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Gold, Silver, Precious Stones
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Questions and Answers
AUTHOR(S): | Hassell, Sylvester
Pittman, R. H. |
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The Holy Land
Q. Is Palestine, or the Holy Land, peculiar above all other countries in the world?
A. It is in four respects: First, in being center of the old world, the great continent of Asia, Europe, and Africa, so that from it the great, fundamental, momentous, and eternal truths of the Scriptures might readily be proclaimed in all the world; second, in being, although only about 12,000 square miles in extent, a world in miniature, containing all the climates and yielding all the productions of the world; third, in being separated from all the world by mountain and desert and sea; and fourth, in embracing all altitudes, from the deepest depression on the surface of the earth to the highest inhabited elevation, thus representing all the changes of Christian experience.
Q. Is the original Mount Sinai yet known?
A. It is believed to be the mountain now called by the Arabs Jebel Musa (Mountain of Moses), 6,540 feet high, between the Gulf of Suez on the west and the Gulf of Akabah on the east, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
Q. Is it known where was Mount Ararat, and also the other mountains mentioned in the Bible, and do they bear the same names?
A. Yes; and some of them have other names given them by the Turks or Arabs or Persians or Armenians who live near those mountains. Ararat, for instance, is called by the Persians the "Mountain of the Ark," and by the Turks "Steep Mountain." There are two peaks of Mount Ararat, one about 17,000 and the other about 14,000 feet high. They are of volcanic origin, and the highest peak is covered with perpetual snow. They are on the boundary between Persia, Asiatic Turkey, and the Russian possessions. The mountains are emblems of the infinite greatness, righteousness, and unchangeableness of God; and, like themselves, so many of their ancient names are unchanged.
Q. Do vessels occupy the Dead Sea?
A. They do not, nor can fish live in its waters, which are seven times saltier than the waters of the ocean, one-fourth of its water being composed of solid matter, so that a human body easily floats upon its surface. Only a few microbes (microscopic vegetable organisms) are found in the waters of the Dead Sea. Other names of this body of water are the Salt Sea, Sea of the Plain, East Sea, Sea of Lot, Sea of Sodom. It is nearly fifty miles long and nearly ten miles wide. From the top of the tableland around this sea to the bottom of the sea the distance is about a mile. It is the lowest, hottest, and most desolate region on the face of the earth. The Jordan and several smaller streams flow into it, but it has no outlet, the seven millions of tons of water that it receives every day being carried off by evaporation. It is believed that Sodom and Gomorrah stood near the southern end of this sea; a pillar of salt there is still called Lot's Wife. The Dead Sea seems to be a most appropriate emblem of the second or eternal death.
Q. Is the temple typical of the believer's house of worship, or of the believer himself?
A. Of the believer himself (John 2:19,21; Col. 2:9; I Cor. 3:16,17; Eph. 2:21,22).
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