Introduction:
Decades ago when I began my formal theological training, we read as a required textbook Eugene Merrill's "Kingdom of Priests - A History of Old Testament Israel". It was Merrill that piqued my interest in better understanding the Old Testament against its backdrop of what is known as "The Ancient Near East".
In that volume Merrill argued that by understanding the Ancient Near East or "World of the Bible", one can better follow God's hand in such major events as His calling forth of Abram in Genesis 12 or the Exodus account in the Book of Exodus. He wrote these words on page 94 of that volume,
"Before the Biblical story is pursued further, however, it is important that some attention be paid to the larger world in which these momentous events were to transpire. This is necessary not only that we may be reminded of Biblical history was part of the vastly larger historical horizon, but that we may be able to integrate the history of Israel with that of contemporaneous people and events."
Since those days I've come to read more and more scholarship on the Ancient Near East as a life-long student of the Bible. As a pastor I find one has to strike a careful balance. On the one hand, we should know that wider background mentioned by Merrill. One cannot impose the wider Ancient Near Eastern context onto the Biblical text, otherwise God's intent through the Biblical author will be lost or risk making the understanding of the Bible only for the "experts".
On the otherhand, if the Bible student ignores the wider Ancient Near Eastern context, they risk missing a nuance God intended through the Biblical author. Sometimes God utilized features of that wider culture and other occasions He was correcting a worldview or exposing error that was leading the people astray.
My goal in this post is to introduce readers to the Ancient Near East and then offer three reading suggestions for further reading at the end.
What is the Ancient Near East?
When we talk about the "Ancient Near East", were referencing what would today be known as "The Middle East".
Whenever we consider this vast region, covering roughly 900 miles by 1,500 miles, were talking about an area of nearly 1.4 million square miles, corresponding to almost 15% of the North American Continent. Merrill's observation still resonates with me. Since that time, I've read several other studies and scholars who specialize in relating the Old Testament to the Ancient Near East (George Mendenhall, Gleason Archer, Kenneth Kitchen, and several others).
The reader can note I've labeled the first eleven chapters of Genesis above this picture to help visualize when and where we begin in the Bible to discuss the relevance of the Ancient Near East (covering the Nile River in the Southwest of the Map to the ancient Hittite Empire or Modern day Turkey to the North, to Persia West of the Euphrates River or what we know as Iran and Iraq today, to the Arabian Peninsula at the South of the Map or Modern day Saudia Arabia and Yemen.)
Within this nearly 1.4 million square miles of the Ancient Near East we find the middle of the map the ancient people groups of "Canaan", "Aram", "Moab", and "Edom". If you just focus on "Canaan", it was this particular piece of real estate that God sent Abram in Genesis 12. Canaan of course would eventually become known as "Israel" in the Old Testament.
Why is the Ancient Near East Relevant to Biblical Studies today?
What point is there to familiarizing oneself with the Ancient Near East?
1. God's historic and prophetic activity has centered and will center on the Ancient Near East (or what we know as the Middle East today).
As I've studied maps of the Biblical world and Ancient Near East over the years, there are what we could call "eight major theaters" that God providentially orchestrated to bring about the timing of the call of Abram and eventually Israel, as well as the beginnings of the writing of His Word. What is even more remarkable is this wide swath of land, the Ancient Near East, and its centralized location of the Promised land are central to current maps depicting the continents and nations of the world, as seen below.
Not only was this area of the world the backdrop for the Old and New Testaments, but it will also be the final staging area for the unfolding of God's prophetic plan we find revealed by the Book of Daniel, Jesus' remarks in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 17,21), the Book of Revelation, and several other major eschatological predictive passages in the Scripture.
Below I have depicted three maps of the Ancient Near East with eight areas I've highlighted.
The final map in today's post will depict the final theatre of God's activity, and what would end up being the central theatre - Canaan, a.k.a "the Promised land", or what would become known as "Israel".
This particular area is the same location where the Lord Jesus Christ would become incarnated, ministry, live, suffer, die, rise, and ascend. When you study the geography of Israel in the first-century connected to Jesus' ministry, you find three main areas of Galilee to the North, Samaria in the middle, and Judea to the South.
Closing thoughts
My point is that the Ancient Near East and its centralized focus (Israel) would become the key location of every Biblical event we read of in our Bibles. I've not intended to make this post exhaustive, but rather an introductory summary.
I would encourage readers to take a second look at the maps one typically finds in the back of their Bibles. Biblical Christianity is not only a revealed faith, but a historic one. Its overwhelming message is God has acted in history, has spoken through His revealed written Word, and that He as the Son came to be man to live, die, and resurrect in history.
This same God in the Person of the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to begin and empower His Church and to draw forth sinners to salvation. Truths such as these is why it is important to become more familiar with the Ancient Near East, the world of the Bible. I close with a listing of resources readers may consult to enrich their understanding of this subject.
Three Resources for better understanding the Ancient Near East
1. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Paul D. Wegner. A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars. B&H Academic. 2017.
In my opinion this is the most thorough and accessible history of Israel available which gives much attention to the Ancient Near Eastern Background from a scholar committed to a high view of Scripture and with an expertise in the field.A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars: Kaiser Jr., Walter C., Wegner, Paul D: 9781433643187: Amazon.com: Books
2. Meredith C. Kline. Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary. Wipf and Stock. 2012.
Kline's work in comparing the structure of God's Covenant in the Pentateuch with the wider Ancient Near Eastern Treaty's is illuminating and well-balance. He has a knack for tying together the overall unity of Scripture and relating it to God's wider providence in history. Kline, much like Kaiser, is a solid evangelical scholar with expertise in the Ancinet world of the Bible. Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studi – Westminster Bookstore
3. Eugene Merrill. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel - 2nd Edition. 2008.
Merrill's vast knowledge of the Ancient Near East and of the Old Testament shines in this volume. This is the book that helped me to place dates and places with Old Testament events and the wider Ancient Near Eastern culture. Merrill's dedication to scholarship from a conversative, Bible believing position has withstood the tests of time. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel: Eugene H. Merrill: 9780801031991: Amazon.com: Books
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