3 Life Lessons From the Geography of the Holy Land

 

by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

I recently enrolled in courses with the Israel Bible Center. The first class I have viewed is “The Land of the Bible.” This fascinating tour of the landscape of Israel involves more than just a geography lesson about dirt.

The layout of the Holy Land tells us a lot about the way people lived, why they lived that way, and how they related to each other and to God.

The view of a map of Israel depicts the mountains and rivers. Because mountainous terrain can affect how and where rain falls and collects, the lifestyles of people were determined by the way they could obtain this necessary fluid for life.

What can the methods of water collection in the land of the Bible teach us?

Those who didn’t dwell near a river had to obtain the life-giving flow in other ways. We can learn 3 life lessons from the geography of the Holy Land.

1. Springs – water in an underground spring bubbles up and flows across rocks and may even cascade into a refreshing waterfall. This water is pure and clean and nourishes those who are able to collect from it. This is the best source of water in this sometimes arid land.

2. Wells – A well must be dug and in biblical times this meant by hand. We can recall the account of Isaac digging wells during a famine. Because enemies stopped up the wells he had to continue digging to be able to have water (Genesis 26:12–18). The water in a well is also mostly clean and pure but is not continuously running like water from a spring. Yet digging a well means the water is still sought from a natural source.

3. Cisterns – A cistern is a manmade collection process that requires digging below the ground’s surface level and placing a container of some type within the hole. Plaster is used to form the sides and keep the soil from caving in. Above the ground a funnel-like trail corrals running water into the top of the cistern. The problem with this is that everything else on the ground flows to the opening as well as water. Dirt, rocks, debris, sticks, and even animal dung can be routed toward the cistern’s top. Some of the unwanted particles are captured before they drop into the opening.

But some residue is still able to fall into the cistern with the water. During the land’s dry season, when no more water falls from the sky, the water in the cistern thickens as the volume diminishes toward the bottom. This is not the water we want to drink.

God’s Comparison of Himself as a Fountain and Israel as a Cistern

God rebuked His wayward people through the prophet Jeremiah. They had forsaken the Lord and created for themselves dry souls that resembled broken cisterns.

Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; “Be very desolate,” says the Lord. “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:12–13 NKJV)

Rather than drinking from God’s nourishment, the Israelites worship of false gods was like drinking from a cistern of dirty water. And not just a cistern but a broken one. A broken cistern can’t contain water at all. Broken pieces of pottery covered in mud and filth. Their souls were dry and desolate because they had turned away from God’s fountain.

In Jesus’s day, the people of Israel were familiar with the prophetic passages of the Torah. The Messiah shed a new light on the Word of God.

At the end of the feast of Sukkot, Jesus stood before the crowd and declared,
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

In the words of Jeremiah, God said He was the fountain of living water. Now Jesus says those who come to Him will have living water. This is why so many were divided about their opinion of Jesus (John 7:40–44). Now He says He is God? Is He a prophet? Is He the Messiah?

We can look to these Scriptures and determine if we drink from the correct source. When we go our own way and don’t obey God, we are like the rebellious Israelites whose spiritual life was like drinking from broken cisterns. Dirt from the world certainly won’t satisfy the void in our hearts, but will actually pollute us. No wonder we continue to thirst.

When we identify with Christ our source of life never runs dry. We live like green plants whose roots are embedded deeply into the soil absorbing necessary nutrients for life.

Christ is our spring. He is also the deep well we can draw from. But we create our own dry, broken cisterns when we fail to drink from the pure source and instead allow the world’s impurities to fill our hearts.

I learned so much about how this process of water collection relates to the lives of biblical characters and how we can apply this to ours. 

What about you? Did you learn anything new? Join the conversation and share your thoughts. 

 

If you are interested in these courses you can check out the Israel Bible Center. 

When we identify with Christ our source of life never runs dry. We live like green plants whose roots are embedded deeply into the soil absorbing necessary nutrients for life. (click to tweet)

 

Image by Svetlana Freeman from Pixabay