| Show P j the rv 1 ne I 1 GRAPHIC I 1 C BIBLE by LEWIS BROWNE 0 mcclure newspaper syndicate service a at PAD apka G R ear ELAM X ia umbai ri I 1 EG M Y T lu A abraham comes to canaan TN N THE beginning god cre as j abed the headen nod and earth J with avith that event the bible story opens and with that event too this atlas of the bible should commence put cut how la Is one to draw a map showing just where in space the heaven and earth were formed indeed how Is one to draw maps showing where any of the events in the first chapters or of genesis occurred where for instance was the garden of eden situated or the land ot of nod or or the tower of babel that Is why this atlas be begins ins not with the first but with the eleventh chapter of genesis wherein are recorded the first wanderings of abram abram later named abraham was the father of the chosen people ile he came of one of the many tribes of half balf savage bedouins bedou ins who once roved on the fringe of the fertile river lands which stretch like a huge crescent across tile the north of the arabian desert ills original home seems to have been ur of the ca Chal ial dees which lay at the extreme eastrin end of this fertile crescent but when grown to manhood he be tre trekked liked with the rest of liis ills tribe hundreds of miles up the river euphrates to claran ciaran in padan aram nelch aich today Is in the region of aleppo AI eppo there abraham rod and his tribe settled down and lived in the manner of all the other pastoral folk of the time put but after a few years abrim abram at tile the command of god struck off with his own household aud and settled far south in canaan for god had told him that canaan would be tile the homeland of ills his descendants now kow canaan willed which Is the scene of almost all our st lory was a tiny country indeed it was little more than a strip of grassland on the edge of the desert even when wo ac think of it as palestine or the holy land and add to it tile the hill country east of the river jordan the 1 whole I hole area Is still not even one sixth that of england and wales in america tile the entire land coull couie be tucked away in the litt little ae state 0 of f vermont from north to south it measures little more than miles and from the mediterranean on the west to the desert across the jordan on the east it Is never more than miles wide in a motorcar motor car you can conveniently travel from end to end of the country today between bre breakfast alfast and teatime I 1 yet though small canaan was greatly coveted because it was moist and fruitful compared witti with the desert on the east nod and south it seemed indeed a land flo losing ing with milk and honey even today when chan change ge in climate and long neglect have made palestine not nearly so fertile as it must have been four thousand years ago it still seems u H blessed spot to one co coining alln in from the desert vineyards and olive groves to ves clam clamber b e r u up 1 1 its is hillsides hill sides and rich grain grows in its valley s everywhere ery where the sheep and goats oats ond find grass to nibble and at least a little littie ittle ittie water to drink and thrive on tile fare two tiva long and fertile volleys valleys run north and south one along the coast and the other along the river jordan between them rises a range of hills which Is broken in the north by several shorter but no less fertile valleys abundant crops can be raised in all these valleys and a fairly large population can be supported and in the hills too men can thrive for though there the streams run nin to in sharp gullies and extensive agriculture Is impossible the limestone knolls provide excellent pasturage for sl sheep beep to us who dwell dinell in broad lands filled filed with plenty palestine may seem no larger than a county and of but little allate we must remember however lio wever that human standards lards haie hae altered tremendously during the past tour four thousand years especially here in tile lie western estern put palt of the world life in the ancient orient was far hard er than it Is among us men went delill at tile the sight of clear water to drink when abram came to canaan be was no magnificent ra jab alli traveling in the luxury of a conducted tour to him that stretch of green twixt the jordan and the great sea must have seemed immensely debi desirable rable and more than llian worthy of being his seeds promised land canaan was the bridge between the continents T T ABRAHAM the chief physical attraction traction it may have been its fertility feill lity but later the region was found to possess quite another nod and greater virtue it was so situated as to become in later years the very cry center of the ancient world wie tie great empires of olden times grew up either in africa on the banks of the nile or in asia on the banks of the tigris and the euphrates or in europe on tile the mediterranean coast and the only firm and open highway between these three regions ran through palestine the little land lay like a bridge between the continents for on one side of it was the great sea and on tile the other side stretched the great desert therefore ra palestine lestine could not help but become tile the most vital bit of territory in the ancient world every trading prince and conquering king had to pass through it at some time or another and tile the country neer ceased to ring clog with the tramp of caravans and armies and thus Is explained a good deal that the descendants 0 of f abraham were destined to learn and suffer in palestine settled on tile the hills overlooking the highway from egypt agypt to mesopotamia they could watch the pa of the gentile catl nations 0 ns a as s it streamed by incessantly for the world was forber in their midst but that had its grave disadvantages for it meant that the children of israel were never left alone it was as impossible for them tu to ilie ahe in peace in palestine as it would be to have a picnic in the middle of broadway Ero adway canaan because of its fertility was already a well settled land when abraham came there many of its valleys were tilled and not a few of its hilltops were vere crowned with walled villages we do not amow know for certain whence its earlier inhabitants came but in all probability it was from the great arabian desert the names of some of tile the tribes tor for instance the means terrible ones or tile the anakie giants tell us about the appearance of tile the tribes men not their origin we are fairly safe however when we say that most of the native tribes were of the same racial stock to which the hebrews the semitic stock which lud had been cradled in the desert yet tet though the tribes were thus related they warred on each other incessantly there was continual strife between them over the possession of the well w watered meadows and for fortified tilled hills there was continued ma and looting and carnage so nhen lien abraham came into their country countr y I 1 lie e was able to enjoy very little pence peace lie ile and his herdsmen had to fight for wells and pasturage as fierce ly as did the members of all the other clans more desperately in deed for he and his followers were wen aliens to the natives they after all only so many wild in invaders from the desert tile the limi land was already too small to support even those who dwelt in it by right of birth there domed to be no r room 0 0 in for newcomers but this did not halt tile the hebrews they were doughty doug lity warriors and abraham their chieftain knew he was the chosen of the lord tills this little land he bell believed eved was ills his by right of divine election so room or no room lie he would not budge once he was driven by famine to take refuge in egypt where the river nile gave cave water to thousands of miles of meadowland but lie he did not remain for long in egypt no as soon as conditions made it possible he tre tread cd back to canaan and there lie he remained all the rest of ills his days |
