Israel: The Jordan River, Beth She'an and the Dead Sea

The Jordan River, Beth She'an & Dead Sea

April 6

There are two places where 'tradition' says that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River.  One is near the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee and the other is at the area where Joshua crossed the Jordan.  The Bible is silent on the actual location.  It would make a bit more sense to me that he was baptized near the Sea of Galilee as the other site was well far away from his home.  But, regardless, we visited both sites today.

What I REALLY liked about both baptism sites was how many people from around the world were being baptized at these sites.  All kinds of languages, skin colors, men, women...beautiful.   Jesus continues to weave His people together and bring them to Him.

At the baptism site near the Sea of Galilee...

Bet She'an

See history of Bet She'an below.  If it doesn't show well, it is a very well preserved set of ruins.  The town was destroyed by a massive earthquake in 749 AD and was not rebuilt after that.

Below is a model of what the city looked like in Roman times.  Our guide said that all Roman cities had this same basic structure with public bath houses, amphitheater and sport arena / coliseum in the center of town.

Ruins versus artist depiction of what it used to look like (see below).  Our guide talked about how hedonistic Romans were, spending lavish amounts of money on fountains and temples over and beyond what was really needed.  Why did they do it?  Because they could...as a show of power...as a way to show how great and refined they were etc.  We would do well to learn from history!  But humans being humans we tend to repeat the same mistakes in bigger and more magnificent ways.  But we tend to make progress as well after each magnificent failure.

As I wandered through these ruins, I was reminded that what we think is grand and 'forever' will be ruins and dust in a matter of several hundred years.  200 years from now most of us will be totally forgotten, nothing more than names on ledgers and family trees.  I really know nothing at all about my great, great grandparents who were born less than 200 years ago.  I know exceptionally little about my great grandparents and have but a child's view of my grandparents.

So, as I walked through these ruins it dawned on me how the people of that day likely thought they would rule forever.  They didn't.  Kingdoms rise, kingdoms fall.  The leaders of that day probably thought they would be remembered forever, very few are remembered today.  So, to me this day was just a reminder to focus on that which really matters.  The only Kingdom that will last forever is the Kingdom of God.  And the only thing of real significance I do in this lifetime will be connecting people to Jesus Christ.  That will be remembered forever.  Everything else I do will be forgotten.

200 years from now no one will know what my bank account looked like.  They won't know about my profession or what sports team I rooted for, what my hobbies were, what kind of car I drove etc etc.  But if I live my life in the name of Jesus Christ and my children do the same and their children and their children then the seeds I plant today in the name of Jesus Christ will live on here on earth and most importantly in heaven for eternity.

The mountain in the background is a 'tell' which are cities built on top of each other for thousands of years (kind of like the 'hill' at Megiddo).

This amphitheater was magnificent because when they excavated the city, the amphitheater was completely buried.  So, all the seats are original.  Very little reconstruction on this amphitheater.

Bathhouse...every Roman city had a public bathhouse where the poor and rich came together.  It was like the country club of the city where business deals were made, people socialized etc.

The heating system was under the floor.  In Roman times the picture below would have been covered by a beautiful floor.

One of the things that our guide talked about was how Romans were very much into beauty.  So, the floors were intricate mosaics (see lower part of picture below) and their walls were white marble or if they didn't have marble then while plaster with beautiful painting done on the walls.

This part near the bathhouse shows how subsequent societies really didn't care as much about those things.  What they did is took the marble off the walls of the Roman city and used that marble as their new floors.  They basically  just put the marble on top of the other floor.

AJ and me being goofy...

AJ has found that ancient ruins are really fun to play in...

Along the promenade with shops on either side...

The Roman 'Mall'....

The archeologists left this part of the city as they found it.  As noted above, the city was destroyed by an earthquake.  The odd thing is that no bodies were found other than 1 person under the large column (center picture below) holding a large bag of money!  The theory is that the earthquake happened at night and this person was stealing the money.  The town center is all that has been excavated....the place where people lived and slept would have been surrounding the town.  So, the people may have all been sleeping in their homes (other than the thief) and that is why no one was found in town.  The other theory is they had some kind of warning that the earthquake was coming and thus left the town in anticipation.  I think the first theory is more plausible.

Jordan River (Where Joshua Crossed the Jordan Across from Jericho)

We entered into Palestinian controlled West Bank (something I never would have done if we weren't on this tour) and drove to the Jordan River where Joshua crossed into the Promised Land.  Our guide talked earlier in the week about 'A' sites (which are as close to 'definite' as archeology and the Bible will allow) and 'B' sites which are based more on tradition.

He called this Joshua crossing site an 'A' site due to proximity to Jericho + various archaeological finds here.

To someone who has not been prepared or educated about the Jordan River now versus Biblical times, this site would be a real disappointment.  It looks more like a creek or stream versus a river.  The size and water flow NOW versus THEN is 2%.  In other words, the amount of water that flows through this river now is only 2% of what it was in the time of Joshua.

The wood mark on the wall to the left is how high the river gets currently during the rainy season.  That's a bit more impressive but nothing compared to what it was like in Joshua's time.

The church across the river is in Jordan...

AJ in the Jordan River...

Pilgrims from around the world being baptized.

Dead Sea

As we continued our journey to a hotel on the Dead Sea, our guide noted that in Biblical times the Dead Sea was MUCH higher and in fact would have covered the road we were driving on.   See picture below to get a sense of how far the sea has dropped.  It is still dropping 3 feet a year, though it will not be disappearing any time soon as it is still 1600 feet deep.  There are, however, now land bridges that cross from Israel to Jordan across the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea is 1400 feet below sea level.  It is 30 miles wide and 60 miles long.  We are no longer in the green pastures of Israel.....

Finally, the Dead Sea has so much salt in it that you float.  Just. Plain. Fun.....

The girls with our new friend Laurel...

My feet aren't actually size 18.  It's the angle...

We did learn (unfortunately) that the Dead Sea is not the place to take a near 3 year old.  Poor little AJ would put his hand up to his eye and then cry...then he would try to rub his eye on my shirt...and cry again....then rub on mommy's bathing suit....and cry again ;(

Before all that happened, we got a couple of family photos...

Superman pose!

My lovely ladies...

Can you find the PhotoBomber???

The fairest of them all....

Showing off the little baby bump.  The girls call the little one 'jellybean'.  AJ calls the baby "Baby!"

Laurel and AJ...

We were WAY out in the Sea for this picture (zoom on camera used)

View from our hotel...

Finally, H got a kind of 'rug' burns on a big bouncy house the day before we left for Israel.  As we were walking out of our hotel room she hit the wound on a doorway and it opened up.  Think 'tons of salt in an open wound'!!!!  We built it up in her mind as if it was going to be the most painful experience of her life when she got the wound wet.  And I think our tactic work (scare her so much that the actual experience is tame by comparison).  She said it didn't hurt that much and that it probably cleaned out the wound pretty well.

This dressing of the wound happened coming back the hotel.  This hotel employee took the initiative and did this on his own.  Love the look on H's face.

By the time I send the next report, we will be in Jerusalem...

Til then, God Bless.