MAP E MAP F Palestine.29 As noted earlier, the geographical location of Palestine in Bible times was strategic Of that, G T Manley writes, “Palestine lay on the cross-roads of ancient civilization The highway from Egypt to Syria and beyond, which ran through Palestine, was one of the most important roads in the ancient world both for commerce and for strategy, and its importance has not yet disappeared.”30 This crossroads location may be observed on Map D What part Palestine plays in the New Testament books is summarized below Refer to Map F as you study these summaries a Gospels The four gospels report the journeys and missions of Jesus in Palestine during His brief career From the gospels we learn that Jesus spent most of His time in the three provinces of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee Three surrounding areas that He visited occasionally are Perea, Decapolis, and Phoenicia Locate the six regions on Map F After about a year of limited service in Judea, most of Jesus’ itinerant work was done in and around the region of Galilee, though His trips between Galilee and Jerusalem a orded many opportunities of ministry along the way Of the many cities and villages that He visited on His evangelistic tours, only about twenty are mentioned by name in the gospels Most of those appear on Map F b Acts Most of Acts 1-12 takes place in Palestine Most of the remaining chapters (13-14, 16-28) focus on the missionary journeys and other experiences of Paul in the lands beyond c Epistles Most, if not all, of the remaining twenty-two New Testament books originated outside Palestine and were written to residents mostly of nonPalestinian lands But the messages of the epistles focused on the Holy Land, for the simple reason that Christ and the church and ... all, of the remaining twenty-two New Testament books originated outside Palestine and were written to residents mostly of nonPalestinian lands But the messages of the epistles focused on the Holy... on Map F b Acts Most of Acts 1-12 takes place in Palestine Most of the remaining chapters (13-14, 16-28) focus on the missionary journeys and other experiences of Paul in the lands beyond c Epistles... many opportunities of ministry along the way Of the many cities and villages that He visited on His evangelistic tours, only about twenty are mentioned by name in the gospels Most of those appear