I’m in the middle of preaching two sermon on Amos, and I’ve never studied Amos before. As with most (if not all) of the Old Testament, there are many names of people and places that are unfamiliar to 21st century readers. For example, in Amos 1 alone we read about: Amos, Uzziah, Jeroboam II, Tekoa, Israel, Jerusalem, Carmel, Damascus, Gilead, Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Tyre, Teman, Bozra, Ammon and Rabbah! This is confusing for many readers, yet, we know that we need to understand the context into which Amos spoke then, in order for us to understand how God continues to speak to us through Amos today. So, in my search to learn about these people and places I discovered BibleMap. Here’s how it works:

Visit BibleMap and enter the passage you would like to learn about (e.g. Amos 1). An interface similar to Google Maps appears, plotting each of the locations mentioned in the passage:

A colour-code explains what each of the coloured markers mean - e.g. cities, locations inside cities, regions, etc.

Clicking on the coloured marker that plots each location will display details of that place, and other mentions of that location in the Bible.

You also benefit from some of the other Google Map features, such as viewing the map as a map, or as a satellite image, or as a combination of both. It’s a simple tool, serving a simple but useful purpose. It served me well in my sermon preparation, and may prove useful for you too.

Are you aware of similar tools for getting a better understanding of Old Testament contexts?