Description
Bible Maps on Canvas
Ephesus-Colossae River Valley
Bible Maps as Art
Some Bible maps are beautiful enough to capture on canvas and display on a wall. One such image is the the Ephesus-Colossae river valley. It’s better known as the Meander River Valley. It runs west from Colossae and into the Aegean Sea near Ephesus, in what is now Turkey.
This maps is one of two favorites of the Casual English Bible mapmaker, Stephen M. Miller. It’s hanging in his office, above his desk and computer monitors. All he has to do is lift his eyes to see it. His other favorite is the Jezreel Valley, hanging above his “in” box.
Ephesus-Colossae River Valley:
just the landscape
The Bible Maps as Art are presented without place names, boundaries, and other mapping info. And without the watermark.
But if you’d like to have the version of the map with key landmarks identified, just ask. No extra fees unless you add customized content.
A road less traveled
Paul apparently never visited Colossae
Here’s the big question about the Bible book of Colossians:
Why would Paul write to a group of Christians in the town he had never come within 100 miles (160 km) of visiting? He spent about three years in neighboring Ephesus, a week’s trip away. But never seemed to visit.
The most common guess—and it is just a guess—is that a man who seems to have been the founding pastor, Epaphras, somehow got word to Paul that the church was having trouble. Scholars have to guess what the trouble was.
A popular guess is that Jews in the town were trying to convince Christians they had to be law-abiding Jews if they wanted to follow the Messiah.
Paul tells the Christians that all they need is faith in Jesus. He tells them to skip the religion rules.
“You know what rules I’m talking about. ‘Stay away from this! Don’t eat that! Don’t even touch this!’” (Colossians 2:21).
After dealing with that problem, Paul moves on to give this church the same kind of warm pastoral counseling he offered to churches he helped start in Ephesus and Philippi. He may have written all of these letters the same time; they are that much alike.
Paul has a lot of great one-liners in the short letter.
One of the most popular and most practical is this: “Whatever you say when you open your mouth and whatever you do wherever you go, do it all as a representative of the Lord Jesus” (3:17).
Other Maps in the Art Gallery
Promised Land
Moses’ view from Mt Nebo
Sacred hills
Shechem, Mt Gerizim, Mt. Ebal
Battlefield
BattlefieldJezreel Valley
Best resource for comparing other Bible translations: Bible Gateway. This isn’t an ad. It’s a recommendation from the Casual English Bible.
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