Welcome to LandoftheBible.com.

My name is Jay Baggett, and I'm your guide on this side.

Here at LOTB, the Bible is approached through its geography – place, environment, climate, geology, migration, trade, conquest. Even the most cursory reader of the Bible soon sees its stories are set in particular places, its people's fortunes and misfortunes linked to the rise and fall of surrounding kingdoms, its metaphors and imagery – so infused with spiritual meaning – tied to a particular environment.

My hope in your using LOTB is that you acquire a mental map of the Holy Land that helps you understand Scripture – and, perhaps, current events – better.

So, how do we do that?

Simple – we fly there using Google Earth.

This Internet tool, featuring satellite imagery draped over an elevation model of the earth, allows us to literally soar through a 3-D landscape along flight paths to any place we want to see – as though we were in our own private helicopter.

At LOTB, we will be analyzing geographic factors – geology, soils, climate, highways, trade, etc. – in over two dozen unique regions to better understand the logic of land. And always, we will strive to show how what we learn is reflected in the Biblical text and, often, influences the story. We'll do this by flying across Google Earth's 3-dimensional landscape, immersing ourselves in the places we've read about.

LOTB is a work in progress, not a finished product. Profiles of the land's many unique regions will be brief, initially, and then expanded as Biblical events occuring in them are addressed. For the most part, the Google Earth flights I develop and post will drive the development of the website.  It's very much like actually touring in Israel or the surrounding countries – you don't learn by becoming knowledgable about all the history and all the geography first. You learn by passing through the land, seeing sites firsthand, linking what you see with the Bible and having many "aha moments."

Before we can get started, you'll need to go to the Google Earth website and download the Google Earth Plug-in onto your computer. It's quick and easy. (For more information on installing and uninstalling the plug-in, click here).

Next, it's time to fly. (You will definitely benefit by reading Flying Tips and Tricks, but I suggest getting some air time first so the information makes more sense to you).

Select one of the flights shown on the navigation bar - say, David vs. Goliath. Follow the young shepherd and future king from his hometown of Bethlehem along the continuous ridge leading down to the Valley of Elah in the lowlands, where Israel's army (including his brothers) is locked in a protracted standoff with the Philistines. We'll be able to pick out the two sides' positions, understand why the battle took place where it did, view a new, exciting archaeological find that may fill a gap in the story, fly along the streambed where David selected stones for his sling and chase the Philistines out of the lowlands, back to their royal cities on the coastal plain.

You'll never read the Bible story the same again.

So, please ... put your seat backs and tray tables in their upright position ...

PLEASE NOTE: THIS SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION - MOST OF THE LINKS DON'T WORK YET.