Life in the Holy Land
Last week in sunday school one of the students was teaching on Matthew 4. When Satan took Christ to "the holy city" another leader asked if the students knew what city that was talking about. No one was sure. That was interesting...I thought about it and realized that I probably would not have known the answer to that when I was in high school. So I didn't look down on them for not knowing...but it again made me think that I should teach something about the Holy Land so that the students are familiar with the land that they are always reading about. I had the opportunity to travel to the Holy Land back in 2001, sadly our trip was punctuated by the events of 9-11-2001 and we were only able to spend one month there. But I will always remember that month as one of the best months of my life. Reading about the Holy Land is nice and all, but actually traveling there and seeing the sights and smelling the smells and understanding the geography and the ways of life and the features of the land changed the way I read the Bible.
Take Habakkuk 3:17-19 for example. I read that a while back and it broke me. But it would not have had such an affect if I did not understand the desperate situation Habakkuk was describing in verse 17. The things he mentions as failing in verse 17 are ALL of the things that people in Israel had for food and for employment and income. I understood that because I had been in the Holy Land and had studied the custom and culture of the Israelites in that day.
I think we should all seek to know more about the Holy Land. Imagine trying to follow a football game over the radio if you did not know what a football field looked like. You could follow the score and who was winning - the main point and purpose. But it would be tough to understand the details and the play by play information. The same is true with the Holy Land. Without being familiar with the Holy Land we can understand the main points and purpose: Heaven is a free gift, Man is a sinner and cannot save himself, God is loving and does not want to punish us, yet He is also just and must punish our sins. Christ solves this dilemma by being the infinite God-man and coming to earth to die for our sins, to rise again conquering death and to pay the penalty for our sins and to purchase a place in Heaven for us. And we receive this gift by true saving faith: trusting Jesus Christ alone for salvation. These are the most important facts and one can be saved and live a powerful life for God without being familiar with the Holy Land. But when you understand the Holy Land and the dynamics of the people and places there then when you read about the "Good Samaritan" (Luke 10:25-37) you can understand what a shocking story this is. When you understand the culture you read the "Parable of the Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32) and realize what a shocking story this is about two sons. When you read about Jesus calming a storm on a lake (Luke 8:22-25)...that doesn't sound so miraculous if you're only picturing Hensly Lake. But if you understand the dynamics of the Sea of Galilee then you better understand Jesus' dominion over His creation (See "Waves on the Sea" photo and text).
Well I didn't plan for this blog to be so long...but I really do love the Holy Land and hope that I can go back some day to spend more time in the land where Christ Himself walked.
All this to say, there's a new website out by a professor of "IBEX" (learn about IBEX here, and here), and he wants to get the word out and he has asked for help. The website is an attempt at transporting us back in time before the Holy Land became 'modernized'. It has pictures and drawings of the Holy Land from many many years ago. I have always been curious to know what lepers look like. Well now I know because there is a section on lepers on the site (there are also many not so shocking photographs :) ).
So, if you would like to learn more about the Holy Land, more about the Land of the Bible, then check out this website:
Life in the Holy Land
Another site by the same guy who built that site is this one:
Bible Places
This site has many many current photos of the Holy Land including many archaeological pictures.
Check 'em out.
Take Habakkuk 3:17-19 for example. I read that a while back and it broke me. But it would not have had such an affect if I did not understand the desperate situation Habakkuk was describing in verse 17. The things he mentions as failing in verse 17 are ALL of the things that people in Israel had for food and for employment and income. I understood that because I had been in the Holy Land and had studied the custom and culture of the Israelites in that day.
I think we should all seek to know more about the Holy Land. Imagine trying to follow a football game over the radio if you did not know what a football field looked like. You could follow the score and who was winning - the main point and purpose. But it would be tough to understand the details and the play by play information. The same is true with the Holy Land. Without being familiar with the Holy Land we can understand the main points and purpose: Heaven is a free gift, Man is a sinner and cannot save himself, God is loving and does not want to punish us, yet He is also just and must punish our sins. Christ solves this dilemma by being the infinite God-man and coming to earth to die for our sins, to rise again conquering death and to pay the penalty for our sins and to purchase a place in Heaven for us. And we receive this gift by true saving faith: trusting Jesus Christ alone for salvation. These are the most important facts and one can be saved and live a powerful life for God without being familiar with the Holy Land. But when you understand the Holy Land and the dynamics of the people and places there then when you read about the "Good Samaritan" (Luke 10:25-37) you can understand what a shocking story this is. When you understand the culture you read the "Parable of the Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32) and realize what a shocking story this is about two sons. When you read about Jesus calming a storm on a lake (Luke 8:22-25)...that doesn't sound so miraculous if you're only picturing Hensly Lake. But if you understand the dynamics of the Sea of Galilee then you better understand Jesus' dominion over His creation (See "Waves on the Sea" photo and text).
Well I didn't plan for this blog to be so long...but I really do love the Holy Land and hope that I can go back some day to spend more time in the land where Christ Himself walked.
All this to say, there's a new website out by a professor of "IBEX" (learn about IBEX here, and here), and he wants to get the word out and he has asked for help. The website is an attempt at transporting us back in time before the Holy Land became 'modernized'. It has pictures and drawings of the Holy Land from many many years ago. I have always been curious to know what lepers look like. Well now I know because there is a section on lepers on the site (there are also many not so shocking photographs :) ).
So, if you would like to learn more about the Holy Land, more about the Land of the Bible, then check out this website:
Life in the Holy Land
Another site by the same guy who built that site is this one:
Bible Places
This site has many many current photos of the Holy Land including many archaeological pictures.
Check 'em out.
posted by Elias at 20:45
1 Comments:
Sgreat!
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