To break down even further the lesson that we had on Monday night, I will now show you some things that you may or may not have know about both the historical and Biblical aspects of the bodies of water that we looked at (from an Old Testament perspective).
The first body of water that we studied was the Mediterranean Sea.
As you can see in the picture, the first thing that you will notice about the Mediterranean Sea is that it is almost completely landlocked. There are a bunch of really boring facts about it, those I won't go into! But it has a total surface area of 970,000 square miles, and it's average depth is 4,900 feet. So we aren't talking about a little pond here!
Now for the Biblical aspect of the Mediterranean Sea!
In Exodus 23:31, God is speaking to Moses and telling him many things, but in this verse He is telling him where the boundaries are going to be. The verse says, “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you.
So we know that the Red Sea is to the south, the River is the Jordan River, and the Sea of the Philistines that God is speaking of is the Mediterranean Sea. He says basically the same thing in Numbers 34:6.
It was called the "Great Sea", the "Sea of the Philistines", the "Western Sea", and plain old "The Sea".
Since the Hebrews weren't Vikings, or Pirates not much is made of this body of water in the Old Testament! There are a few stories written in the O.T. about the Mediterranean Sea.
1. Solomon had the Cedars of Lebanon transported down the Mediterranean Sea in 1 Kings 5
2. Jonah left Joppa and headed towards Tarshish on a boat that traveled on the Mediterranean Sea, that was a pretty exciting ride for him! You can read about that in Jonah chapter 1
When we get to the New Testament, we will see much more use of this body of water - especially in Paul's Missionary Journeys.
The next body of water that we looked at was the Sea of Galilee
Much like our very own Lake Superior, the "Sea" of Galilee is a large freshwater lake. It is 7 miles wide and 14 miles long. As opposed to Lake Superior, which is 160 miles wide and 350 miles long! So you can see that calling it a "Sea" is a bit weird!
It is located 36 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea and is another boundary for the nation of Israel.
In Old Testament times it was called the "Sea of Chinnereth" or "Kinnereth" depending on what translation you use.
As in the Mediterranean Sea, it was used more for a boundary line than a key geographical spot in the Old Testament. You can see that in Numbers 34:10-12.
This will change drastically when we start looking at the New Testament as well! We will see many different stories taking place around, and on this "Sea"!
The final body of water that we will look at today is the Jordan River.
First, the historical side of things. The Jordan River actually begins north of the Sea of Galilee and flows south all the way to the Dead Sea. It starts in the heights of Mt. Hermon and drops 2,380 feet into the Dead Sea! It is an extremely curvy river that actually measures close to 200 miles, although it only covers just over 65 miles of terrain.
Unlike the first two bodies of water that we looked at, the Jordan river is a very integral part of the Old Testament.
It is once again found in the above references when God was telling Moses the boundaries of the nation.
In Genesis 13, Abraham and Lot parted ways and Lot chose the Jordan River Valley.
In Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles God near the Jordan River
In Joshua 1, we see the monumental crossing of the Jordan River. I say monumental, because this is where the Israelites crossed into the promised land. Take the time to read this section - it is awesome! God again parts the waters and they walk through on dry land.
We will again see this body of water come into play in the New Testament - but that's all for now!!!
I hope that this helps you understand the "lay of the land" a bit better. As we get a better picture of the geography, we will be able to envision what it looks like as we are reading the Bible, and hopefully the Holy Spirit will use it to bring the words to life!
God bless,
Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment