Introduction by author Dr. Terry C. Hulbert

Why is East "up" on Sandals' maps?

Our east-oriented maps of the Holy Land are consistent both with the biblical data and with the way people in the land oriented themselves geographically throughout their history.

Our four directions of the compass (north, south, east, west) are terms foreign to ancient culture. The Bible refers to the north as saphon, which means "toward the hidden region," to the south as negeb, the region of the Negev, to the west as 'am ("sea"), referring to the Mediterranean Sea, and to the east as qedem, "the region in front." Each of these four terms occurs in Gen 13:14-15 in the record of Yahweh's promise of the land to Abraham and his descendants.

The Bible refers to the east as the direction where the sun rises and to the west to where the sun sets (Ps 103:12). The south is also called the "region of the right hand" and the north "the region of the left hand." Jacob named the last of his twelve children Benjamin, "son of the right hand" or "son of the south." Benjamin was born near Ephrath (Bethlehem) in the south in contrast to his other eleven sons who were born in the north (Gen 35:16-18).

This east-orientation perspective continued even after the biblical period. For instance, The Medeba Map (about A.D. 565), crafted of over two million colored stone cubes, locates Jerusalem in the foreground and shows the Jordan River in the background flowing from the left (north) into the Dead Sea on the right (south).

What does "walking in their sandals" mean?

"Walking in their sandals" is a way of describing Bible events as though we were there when they happened. It involves getting to know the people and the places involved. Instead of just reading words on a page, we pretend that we are actually seeing and hearing what is happening. We also try to "get into the minds and hearts" of the people, imagining ourselves in their situations, in their relationships, "in their sandals." The Bible is a living book about real people living their lives in real places; we need to read it that way!

To "walk in their sandals," start with a careful, reading of the Scripture text. To help develop that "you are there" sense of presence, consult the Walking in Their Sandals CD ROM as you re-read the passage. You will then identify on the map the places mentioned and seek to perceive how their location is important to your understanding of the passage.

The Location Profiles together with their photographs, and the In-Depth Articles are resources that can make you a "participant" in the action. For many events, you can trace the action in the interactive Guided Tours; for some events, you can view the video as you listen to the on-site narration.

The Geographical Context of the Bible

Why is understanding the geography of the Bible important?

As we consider the contours of the land, we begin to develop a sense of companionship with the people we meet in the Bible, with Joshua and David, with Jesus and Peter. The intervening centuries will seem to collapse as we join them in the scenes of their exploits and the geographical contexts of their ministries. This is "reality Bible study!"

Put another way, to ignore the physical settings in which Israel's history unfolded and Jesus ministered is like watching actors read a Shakespearian play in an empty warehouse. We hear them speak, but we have no sense of the world in which they are living and to what issues they are responding. It also makes the plot hard to follow!

God designed the land of Israel as the grand stage on which the men and women of biblical history would act out their roles and deliver their lines. His fingers fashioned every hill and valley, every rock and stream as He constructed the set. He wrote the script and cast the actors. Each act advanced the story line, building on the experiences of the generations that had appeared on the stage before. To enter into this best-selling drama of all time, we need to "see" the stage. This is what our study of Bible geography is all about!

How does knowing the geographical backdrop of the Bible help us?

1. Historicity. It provides objective evidence for the historicity of the people and places recorded in the Scriptures. There is important apologetic value in recounting biblical events in terms of real people who lived in identifiable places in real time periods.

2. Interpretation. It provides an important, and often neglected, contextual resource for accurate exegesis.

3. Relationships. It offers us opportunity to think about the ways people related to each other in Bible days. Where they lived determined, to a large extent, who were their friends and who were their enemies.

4. Personalization. The lives of individuals, families and generations rotated around geographical centers. Places had unique meanings for them as they have in our lives. Observing people in their physical environments can help us appreciate what was important to them and how they conducted their lives.

5. Presence. It draws us into the lives of the people of the Bible, giving us a sense of "presence" as "participants" rather that observers. We can learn to "see" what they saw and "feel" what they felt.

What do we need to know about the land?

1. Its position. Located astride the great communication routes that followed the Fertile Crescent between Mesopotamia and Egypt, Israel was ideally situated to become a "light to the nations." Bounded by desert on the east, this narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean coast functioned as a bridge between the great river civilizations of the ancient world. It is well referred to as the "Land Between."

2. Its dependence on God for water. Unlike the great civilizations of the Nile and of the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, Israel depended on rain to sustain life.

3. Its topography. God designed Israel's hills and valleys, its streams and rivers, soils and elevations, to provide the physical context for the events recorded in the Scriptures.

4. Its climate. In a largely agrarian culture, location and the seasonal changes in rainfall, winds and temperature, were major factors in every day life.

5. Its communication routes, international and internal. Whether for war or commerce or worship, the contours of the land determined where and how people moved about. Over the centuries, major centers emerged on these routes or at their crossroads. Their strategic locations usually determined their importance and influence.

• The "Way of the Sea," the international route from Egypt, followed the Mediterranean coastline, then turned inland through the Aruna pass to Megiddo. Crossing the Plain of Megiddo and passing through the Valley of the Doves to the Sea of Galilee, it proceeded northward and then, near Hazor, it veered northeastward to reach Damascus and Mesopotamia.

• The "King's Highway," that passed along the highlands of Edom, Moab, Gilead and Bashan, connected Ezion Geber (Elath) on the Gulf of Aqaba with Damascus.

• The main east-west route led from the Medeba Plain in Moab down through the Jordan Valley and up past Jericho, Gibeon, and the Beth Horons to the Mediterranean coast. The northern connector joined Ramoth-gilead on the King's Highway to the coastal highway, passing down through the Jordan Valley to Bethshan, along the Valley of Harod and across the Plain of Jezreel.

How do we apply our knowledge of geography to our Bible study?

1. We burn an image of the topography of the land into our minds, memorizing the contours of its hills and plains, its rivers, wadis and seas.

2. We identify the regions of the land, describing the character of each. Seek to perceive how
its location and topography would have affected the lives of the people who lived there.

3. We learn the locations of biblical sites, identifying them on our maps and in our minds.

4. We mentally scan the perimeter around each major site we study, reflecting on what the people who lived there would have seen.

5. We trace travel routes, reflecting on what we would observe as we would travel from point
to point.

"The Land Between"

Location

Located astride the great communication routes that followed the Fertile Crescent between Mesopotamia and Egypt, Israel was ideally situated to become a "light to the Gentiles" who passed through it (Isa 49:6). Bounded by desert on the east, this narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean coast functioned as a bridge between the great river civilizations of the ancient world. It is well referred to as the "Land Between."
Events that occurred in the land called Palestine (Israel) must always be understood with reference to the larger geographical and historical context of its neighbors. Compared with the great empires of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia and Persia, ancient Israel was geographically insignificant except as a land bridge between the peoples of the Nile and the peoples of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

The great desert region to its south forced all travel to follow the Fertile Crescent north along the Euphrates basin and then south to pass through Israel. Its location and topography determined its politics, demographics, economics, and security.

Topography

Israel is a land of mountains and canyons, passes and plains, split from north to south by the great Rift Valley, one of the greatest cleavages on the earth's surface. In many regions deep, swampy valleys and streams or moonscape-like arid plains make travel exceedingly difficult. The slightest shift in winds or rainfall can produce drought or famine. This diverse topography brings into constant conflict the herdsman and the farmer, the barren desert and the sown fields.

Security

In the southwest the international coastal highway offers easy access to invaders from Egypt. From the south, no natural barrier impedes raiding tribes from invading from the desert. The Transjordan international highway ("The King's Highway") provides access for intruders from the east, as they would enter from the north along the Fertile Crescent or for others as they would move northwards and eastwards from the Arabianpeninsula.

Political

The location of this land is not conducive to developing an independent state or to its becoming a center of international power. Externally it lacks naturally defensible frontiers, leaving it vulnerable on all sides. Throughout most of its history Israel has been under attack or threat of attack by its neighbors, by tribes nearby or by the great world empires of the east and south. For the latter, Israel was not only a land to be conquered, but a bridge through which to attack rivals.

Internally Israel's topography is not favorable for the unification of its inhabitants or the rule of a central government. Natural communication routes are constricted by jutting limestone hills, deeply eroded canyons and sharp geological faults. When its near neighbors were weak and a power vacuum existed internationally, David and Solomon were able to develop a strong central government allowing the nation to enjoy political independence. This condition has occurred only three times in Israel's history.

a. In the period of the monarchy, notably during the reigns of David and Solomon from (1000 B.C.E.)
b. In the period of the Maccabees/Hasmoneans (165-63 B.C.E.)
c. In the present period, following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948
In each of these periods the nation continued to be subject to political, economic and military pressure by regional powers.

Purpose

God uniquely designed this militarily vulnerable and rain-dependent "land between" to be a testing ground for the faith of the people He would place there. National existence was constantly threatened. Because of both its location and its terrain, its leaders and people alike were called upon to walk by faith, to trust the God whom they could not see to provide their sustenance and security.

Implementation

On the eve of their entry into the land and in the midst of extended warnings about its dangers, Moses challenged the people to worship and serve God alone (Deut 6:1-4). Throughout this pivotal book, this great leader emphasized the supreme importance of believing who God is and who they were as His people. He was the only true, living God and He had chosen them to witness to His person and power in the context of this land to which He was bringing them.

In times of need the spiritual leaders of Israel often gave advice or warned of judgment to come because of their apostasy. The prophets had a message both for Israelites and non-Israelites (Jer 9:23-26). The psalmists encouraged Israel to believe God, to worship Him alone, in spite of adverse conditions, reminding them that their refuge was in God Himself (Psalm 46). Ignoring the prophets' warnings, the Northern Kingdom, fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C.E.

In the closing days of Judah, the surviving kingdom, Habakkuk prepared his people for the coming of the Babylonians whom God would use to take them off this land. When he realized that God would allow that evil nation to sweep into this Land Between and to destroy its capital and its temple, the prophet's response was to proclaim that "the just shall live by faith" (Hab 2:1-4). At that traumatic moment in Israel's history, Habakkuk understood clearly that this was, indeed, "God's testing ground of faith." His personal expression of faith is recorded in his final hymn of trust (3:16-19) :

For though the fig tree does not shoot forth its leaves [in the spring]
Nor any fruit be on the vines [in the summer]
Though the (supply of wine from the) olive harvest fail [in the fall]
And the fields provide no food [due to the lack of winter rains]
Though the pen be empty of sheep,
And the stalls without cattle. . .

Yet will I rejoice in the Lord,
Yes, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation
The Lord, the Lord alone is my strength.
He makes my legs as sure-footed as those of a doe;
Over the mountains He keeps my paths.

Adapted from James M. Monson: The Land Between, 1982. Biblical Backgrounds, Inc. (www.bibback.com) Used by permission.

Roads and Routes in Ancient Palestine

The absence of remains of a constructed road system prior to Roman times does not mean that trade and communication did not exist in the ancient Middle East. Historical and archaeological evidence indicates that considerable commercial and military travel passed through the land of Palestine for over two millennia before the Romans appeared in the 1st century B.C.E.
Lacking physical evidence of the location of roadways, it is necessary to identify logical linkages among important centers by perceiving natural travel routes. These normally follow the way of least resistance, avoiding areas of difficulty (mountains, swamps, sands, etc.).

In most cases, a study of the terrain provides abundant clues to locating the routes by which people would have traveled from one place to another. Although these may be referred to in the texts as "roads" or "highways," these are not to be thought of as modern roads but rather natural routes that linked main centers. Lines drawn on the Sandals 2.0 satellite map represent the presumed location of ancient roads as they would be expected to follow these natural communication routes.

The most important international road is the Coastal Highway (the Via Maris) between Egypt and Mesopotamia. This ancient route enters Palestine in the Philistine Plain, continues northward through the Plain of Sharon and traverses the Aruna Pass to the Plain of Jezreel (Megiddo). From there, travelers had several options: to proceed directly to the upper reaches of the Euphrates via the Upper Jordan Valley or to pass north of the Sea of Galilee to ascend the Golan Heights to Damascus and beyond. To connect with the other major north-south route, the Transjordanian Highway between the Gulf of Aqaba and Damascus, travelers would pass through the Harod Valley and ascend to Ramoth-gilead.