The setting of a story is also important for us to know the God of the Bible. It is never by accident that He makes things happen where they do. If we spend some time thinking about the places in the Bible, we will see more deeply into God’s mind and character.

Learning From Literature.

An author chooses the setting of his story with care. It makes a vast difference whether the action takes place in the rich Gold Coast district of Chicago, the steppes of Russia, or at the foot of Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro.

Many people may have read Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. The action takes place along the banks of the Mississippi River. The river is vitally important to the story, for it separates the refined culture of the East from the more adventuresome spirit of the West. Whenever Huck was on the river, things were peaceful. But when he went to the shore, he always found trouble. Just as the river brought him freedom from society, so it was the gateway to another kind of freedom to the slave, Jim.

The Setting Of The Bible As God’s Realm.

There are a number of different ways of learning about God from the settings of the Bible. One of the most obvious is simply to recognize that wherever God interacts with people, He is Lord of that place. If the setting is in the halls and courts of a pagan government such as in the courts of Pharaoh, we can be sure that God is revealing Himself as the Lord of government. He rules not merely in the inner world of the heart, but over the presidents, tyrants, and prime ministers of the world.

Similarly, an event in an agricultural setting will reveal God as One who rules over the crops. There is no planting, no growing season, no harvest without His decision and provision.

That’s not all. If the setting is the family, we need to realize that God is Lord of the home. If it is the battlefield, or a strategy session in the basement of the king’s palace, we can be sure it is telling us that God is the God who rules over all military effort. There is no victory and no defeat apart from His control. The same is true of events that occur on the high seas or below them, in the heavens or in the world of the dead. Whatever the setting, we can be sure that nothing happens apart from the sovereign rule of God. That is the kind of God who made us. He is the Lord of every place and setting.

The Setting Of The Bible As A Visible Backdrop.

The Bible makes it clear that God is intimately involved with everything that happens in our world. Yet, He is distinct from everything in it. The implications of this are important. Imagine the infinite genius of a God who has chosen a physical, material setting in which to carry out His very spiritual business.

This does not mean that the physical settings of Scripture are not important. It means that they are important because they are being used as backdrops, platforms, and props by an invisible Author and Creator. They are tools in His hands as He directs the unfolding of a real-life drama.

This means we worship a God who is very different from the one worshiped by many today. He is not the God of the pantheist, who sees no distinction between the Creator and His creation. Neither is He the kind of God who is satisfied to be met and then left in a building of worship. The God of the Bible cannot be “kept” in any setting. He is the God of whom Isaiah said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word’” (Isa. 66:1-2). That is the kind of spiritual business that is occurring in the settings of the Bible.

The Setting Of The Bible As Evidence Of God’s Wisdom.

There’s at least one more way the setting of the Bible can serve to reveal God to us. Think for a minute about the God behind the strategic selection of the Mideast (Gen. 15:18; 17:8). The central platform and backdrop of Israel speaks volumes about the wisdom and foresight of God.

Why do you suppose the Lord chose Israel? Why didn’t He give Egypt to Abraham? or Greece? or just let Abraham stay in Mesopotamia? Well, from a geographic standpoint we can see the strategic importance of this location.

Here, God could fulfill His promise to multiply Abraham’s descendants (Gen. 12:1-3).

The fertile plains, lush valleys, and rich hills of Israel would turn that promise into a reality. So would the military location of Israel under David and Solomon.

Here, God could use Israel to influence the world powers commercially, militarily, and politically

Israel was an ideal place for a witness to the peoples of both ancient and modern times. It stands at the place where three continents converge: Asia, Africa, and Europe. The caravan routes that passed through it were as important as the Persian Gulf is to supertankers today. Merchants, emissaries, generals, and traders, as they traveled through Israel, noticed the devout ways and strict laws of the worshipers of Jehovah.

Here, God saw an ideal center for the spread of the gospel (Acts 1:8).

The Lord commissioned His followers to a work of world evangelization. As the first witnesses for Christ went out from Jerusalem, using the excellent system of Roman roads and benefiting from a stable political environment, they were able to carry the gospel rapidly to Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Praise God for His inexpressible wisdom. He not only mercifully condescended to us, but He also determined exactly where and when He would meet and reveal Himself to us (Acts 17:26-27).

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