![]() ![]() The 50 members of the Jericho prophet society bowed down in awe to Elisha. Elisha picked up the cloak, hit the waters of the Jordan and again the River parted allowing Elisha to walk back across to Jericho. Įlisha watched as Elijah was taken away in a chariot of fire by a windstorm when his cloak to fell off. There is no mention of flooding waters on this occasion. Witnessed by 50 members of the prophet society from Jericho, Elijah took off his cloak and hit the water, the waters parted, and they both walked across on dry ground. At the River’s edge, Elijah was accompanied by his protégé Elisha. Hundreds of years had passed when the prophet Elijah was called by God to Jericho and then to the Jordan River. ![]() Enemies of the Hebrews hearing about the miracle were struck with great fear and it took away their courage. Joshua, the leader successor to Moses, remarked that the miracle on the Jordan was tantamount to the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea. Īll the Hebrew people crossed the riverbed on dry ground. The Jordan River stopped flowing – no water flowed into the Dead Sea and the water backed up over 30 miles to the city of Adam, halfway to the Sea of Galilee. Priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant touched the water of the River first commencing the great miracle. At this point, it would take the greatest of faith. Thousands of women, the aged, disabled, and young children were among the great number of people who were to cross the River. The Hebrew’s were commanded by God to cross the Jordan when it was flooding. Jordan River flooding at Allenby Bridge near Jericho, 1935.įlood stage is a different matter when the River is swollen to several times its width and current. Normal width of the Jordan River ranges between 30 to 100 feet and its depth of only 10 to 17 feet. From there, the River covers a mere 65 land miles to the Dead Sea where it ends. Lowest elevation of all the rivers of the world, the head waters of the Jordan feed into the Sea of Galilee (aka Chinnereth, Lake Tiberius, Lake Kinneret) on the north end, exiting on the south end of the Sea. Dropping 600 feet in the short distance between two seas, it is the characteristic of its Hebrew name Yarden meaning “descender.” Not exactly a big river, it is the rapid current that makes it treacherous. ![]() Įntering the land promised by God, the Hebrews first had to ford the Jordan River. Ĭenturies later, escaping Egypt through the parted Red Sea, the fledgling Hebrew nation population was as “numerous as the stars of heaven.” Delayed by 40 years as a punishment for unfaithfulness, it was time to return to the land of Abraham, called “ the place” by God at Mt. The Jordan River marked the boundary between the two lands of Canaan and the Arabah. God promised Abram the land he could see in all four directions would belong to him and his descendants forever. The northern valley contains fertile land, but by the time it reaches the southern end at the Dead Sea near Jericho, the terrain is hot and arid. The Jordan River at Jericho, Israel circa 1941-44.Įither side of the River forms the Jordan River Valley expanding up to 15 miles wide. By default, Abram took the land west of the Jordan – Canaan. Seeing the fertile “plain of the Jordan,” Lot made his decision. The River has served as a boundary, a landmark, the place of several miracles, John the Baptist’s ministry and where Jesus of Nazareth was baptized.įirst reference to the Jordan River is implied in Genesis 13 when Abram gave his nephew, Lot, a choice where to live with his family and livestock. Mentioned almost 200 times from Genesis to the Gospels, the Jordan River plays an important role throughout. ![]()
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