(4.) The land described in the prophetic vision of Ezekiel is conterminate on the south, west, and north, with that of Moses. Its eastern boundary is different. Its landmarks are Hazar-enan, Hau ran, Damascus, Gilead, and the land of Israel by Jordan' (xlvii. 17, 18). The last point is indefi nite ; but probably it means that section east of the Jordan, in Moab, which was assigned to Reu ben. This land, therefore, includes, in addition to that of Moses, the whole kingdom of Damascus, and the possessions of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh.
These facts and descriptions will serve, it is hoped, to keep before the student's mind the im portant distinction between the land promised in covenant to Abraham, the land defined. by Moses, the land allotted to the twelve tribes, and the land depicted by Ezekiel.
The country to which the name Palestine is now usually given does not exactly correspond with any of these. It is smaller than them all. Its boun daries have never been laid down with geographi cal precision • but they may be stated approxi mately as follows :—On the south a line drawn from the lower end of the Dead Sea to Beersheba and Gaza ; on the west, the Mediterranean ; on the north, a line drawn from the mouth of the river Litany to Dan, and thence across Jebel el Hish and the plain of Hauran to the northern end of the Hauran mountains ; on the east, a line running from the north-eastern angle through Sal cah to Kerak and the Dead Sea. The length of Palestine is thus lito English miles. Its breadth on the south is 75 miles, and on the north about ioo. Its superficial area may be estimated at 12,00o square miles. Its southern extremity, the end of the Dead Sea, is in lat. N. 31° 5' ; and its northern, at the mouth of the Litany, 33° 25'. Its most westerly point, at Gaza, is in long. E. 34° 3o' • and its most easterly, at Salcah, 36° 37'.
The eastern shore of the Mediterranean runs in nearly a straight line from Egypt to Asia Minor, and of this line the seabord of Palestine forms about one-third towards, not at, its southern end ; —Gaza being 5o miles distant from Egypt, while the mouth of the Litany is 25o from Asia Minor. Palestine occupies the whole breadth of the habit able land between the Mediterranean and the Arabian desert. Its boundaries on three sides are therefore natural, and may be said to be impassable —on the west the sea, and on the south and east the desert ; not, however, a desert of sand, nor a desert altogether barren, but rather a bleak dry region, with a thin, flinty soil, yielding some toler able pasture in spring, though almost bare as a rock in summer and autumn. Nature thus pre
vented the extension of the Israelitish territory in these directions, and likewise prevented the close approach of any settled nation ; but it left free scope for flocks and herds, and a noble field for the training of an active, hardy race of shepherd warriors, such as David so often led to victory.
On the south-east, Palestine bordered on Edom , but the Dead Sea, the deep valley of the Arabah, and the rugged Wilderness of Judaea, formed natural barriers which prevented all close intercourse. Hostile armies found it difficult to pass them, and a few resolute men could guard the defiles. On the northern border lay the countries of Damascus and Phoenicia, and intercourse with these had a serious effect on the northern tribes. The distinc tion between Jew and Gentile soon became less sharply defined there than elsewhere. The former lost much of their exclusiveness, and their faith lost proportionably in purity. Idolatry was easily esta blished in the chief places of the northern kingdom, and the borrowed Baalim of Phoenicia became in time the popular deities of the land (I Kings xviii.) This fact of itself shows how wise was that provi dential arrangement which located the people of God in an isolated land, and prevented, by the barriers of nature, any close intercourse with those irrational systems, and barbarous and often obscene rites, which, under the name of religion, prevailed among the nations of the world.
It must strike every thoughtful man how very small a country Palestine is, to have occupied such an important place in the world's history, and to have produced such wondrous effects on the destiny of mankind. It is not quite double the size of Wales. Belgium is the nearest to it in extent among the kingdoms of modern Europe ; it was considerably smaller than Holland, Hanover, and Switzerland. Its clear atmosphere, and the pecu liarity of its physical structure—having a mountain range running down its centre—make it appear to the traveller's eye smaller than it really is. From almost every prominent peak in Central Palestine, the eastern, western, and northern boundaries are in view. The writer, on one occasion, saw nearly the entire country from the top of Mount Hermon —the Mediterranean on the west, the mountains of Bashan on the east, and the Dead Sea away on the distant south.