Back Aa

Birdseye Views of Far Lands

Close

<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> <h3>A World-Famous River—The Jordan</h3> The great Mississippi and Amazon rivers are noted for their length; the Hudson and the Rhine for their scenery; the Thames and Tiber for the great cities on their banks; the Volga and the Dneiper for their commerce; the Nile and the Yellow rivers for their annual overflow, the former to give life and the latter to destroy; and the Euphrates and Tigress for the ruins of mighty cities of other days. But this chapter is a description of a river only a little more than two hundred miles in length, no scenery to speak of near it, never a great city on its banks, no sail or steamboat for commerce ever traveled upon its waters, no one scarcely ever cared whether it was within its banks or not, and not even any ruins worth while along its shores; and yet it is today and has been for centuries the most famous river on the face of the earth. It is the River Jordan, and a glimpse of it brings forth some of the most wonderful characteristics possessed by any river, as well as many historical events that make their memories dear to the hearts of men and women wherever civilization has found its way. Unlike all other rivers which rise in some elevated place and flow toward the sea level, nearly every mile of this river is below the surface of the ocean. At the foot of Mount Herman in northern Palestine there is a spring of water that is almost ice cold. That spring is but a few hundred feet above sea level. The water from this spring is joined by that of several other springs and small rivulets caused by the melting snows on the mountain, flows to the south a distance of a few miles, and forms a small lake which is about three miles wide and four miles long. This lake is just on a level with the Mediterranean Sea which is only about thirty miles to the west. This is spoken of in the Bible as "the waters of Merom." From the southern end of this lake the Jordan begins. The first ten and one-half miles the water falls six hundred and eighty feet to where it enters the Sea of Galilee. This pear-shaped body of water is a little more than a dozen miles long and half that wide and is surrounded by mountains. The river enters through a small canyon at the northwest and passes out through another canyon at the south end. Sometimes the wind will rush down the canyon at the northwest and in a few moments the waters of the lake are like a great whirlpool. These sudden storms often imperil any small boats which may be out on the sea as was the case in Bible times when the Master was sleeping and his disciples awakened him, saying: "Lord, save us; we perish." From this body of water to the point where the Jordan empties into the Dead Sea is only sixty-five miles by airline, but the way the river winds like a gigantic serpent, one would travel twice that distance were he to go in a boat. This Jordan valley is from four to fourteen miles wide and the mountains on each side rise to the height of from fifteen hundred to three thousand feet. Within this Jordan valley is what might be called an inner valley which is from a quarter of a mile to a mile wide, and from fifty to something like seventy-five feet deep. This might be called the river bottom and the river winds like a snake in this smaller valley. That boy was a wise lad who wrote a description of the Jordan as follows: "The Jordan is a river which runs straight down through the middle of Palestine, but if you look at it very closely, it wriggles about." When the river overflows it simply covers the bottom of this inner valley. As noted above, the Sea of Galilee is six hundred and eighty feet below the level of the ocean. During this sixty-five miles (airline) to the Dead Sea, it falls more than six hundred feet more, so that the Dead Sea itself is about thirteen hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea which is only forty miles west. Should a canal be cut across to the Mediterranean which would let the water through, not only would the Dead Sea and the River Jordan disappear, but the Sea of Galilee be included in a great inland sea east of Palestine. While the Jordan as well as other smaller streams flow continually into the Dead Sea, it is said that it never raises an inch. This, with the fact that this body of water has no outlet whatever, makes a problem to which geologists and scientific men have failed to give a satisfactory solution. Of course, the water evaporates very rapidly, but in the spring when the Jordan overflows and pours a much greater volume of water into it, how does it come that it evaporates so much faster than at any other time in the year? When the writer visited the Dead Sea the water was as smooth as glass. The water is so salty that a human body will not sink in it at all. Should the body go under it will bob up again like a cork. I have never learned to swim; in deep water simply cannot keep my feet up, but in the Dead Sea they could not be kept down, and of course I could swim like a duck. Nothing grows near this body of water. Everything about it is dead. Like some people, it is always receiving but never giving. At the mouth of the Jordan one can see dead fish floating on the water. When carried by the swift current into this salty water they soon die. The River Jordan runs very swiftly. It is about the size of the Des Moines river in northern Iowa, not nearly so large as this river in the southern part of the state. At the fords of the Jordan I waded out into the stream but the current was so swift that I did not attempt to go entirely across. Here at this ford occurred some of the greatest events of Bible history. On the plain just east of the river the Children of Israel were encamped when Moses went up on Mount Nebo, looked over the Promised Land, folded his arms and peacefully passed into the great beyond. It must have been an exciting day for the entire camp when they last saw their great leader become a mere speck on the mountain side and finally disappear altogether. They not only never saw him again but they never were able to find a trace of his body. There must have been much speculation among these people as to what became of Moses until in some miraculous way Joshua was informed that the great leader was dead and that he must now take charge and lead the people across the Jordan into the Promised Land. After thirty days mourning for Moses, the great company marched down to the river; it was opened for them and they crossed on dry ground. The record also states that this crossing was at the time when the river was out of its banks and this whole bottom, nearly a mile wide, was a rushing torrent. Perhaps this accounts for the fact that the enemies who had taken possession of the Promised Land were totally unprepared for their coming, feeling secure while the river was so high and dangerous. Another great event which occurred was when the old prophet Elijah and the young prophet Elisha crossed the river together and the young man came back alone later on for Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. Now fifty young men had followed the two prophets to the river and when Elisha came back alone and told them how the chariot of fire came after Elijah they simply couldn't believe it and finally went across and searched the mountains for three days trying to find his body. Failing to find the body, together with the fact that they had witnessed the parting of the waters when the two men went over and the same when Elisha came back alone, was sufficient evidence to them that the young prophet had told the truth. Evidently this event created a great impression all over the country and young men came to the school for the prophets which was located near, that the buildings had to be enlarged. Every student borrowed an ax and went to work felling trees along the river bank. In one case the ax flew off the handle and went into the water. The young man was greatly troubled about this for it was a borrowed one. Word reached the prophet Elisha and he came out and caused the ax to come to the surface. But perhaps the greatest of all events that occurred at this place was the baptism of Christ. John the Baptist must have been the Billy Sunday of his day for the crowds that came to hear him were immense. One day among others who came was a fine looking young man who asked for baptism. But the preacher knew him and refused, saying that he was unworthy to do this, but the young man, who was no other than the Master himself, explained the situation and the preacher hesitated no longer. In connection with the River Jordan and the bodies of water at each end, it is interesting to note that the first man to take the level and give to the world the remarkable facts about the physical characteristics of this wonderful and world-famous river, was an American. His name was Lynch and he was a lieutenant in the American Navy. At the close of the Mexican War, our Government permitted Lieutenant Lynch to take ten seamen and two small boats and make this exploration. The boats were taken overland to the Sea of Galilee and launched and this man and his helpers went down the river to the Dead Sea in them, and thus gave to the world the remarkable facts about this wonderful country. <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2