Sunday, September 21, 2014

The "Mighty" Jordan River

 This was a spot, where I could imagine John standing in the water, crowds of people on the banks and Christ entering the water. 
 Another view of the Jordan River
 The one place where they let people go down and touch the water.  I can't believe that I don't have a photo of the Israeli station not 100 feet across the river, where they monitor the tourists and make sure no one crosses illegally. 
The inside of the Church of John the Baptist. 

The Jordanian Baptism Site

 There are 2 proposed sites for the baptism of Jesus Christ; one at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee and the other just north of the Dead Sea.  The scriptures give a number of clues.  The two sites are about about 60+ miles apart.  Matt 2 and Mark 1 tell us that John was teaching and baptizing near Judea and Jerusalem and John 1:28 says that John was baptizing in Bethabara beyond (or on the other side of) Jordan.   The Christian Jordanians are quick to point out that they are part of the Holy Land and they accept that Jesus was baptized at the site near the Dead Sea and in modern day Jordan. 
 Excavations performed in the last 20 years have uncovered a medieval structure built about 4-500 a.d.  It is interesting to note that this church is now a block or two away from the Jordan River.  It is also important to note that much of the water that originally feed the Jordan River has been diverted by modern Israel for agricultural purposes, and the "mighty Jordan River" is now so narrow, that you could throw a stone across it in many places.

This mosaic shows how the river was once close enough that early builders were able to divert enough water to create a baptism site for the pilgrims of the Middle Ages.   
 Excavation at this archeological site was not begun until the treaty was signed between Israel and Jordan in 1994, although I suspect that Jordanian Christians knew about it long before excavations were begun.
 The roof near the top covers the remains of the medieval chapel.  The stairs led to a baptism site that was generally accepted as the place where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.  
To the left are the remains of part of the channel where the river was diverted by early Christians to create this baptism site.  The roof near the bottom of the stairs was some sort of pavilion, and maybe a place to change wet clothes.  

Elijah's Hill

 Here we are in the Jordan Valley, only a mile or so from the northern tip of the Dead Sea.  According to 2 Kings 2:7-14, Elijah took his cloak, "wrapt" it together, and smote the waters of Jordan, stopped it's flow, and they 2 went over. 
Here we are looking north and east towards the mountains of Jordan and below towards the mountains of Jerusalem.  The tiny round dome is close to the Jordanian baptism site.  Beyond it is Jericho.  It was from this area that a chariot of fire, seen only by Elisha, took Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven. 

 No name, I assume it is probably being built to mark the spot where Elijah was taken into heaven.