It is often said that big things come in small packages. The truth of this saying is no more clearly displayed than in the ministry of Jesus along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. By the time Jesus moved from his hometown of Nazareth to the town of Capernaum, the freshwater Sea of Galilee […]
Author Archives: Administrator
Western Europe and Africa
To the ancient Israelites, the distant regions of western Europe and Africa would have been regarded as the edge of the world, for beyond the Strait of Gibraltar and the coasts of Spain lay the vast, impassable Atlantic Ocean. Some scholars speculate that Tarshish, mentioned throughout the Old Testament as a far off land (Genesis […]
The Battle at the Valley of Siddim
Genesis 14 The battle at the Valley of Siddim took place before the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were famously destroyed for their wickedness. At that time these cities, along with Bela (Zoar), Admah, and Zeboiim, had been subject to king Kedorlaomer of Babylonia for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. So […]
Lycia and Pamphylia
Throughout their long history, the mountainous region of Lycia and the fertile plain of Pamphylia repeatedly changed hands among the dominant powers of Anatolia. During the Trojan War, Lycia was allied with the Trojans, and Pamphylia belonged to the Hittite Empire. Later, various Greek powers held sway over Lycia and Pamphylia until Cyrus the Great […]
The Nation of Moab and the Tribe of Reuben
Throughout the Old Testament, the land immediately east of the Dead Sea was home to the nation of Moab and also to the Israelite tribe of Reuben. The Moabites were distantly related to the Israelites through Abraham’s nephew Lot (Genesis 19; see “Sodom and Gomorrah Are Destroyed” map), and as the Israelites made their way […]