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The Role of Maps in Bible Study

This afternoon, as I came back from Maseru, Lesotho's capital, where we facilitated a five-day training workshop (20-24th November 2006) for pastors and church leaders on Bible Study methods and the rules of interpretation organized by World Vision, Lesotho, I opened my e-mail to see the ad from Logos.com advertising the essays for the National Bible week celebration. So, I thought it was a good opportunity to share one of my experiences from the workshop on the role of maps in Bible study. The workshop demonstrated the importance of observation, interpretation and application in a systematic Bible study. It was highlighted that most of the things we take for granted as written in the Bible were not actually there; an example was the number of wise men who visited the birth place of Jesus (cf. Matt 2:1-12). A careful observation of the passage revealed that their number was not indicated. It was stressed that in Bible study, what one observes should determine what one communicates, and what one communicates determines what one or others believe.

There were disagreements on where the fish which swallowed Jonah spewed him out. Some of the participants insisted that it spewed him out at Nineveh, so that he could respond to God’s call. The implication of this observation could mean that God forces people to do God’s will. The second group who maintained that Jonah could not have been forced in that way to go to Nineveh cited his first and second calls to preach to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-16; 3:1-5); but were unable to push their argument further for lack of internal evidence. One of the participants wanted to know the distance of Nineveh from the Great Sea, and a Bible map was displayed. Nineveh, the ancient Assyrian capital was found to lay on the eastern bank of the Tigris in modern-day Mosul, Iraq, far removed from the Mediterranean Sea, the acclaimed location of the episode.

Furthermore, we appreciated the role of maps in Bible study when we were examining the story of the healing of ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. The passage recorded that Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee on his way to Jerusalem. The map revealed three regions at the time of Christ, namely Galilee in the north, Samaria in the middle, and Judea in the south where Jerusalem was situated. Since lepers were segregated into colonies outside residential areas, it became more glaring that this group of lepers were pooled together from Galilee and Samaria at their common border. It was interesting to note that whereas healthy Galileans and Samaritans could not mix together (cf. John 4:9), unhealthy lepers were categorized together despite their race by the same people who could not relate together. Again, a Samaritan among the ten was the only person who came back to give thanks. This study revealed how the neglected and the rejected often times draws the attention of God.

The role of maps in Bible study cannot be overemphasized. Knowing something about the places mentioned in the Bible can help one follow and appreciate the Biblical story. Wrong assumptions and conclusions about events, which took place in certain locations will be removed or minimized. The distance between locations, which are not easily discerned in studying the text is enhanced by the map. Finally, the biblical maps help new students in Bible study locate Jerusalem, Egypt, and other venerated names in the earth and not in the heavens.

Submitted by Miracle Ajah