Biblical Geography: A Silent Witness
– the following is a guest post by Dr. Brian Maggard
I think if a poll were taken of Christians, one subject that would not rank very high on most people’s lists would be biblical geography. It’s a difficult subject.
Biblical Geography is Complicated
Where in the world are Sodom and Gomorrah, and why are they in different locations in my textbook and on my Bible maps page? Why are there different names of different towns from different periods, from the Bronze Age to today? If the adage is, “The three rules for correct biblical interpretation are context, context, context,” then how are we to understand the geographical and physical context of Scripture in an ever-changing physical world?
The Bible’s Places are Real Places
Would you believe me if I said we can have absolute assurance that when the Bible speaks of a physical location, it is speaking of a real place?
There is no Narnia or Middle-earth; there is no Mordor in the Bible. Each place listed in the biblical text corresponds to a real place. It is unfortunate that ancient peoples did not extend to us the simple courtesy of leaving town names so we could keep all this straight (except for Ekron; there really is a road sign that reads, “Welcome to Ekron,” but to say this is rare is an understatement). There are other ways to understand biblical geography.
How Do We Find Biblical Places?
There are ways to identify locations when the ancient names are no longer in use. Most geographical locations in the Holy Land have always been known and referred to in extant literature, for example, Jerusalem. Neither today nor in antiquity has the location of Jerusalem been questioned. It serves as a fixed marker for other sites. When Jesus walks from Jerusalem to Bethany, and because the average day’s journey was around 10 miles, we can travel 10 miles and locate archaeological ruins.
This happens all the time. In the middle of the 20th century, an archaeologist named Nelson Glueck wrote a book titled The River Jordan (Westminster Press, 1946). He traveled on horseback all over the Holy Land identifying biblical cities, towns, and battlefields. How did he do it? Simple, he looked at the geography opened his Bible and asked, “Where is this?”
If I start in Jerusalem and walk the “Way of Blood” from the Parable of the Good Samaritan, according to the Bible and geography, I will end up in Jericho. If I stand near Bethel and Ai and look across the Jordan Valley with my Bible and read, And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace” (Genesis 19:28, KJV), we can assume the location of Sodom needs to be within sight of Bethel and Ai to make out the destruction.
A Witness to the Scriptures
The geography corresponds to the Scriptures. Every place the Bible says there was a town, archaeologists find remains of towns. Geography rightly studied becomes a powerful apologetic tool underlining and contextualizing the historical text.
The Bible is the most accurate book in all the world, and geography acts as a silent witness to its truthfulness.
Submitted by Dr. Brian Maggard
PhD in Biblical Archaeology and Old Testament, Veritas International University
Master of Divinity, Liberty University Rawlings School of Divinity
Bachelor of Science: Biblical Studies, Liberty University
Dr. Maggard brings to TCJ a wealth of experience in counseling, teaching, ministry, and leadership. His background in archaeology has enabled him to lead tours in Israel, sharing with others his knowledge of general and biblical history of the Holy Land in both Israel and Jordan. He has lectured post-graduate students at Veritas International University and is a contributor to Near Eastern Archaeology Review. Additionally, he has presented papers to the Near Eastern Archaeology Society (NEAS), at the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS).
