Part 29 (1/2)

We have now to fix the most important =Places= in Palestine. We locate them by their arrangement in the Natural Divisions, and name an event for which each place is remembered.

I. =Places in the Sea-Coast Plain.= [These may const.i.tute one lesson, if desired.] 1. _Gaza_, where Samson pulled down the idol temple upon the Philistines and himself. This lies on the Mediterranean, directly in line west of the middle point of the Dead Sea. 2. _Joppa_, the seaport of Palestine, from which the prophet Jonah started on his voyage. This lies nearly half way between Gaza and Mount Carmel. 3. _Caesarea_, where Paul made his defense before King Agrippa, and was a prisoner for two years. This is a little more than half way between Joppa and Mount Carmel. 4. _Tyre_, the city which sent s.h.i.+ps to all lands; a little further north of Mount Carmel than Caesarea is south of it. As each place is named, locate it on the board, and mark it by an initial letter.

II. Another lesson may include the most important =Places in the Mountain Region=. 1. _Beersheba_, the home of Abraham; opposite the lower bay of the Dead Sea. 2. _Hebron_, where the patriarchs were buried; opposite the middle of the Dead Sea, and in line with Gaza. 3.

_Bethlehem_, where David and Jesus were born, 6 miles south of Jerusalem. 4. _Jerusalem_, the capital of Palestine, where David reigned, and where Jesus was crucified; directly in line with the northern end of the Dead Sea. 5. _Bethel_, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, where Jacob saw the vision of the heavenly ladder. 6. _Shechem_, between the twin mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, where Jesus talked with the woman of Samaria. 7. _Nazareth_, where Jesus spent his boyhood; directly in line with the southern end of the Sea of Galilee.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LESSON V.]

III. =Places in the Jordan Valley.= Two of these are near the northern end of the Dead Sea. 1. _Jericho_, west of the Jordan, where the walls fell down before the Israelites. 2. _Bethabara_, east of the Jordan, where Jesus was baptized. Two more are near the northern sh.o.r.e of the Sea of Galilee. 3. _Capernaum_, where Jesus lived during his ministry, and wrought many miracles; on the northwestern sh.o.r.e of the sea. 4.

_Bethsaida_, where Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves; on the north of the sea. 5. The last is at the source of the river Jordan, _Dan_, the most northerly town in Palestine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LESSON VI.]

IV. =Places in the Eastern Table-Land.= There are not many in this section, because few events of Bible history took place there. 1.

_Machaerus_, where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded; opposite the northern part of the Dead Sea. 2. _Penuel_, on the brook Jabbok, where Jacob wrestled with the angel. This is about midway between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. 3. _Mahanaim_, where David wept over Absalom's death. This is about half way between Penuel and the Sea of Galilee. 4. _Caesarea Philippi_, at the foot of Mount Hermon, where Jesus taught his disciples.

It may be desirable not to give these places in a single lesson, but to divide it into two, or even four sections, and give one at a session. In that case, with each lesson all the places already located should be reviewed, together with the events a.s.sociated with them. If the places can be marked upon the board in bright red chalk, they will be prominent.

LESSON VI. PROVINCES.

Review from the beginning, as usual. 1. Lines. 2. Waters. 3. Names. 4.

Distances. 5. Natural Divisions. 6. Mountains. 7. Places.

In this lesson we are to learn the Provinces, or parts of the country, in the time of Christ. We do not take the division by tribes; as that is more difficult to learn, and not often referred to in history. At the time when Christ was among men, Palestine was divided into five Provinces, though two of these were under one ruler.

I. Draw the boundary line of =Judaea=, and write its initial, J. This was the southern province, and the largest. [Review the names of the places contained in it.] Its people were the Jews, or men of the tribe of Judah, and its princ.i.p.al city was Jerusalem.

II. North of Judaea was the province known as =Samaria=, having Shechem as its princ.i.p.al city. Its people were the Samaritans, with whom the Jews had no dealings. In Christ's day Judaea and Samaria were under one government. It contained the twin mountains Ebal and Gerizim.

III. North of Samaria was =Galilee=, where Jesus lived during most of his life. Its people were also Jews, but were called ”Galileans” by the Jews in Jerusalem; and in Christ's time it was under the rule of Herod, who slew John the Baptist. Notice the mountains and towns situated in it. Mountains: Lebanon and Gilboa; towns: Nazareth, Capernaum and Dan.

IV. On the east of the Jordan, and south of the Sea of Galilee, was the province of =Peraea=, a word which means ”beyond”; so named, because it is ”beyond Jordan.” Here Jesus taught at one time during his ministry, and blessed the little children. The places which we have noticed in it are Machaerus, Bethabara, Penuel and Mahanaim; and its mountain, Nebo.

This province, in Christ's day, was also ruled by King Herod.

V. The province north of Peraea and east of the Sea of Galilee is not named in the New Testament. We will call it by its Old Testament name, =Bashan=, a word meaning ”woodland.” It was ruled by a brother of Herod, named Philip, whose t.i.tle was ”tetrarch”; hence it is sometimes called ”Philip's Tetrarchy.” The mountain we have noticed in it is Hermon, and the two places, Bethsaida, and Caesarea Philippi, or ”Philip's Caesarea,”

to distinguish it from the other Caesarea, by the sea-sh.o.r.e.

At the close of the lesson, review once more from the very beginning of the series; then erase the map, and, pointing to the places on an ”invisible map,” call for their names from the cla.s.s. There can scarcely be too much reviewing of these leading facts, in order to impress them on the scholar's memory.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARCHES IN THE TEMPLE AREA.]

THE MEASURES OF THE BIBLE.

THE student of the Bible meets with some difficulty in adapting the names of weights, measures and coins, to the standards now in use, and finds that the authorities are not agreed upon the precise signification of the Bible terms used in relation to these subjects. These difficulties and discrepancies arise from three facts: 1. The Oriental mind has never been accustomed to the exactness of our systems of measurement. Among eight cubit measures found on the Egyptian monuments, no two were precisely alike. 2. The models or standards of weights and measures referred to in Hebrew history were long ago lost, and it is not easy to reproduce them. 3. The Jews adopted the measurements of peoples among whom they were dispersed, yet often retained the names of such of their own as were nearest to them in amount, so that at different periods in Bible history the standard was different. The same word may refer to different measurements at different times. We have adopted in this section the measurements of F. R. and C. R. Conder in ”The Hand Book of the Bible,” except where other authorities are specified.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SMALLER MEASURES OF LENGTH.]

I. =Smaller Measures of Length.= 1. The lowest dimension, as in our own table of linear measure, was the Barleycorn. 2. Two barleycorns laid endways made the Finger-breadth (Hebrew, Atzbah), two-thirds of an inch.

3. Four finger-breadths made the Palm (Heb., Tupah), 2-2/3 inches. 4.