The World of the Bible
Bible Maps
Many of us have been taught over the years that the world of the Bible is the whole earth. Not true. Open a Bible to the maps section, they almost all have one. Find a map that shows China - or Australia - or the United States. Japan? India? Brazil? Antarctica? I haven't looked through every Bible on planet but finding one with any of those places is going to be rare.
Why? Because all of the activity in the Bible take place in Holy Land area. As far East as the Persian Gulf, South to Egypt, West to Rome, and North to Turkey.
So when you read about - 'all the people of the world' - it doesn't mean the planet Earth, just the Middle East area (in green above).
Of all the areas on the face of the globe God chose Jerusalem, and its environs, to be his very special place. The 16th chapter of Ezekiel tells the story of Jerusalem - her birth (creation), the day God was walking by and found her dirty, uncared for, and discarded, cleaned her up, took her under his protection, made promises of protection to her and made her his.
Ezekiel 16:6-8 - "And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine."
God took Abram (Abraham) out of the East country (Ur of the Chaldee, the other side of the flood) and brought him into what would become most of the Middle East and gave it to him and his posterity.
Joshua 24:2-3 - "And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood {the Euphrates River} in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood {the Euphrates River}, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac."
Genesis 15:18-21 - "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
By modern calculations the area inside the red line is 1,377,506 square miles (3,567,724 square kilometers).
There were 10 groups of people occupying the land at that time; Kenites, Kenizzites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Today there are 13 countries: Palestine (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), Israel, Lebanon, part of Syria, part of Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. These countries constitute a large portion of the descendants of Abraham. They all have legitimate rights to the land.
I put the flags here because I found some other interesting information. With the exceptions of the last 3 flags, all the rest utilize the colors white, red , black, and green.
The Sealed Scroll of Jeremiah
There is a story in the book of Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 32: 6-15 - "And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open: And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this and."
At the time God told Jeremiah to buy this piece of property from his nephew the city was surrounded by the Babylonian army. It was just a matter of days before King Nebuchadnezzar carried away Judah and Jerusalem into captivity for 70 years. Plus Jeremiah just happened to be in prison. And he's told to buy this piece of ground. Why? There are no connecting stories before of after this one. It sits here all by itself.
In brief Jeremiah, in prison and ready to be carried away captive by an invading army was told by God to buy a piece of ground from his nephew. He did. By custom he had 2 copies made. One was an open copy - anybody could read it at anytime. The second was sealed by witnesses and stored in a safe place for the future. He completed the whole transaction, paid his nephew, made the copies, was removed from prison and carried away captive to Babylonia, was moved to Egypt - and died there - never to return home. That's it. The story stands alone and is never talked about or referred to anywhere else in the Bible.
Except -The Sealed Scroll of Revelation
Right - the end times - again
Revelation 5:1-9 - "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;"
John sees God sitting on his throne in Heaven holding a little 'book' - actually a scroll - sealed with 7 seals. God is looking for someone to open it. John wept. Other attendees were equally upset. There was no one around who was worthy to open the seals of the scroll and read it. Then Jesus shows up fresh from his death, burial, and resurrection and takes the scroll from God's hand - because he was the only one that could - even God, by his own laws, was not allowed to open the scroll. Jesus was the 'kinsman redeemer' of Abraham. He alone had the right to open the scroll, plus he had paid the price, he had fulfilled God's plan for the salvation of the world (in this case, the whole Earth). Jesus alone was worthy.
And he started opening the seals ...
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The first 4 seals (of seven) as they were opened brought forth, one at a time, four horsemen, each with a sinister agenda. The first - a man on a white horse. At the breaking of the second seal - a man on a red horse. When the third seal was broken - a man on a black horse. At the forth seal - a man on a green (translated here as 'pale' but the Greek word cloros - as in chlorophyll - is really, green) horse.
Let's see - 4 horses colored White, Red, Black, and Green - want to look, again, at the colors of the flags of the descendants of Abraham - now living in the Arabian Peninsula - White, Red, Black, and Green.
I find it interesting that Jesus was the only one who could open the scroll. He had just redeemed the world to God, His next step was to return to Earth - at the Mount of Olives, and set up his Kingdom there. It all fits. It has to be looked at in a spiritual light. It is not a physical story.
As Jesus said over 15 times - He who has ears to hear - let him hear.