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<\/a>Promised Land from Mt. Nebo<\/p><\/div>\n
Those of us in the South know so well the struggle. We\u2019ve climbed many a hill but missed the view. And it must have been the same for Moses, who wandered with his rowdy and not very obedient nor appreciative people for 40 years trying to prepare them for their promised land of Canaan, and yet, that which was promised by God to Abraham and his descendants, Moses was only able to see from a distance from Mt. Nebo in Jordan, just above the Jordan River which continues to provide so much life to those who lived around it. God said to him, \u201cThis is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said I will give it to your descendants, I have let you see it but you will not cross over into it.\u201d And Moses, the Lord\u2019s servant, whether he was pleased or distraught, died there and was buried in Moab in the valley opposite Beth Peor. No one has ever found his grave, although some claimed he disappeared into the sky at age 120.<\/p>\n
Now, like Dr. King, wanting to do God\u2019s will on this effort to be a pilgrim in the Holy Land, I have seen with my eyes, from hazy Mt. Nebo in Jordan, the Promised Land of Canaan that once was home for God\u2019s wandering people. The view is spectacular, and it is awesome that Moses stood in nearly the same area when God allowed him to get a glimpse of the land. I said a thanksgiving prayer in honor not only of Moses, but of Dr. King, because some of the things we spend our lives fighting for, we often are only allowed to see the hope, but not to experience the victory. Dr. King felt the pull and the disappointment that he would never see the Promised Land he fought so faithfully to provide his people, that land of freedom and fair treatment and respect. The fight is still going on.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Standing in Old Time<\/p><\/div>\n
Jordan has had a history that connected to many civilizations from the Stone Ages when agriculture was seeded and animals domesticated, when writing was invented and metals became the do or die, the win or lose factor. City states and fortifications accompanied the rise of leaders of groups, similar to the developing Egyptian Dynasties. It was Abraham\u2019s time. It was Moses\u2019 time and the Kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom arose at the same time the northern kingdom of Israel (Saul, David, Solomon) and Judea, the southern kingdom burst into flower. These kingdoms were crushed by Assyrians, and Babylonians and by the Persians and the Greeks (Alexander the Great.) It was hot property, so to speak, because of its location and the Arab Nabataeans appeared and built Petra and held on to Jordan with force. They held sway until the Christian Byzantines took control. After 636 AD, and on and off during the Crusades, the Islamic Period arrived and it is still the heart of Jordan.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Dipping in The Jordan<\/p><\/div>\n
Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan in the area of Bethany, and Elijah ascended to heaven in a whirlwind, first crossing the Jordan River as he came from Jericho to the east bank where a chariot and horses of fire took him to a point he disappeared. It\u2019s on the east side of Wadi Al Kharrar or Tal Elia. This part of Jordan, from Amman to Petra, holds close to its heart much of the history of the Old and New Testament as well, from Moses and Aaron to John the Baptist, and now historians believe Jesus was baptized on the Jordan side of the river, which one can visit and almost shake hands with those dipping in the water on the Israeli side. The \u201cbaptismal fonts\u201d, so to speak face each other. The one on Israel side is a modern glass and white stone extravaganza. The one on Jordan side in Bethany is simple, not ostentatious, a long long series of white stone steps which give the pilgrim a more tranquil and spiritual journey to touch the holy water of the river. It secures one\u2019s awareness that you are in a place of great history and the water still flows, and the banks still flood each year, and penitents in white still jump in for a self-made baptism or maybe one guided by a priest or deacon.<\/p>\n