Cairo: Jesus in Egypt & God's Unusual Leaning
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a...
Not everybody can travel to Israel. But everyone can benefit from including Bible lands in their personal Bible study. You just need some good tools.
(Photo: Tabernacle Model. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
I have discovered that including Bible lands in my study has given me more understanding of the Bible than I ever imagined. The benefits of including Bible lands in the study of Scripture are available to everyone.
Many people have asked what resources I recommend. So I’ve created what I consider a must-have list. These are the tools I reach for first when I study—those resources that have proven most helpful to me for years.
I’ll give you the full list, and then I’ll suggest which ones to get first.
The most basic resource for studying Bible lands is a good Bible atlas. Good atlases provide more than maps; they teach the importance of geography as it relates to history, archaeology, topography, climate, and soils. Several outstanding atlases are available today. These are the three I use the most.
(Map of Jesus’ Public Galilean Ministry, courtesy of Satellite Bible Atlas)
If a picture paints a thousand words, then thousands of high-resolution pictures are even better. I use the images from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands almost daily on my blog (including the image at the top of this post!), and I have used them for years in my teaching and personal Bible study.
(Photo: The Western Wall, just one of thousands of images from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
The best deal is the Israel Collection—which I use. But you could get one volume at a time. See the entire collection.
Here are the volumes related to Israel:
Take a look at the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands and see why this photo collection is so unique, so valuable, and so useful.
If you’re interested in the land itself, these books do a great job—and have for many years.
Obviously, dream list would include all of these resources! But here’s the essential list in the order I suggest you get them:
You can start here and add to this list on your birthday and at Christmas.
Tell me what you think: What other resources have you found helpful in studying Bible lands? To leave a comment, just click here.
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