REGIONAL STUDY GUIDE INTRODUCTORY MAP STUDIES IN THE LAND OF THE BIBLE Steven P. Lancaster and James M. Monson Version 6.0 ( August, 2014) What CHANGED IN VERSION 6.0? Copyright © 1999-2014 Version 6.0 provides marginal notes Steven P. Lancaster and James M. Monson to aid users of the newly released All rights reserved. This publication may be received (version 3, 2014) Regional Study and forwarded electronically as well as printed, photo- Maps 4, 5, 6, and 7. copied and distributed at copying cost. However, it It also offers other minor corrections cannot be edited, quoted nor incorporated into other and clarifications. printed or electronic publications without the written consent of the copyright holders. Printed in U.S.A Published by Biblical Backgrounds, Inc. BB Rockford, IL U.S.A. www.biblicalbackgrounds.com REGIONAL STUDY GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 3 MARKING PROCEDURES FOR REGIONAL STUDY MAPS................................. 4 THE LAND BETWEEN WITHIN THE WORLD OF THE BIBLE (ME MAP) ...................... 5 I. THE LAND BETWEEN IN ITS MIDDLE EASTERN SETTING (ME MAP) ..................... 15 EVENT 1: ABRAHAM’S JOURNEYS—‘GO…TO THE LAND I WILL SHOW YOU!’ . 15 EVENT 2: PHOENICIA’S MARKETS—‘YOUR RICHES, YOUR WARES, YOUR MERCHANDISE’ . 17 EVENT 3: ISRAEL, THE THIRD—‘A HIGHWAY FROM EGYPT TO ASSYRIA’ . 19 EVENT 4: JESUS’ JOURNEY—‘ARCHELAUS WAS RULING JUDEA IN PLACE OF HIS FatHER HEROD’ . 21 II. IMPERIAL HIGHWAYS THROUGH THE LAND BETWEEN (LB MAP) ..................... 22 EVENT 5: EGYPT’S PRIORITIES—‘LET ME KNOW THE WAY TO paSS MEGIDDO’ . 23 EVENT 6: EZEKIEL’S SIGNPOST—‘THE KING OF BABYLON STOOD…at THE FORK OF THE HIGHWAY’ . 24 EVENT 7: DaviD’S EXpanSION—‘IN THE COURSE OF TIME, DaviD DEFeateD . ’. 25 EVENT 8: HAZAEL’S EXpanSION—‘HAZAEL DEFeateD ISRAEL THROUGHOUT ALL THEIR TERRITORIES’ . 27 SOME CONCLUDING THOUGHTS . 29 III. NORTHERN BATTLEFIELDS ALONG THE HIGHWAYS (NCA MAP) ...................... 30 EVENT 9: SAUL’S BattLES—‘THE PHILISTINES gatHERED THEIR FORCES at APHEK, AND ISRAEL CAMPED BY THE SPRING IN JEZREEL’ . 30 EVENT 10: BEN-HADAD’S NEW MARKETS—‘BEN-HADAD CONQUERED IJON, DAN, ABEL-BETH-MAACHAH AND ALL CHINNERETH IN ADDITION TO NAPHtaLI’ . 32 EVENT 11: AHAB’S CLAIM—‘DON’T YOU KNOW THat RAMOTH-GILEAD BELONGS TO US?’ . 34 IV. TAKING OR HOLDING THE JEZREEL VALLEY (GAL MAP) ............................. 37 EVENT 12: THUTMOSE’S TRIUMPH—‘TAKING MEGIDDO IS LIKE taKING A THOUSAND CITIES’ . 37 EVENT 13: SISERA’S STRategY—‘AT MEGIDDO BY THE WateRS OF TaanaCH’ . 40 AN OVERVIEW FROM MEGIDDO . 42 V. COMPETING CLAIMS ON SOUTHERN TRADE ROUTES (SCA MAP) ..................... 46 EVENT 14: A ‘PHILISTINE’ SHERIFF—‘ACHISH gave ZIKLag TO DaviD… AND DaviD AND HIS MEN WENT UP AND RAIDED’ . 47 EVENT 15: MESHA’S REBELLION—‘AFTER AHAB’S DeatH, MOAB REBELLED againST ISRAEL’ . 55 EVENT 16: A SOUTHERN AttaCK—‘MOABITES, AMMONITES, AND SOME MEUNITES CAME TO MAKE WAR’ . 57 EVENT 17: EDOM’S INCESSANT ADvanCE—‘LEST EDOM COME’ . 58 VI. TAKING OR HOLDING THE SHEPHELAH (JUD MAP)................................ 60 EVENT 18: DaviD PRevaiLS—‘THE PHILISTINES gatHERED THEIR FORCES FOR WAR AND ASSEMBLED at SOCOH WHICH BELONGS TO JUDAH’ . 62 EVENT 19: REHOBOAM PRepaRES—‘REHOBOAM FORTIFIED CITIES IN JUDAH againST SIEGE’ . 68 AN OVERVIEW FROM AZEKAH . 69 VII. A WAY THROUGH THE HILLS BETWEEN IMPERIAL HIGHWAYS (BEN MAP AND OTHERS) . 72 EVENT 20: ISRAEL’S ENTRANCE—‘GO UP TO THE ABARIM HEIGHTS, TO MOUNT NEBO IN MOAB, ACROSS FROM JERICHO, AND VIEW Canaan’ . 72 EVENT 21: JOSHUA’S MARCH—‘AFTER AN ALL NIGHT MARCH FROM GILGAL… ISRAEL PURSUED THEM ALONG THE ASCENT OF BETH-HORON’ . 79 EVENT 22: JOnatHAN’S FAITH—‘SEEK AND DESTROY DIVISIONS WENT OUT FROM THE PHILISTINE CAMP . TOWARD OPHRAH…BETH-HORON AND…THE VALLEY OF ZEBOIM’ . 87 EVENT 23: DaviD’S MANEUVER—‘AND THEY SMOTE THE PHILISTINE FORCES FROM GIBEON TO GEZER’ . 95 EVENT 24: JERUSALEM’S ACCESS—‘BAASHA, KING OF ISRAEL…FORTIFIED RAMAH TO PREVENT ANYONE FROM Leaving OR ENTERING THE TERRITORY OF ASA, KING OF JUDAH’ . 99 AN OVERVIEW FROM NEBI SAMWIL . 103 REGIONAL STUDY GUIDE—INTRODUCTION 3 INTRODUCTION The teacher in the book of Ecclesiastes says, ‘What has been shall be again; what has been done shall be done again, since nothing is new under the sun. Can it be said about anything, “Behold, this is new?”’ (1:9-10). In spite of this reality, Biblical Backgrounds offers this regional study of the land of the Bible as a ‘new approach to an old subject.’ Learning biblical history without the land of the Bible is as difficult as playing chess without a chess board or telling someone how to drive through Boston without a map. Each biblical passage may teach a lesson, but the reader is often left with a myriad of unconnected events which do not fit into a meaningful whole. Learning the regional architecture of the land of the Bible (the ‘playing board’ of biblical history) remedies this situation by providing a gateway into the real world of the Bible. There are many benefits of such a study to us as readers and interpreters of Scripture. Here are some. a. We discover the motives of those we meet on the pages of the Bible while participating in their deci- sions, for better or for worse. b. We see events in the Bible fitting into a larger context as pieces of a puzzle fit into a larger picture. c. We more fully appreciate the message of the biblical writer as a prelude for translating that message into our lives in the 21st century. In short, the playing board of biblical history provides the background for a broader and deeper understanding of Scripture and its message in its original setting. This is the goal of Biblical Backgrounds’ Introductory Study Package. The Introductory Study Package is made up of three parts: a. Regions on the Run (Note contents on p. 3, and thumb through the book as you read below.) This book provides the basis for your entire study. Its opening pages introduce the Land of the Bible in terms of climate, settlement, highways and imperial centers (pp. 6-9). The heart of the study familiarizes the reader with the three main parts of the playing board: the northern, the southern and the central are- nas (pp. 10-29). Three maps introduce each arena’s setting, regions, and routes with arrows showing the flow of traffic. This study of arenas also includes ‘field trips through history’ which reinforce the geopo- litical issues. These field trips step through history using consistent subtitles for major historical periods. They also appear on the 4000 Year Overview chart inside the back cover of the book. When folded out, this chart keeps the flow of history in view for frequent reference. With the chart on the right and the map on the left the reader painlessly learns a great deal about various historical periods. Regions on the Run also contains a concise two-page historical summary, ‘The Land Between into the Days of Jesus’ (pp. 30-31), and a six-page ‘Regional Outline of the Gospels’ with five reference maps (pp. 32-37). The book concludes with two graphic charts of history and a colored relief map which helps highlight topographical differences throughout the land (pp. 38-back cover). b. Regional Study Maps The large Regional Study Maps (most measuring 22 x 17 in/56 x 43 cm) offer ‘virtual reality’ as the read- er examines selected events. The student’s marking assignments enhance the maps and show how much the lay of the land influenced events and their outcome. The reader, together with biblical characters, meets the geographical challenges of the land as both seek to pass through its natural obstacles or cap- ture and hold its strategic areas. c. The Regional Study Guide The Regional Study Guide integrates the regional architecture of the land presented in Regions on the Run with the study of specific events on various Regional Study Maps. Marking exercises allow a closer examination of individual events as they unfold in the Bible and often generate fresh insights into the meaning of the text. Regions on the Run and the Regional Study Maps are available through Biblical Backgrounds Distribution Office, P.O. Box 135, Rice Lake, WI 54868 USA. They are protected by copyright and cannot be copied in any way. The Regional Study Guide, on the other hand, is available for printing from Biblical Backgrounds’ website (www.bibback.com). It may be distributed to students for the cost of photocopying but may not be edited, republished nor sold for profit without the prior permission of the copyright owners. REGIONAL STUDY GUIDE—MARKING PROCEDURES 4 MARKING PROCEDURES FOR REGIONAL STUDY MAPS Assignments in the Regional Study Guide consist of marking instructions for the Regional Study Maps, inter- spersed with discussions and reading assignments from the Bible. Discussions serve as a commentary on the graphics the student is drawing on the map. Each completed map becomes a geographical/historical building block for further study. Each map study is a statement about particular historical events and illustrates the expressed objectives of the unit in which it is marked. The maps, however, have a wide variety of uses in later study as the student continues to examine biblical texts against the background of the playing board. COLORS AND CODES USED FOR MARKING The following is a list of pens which are needed to complete the map assignments in the Regional Study Guide. It is best not to use colors that are too dark. The use of each color is explained here. 1. Yellow felt tip pen for highlighting important names and routes 2. Green felt tip pen (a bright, medium color) for information relating to Judah and Israel (except in the study of Israel, the Northern Kingdom) 3.