_The Land of The Bible._
By REV. J. L. HURLBUT, D.D., AND R. S. HOLMES, A.M.
1. _It is an ancient land._—Before Rome was cradled by Tiber—before the
storied strifes of the Gods in Hellas, before Troy and the great glory of
the Trojans were, even before history was this wonderful land.
2. _It is an historic land._—Much of the world’s destiny has been decided
in this little strip of coast and mountain land, between the Jordan
and the sea. Here armies have camped and battles have been fought. The
restless feet of merchant traders have beaten its highways, the white
wings of merchant vessels have flitted to and from its ports with the
wealth of the world.
3. _It is a diminutive land._—A little triangle bounded by the sea, the
Jordan and her mountains, and the desert, it seems hardly large enough
for all the mighty events that have occurred within it; 180 miles from
farthest north to south, and 90 miles for its greatest breadth from west
to east, measures the country in all its extent.
4. _It is a storied land._—Where such a treasure house of tales as in
that old Bible? The land and its book have figured in all the literatures
of the _Occidental_ ages. Knights and paladins have trod its vales and
mountains; saint and crusader have watched at night beneath its stars.
5. _It is a land of famous mountains._—Ebal and Gerizim, Hor and Nebo,
Olivet and Tabor, Gilboa and Hermon. What scenes rise to the mind as we
name them! Carmel and Quarantania; struggle and victory; Elijah, Immanuel.
6. _It is a land of remarkable waters._—A single river—the Jordan, from
north to south—rising in the extreme north from springs so hidden as to
have long been unknown, loses itself in that sea of desolation, Lake
Asphaltites, the Dead Sea. The mid-world sea, the mother sea of great
nations, washes the western shores, and Galilee shines like a diadem in
her mountain setting.
7. _It is a land of many names._—The land of Canaan, the land of the
children of Heth, Philistia, Palestine, the Promised Land, the Holy Land,
the land of Judah, Immanuel’s Land.
8. _It is an impregnable land._—Its hills, rock-ribbed, rise one upon
another, covering the whole face of the land, and forcing all travel of
army or caravan through the few passes in which the great northern plain
terminates. Hence Esdrelon became of necessity the country’s battle
ground. A united people made the country a fear to its force.
9. _It was a populous land._—Beyond belief almost are the records of
the people who lived within these few square miles. Cities and villages
laid so close to each other that their environs almost met. The people
thronged in them, and in the well tilled country about them, so that
centuries of war, foreign and civil, and repeated depletions left them
still in their decadence a troublesome foe to the veterans of Rome.
10. _It was a productive land._—Shrubs and trees were in abundance.
Pine, oak, elder, dogwood, walnut, maple, willow, ash, carob, sycamore,
fig, olive and palm. Fruits in great variety were ripened beneath its
sun; grapes, apples, pears, apricots, quinces, plums, mulberries, dates,
pomegranates, oranges, limes, bananas, almonds, and pistachios. Many
kinds of grains were cultivated, such as wheat, barley, rice, sesamum,
millet and maize.
11. _It was a land of a remarkable climate._—Thirty degrees variation
from mountain to plain was its daily range. With the isothermal lines of
our Florida and California, it yet had snow and ice as in our northern
climates. Heavy rainfalls were characteristic; so were long periods of
drought. Heavy dews, fierce siroccos, cloudless skies, oppressive heat,
steady sea breezes, burning valleys, cool mountain summits were all
characteristics of this land of the Bible.
Under the headings now given let the student give: