Localizing Ventricle Activation

3.2.1 Introduction

Before we go on to discuss the various perspectives of land, it is necessary to attempt some definition/clarification; more so, when we are going to touch on aspects which ordinarily will not be considered relevant. This is especially so of topics such as hills, rivers, rocks, soils, trees, climates, etc.

The dictionary meaning of the word “land” includes:

 Solid part of earth’s surface

 The ground or soil

 An expanse of territory

 A country state or nation

 Property as in landed property.

A Bible concordance gave the following synonyms of the word “land”:

country, earth, ground, dry land etc. In the geographical usage, the word

“land” may refer to a piece of ground or a part of the earth’s surface, such as a slope element, a facet, a unit, a landform system, a region, a country, a continent or the planet earth. It may also refer to a resource, e.g., land resource, examples of which are:

o Plants and animals

o The atmosphere – air, weather, climate, etc.

o The hydrosphere or world of water – oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, ponds, groundwater, etc.

It is in this (geographical) sense that the word land is used in this module.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

1. Look up the meaning of the word, land and landscapes and copy it into your notebook.

2. Consult a Bible concordance for the synonyms of the words land and landscape and write any new words to the above list.

Now back to the figurative descriptions of the land of Israel/Bible land, also referred to as the Promised Land. The Bible contains several ephitets, mostly by Moses, of this land, all warning the Israelites about the land they were going. Most of those descriptions are contained in the book of Deuteronomy, namely: a good land; land flowing with milk and honey; land of briers and thorns, land that devours its people, and so on.

We discuss some briefly here.

3.2.2 A Good and Spacious Land

When God told Moses that He was about to bring the Israelites out of Egypt into Canaan, He described the land as ‘a good and spacious land’, among others (EX. 3:8), God also added that the land was ‘the most beautiful of all lands’ (Ez. 20:6, 15). Also, when the 12 spies reported to Moses, they confirmed this description from their own experience:

‘The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good …’ (Nu.

14:6-8). The single cluster of grapes they brought, which was so heavy that it had to be hung on a pole and carried by two men, with some pomegranates and figs (N. 13:23, 24) was a concrete evidence of how good the land is. Then, just before entering the land, after 40years delay, Moses urged the people to keep God’s commandment in order to stay long in the land:

For the LORD your God is bringing you to a good land – a land with streams and pools of water, with flowing springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees …; a land where bread will not be scarce any of you will lack nothing … When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you (Deut. 8:7-10).

Although the word “land” as shown above, has several connotations and meanings, the Bible uses it mostly for a country or the nation of Israel also called the Promised Land. This is the sense we also use it here, with particular reference to the ways the country is described in the Bible, only three of which are discussed here, while others are taken up in other parts of this unit.

The earliest of such descriptions is found in Exodus 3.8, where God says:

So I have come down to rescue them (Israelites) from the hand of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land flowing with milk and honey – the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amonites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

The commonest understanding of the phrase flowing with milk and honey is that of a rich and fertile land, a land of bounty and prosperity.

While these connotations are not precluded, the actual meaning relates to the biology – plants and animals – of the country, i.e. that of a land of vegetation and pastures which provide abundant forage for animals (sheep, cattle, etc.), for which the Israelites were known – reference Goshen in Egypt. The same type of (savannah/parkland) vegetation also produces plenty of honey – hence, the epithet “flowing with milk and honey”. This is how your tutor states it on pp.13-14 of your textbook:

The idea of land flowing with milk derives… from the abundant vegetation and pasture, which provides abundant forage for animals, which produce abundance of milk… the same… extends to honey. Just as milk is produced in the body of an animal (a mammal) to nourish its young, honey is produced in the body of a bee to supply the hive with food for the next generation… Honey is usually most plentiful in the same area where livestock produces the most milk, as the same pastures, rich in greens for goats and sheep, also sustain the bees in the “manufacture” of honey.

Nevertheless, the idea of bounty and prosperity is also relevant/applicable especially, in the sense that it is God who blesses the land, based on His favour and will, just as He did Goshen in Egypt and Gerar valley for Isaac in Philistine (Gen.26: 12-15).

3.2.4 Land of Briers and Thorns

If the epithet of land flowing with milk and honey refers to God’s benevolence, that of briers and thorns turns the opposite side of the coin

In that day, a man will keep alive a young cow and two goats…of the abundance of the milk they give…All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey…in every place where there were thousands of vines…there will be only briers and thorns. Men will go there with bow and arrows, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns…the milk once cultivated…you will no longer be there for fear of briers and thorns… (Is.7: 21-15)

As noted above, and is generally well known till date, war, accompanied by large scale physical destruction and wholesale devastation, especially in Biblical times, is part of the history of Israel (unit 14). One such situation is described by Isaiah in the above passage, where, among other things, it was prophesied that:

A war from the north (by the Assyrians) would come, destroy all the vineyards and other cultivated areas of Israel. This will turn the countryside into largely uninhabited thorn bush and briers Honey and milk (v. 22) will come from the wild vegetation/non- agricultural land Hosea 2:14 and Micah 3:12, are examples of the kindness of God in providing for His people even after a destructive war brought about by the sin of the people. In other words, whether in peace or war, the faithfulness of God does not cease to His people: God’s people will feed when others lack (Ps. 23:1; 34:10).

3.2.5 A Land that Devours its Inhabitants

This description is contained in the report of 10 of the 12 spies Moses sent from Kadesh Barnea to learn what the Promised Land looked like (Nu. 13:17-20). This report goes as follows:

We went into the land…and it does flow with milk and honey! … but the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw the descendants of the Anak there … We can’t attack these people; they are stronger than we are … The land devours those living in it.

The report is accurate in many ways, namely:

The country was inhabited by warlike people, with superior weapons, including iron chariots.

The forests harboured carnivorous animals (see, 2Kgs. 2:24;

Giants or “men of gigantic size” were among the inhabitants, in the presence of whom the Israelites looked “life grasshoppers” (Nu. 13:33).

The report, however, lacked faith in God, who had shown beyond doubt to the Israelites that He was more than all those problems. Yes, there will be problems and tribulations, but Christians are not to fear because there is a God who has overcome the world (Jn. 16:33) and has given humans dominion over His creation (Gen. 1:27).

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3

1. Search through the books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and list at least two other epithets or ways the land and landscape of the Promised Land has been described.

2. Attempt a simple explanation of each, based on what you have learnt in units 4-6 of this course, among others.