Our last few days in Jordan were free! Free to spend however we wanted. So after the sports day in Madaba, we traveled to Mt. Nebo and the Dead Sea. Mt. Nebo is where Moses sent the spies into the land of Canaan. Most of you know the story about Joshua and Caleb, the people's disobidence and fear, and the plague of snakes. This is where Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. It is also the place where God showed Moses the promised land, because he couldn't enter in. It is quite a view. We sang a couple of songs, and I'll write some of the words to one song below. It really strikes me again and again how great God is. He is eternal. He doesn't change. We see all these ancient places, and its awesome to realize that the God of the Israelites is still present and actively leading us today. The difference is that now the King has come. Hebrews 11 talks about Abraham the other heros of faith. vs 13, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised, they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." We are the ones who receive the things promised. We who look to Jesus are welcomed into this heavely country to be with the One who loved us from before time began. What a gift to live in the time the fulfillment of this promise.
The splendor of a King
robed in majesty
let all the earth rejoice
all the earth rejoice
He wraps Himself in light
and darkness tries to hide
trembles at His voice,
trembles at His voice
How great is our God
sing with me
How great is our God
and all will see
How great, how great
is our God
The Godhead three in one
Father, Spirit, Son
The Lion and the Lamb
Lion and the Lamb
Age to age He stands
and time is in His hand
Beginning and the End
Beginning and the End
From Mt. Nebo we went to the Dead Sea and had a lot of laughs watching each other float and flounder on the water. The sea is 25% mineral content, 7% salt. We also coated ourselves in the black mud, completing the Dead Sea experience.
The next day we took a bus down to Petra. I had no idea what to expect. Apparently it's one of the wonders of the world. It's colored rock, caves, and temples and tombs carved into the side of the mountain. It really is a wonder, spectacular. One memory I have is of walking through these canyon like hallways of brightly colord rock--I felt like this is what it would be like to walk into the hallway of God's house: beautiful, feeling so small, in awe at the sheer size of the cliffs on either side... Really cool. We also rode camels, climbed 800some steps to the views, and took donkey's back. Tons of excersize and tons to see. I met this great bedouin shepherd who showed us some caves and camel carvings. He brought his goats along.
From there we went out to the desert. Now the Gulf countries and Middle East are all desert, so I wasn't too keen on the idea of spending a day off in more desert, but I think it ended up being my favorite. I'm no good at describing these places... There was a beauty there that I can't explain. We met our bedouin guide, who gave us the arabic tea that we have come to love, then we loaded up into two open jeeps and took off into the sand. The sand was a shade of orangish-red. The mountians-mighty mounds of rock, textured by the wind and sand, and some rain. After climbing all over these rocks, seeing ancient cave carvings, having afternoon tea in the middle of nowhere, we arrived at our camp. We all found our own place to sit and watch the sun set. I scrambled "that's my new found rock climbing lingo..) up to a solitary place of my own. As I sat there taking in my surroundings I wondered, "what country am I in again? Oh, yeah, Jordan." But Jordan seems too small. It is limited to lines on a map and distinguished my man. All I could think was, this is my Dad's place. I am at home no matter where I am because this is my Dad's place. There is truly nowhere I could go to be beyond His reach or His presence or His love. It's so good to be a child of God. I hope that each one of you can relate to this. If not, I hope that there's been something in these rambling journals that makes you want to know this God of mine. He is your God, too, and wants nothing more than for you to recognize Him as your Dad, your Friend, your Redeemer. There is a fullness in the God of the Bible that cannot be matched by any religion in the world. He is Father, He is Jesus, He is the Spirit that guides us.
Nothing can compare to knowing Him.
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