=Incentives to Faith and Moral Culture.= Another still more significant characteristic of Palestine was the powerful incentive which it gave to the development of the faith of its inhabitants. The constant presence of Arab invaders powerfully emphasized their dependence upon their God or gods. The changing climate of Palestine deepened that sense of dependence. No great river like the Nile or the Euphrates brought its unfailing supply of water, and water was essential to life. The waters came down from heaven, or else burst like a miracle from the rocky earth. If the latter rains failed to fill the cisterns and enrich the springs and rivers, drought, with all its train of woes, was inevitable. Little wonder that the ancient Canaanites revered nature deities, and that they, like the Greeks, worshipped the spirits of the springs, and especially those from which came their dashing rivers. Locusts, earthquakes, and pestilence in the lowland frequently brought disaster. In all of these mysterious calamities primitive peoples saw the direct manifestation of the Deity. In the fourth chapter of his prophecy, Amos clearly voiced this wide-spread popular belief: "I also it was who withheld from you the rain, And I sent rain upon one city, While upon another I did not let it rain, Yet ye did not return to me," is the oracle of Jehovah. "I smote you with blight and mildew, I laid waste your gardens and vineyards, Your fig and your olive trees the young locust devoured; Yet you did not return to me," is the oracle of Jehovah. "I sent among you a pestilence by the way of Egypt, I slew your youths by the sword, taking captive your horses, And I caused the stench of your camps to rise in your nostrils, Yet ye did not return to me," is the oracle of Jehovah (Am. 4:7-10). Hence in a land like Palestine it was natural and almost inevitable that men should eagerly seek to know the will of the Deity and should strive to live in accord with it. It was a fitting school in which to nurture the race that attained the deepest sense of the divine presence, the most intense spirit of worship and devotion, and the most exalted moral consciousness.