The Land of Greece

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Acts 20:1-2 "After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, took leave of them, and departed to go into Macedonia. When he had gone through those parts, and had encouraged them with many words, he came into Greece."

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The Land of Greece for Little Kids

This map shows the land of Greece where Alexander the Great was from and where the Parthenon was built. The Greeks were very smart and powerful, and they also built many beautiful buildings. One of the most famous buildings they made was called the Parthenon and was built over 400 years before Jesus was born. The Greek empire was so large that it gave the whole world a common language which let them understand each other for the first time since the Tower of Babel. God had a plan to use the Greek language to spread the gospel message about His son Jesus all over the Earth.

Paul the Apostle traveled through many cities in Greece including Athens and Corinth. Everywhere Paul went, he would tell people about Jesus and start churches. When Paul would leave to tell a new city about God, he would write letters to his friends and churches in the cities he already visited. We still have some of those letters today and they are books in the New Testament!

Greece played a big part in the growth of the early church, and it was all part of God's plan!

The Land of Greece for Big Kids

Greece in Bible History. The country of Greece plays an important part in the Bible. The Lord predicted by the words of Daniel the prophet in 600 BC that the Babylonians would be defeated by the Persians and the Persians would be defeated by a Greek ruler who would swiftly conquer the world like a leopard leaping on its prey. This man was certainly Alexander the Great, and he did conquer the Persians. It is also important to know in Biblical history that God chose to use the Greek language to bring the world together for the spread of the gospel message. The Greek empire was so large that suddenly the whole world had a form of communication with one another. This was a miracle that God performed, and he would later use the Romans to build roads so that the world could hear the gospel about Jesus Christ. There are many more important things the Greeks were famous for, including creating the idea of democracy, and giving the "power to the people."

The Land of Greece. The land of Greece is really a series of peninsulas and over 2000 scattered islands, with 2600 miles of coastland. Nearly 80% of the topography of Greece is covered by rugged mountains, making every region very distant from the next. The boundaries are the Aegean Sea on the east, and the Ionian Sea on the west. The Mediterranean climate is wonderful, very hot and dry in the summer and very rainy with mild temperatures in the winter, with snow in the high mountains. A large number of the Greeks were involved in agriculture because the farming is very good and nearly half of the land of Greece is desirable farmland. The Greeks traveled by Sea very often. The port of Athens is marvelous, and also the port at Thessalonica. The main highway through Greece was called the Via Egnatia (Ignatian Way), which went all the way across Greece from the East side to the Adriatic Sea. Paul the apostle traveled along this road during his missionary journeys. The Acropolis in the city of Athens was a city easier to fortify because of its location in the magnificent Parthenon was built in 438 BC, dedicated to the goddess Athena and the remains of the monument still exist today.

The Prophecy of Daniel. It is very interesting reading about the prophecies of Daniel. He was clearly an empire predicting prophet. Daniel was a Jew who was brought to Babylon in the first exile of the Jews and he became a wise man to King Nebuchadnezzar. He interpreted dreams and in these dreams God revealed his plan for the nations. Babylon would be in power, the Medes and the Persians would conquer Babylon, Greece would conquer the Persians, and Rome would conquer Greece. After this far in the future in the end of the days there will be a final world empire that would be like Rome, and at that time that the Messiah will return like a small stone falling from heaven, he will set up a kingdom that will grow into a mountain that will fill the whole earth and will never pass away.

Alexander the Great. In 336 BC the King of Macedon named Philip was murdered and his son Alexander became king at the age of 20. He set out to unify the Greek world and conquered the Persians and their empire. he began with an army of over 35,000 soldiers (30,000 foot soldiers +5000 cavalry). He was a military mastermind on the battlefield, and his soldiers were extremely loyal to him and even willing to lay down their lives for him. His conquests lasted for 11 years until in 323 BC he died of pneumonia.

The Greek Empire. The Macedonian (Greek) Empire was the largest empire the world had ever seen. In his campaign he moved his mighty army through Asia minor, down to Syria, down to Egypt, up to the lands of the Medes and the Persians, and over to the areas of Afghanistan and India. In 323 BC Alexander suddenly died at the young age of 30 his four generals each took their portion of the territory that was conquered. The Ptolemaic, Seleucid, and Hasmonean kings ruled over the land of Israel until the Roman Empire formed and made Israel province of Syria and placed a procurator in Judea. the Romans also allowed King Herod to rule and create political divisions in the land of Israel.

Athens. The city of Athens.

Corinth. The city of Corinth.

Greek Religion. The Greeks believed in multiple gods who were similar to human beings. They married and had children, they had human emotions like love and hate, some were beautiful and some were ugly. Some of the names of the Olympian gods were Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Hermes, and some of the women gods were Aphrodite, Artemis, Hera, and Hestia. Since the gods were like humans they had many needs, and so there were temples made to please the gods and to provide homes for them. if someone wanted to honor the gods they would come to a temple and bring a libation (offering of wine) and poured on the altar. They would also make sacrifices of birds or animals. There were rules also of how they were to address certain gods, the positioning of their bodies was very important.

Paul the Apostle. During the missionary journeys of Paul he visited cities of Greece.

Churches in Greece. Churches were established in the various cities of Greece.

The study of ancient Greece is very important in the study of the Bible, let's pray:

Dear Jesus, we thank you that you are in control of history. Greece with all of its rugged mountains and its people and history are all part of your great plan. We thank you that you raised up a man to bring a language to every nation of the world so that people could one day hear the gospel at the right time. They love learning about your wisdom we honor you for it. In Jesus name? Amen!

The Land of Greece for Kids

Map of the Land of Greece for Bible Study

Kid's Bible Maps
Bible History Online

The Geography of the Bible