What’s in it for me? The Bible overview-the whole and it’s parts.Study Series

What’s in it for me? The Bible overview-the whole and it’s parts. Study Series at FMPC. 

This series is part of the Cafe Church program started at the little church in Accomac VA. We worship and then follow with this new way of studying together as a small church of 15 or so. We interact and learn from one another with our own good questions that lead us into the next week of study. The early morning coffee is pretty good as well as the conversation. 

Here is Week One:

January 3, 2016 FMPC Bible Series Café Church

We Seek to Live our Story through God’s Story

What’s in it for me? The Bible overview-the whole and it’s parts.

Main Idea (from Faith Seeking Understanding PCUSA)

The Bible is a collection of writings that testifies to the mighty acts of God in creating, redeeming, sustaining human life. In a variety of ways-narratives, poetry, Gospels, letters-human hearts and minds inspired by the Spirit, gave voice to expressing the inexpressible.

Today we’ll take a brief look and the space and time of the Biblical world. Much of this world remains unknown still to this day, yet, there is room for exploration. Our own space and time continuum of the modern world would leave many also with a sense of incompleteness and a sense of challenge.

Let’s start with a few personal questions: What days mark beginning and endings for you. What days, weeks mark high points in your cycle or rhythm of life. What official calendar marks or shapes your time-fiscal, such as a school calendar, Jan-Dec, religious?

Where do you live? What do you see and how would you describe it. Draw a map of your world in which you highlight the places most significant to you. How is your map similar or different from the people around you?

About 100 years ago Einstein’s theory of relativity demonstrated that neither space nor time are fixed. when we think about historical or daily realities that doesn’t seem to affect us. But, as we look over a period of time we witness the fluidity of political borders and of natural changes to geography due to erosion, storms, natural phenomena. Also, space has changed over time too as we review the history of how we measure time.

Perhaps with this in mind we can come to our study of the Bible with a new perspective. Let’s take a quick look at the geographic details of the areas of where the Bible was written and where the events of the Bible took place.

We have two maps to explore. One is the CisJordan region, the other is of the Ancient Near East. These two maps comprise the special area of which the writings of the Old Testament take place.

By exploring its geography take a look at these Scripture texts. Psalm 121:1-2; Psalm 148: 3, 9-10; Psalm 8:3-4. What descriptions do you hear?

The area around Jerusalem receives 26 inches of rain a year. The area is rugged, hot and dry. The rainy season happens around November. During the hot seasons there are pockets of oasis in the desert in the Negev. The dry air creates starlit skies clearer than in humid regions. The enemies live near the ocean and the seas and the Israelites are mostly landlocked. Their acquaintance for living from the sea during this historical period is limited. All these images make their way into the biblical text. Fear of the sea and the leviathan can also be found in the Psalms.

Think about our life here on the Eastern Shore. If we were to write a psalm or a song about God using our surroundings, how would it be similar to what we read today and how would it be different?

Okay so we’ll take a tour of the map.

The Judean Highlands & Jerusalem. Here we discover Hebron which is the site of Abraham’s tomb.

The Coastal Plain, I mentioned is where the Philistines occupied the land and the sea. The Phoenicians were engaged in sea trade and predominated the fishing industry as well.

Shephelah is an area of many conflicts and battles. It is a low foothill area that has acted as a buffer during many conflicts between the Philistines and the Israelites. 1 Samuel 17 David & Goliath takes place here.

Samarian Highlands are more lush and green and it receives more rainfall than the other areas. The hills surrounding the valleys are rounder and smoother. Today one can see enormous fruit groves, olives and figs, and vineyards.

Jezreel Valley is a large flat plain about 20 by fifty miles in size. Meggido is the site of many strategic battles even into the 20^th century. It is also the site where Revelation writes about Armageddon. The story of Gideon, the Amalakites, the Mideonites all take place here.

Galilee & Sea of Galilee is 50 miles from Jerusalem. This area is a variety of topography as well as people. Some are Israelites some are not. The northern region is quite mountainous, the southern more smooth with rolling hills and fertile soil. This is the site of most of the New Testament stories surrounding Jesus’ ministry.

The Jordan River is small by comparison of what we read in Scripture. Most places it is only ten feet wide. It rarely floods and it continues to shrink in size. To the east of the Jordan lies the area of land that rises sharply from the valley long range that plateaus it is called the Transjordanian Highlands

Dead Sea is about 1200 feet below Sea level. It is the lowest point on the earth’s surface. It receives 3 inches of rain a year. temperatures can get as high as 140 degrees F in the summer. The water has 25-30% salt content. Unique salt formations are throughout-giving rise to the idea of Lot’s wife turning to a pillar of salt.

Mount Hermon

The Negev is the desert region where the path of the Exodus is believed to have taken place.

Most of the Bible stories play out in the landscapes we are describing. The size of land we are talking about is about the size of New Jersey 256 miles by 75 miles. However, the rivers Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris contributed to access of Africa and Asia. The larger region influenced and affected the lives and views of the people of the Bible.

As we leave today having had a geography lesson how does that impact our story as we seek to live into God’s story and Live our Story through God’s Story? I believe it opens us up to listen to the God who still speaks and illuminates our reading and deepens our understanding. Amen.

Resource: The Hebrew Bible: A thematic approach Gravett et al. Publisher WJK