Tent Dwellers

THE CHARACTER OF TENT-LIFE The Westerner does not begin to appreciate the pilgrim character of the Oriental tent-dweller. One traveler among these nomads had this to say about them: The Arab's tent is his home: yet the word "home" does not mean to him what it means to us. Of our idea of home he has no conception . . . His home is the little spot where his tent is pitched and his flocks are gathered at night. His country - his fatherland - is the limited district over which he roams in summer.14 We must always remember that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were pilgrims in the Land of Promise. "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise" (Hebrews 11:9). And the writer to the Hebrews goes on to say of these patriarchs, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). Tent-life with its simplicity, and so much of the time spent out-of-doors, has a real charm for those who are used to it. Most of them would not live otherwise if they had the choice to do so. And because the Jewish ancestors were tent-dwellers, their descendants considered such a life in the spirit of true dignity.15 This explains the numerous references to tent-life in sacred poetry and prophecy (cf. Psalm 84:110; Song of Solomon 1:5; Jeremiah 4:20, etc.). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]

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