LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 3:13, Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.

 

You might be wondering if we were baptized in the Jordan River. Yes, we were. Charlotte and I put on a very thin white pullover robe over our swimsuits and waited for our turn to be baptized in the area of the Jordan River where John the Baptist was thought to have baptized the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The Jordan River was not very wide – it was less than 50 yards wide, less than half a football field in width. My imagination from reading the Word had “seen” a much larger river for some reason. The country of Jordan was on the other side of the river and the Jordanian army presence was there. Soldiers were watching all that was happening to ensure the safety of those being baptized. At least that was my thought. The water was quite cold, and I felt sorry for the four pastors from our church doing the baptizing. The one who baptized me had a little difficulty getting me under the water. I guess instead of just going under I stepped back – so, he just dunked me. We got baptized and it was a neat experience. From the Jordan River we went to the Dead Sea for a swim.

 

Ezekiel 47:8-9a, Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live.”

 

The Dead Sea is “dead” because of the salt content. There is about 10 times the salt in the Dead Sea than in the oceans of the world. That means nothing can live in it. The Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea but the fish in the river do not go into the Sea. The Jordan River has been used by farmers for irrigation for a long time and along with evaporation, the Dead Sea has been drying up and the water content has been reduced significantly. We were told about how the shoreline continues to recede and there are sinkholes in the Sea.

 

Our guide talked about a prophecy stating the Dead Sea would come alive and the sinkholes come into play here. I had to do some research with this and found that fresh water has been found in the sinkholes and fish have been found in them; the sinkholes have occurred where the water has receded. Don’t ask me how because that is beyond me. Because of the salt content one cannot sink; people float naturally. The sinkholes were discovered because of gear developed for divers to go under the water. Is prophecy being fulfilled? What does that mean about the nearness of end times? I have more questions than answers; I have found this fascinating and will study this in the future.

 

Let me say this about our adventure in the Dead Sea. There were many people there who were putting mud all over their bodies because of therapeutic effects. In fact, I found that people around the world are using 24 minerals found in the Dead Sea because of therapeutic value. Anyway, Charlotte and I tried to find our way into the water where there was the least amount of resistance (because of the number of people) and we discovered it was probably the worst place. I ended up helping a person from our bus who had gotten stuck in a mini sinkhole and could not get out. Charlotte had to climb over a long rock hidden under the water to get out away from shore. She found out that it was true about floating. By the time we got the lady out of the sinkhole, I was done with the place. On our way to the shore, we helped another lady who had fallen. Again, it was another experience we will not forget.