Walking — a Primary Mode of Exercise in The Bible

 Can you remember the last time you rode in a motorized vehicle? Of course you can. Riding in a car is as common as breathing.

The last time I rode in the car was on my way to church — which is almost an hour away as the wheel spins. But an hour drive doesn’t come close to the 15 hours and 9 minutes it would take to walk there (taking the shortest route and without any potty breaks). If you want to know how long it would take you to walk to church — Google Maps has the option to chart your course by foot.

But that is not why I am writing this post. I am writing to talk about exercise in the Bible — particularly through transportaion. Whether visiting a neighbor, a nearby village, or a foreign land, the traveling accommodations in the Bible were limited by today’s standard:

They didn’t have cars

They didn’t have buses

They didn’t have airplanes

And they didn’t have Google Maps

But they did have ships, donkeys, horses, camels, caravans, chariots, chairs, and sandals. If you have ridden a donkey or a horse or a camel — or even sailed a ship — you know it is not the same thing as riding in the comfort of your vehicle. It takes work. So does walking. Let’s take a trek through the Bible and see how integral travel was to the life of the average Bible persona: exercise was built into daily life, it didn’t need to be manufactured in a gym.

Almost A Car.

There were forms of transportation in the Bible that were similar to riding in a car: portable chairs and chariots. But this form of transportation belonged mostly to the ruling class or very rich. Song of Songs records that Solomon had a traveling chair upon which he traveled on his wedding day. While the rider had some comfort — those carrying the load had quite a workout. And Acts 8:28 records the Ethiopian Eunuch of Queen Candace’s court riding in a chariot. The Egyptians also drove chariots to chase the Israelites across the Red Sea. Chariots were powered by horse and often used in battle.

Long Distance Travel.

Long distance travel in the Bible was typically done by ship or camel (interestingly, camels are called dessert ships). But one would have had to be wealthy to own a camel. (I’d Google how long it would take to ride a camel to church, but as of yet, they don’t have that option. I suspect, however, it would take about the same time as walking.) Here are some examples of long distance travel in the Bible:

Rebekah rode a camel from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan to meet her newly betrothed Isaac. This trek could have been as much as 1300 miles (on camelback), taking two months to complete. Read about it in Genesis 24.

Jacob, Rebekah’s youngest son, traveled to Haran to find a wife. After enlarging his family with two wives, numerous sons, a daughter, livestock, and an entourage, he caravanned on camelback and foot to the land of Canaan. This trip would have been similar to the trek Rebekah had taken years earlier — only in the opposite direction. With such a large group, which included children and livestock, it would have taken longer than Rebekah’s trip. Read more in Genesis 31.

Jonah sailed away from home on a cargo ship in an attempt to run from God. He was headed for Tarshish (which is in the opposite direction of Nineveh — the city God had told him to go). Sailing to Tarshish would have taken around nine days — depending on the weather. But his trip was cut short, and he was thrown overboard — traveling the rest of the way home in the belly of a fish.

The New Testament records that during his missionary journeys, Paul traveled on various ships — sometimes as a free man and sometimes as a prisoner. One of his journeys took him from Jerusalem to Rome. Taking the shortest route and traveling at 10 knots, it would have taken 9 days to arrive. But his journey was delayed at Malta by a ship wreck ordained by God.

Walking like Breathing.

While in America driving is as common as breathing, such was the case with walking in the times of the Bible. This was the common man’s primary mode of transportation, though they might also have a donkey. Here is a small sampling from the Bible:

Luke 2: 4, 5 tells us that Joseph and Mary traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for the census. Since they were not a wealthy family, it is likely that they walked on their journey. Mary may have ridden on the back of a donkey — since she was with child. The terrain from Nazareth to Bethlehem was hilly, with winding mountain roads, steep inclines, and many dangers. At a walking pace it would take them more than a week to make the 90 mile journey. Imagine doing that while you were near term in a pregnancy.

Mark 10: 46 – 11:1 tells us that Jesus traveled from Jericho to Jerusalem on foot. The road that joined the two cities was a direct horizontal climb. The 12-mile journey was across rugged, rough terrain with steep cliffs and embankments — and would have taken eight to ten hours to travel on foot.

Luke 24:13-35 records that after His resurrection, Jesus stealthily joined two of his followers on a seven mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Once the disciples reached their destination — they discovered that the man walking with them had been Jesus — and they immediately turned around and went back to Jerusalem (another 7 miles).

There are many more examples in the Bible of men journeying by foot. These four accounts merely represent how common place it was to walk long distances — as a way of life. Walking was a major part of biblical life and culture. In addition to long journeys, even the simple tasks of drawing water from the well, visiting friends, grinding at the mill, etc. would have involved walking.

The average healthy human can walk approximately 16-20 miles per day — and throughout history — this is exactly what mankind has done to get from destination to destination. Even in our own country, prior to WW2, people walked an average of two hours per day. It is no coincidence that God gave us two legs to keep us mobile. We have been created to move. Created to walk as part of our life.

The flip side of this principle is that God has not designed us to sit all day. Our next post will share many of the health risks associated with too much sedentary activity — particularly sitting. Hopefully you will be inspired to makes some changes if you are spending much of your day sitting at a computer. As it turns out — not even the gym can reverse the negative affects of too much time in a chair.