Culture, Geography, and Scriputral understanding

[nebula]

I thought it would be interesting to have a thread devoted to placing events of Scripture in the context of culture and geography (and the like) to bring out the deeper meaning to what is recorded.

I'll start with one. Please include any discoveries you know about.

[nebula]

Deut. 27

11 Moses also charged the people on that day, saying,

12 "When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people : Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

13 "For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal : Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

~~~~~~~~~~

Located between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal is Shechem.

What is the significance of Shechem?

Gen. 12

5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew , and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan ; thus they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

Gen. 33

18 Now Jacob came safely [after leaving Esau] to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. 19 He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20 Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Gen. 34 - Happenings with Dinah, Simeon, and Levi

Gen. 35

1 Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau." 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments ; 3 and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone." 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

[Fez]

Est 1:1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, (Xerxes)the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces,

Est 1:2 in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the capital,

Neh 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital,

Dan 8:2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the capital, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal.

Susa is mentioned in the Ketuvim of the Hebrew Bible, mainly in Esther but also once each in Nehemiah and Daniel. Both Daniel and Nehemiah lived in Susa during the Babylonian captivity of Judah of the 6th century BCE. Esther became queen there, and saved the Jews from genocide. A tomb presumed to be that of Daniel is located in the area, known as Shush-Daniel. The tomb is marked by an unusual white, stone cone, which is neither regular nor symmetric.

Susa

[Fez]

Lydia was not only the first "European" convert, she was also a wealthy woman! She also supported the Church in Philippi in other ways...

Act 16:14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

Act 16:15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.

Act 16:40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

How do we know she was wealthy?

"The earliest archaeological evidence for the origins of purple dyes points to the Minoan civilization in Crete, about 1900 B.C. The ancient land of Canaan (its corresponding Greek name was Phoenicia, which means

[Guest shiloh357]

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

(Mat 16:13-18)

Caesarea Philippi was pagan playground as well as a place of pagan worship. It is actually a very fertile area fed by a large spring of water that lets out into the Jordan River. The place where Jesus took the disciples was quite a bit out of the way a the base of Mt. Hermon. It was a long difficult walk from the Galilee and still is. The area can still be visited today and niches in the cliffside still show where pagan gods used to be worshipped. It was also known as "Banias Phillipi," and there were temples were built to various pagan gods.

In fact, the "grotto of Pan" is still visible It is a large cave like structure and was nicknamed "The gate of Hell" by the locals. This would have impacted the disciples to be standing in front of "the gate of hell" and hear Jesus proclaim that the gates of hell would not prevail against His congregation.

[traveller]

oooooh I like this thread!! Keep 'em coming.

[nebula]

I was reading John 4 - where Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well. For the first time I noticed the name of the town was given. So, I decided to look it up.

Although the location/identity of the town is not 100% certain, the identity/location of "Jacob's well" pretty much is.

The location is near Shechem, which is between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal.

Joseph's tomb is also in this area.

The interesting point about the well is that the water came from a spring, and the water was constantly flowing, rather than being in a cistern. Because of this, the ancients called the water from this well "living water."

Now consider the conversation:

10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep ; where then do You get that living water? . . . .

[Guest shiloh357]

What is really cool is that the well is still in operation. It is a very deep well and you can still draw fresh, drinkable water from it. Some tours go there and let the tourists drink straight from the well. You can still draw living water from the well that shall not run dry!!

[IslandRose]

What is really cool is that the well is still in operation. It is a very deep well and you can still draw fresh, drinkable water from it. Some tours go there and let the tourists drink straight from the well. You can still draw living water from the well that shall not run dry!!

Pretty cool that it's still there and still flowing. Better still that I don't have to go there to get living water. It just keeps flowing in me from the one source!

Really interesting thread!

[Guest]