The Shephelah, meaning “lowlands,” was a band of gentle hills lying between the coastal plain and the hill country of Israel, and it was covered with sycamore fig trees and olive trees (1 Kings 10:27; 1 Chronicles 1:15; 9:27; 27:28). This pastoral description of the region paints a deceptively peaceful picture, however, for the various […]
Category Archives: Battles
Ehud Rescues Israel
Judges 3:12-30 The story of Ehud is set in the time of the Judges, and it follows the familiar pattern of Israel falling into sin, suffering foreign domination, and experiencing deliverance by a deliverer, or judge, whom the Lord raises up to rescue them. On this occasion a coalition of Moabites, Ammonites, and Amalekites, led […]
Aram Captures Gilead
The century leading up to Israel’s fall to Assyria in 722 B.C. was marked by a complicated interplay of regional power struggles, palace intrigues, and territorial losses and recoveries. During Jehu’s reign over Israel the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel’s territory (2 Kings 10:32-33), primarily at the hands of Hazael king of […]
Gideon Defeats the Midianites
Judges 6-8 During the time of the Judges, the Israelites were oppressed for seven years by several nomadic peoples, including Midianites, Amalekites, and perhaps Ishmaelites (see Judges 8:24), who repeatedly invaded the land during harvesttime and ruined all the crops. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to a man named Gideon in the town […]
The Cilician Plain and Tarsus
Throughout Bible times the region encompassing the plain of Cilicia and the surrounding mountains was sought after by various world powers. Over many centuries the Cydnus, Sarus, and Ptyramus Rivers deposited rich, fertile silt on the plain from the mountainous regions to the north, and the temperate climate provided sufficient rain for growing grains and […]