Jordan

We left early Monday morning and came home late Thursday night. The first day we drove to the Jerusalem border and went through security, then drove to the Jordan border and went through more security.

Lots of waiting and bus time but we ended up making our first stop in Jordan (Mt. Nebo) around 2:00 in the afternoon. Mosas overlooked the promised land and realized he wouldn't be able to go there (Deuteronomy 32). It was a beautiful view and a great chance for a quick bathroom break.

We then drove further into Jordan and stopped at Madaba and saw the famous Madaba map (mosaic tiles--oldest map). There are lots of artwork here with mosaic tile so it was a good introductory place to visit. The mosaic tile showed the Jordan river flowing into the dead sea, with Jericho and Bethabara. This map is very important Byzantine description of the Holy Land.

We met our tour guide, Joseph (pronounced Hoe-Jesph), and then went to dinner at a delicious authentic buffet dinner. After dinner, we toured the streets of Medeba.

We then drove to Machaerus-- a fortress built by King Alexander Jannaeus and then later rebuilt by Herod the Great. It is also where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded by Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great.

We read Mathew 14 and Mark 6:14-29 here and thought about why Antipas imprisoned John the Baptist. Antipas promised Herodias' daughter anything, and she asked for the head of John the Baptist. We discussed the amount of the amount of sorrow Jesus must have felt when he learned that his cousin, and follwer, was dead. We read a couple scriptures where Jeses went to caves to mourn, and people followed still followed him requesting help. Jesus would put the peoples needs over his own needs, even in such a time of mourning.

We got in really late to our hotel room in Petra(around 10 pm), still hadn't had dinner so we put our bags in the lobby and went to dinner at the hotel. On our way, the hotel had servants handing us fresh squeezed orange juice and warm homemade pita bread. soo good! The hotel was top quality for the town of Petra but we had cold showers, bugs in our room, etc. It was a good experience!

The next morning we woke up really early to have breakfast and walk to Petra National Park!!!

We walked nine miles and it was such a long day but SO MUCH FUN. :)

After Petra we got on the bus and drove about 2 hours to Ammon and stayed the night. Once we got to the hotel, they had dinner for us there. After dinner we had about 1 hour to explore the city. Our group just walked up and down Rainbow Street in Ammon. It was a cool experience :)

The next morning we woke up and drove first thing to see the largest roman theater in Philidelphia (Modern Ammon). It can seat 5,000 people and is one of the cities of dicapolus. It is mentioned in the scriptures that Jesus taught in one of the ten cities of decampolus. (Mathew 4:23-25 & Mark 5:20; 7:31) We had a devotional there and there was a great view over the city of Ammon.

After visiting the roman theater, we drove to the King Abdullah I Mosque. The mosque can hold nearly 3,000 muslims can offer prayer at any one time. The muslim faith prays 5 times a day (men are requrired to attend a mosque for prayer, women are not). Our tour guide taught us the call to prayer and we studied the architecture of the building. :)

After the mosque, we went to stopped at the Jabbok river. This was my favorite site of the Jordan trip. We had a really good devotional from our teacher, Professor Strathern. At this site, Jacob had to show he wanted the blessing from God. He wrestled (with spiritual implications) with God and was blessed with power. At this site, his name was changed indicating a change in status. He calls the site perial-- meaning "I have seen the face of God". In Genesis 48:16, Jacob was redeemed from all evil. Our teacher asked us to think about How has Christ bought and paid for us in full? (Genesis 32:9-12) Jacob now realizes and has faith in HIS God. He experiences a spiritual metamorphesis at this site. We had about 30 minutes to read this account in the scriptures and think about our own spiritual metamorphesis in our lives. Where are we and what can we improve in our lives? What happened here is not just for Jacob. God wants each of us to have our Jabbok river experience. This experience was considered a temple experience for Jacob. He entered the presence of God. What are we doing with the invitation of God offerring to covenant with us? How are we preparing ourselves to receive the fullness of blessings that God has to offer? We want to let God know that he is OUR God, and that we try our best to obey him and receive the fullness of blessings. (Genesis 32:22-30, Numbers 21:24, Joshua 12:2, Deuteronomy 3:16)

We then went to a really nice restraunt in Ammon. They served us lamb, steak and chicken along with fresh, hot bread. I also tasted the best hummus I've ever had in my life.

We then drove to Jerash to see the most preserved roman city in the world!!