Jerusalem - The center of the world!!

[Gman]

I'm intentionally putting this post in the science section to prove a geographical point. That Jerusalem, in it's time, was considered the center of the known world.. AND that it truly IS.

This is also confirmed in scripture...

Ezekiel 5:5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.




Now why would God put His message of salvation in the middle of the world? Easy answer.. To spread His word, using people, to the rest of the nations.. Jerusalem was considered a major pit stop for travelers and trade merchants that traveled in between the major continents of Europe, Asia and Africa.. In fact, archeologists have recently found ancient highways to confirm this. These travelers, would be influenced by the Israelis, who would in turn influence the rest of the world that they would return to. No internet back then, but they had their messengers to the other nations.. Therefore God cannot be blamed for not trying to get the word out.

God's word is very clear that He wanted the Jews to be a kingdom of priests (teachers) to the rest of the nations..

Exodus 19:6 "you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Genesis 18:18 "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him."

Genesis 26:4 "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed."

Deuteronomy 4:6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

Isaiah 42:6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand, I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles" (the other nations)

Isaiah 49:6 “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Isaiah 52:10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Isaiah 56:7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Ezekiel 37:28 "Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”

Ezekiel 39:7 “‘I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel."

On top of this, the Gospel was also to be spread from Jerusalem to the rest of the nations..

Matthew 28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"

Romans 1:5 "Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the nations to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake."

Luke 24:47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

This, I think, brings up two very important questions..

1. First off... How on earth would an ancient people know that they were at the center of the world? No GPS, no Google earth back then. Answer: God knew.
2. If you were God, wouldn't you put your message of hope in the center of the world too?? Or would you hide it on some remote island? Answer: No... You would scream it out to everyone!

[Gman]

Doesn't anyone else find this stuff interesting?

Gee. Tough crowd....

[CeT-To]

Hey Gman i actually do find this interesting except i didn't say anything cause i didn't think i could contribute much :/ sorry!! Anyway when you say in the middle of the world you mean the Known world at that time aye ?

[derrick09]

That's awesome Gman, I didn't know that until now, and the fact that it blends well with scripture makes it even better. Thanks!

[Silvertusk]

Doesn't anyone else find this stuff interesting?

Gee. Tough crowd....

I think you said it all. Nothing more to contribute - but you are right it is certainly incredible.

[zoegirl]

Just now saw it

[Gman]

Thanks guys..

While I was looking at the map last night I also noticed something else about the strategic location of Jerusalem. Boats... Basically, from Jerusalem, you could effectively hit every port in the world with boat travelers.. If you move Jerusalem to another area of the world, it just doesn't work.

According to this wiki source..

"Boats have served as short-distance transportation since early times. Circumstantial evidence, such as the early settlement of Australia over 40,000 years ago, suggests that boats have been used since ancient times. The earliest boats have been predicted to be logboats. The oldest boats to be found by archaeological excavation are logboats from around 7,000–10,000 years ago. The oldest recovered boat in the world is the canoe of Pesse; it is a dugout or hollowed tree trunk from a Pinus sylvestris. According to carbon-14 dating analysis it was constructed somewhere between 8200 and 7600 B.C. This canoe is exhibited in the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands; other very old dugout boats have been recovered. A 7,000 year-old seagoing boat made from reeds and tar has been found in Kuwait.

Boats were used between 4000 BCE and 3000 BCE in Sumer, ancient Egypt and in the Indian Ocean.

Boats played a very important part in the commerce between the Indus Valley Civilization and Mesopotamia. Evidence of varying models of boats has also been discovered in various Indus Valley sites.

The accounts of historians Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, and Strabo suggest that boats were being used for commerce and traveling."

Source

[Gman]

Hey Gman i actually do find this interesting except i didn't say anything cause i didn't think i could contribute much :/ sorry!! Anyway when you say in the middle of the world you mean the Known world at that time aye ?

Yes CeT-To, it was the known world at that time. It wasn't really later that people dispersed to other parts of the world from Mesopotamia. As an another example the indigenous peoples of the Americas were thought to have migrated from Asia from land bridges in Alaska sometime around 12,000 years ago...

[CeT-To]

Yeah , wow don't you love these little nuggets of Gold you find in the scriptures that really prove its authenticity, its full of them!

[Gman]

According to this wiki page, the Red Sea was a giant gateway or route to the Asian countries.. Again this is absolutely amazing considering the geographical position of Jerusalem. God certainly set Jerusalem in the middle east for a reason. To INFLUENCE the entire world with His word the Tanach or Bible.. He put Jerusalem right at the CROSSROADS to ALL civilizations..

Now that is freaking amazing... Just like he said in Ezekiel 5:5..

"In the 6th century BC, Darius the Great of Persia sent reconnaissance missions to the Red Sea, improving and extending navigation by locating many hazardous rocks and currents. A canal was built between the Nile and the northern end of the Red Sea at Suez. In the late 4th century BC, Alexander the Great sent Greek naval expeditions down the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Greek navigators continued to explore and compile data on the Red Sea. Agatharchides collected information about the sea in the 2nd century BC. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written sometime around the 1st century AD, contain a detailed description of the Red Sea's ports and sea routes. The Periplus also describes how Hippalus first discovered the direct route from the Red Sea to India.

The Red Sea was favored for Roman trade with India starting with the reign of Augustus, when the Roman Empire gained control over the Mediterranean, Egypt, and the northern Red Sea. The route had been used by previous states but grew in the volume of traffic under the Romans. From Indian ports goods from China were introduced to the Roman world."

Source

[Gman]

In looking at the map again, it is very evident that Jerusalem is at the very center of the earth if we look at the world from the longitude markers (north to south). Almost perfectly centered.. (Sweden to South Africa) Now from the latitude markers (west to east) it is not quite in the center of the land masses (Africa to China), however if we look at the "livable" areas of the world, Jerusalem is still very close to the center of the world. Very cold areas of the world such as northern Russia are also livable, but would be very sparse in population due to the cold. Also the heavy wet jungle areas of China would also be sparse in population, so that brings the center geographically back closer to Jerusalem again in the 10/40 window.

Other important factors here however, is how close Jerusalem is to the sea ports. Example having Jerusalem in the Persian gulf would not make any sense because it is not connected to the Mediterranean which in turn is the connection to Europe.

Again.. How did the ancients know that they were in the center of the known world? Ezekiel 5:5 A lucky guess?

[Gman]

Here is a very interesting ancient route called the "silk road" that stems from China, but passes right through Israel via land or boat.

No God huh?

[RickD]

Gman, one thing that came to mind after seeing your map of how Jerusalem is basically in the North/South center, is the last ice age. Is it possible that the Earth was covered with ice only hundreds of miles north and south of where Jerusalem presently is?

[Byblos]

In looking at the map again, it is very evident that Jerusalem is at the very center of the earth if we look at the world from the longitude markers (north to south). Almost perfectly centered.. (Sweden to South Africa) Now from the latitude markers (west to east) it is not quite in the center of the land masses (Africa to China), however if we look at the "livable" areas of the world, Jerusalem is still very close to the center of the world. Very cold areas of the world such as northern Russia are also livable, but would be very sparse in population due to the cold. Also the heavy wet jungle areas of China would also be sparse in population, so that brings the center geographically back closer to Jerusalem again.

Other important factors here however, is how close Jerusalem is to the sea ports. Example having Jerusalem in the Persian gulf would not make any sense because it is not connected to the Mediterranean which in turn is the connection to Europe.

Again.. How did the ancients know that they were in the center of the known world? Ezekiel 5:5 A lucky guess?

Looking at that map G, I couldn't help but notice that if you move the center north about a millimeter, the city of Byblos would be dead smack in the center of the world too. Just sayin' .

[Gman]

Gman, one thing that came to mind after seeing your map of how Jerusalem is basically in the North/South center, is the last ice age. Is it possible that the Earth was covered with ice only hundreds of miles north and south of where Jerusalem presently is?

I wouldn't think so although the European ice sheet came down fairly low form the north.. But yes, the climate was very different from today if we look at the land some 40 thousand years ago. Therefore human migration throughout the world would be greatly diminished.