At first glance, the region often referred to in Scripture as the Negev could easily be written off as merely a land of sparcity–both in rainfall and in population. Yet this land that seems of little value proved to be of great worth to Israel and its leaders over time as it protected the southern […]
Category Archives: Patriarchal Period
Northern Levant
With its pivotal position at the nexus of some of the greatest civilizations of ancient times, the broad plains of the northern Levant and its many important routes served as the crossroads of the ancient Near East. The region itself was home to some of the oldest civilizations in history, and it has been ruled […]
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 […]
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), and as the Israelites made their way to the Promised Land under Moses’ leadership, […]