Windows Into the Bible Cultural & Historical Insights from the Bible for Modern Readers

WINDOWS INTO THE BIBLE CULTURAL & HISTORICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE BIBLE FOR MODERN READERS MARC TURNAGE FOREWORD BY GREG SURRATT COFOUNDER & PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF RELATED CHURCHES AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF IRREVREND 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 Interna- tional 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 mong 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 Aexistence 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 chal- lenges 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 (2nd 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 particu- larly 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 describ- ing the merchants and goods traded from the northwest of the ancient Near East (vv. 12–15); then he progresses to mention the goods com- ing into Tyre from the Levant. Next he portrays the wares that came from the south- FIGURE 1 Biblical Israel east markets of Arabia. He 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 preoccu- pation 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 Egyp- tians, 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 back- drop 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.

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