LESSON VI. PROVINCES.
Review from the beginning, as usual. 1. Lines. 2. Waters. 3. Names. 4. Distances. 5. Natural Divisions. 6. Mountains. 7. Places.
In this lesson we are to learn the Provinces, or parts of the country, in the time of Christ. We do not take the division by tribes; as that is more difficult to learn, and not often referred to in history. At the time when Christ was among men, Palestine was divided into five Provinces, though two of these were under one ruler.
I. Draw the boundary line of Judæa, and write its initial, J. This was the southern province, and the largest. [Review the names of the places contained in it.] Its people were the Jews, or men of the tribe of Judah, and its principal city was Jerusalem.
II. North of Judæa was the province known as Samaria, having Shechem as its principal city. Its people were the Samaritans, with whom the Jews had no dealings. In Christ's day Judæa and Samaria were under one government. It contained the twin mountains Ebal and Gerizim.
III. North of Samaria was Galilee, where Jesus lived during most of his life. Its people were also Jews, but were called "Galileans" by the Jews in Jerusalem; and in Christ's time it was under the rule of Herod, who slew John the Baptist. Notice the mountains and towns situated in it. Mountains: Lebanon and Gilboa; towns: Nazareth, Capernaum and Dan.
IV. On the east of the Jordan, and south of the Sea of Galilee, was the province of Peræa, a word which means "beyond"; so named, because it is "beyond Jordan." Here Jesus taught at one time during his ministry, and blessed the little children. The places which we have noticed in it are Machærus, Bethabara, Penuel and Mahanaim; and its mountain, Nebo. This province, in Christ's day, was also ruled by King Herod.
V. The province north of Peræa and east of the Sea of Galilee is not named in the New Testament. We will call it by its Old Testament name, Bashan, a word meaning "woodland." It was ruled by a brother of Herod, named Philip, whose title was "tetrarch"; hence it is sometimes called "Philip's Tetrarchy." The mountain we have noticed in it is Hermon, and the two places, Bethsaida, and Cæsarea Philippi, or "Philip's Cæsarea," to distinguish it from the other Cæsarea, by the sea-shore.
At the close of the lesson, review once more from the very beginning of the series; then erase the map, and, pointing to the places on an "invisible map," call for their names from the class. There can scarcely be too much reviewing of these leading facts, in order to impress them on the scholar's memory.
ARCHES IN THE TEMPLE AREA.