Photographic illustrations help to tell the story, a principle which in the educational field is widely used and known as “visual aid”; the advantage being in the more accurate and permanent impression left on the mind than an imaginary scene gained by hearing or from reading. The pictures that Bro. Wintermoore screened to illustrate his recent lectures proved to be a “visual aid” to the Scriptures.
In past times the Divine Word has been obscured, rather than illuminated by “religious art”, the product of artistic imaginations, quite unrelated to facts; yet treasured by the orthodox church as “sacred” representations of people, places, and events, from the Bible. An entirely different impression remains with us after seeing the excellent examples of natural-colour photography that Bro. Wintermoore’s artistic talent produced.
Scenes from the land of Israel, portrayed with an indefinable atmosphere, showed us the typical steep-sided hill country, deep valleys, and distant blue-misted mountains; or from some high vantage point, the wide swept panorama of plains and winding river course. We saw it as in the glow of midday, or the softened lines and tints of sunset colouring. Places we have read about became realistic in their true setting, and swift recollections of associated incidents followed each successive scene. From a mountain top a patriarch, “the father of many people”, listens enwrapt while his gaze sweeps over the extent of lands before him: “To thee will I give it . . .” Desert places, rich in hot and vivid colours, where Israel saw the might and power of God in their deliverance. Here were places that saw the exploits of the Judges, and the silent witness of Jericho’s broken walls, now uncovered to show the truth of Bible history. On those hillsides David lived and found the inspiration to give the songs that have enriched the thoughts of later generations.
Roads and pathways, brooks and hill-tops have changed but little since the scenes were enacted that caused their names and sites to be recorded in the Scriptures.
Here, in open plains or mountains, lived the prophets of Old Testament days, giving their inspired message; words we know to be unfailing truths. The scene with Mt. Carmel in the background, clear cut against the sky, recalled the terrible event of Elijah’s stern death sentence on the idol-worshipping priests of Baal who, after their futile clamouring all day, saw the power of Israel’s God, when descending fire consumed the prepared sacrifice; a vindication of the prophet’s faith and trust.
The well-worn tracks, formed by many generations in their moving from place to place, would not be altered to any great extent, so those we saw leading down the sloping sides of the Mount of Olives and across the Valley of Kidron, to rise sharply towards the ancient walls and gateways of that much troubled city Jerusalem, could well have been used by the Son of God when going to and from His place of secluded nightly rest and communion among the trees that then beautified the slopes of the Mount of Olives.
That noble figure comes again into mind as we picture Him in the view from Samaria, walking on His way to Galilee: “now Jacob’s well was there”. It is still there. We saw the worn stone walling, and were thrilled to realize that here at least, was a genuine site where our Lord sat and conversed. Here too, the wild flowers still colour the hillsides, as when once He said, “Consider the lilys . . .”
Quite unforgettable was our glimpse of the jewel-like blue waters of Lake Galilee, set against the rising background of the misted mountains of Moab as seen from the hillsides of the western shore. Peaks there rise to 1,500 ft. above sea level, and the shore line is 680 ft. below sea level. In the view was the “steep place” of the Gergesenes recorded by Luke, where the people were in great fear after seeing Jesus with the man he cured of madness sitting at His feet. They found also that their pigs had disappeared into the depths of Galilee, so they asked Him to go, all except the one time maniac, who wished to leave with Him, but was sent back home to tell them the truth.
The tree-lined course of the river Jordan was traced at the entry to the lake at the northern end, and followed to the lower levels of the stark forbidding desolation of the Dead Sea. But even here was charm of colouring in ochre and buffs. Broken cliff-faced shores almost hid the entry to the caves where the famous scrolls lay hidden for centuries, now giving up their secrets of early Hebrew writing.
But these are but a few of the many scenes associated with Israel’s early times, and no less inspiring are the scenes of activity in Israel of today, where cultivated lands and growing cities show how the Jews are restoring their homeland after centuries of ravage and neglect. Green crops on reclaimed lands, new settlements around the communal centres, where learning and culture are gained, depict the new-born life of the chosen race, but still as we saw, a divided land with threatening enemies at their frontiers.
Beyond Israel
Beyond the bounds of Israel, in lands visited by Paul, and amongst the cities of the “seven ecclesias” we were shown the scenes of early christian times. We looked along an old roadway, once fully paved with marble, but now broken and green lined with grass between the slabs. The Romans built it, and bordered it with sculptured columns showing inscriptions of their days. But of all the notables, and countless unknown, who walked that way the names of a humble few are more permanently inscribed in the New Testament records. Aquilla and Priscilla, with Apollos their brother, and beloved leader Paul the Apostle, who lived nearby during his two-year stay in Ephesus, were familiar with the scenes around that coastal port. Their diligent efforts to teach the new way of life in Christ led to the riot when the Ephesian crowd surged into their theatre, dragging Paul and his companions with them. Some standing pillars and broken stonework now mark the site of the hillside building that made Ephesus “the temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis”.
Many other interesting pictures recalled the events that Luke records in his account of Paul’s journeys. Ruins at Corinth; the island site of shipwreck; the actual road on which he travelled as a prisoner on the way to Rome, meeting at Appii Forum the brethren who had come to cheer him on his way.
There was One outstanding picture that will always be recalled when we read in the Revelation where John said he “saw before the throne as it were a sea of glass like crystal”; and later that every island fled away and no mountains were found there”. It seemed as if the spirit of John’s words was held in the vastness of the scene we saw from the peak on Patmos island. A calm blue translucent expanse of sun-lit sea sweeping from the shore below into the distant line, blending it with the clearness of an azure sky above, broken only by the sharp rising cliffs of many islands. Could it be that the lonely grandeur of Patmos’ scenes had touched John’s spirit, to influence his outlook and find expression in the words of the vision Jesus gave to him? This would be in keeping with the pattern in the prophets’ writings and apostles’ gospel records.
To the many, who would not have the opportunity to see the numerous places that Bro. Wintermoore visited, his photographs bring a sense of reality and confirmation to the Scripture record, and also serve to dispel the self-developed mental scenes built up in our imaginations.
Is Pentecost Happening Today? – (Part 3)