Jericho sits at the foot of the Judean hills, just north of the Dead Sea. It is a quiet town and the home of fruit and vegetable growers. We saw pineapple plantations that were magnificent and beautiful. A chicane took us through a security checkpoint and into the West Bank. We did not stop in Jericho, but our guide told us a few stories as we passed through.
First the story of Joshua and the Children of Israel marching quietly around the walls of Jericho once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day they made another six silent walks followed by a seventh very noisy march with trumpets and shouts, and the walls came tumbling down.
Off to the left we see an ongoing excavation of those very walls. On the trade route, Jericho was conquered at least 28 different times.
Now our guide is telling us about Achan. This Israelite violated the commands of God by keeping some of the riches of Jericho for himself, instead of turning it over to Joshua and the Lord's treasury. Because of this the Israelites were defeated in their next battle. A subsequent investigation discovered Achan's crime and he and his entire family were stoned to death and then burned by fire with all their possessions.
Now look to your right at the palm tree at the end of the street. That tree marks the traditional site of a teaching moment of Jesus Christ. When he was teaching in Jericho, a tax collector named Zacchaeus climbed a tree to better see and hear. Jesus then invited himself to dinner at Zacchaeus' house and the people murmured that Jesus was socializing with such a person as a tax collector.
The Romans had set up a quota system for taxation, and it was necessary for collectors to collect above the normal rate when the economy was good so that the quota could be met when the economy went bad. The people believed that Zaccheaus had abused the system to his own benefit. In any case, Zacchaeus was so impressed by Jesus' teachings that he offered half of his wealth to the poor and fourfold repayment to the people he had wronged.
Our glance at the tree is brief as the tour bus turns left and leaves Jericho behind. Ahead we see a high mountain that is the traditional spot where Jesus may have been tempted by the Devil. A monastery has been built into the side of the Mount of Temptation.
We are now in the valley of the Jordan River. There is a song that tells of where the River Jordan runs wild, but it is not here in this valley. Because of the Dead Sea Israel built a dam at the mouth of the Jordan on the Sea of Galilee to control the amount of water released. So it is rare that we can actually catch a glimpse of the River Jordan as it winds its way south, it meanders for some two hundred miles to arrive just sixty-five miles south of Galilee.
Along the road we can see stretches of flat sand and dirt. At least once a day the Israeli Defense Forces drag these stretches. When they come back to drag them again they will be checking for footprints or other tracks that might indicate that infiltrators have crossed the Jordan River into Israel.
Now our guide is telling us about a bridge built across the Jordan River after a peace agreement was signed with the nation of Jordan. The bridge was opened with a ceremony which had King Hussein walking to the center of the bridge to meet a delegation from Israel. The "delegation" turned out to be a group of Israeli children running to greet the king. The king then knelt to embrace each child as tears rolled down his cheeks.
Our guide tells us that when he watched the international news that evening that he had the impression that the reporters and anchors just did not get the significance of the event. But, as I listen to the story, there are tears in my eyes. I get it. Children know how to greet a king. "Suffer the little children to come unto me."
As we travel north through the Jordan River Valley we can see a stark contrast between Jewish and Arab settlements. But nothing is more stark in contrast than the site of Bedouin tents and automobiles. There are still many Arabs and Bedouins living the nomadic life. This lifestyle differs little from that of their ancestors; tents are still made of goat hair strands woven together, and the tents are still aligned north-south with their openings to the east. There are two startling differences as one sees the cars and the TV antennas.
For some Bedouins their lifestyle is changing from the north-south tent to the north-south stone and cement house. They are becoming organized, too, electing their own town officials and putting their representatives in national government. They are very happy to have their own people administering their school system as well as advanced agricultural facilities that the State of Israel helped them establish.
Our guide is now telling us about the decision of the Israeli government to replace the rancid wells of the Bedouins and Arabs with a modern water system. There were protests picked up by the international media. But somehow only the destruction of the wells was reported. This created a greater uproar among the Palestinians and neighboring Arab countries. Nonetheless, the State of Israel continued with the construction of the modern water system and the controversy eventually went away.
Now we cross a bridge over the River Jordan and catch a glimpse of brown muddy water. We have entered Galilee. Here on the south shore of the Sea we stop at a place of baptism. At the urging of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, local residents constructed a pleasant spot on the river that many Christians come to for baptism. It is a beautiful location among trees with a large green pool, of sorts, in the River Jordan. As we take in the scene we see one child baptized. There are others awaiting their turn, and still others now drying off and celebrating a joyous occasion.
But, as beautiful as the setting is, it is likely that John the Baptist did his immersions at a spot much closer to Jericho. It was common in those days for Jews to be immersed, often insisting that the water be "living water," that is, out of bedrock. It should also be flowing and always below ground level.
Now we drive along the west coast of the beautiful Sea of Galilee. Soon we arrive at the spa hotel, high above the northwest shore, where we will stay the next two nights. I will remember this stay in Galilee as the best part of the trip. Oh what a beautiful and peaceful place!
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