The Jordan River
Along the banks of the Jordan River, God made key covenants with humankind through Moses and through Jesus. Near this world-famous river, the Old Testament patriarch Jacob wrestled with the angel of God, Job suffered and was rewarded for his faith, and Elijah ascended to Heaven on a chariot of fire. This is where Moses delivered God's Law to the children of Israel. Here is where Jesus was baptized by John and anointed by God, and where the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit was clearly manifested during the baptism along the Jordan River.
For Christians, this point where the Jordan River runs out of the Sea of Galilee, is holy and is considered to be the place where Jesus was baptized. Many pilgrims from around the world come to this location to be baptized in the waters of this famous river.
Some of the holy sites along the Jordan River include:
- The Prophet Abraham, common patriarch of Jews, Christians and Muslims, crossed the Jordan River to enter into Canaan on his journey from Ur of the Chaldees.
- Jacob was renamed Israel at the ford of the Jabbok River, a tributary of the Jordan (Genesis 32:22-28).
- Moses was denied access to the Promised Land and died near the banks of the Jordan River.
- At the end of their wilderness journey, after Joshua succeeded Moses as the leader of the people, the Israelites entered the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan River that, like the Red Sea, was miraculously divided for them (Joshua 3:15-17).
- The Jordan River near Jericho is where the Prophet Elijah (Mar Elias in Arabic) ascended to heaven in a whirlwind on a chariot of fire, having parted the waters of the Jordan and walked across it with his anointed successor, the Prophet Elisha (2 Kings 2:5-1).
- The Old Testament prophet, Elisha, told Naaman to "wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." The man reluctantly obeyed, dipping in the Jordan River and was healed of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:13-14).
- Elisha caused the iron ax head to float in the Jordan River (2 Kings 6).
The Jordan River was the area where John The Baptist conducted much of his ministry. John the Baptist's settlement at Bethany beyond the Jordan is the place where Jesus was baptized (John 1:28 and 10:40).
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