers passing through influenced many of the cultural elements of daily life. In this setting, the children of Israel faced the challenge of obeying God and His exclusive claim upon them. The question of God s power versus the surrounding nations confronted them. The incursion of these elements into the land led some to fight against them, others to isolate themselves and seek to remain pure, others to insulate themselves, and some to assimilate. In the midst of this geographical, cultural, and religious crossroads, God progressively revealed Himself to the children of Israel and to the world. REGIONAL ZONES The land of the Bible divides into four longitudinal (north-south) zones. Three are west of the Jordan River (Cisjordan) and one is east of the Jordan River (Transjordan). The four zones are from west to 28
THE LAND BETWEEN east: the coastal plain, the central hill country, the Rift Valley, and Transjordan. The geographical heart of biblical Israel was the central hill country. It breaks down into six subregions: Galilee, Samaria, Benjamin, Judah, the wilderness of Judah, and the Negev. This land, its geography, geology, climate, flora, and fauna, provides a vital backdrop to the world and message of the Bible. By understanding them, we can better understand God s message to His people. THE CLIMATE OF FAITH Unlike the lands of Egypt and Mesopotamia, which were watered and sustained by major rivers (the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates), the land of Israel depended upon rain from heaven for its sustenance: For the land that you are about to enter and possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come.... The land you are about to cross into and possess, a land of hills and valleys, soaks up its water from the rains of heaven (Deut. 11:10 11). God promised the children of Israel that if they would obey His commandments to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and soul (Deut. 11:13), He would send rain in its season. But, if they disobeyed His commands and served other gods, then He would shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce (Deut. 11:17). In the large river cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the people irrigated the land and relied upon the rivers to provide water for crops and life. In the land of Israel, the climate and terrain of hills and valleys required the children of Israel to depend upon the rain sent by God. The major sources of fresh water for life and agriculture within Israel are the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee. Both waterways are in the Rift Valley, which is part of the Syro-African Rift, the longest scar on the face of the planet. Within the land of Israel, the Rift Valley reaches its lowest altitude, and the majority of the valley lies below sea level, with the Dead Sea being the lowest place on the face of the earth at 1,300 feet below sea level. Some people settled in the valley along 29
WINDOWS INTO THE BIBLE FIGURE 2 Jerusalem at the Center of the World published in 1581 by the German Heinrich Bünting. The map shows Jerusalem as the crossroads of the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe underscoring its role as the Land Between. the Jordan River and Sea of Galilee, but in the ancient world, technology didn t exist to get the water from these two bodies of water to the rest of the country, especially up to the hill country where most Israelites lived. The topography, then, prohibited people from accessing these major sources of fresh water for life and agriculture. They had to depend upon the rain from heaven to sustain their crops, animals, and themselves. This required their loyalty to God, but it also opened them to another challenge. The origins of the children of Israel lie in the deserts of the ancient Near East where they were nomadic shepherds. When they entered into the land, they encountered people who were farmers. The Israelites in turn became more sedentary, farmers tied to agriculture more than flocks and herds. The climate of the Levant meant that rains didn t always come. Periods of drought were common. The Canaanites who lived in the land worshipped gods and goddesses tied to the agricultural cycle. Ba al was the storm god responsible for rain. Asherah was a fertility goddess. The need for rain, along with the continual uncertainty whether it would fall, tempted the Israelites to turn to other gods connected with the agricultural cycle as insurance against drought, famine, and starvation. They sought to worship Yahweh and these other deities in order to hedge their bets to assure favor for their crops and well-being. But the God of Israel is a jealous god, who will not share His glory or His relationships with another. The prophets railed against this waywardness of the people. The climate of the land of Israel became part of Israel s testing to see whether they would obey God and Him alone. It also became part of the witness of their obedience or disobedience to the rest of the ancient world. 30
THE LAND BETWEEN CHILDREN OF THE DESERT Because of the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates rivers, Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures and religions advanced more rapidly than those in the land of Israel. Although Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures exerted influence upon Israelite culture and religion, the faith of Israel developed in its own manner. The land of Israel was located at the edge of the desert. While empires fought over control of the fertile, broad coastal plain where the strategic international coastal highway passed, the deep valleys and rugged hills of the hill country and the Jordan Rift Valley isolated those living in those regions to some extent. Israel s history began in the desert, the region where shepherds pastured their flocks. All of the biblical patriarchs were shepherds, as were their descendants. Due to proximity of the land to the desert, the shepherd became the symbol for ideal leadership. Shepherds were never despised in Israel as they were in Egypt, where the shepherd s flocks destroyed the cultivated land of the farmer. The Israelites always remembered their shepherding origins, and for them, God s revelation to His people was deeply connected to the desert. The desert served as God s classroom, teaching humility, hospitality, and loyalty. The desert also became the place where God called His people away from cultivated habitation so He could speak to them and they could hear Him. A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex. 3:8). The description of the Promised Land as a land flowing with milk and honey speaks to its fruitfulness with both cultivated land and wild, bountiful land that can sustain both shepherd and farmer. Milk referred to goat milk, which identified the land as good for the herds; and honey referred to 31
WINDOWS INTO THE BIBLE date honey, which identified the land as good for the farmer. The land was described as a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey... a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper (Deut. 8:7 9). The children of Israel would partake of the bounty of the land as long as they obeyed the commandments of God. The land provided resources to sustain farmer and shepherd alike, and these agricultural and pastoral symbols became powerful images for poets and prophets to describe God, His people, and their relationship with each other. GOD S TESTING GROUND OF FAITH The land of Israel stood at the crossroads of the ancient world. Its geographic location served as the arena where God put on display the children of Israel to teach the world about Him. The land became the platform and the classroom through which His redemptive message spread to the ends of the earth. The land became the stage where God s message of redemption unfolded. And from this land His message would travel from the crossroads to the four corners of the world. 32
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