The Jordan, a river of miracles-3 

The Rich History of the Jordan

The excitement and significance of this special place is amplified by other historical events that tradition says took place here. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Joshua led the Israelites over the Jordan into the Promised Land, presumably in this spot.  This was the place then that the waters parted as the priests carrying the Ark stepped into the Jordan, and the Israelites crossed on dry ground.  (Joshua 3) Here also, Elijah rolled up his cloak and struck the waters so that they parted.  He crossed with Elisha before ascending to heaven on a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2).  After this, Elisha took Elijah’s cloak and crossed the Jordan, once again striking it so that the waters parted. Because this traditional site was closed for so long, a second site called Yardenit(Little Jordan) was opened in 1981 further north on the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee.  This location may have been used by Yeshua to mikvah His talmidim(disciples). Many Believers come to Israel especially to be baptized in the Jordan, and Yardenit’s location gives visitors safe and easy access. Each year, it is visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, and many of them either get baptized for the first time there or they rededicate their lives to Adonai.

Christian pilgrims are baptized in the Yardenit.

  

The Jordan: A Source of Life

“It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the LORD bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.”  (Psalm 133:3) The Jordan (Yarden), which means descender, is Israel’s prime source of water for drinking and agriculture. Most of its water originates approximately 200 meters (650 feet) above sea level in the rain and snow that fall on Mount Hermon in the far north. From Mount Hermon, the river flows south into the Sea of Galilee (also called Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, and Lake Tiberias), but it doesn’t stop there.  At the southern tip of the Galilee, the Jordan exits and descends south to 420 meters (1,378 feet) below sea level where it empties into the Dead Sea. Upstream of the Sea of Galilee, there are three main tributaries that form the head of the Jordan River:

 

·       The Hermon or Banias, which begins as a spring at the foot of Mount Hermon;

·       The Dan, whose source is also at the base of Mount Hermon; and

·       The Snir or Hasbani, which also flows from Mount Lebanon.

 

Below the Sea of Galilee are other tributaries:

·       The Jalud in the Beth Shean valley;

·       The Yarmouk River;

·       The Zarqa River, the Biblical Jabbok; and

·       Jabesh (Wadi Yabis) named after Jabesh-Gilead, a town mentioned in the Torah.

As the river flows through the Jordan valley below the Galilee, it becomes progressively more saline, picking up about 850,000 tons of salt, as well as debris, so that by the time it empties into the Dead Sea, there is no life left in the water, at least not for drinking or agriculture. Some environmentalists say that the river itself is in danger of dying in the Jordan Valley.

The Yarmouk River, which originates on the south-eastern slopes of

Mount Hermon and the Hauran Plateau, flows into the Jordan River below

the Sea of Galilee.  It forms the southern limit of the Golan Heights in

Israel's north and also defines a short portion of the border between
Jordan and Israel.

  

The Jordan Valley

"In the future He will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan.  The people walking in darkness have seen a great light."  (Isaiah 9:1–2) The Tanakh (Old Testament) mentions this important river about 175 times.  The Brit Chadashah (New Testament) mentions it 15 times. It first appears in Genesis 13:10 when Abraham told Lot to choose which land he would inhabit. “Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.” The entire valley between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea along the Jordan River seemed to Lot like the Garden of Eden, or at least a lush oasis. So, Lot chose the fertile cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in the southern Jordan Valley as his new homeland.

The Jordan Valley overlooking the Sea of Galilee

Today, the Jordan Valley still attracts people.  The northern part of the valley, which includes the Jordan River, is several degrees warmer than adjacent areas.  It has a year-round agricultural climate, fertile soils and water supply that make it a key agricultural area. Yet we know from Scripture that a section of the lush, southern region that Lot chose was devastated when, due to sin, God “overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.”  (Genesis19:25) A land that once thrived from the river’s pure, life-giving water, now cried out for it and it still does.  This perhaps is a visible reminder of what unrepentant sin does to our own life, spiritually and physically. But God is a God of restoration, and He does not only renew spiritually, He also renews physically.

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, by John Martin