Jordan River

When I was a kid, I pictured the Jordan River as majestic, wide, and intimidating. None of those adjectives now apply to this famous river. It is muddy and dirty, so narrow that those of us used to mighty rivers such as the Mississippi and the Missouri would classify it as just a step above a creek. 

The Jordan River separates Israel from Jordan. These two water-poor countries share the Jordan River. Irrigation depletes much of the water and industrial waste pollutes it.

We have crossed the river several times, always in a bus. I must say that, although the river is far from the most beautiful in the world, I always get thrilled when I see it.

Somewhere along this river, Joshua and the children of Israel walked through its dry riverbed (Joshua 3). Elijah parted the river with his mantle (II Kings 2:8). Namaan the Syrian was healed of his leprosy when he obeyed the prophet Elisha and dipped in the water seven times (II Kings 5:14). John baptized Jesus in the River Jordan (John 3:13).

Honestly, it does no matter to me that the Jordan River is not majestic and beautiful. It is enough that this is the river that provided the backdrop for some of the Bible's greatest accounts of God's miraculous power working in the lives of mankind. 

Jordan River as seen from the Sheikh Hussein Bridge