A WORLD-FAMOUS RIVER--THE JORDAN
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.