Geography of the Bible: A Course Offered by Bethlehem Bible College.

For more than two years, Bethlehem Bible College has continued giving people worldwide a chance to study from their homes – to learn more about the historical and biblical sites of the Holy Land from a local perspective, through our courses. Initially, our vision was to explore the major tourist sites from a biblical point of view, so we hosted “Discovery” courses for Bethlehem, the Central Highlands, Jerusalem, and Galilee. Then we expanded our courses to concentrate more on characters from the Bible. Some of the courses we offered were Women in the Bible, Herods in the Holy Land, Life in the Time of Jesus, and the latest is Geography of the Bible.

This course focuses on Old Testament Biblical Geography. Geography plays a crucial role in shaping and determining our understanding of the numerous events the Bible speaks about. The Holy Land has four geographical regions – the coastal plain, central highlands, Jordan Valley and the cis Jordan mountains. Our ancestors understood these regions well and always chose the best and safest places to dwell. They knew the best routes to choose, either along the ridge mountains, the sea, or across the valley. They understood the weather of the Holy Land, chose the suitable months to plant, and knew when to harvest.

Mr. Haytham Dieck, the Head of the Tour Guide Program and course teacher, said: “This is the first phase of this course. We are focusing on the Old Testament geography, and the second one will focus on the New Testament geography. This course combines the Bible and geography, and we are trying to understand the Bible from a geographical perspective, trying to analyze what I call the fifth dimension of the Bible. What we are doing is answering the questions what is the historic land of Palestine? What is the geography of the land? What is the geology of the land? And more.”

The course aims to know the four different geographical regions of the Holy Land, to learn the essential historical roots, to trace the stories of the Patriarchs and their sons (Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Joseph) geographically, learn about the weather, and to learn the story from Joshua’s conquest of Canaan till the time of the divided kingdoms. Mr. Haytham added: “During the course, we focus on many perspectives; we’re exploring culture, society, and women. For example, you can’t mention Abraham without mentioning Sarah, or Jacob without mentioning Rachel. We also connect it with today’s life and talk about how the Bible is alive to us today.”

We have 17 participants in the course. “We are pleased with the number of participants. Many are new and enrolling in our courses for the first time. Some are involved in theology, some are tour guides, and some are our friends from previous courses who took this journey with us for around two and a half years studying, learning, and discovering the life and land of Jesus Christ,” said Mr. Haytham. All the students are thrilled with the course. They shared how much it benefits their personal life, knowledge, and ministries.

Through these courses, we at Bethlehem Bible College can now reach people from different places around the world, we are sharing with them the excellent knowledge and experience of our great teachers and we can spread the word of God from the very place it all started. Our plan is to do more courses like these in the coming months. If you are interested, please contact us at ct@bethbc.edu, or follow us on our Facebook page to learn more about our upcoming courses.

Sign up now for Geography of the Bible – New Testament Online Course here