he Jordan River is the largest and longest river
that flows in Israel. Moreover, it is the only river
within Israel that has a permanent flow year round.
All other rivers dry up for periods of months and do
not fill up until the winter.
The Jordan River is definitely the most famous river
in the world. It is mentioned in the Bible about 180
times in the Old Testament and 15 times in the New
Testament.
This river which played a significant role in
numerous events of Bible history is derived from the
Hebrew word yarden, meaning descender. It is an
appropriate name since the ten-mile-wide river
descends from the heights of its sources near Mount
Hermon to the depths of the Dead Sea- a drop of
about 2,380 feet. Due to the twists and turns of its
course, the full length of the river is over 200
miles. Its headwaters lie more than 1,000 feet above
sea level, and its mouth at the Dead Sea at nearly
1,300 feet below sea level.
The Jordan River was the setting for so many of the
great events in the Bible. The first mention of it
is when Abraham and Lot parted company. (
Genesis
13:10-11)
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the
plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every
where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of
Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot
journeyed east: and they separated themselves the
one from the other.”
Moses was not allowed to cross the Jordan and enter
the Promised Land (
Deut. 3:23-29, 31:2) but Joshua
after succeeding Moses as the leader of the people,
entered the Promised Land with the Israelites by
crossing the Jordan River that, like the Red Sea,
was miraculously divided for them. We can read this
in
Joshua 3:15-17:
“And as they that bare the ark were come unto
Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the
ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for
Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of
harvest,) That the waters which came down from above
stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the
city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that
came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt
sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed
over right against Jericho.”
John the Baptist conducted much of his ministry in
the Jordan River. This is where Jesus Christ was
baptized. Let us read
Mark 1:9:
“And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came
from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John
in Jordan.”
Jordan still retains the unique baptismal aura of a
holy river today. The Jordan River is not only a
prominent site in Biblical history, it is truly a
natural phenomenon… a physical proof that shows how
authentic the Bible is.
