Greetings from the land of Edom!

I am currently in the city of Aqaba in Jordan, which was probably the site of the biblical Ezion-Geber. For the past two weeks I have been traveling with the Meeker family and eight United Youth Corps volunteers. It has been a wonderful trip thus far. We have visited many places mentioned in the Bible that are located east of the Jordan River. It is a very rewarding experience to visit such places. Our first stop on the tour was to visit the citadel in downtown Amman. The citadel was the site of Rabbbath Amman and the probable site where Uriah the Hittite was sent to his death. The city was later conquered by David and Joab.

The following day we toured Madaba and Mt. Nebo. Madaba is a city of great antiquity in Moab (Numbers 21:30), which was inherited by the tribe of Reuben (Joshua 13:16). It was a sanctuary of the Moabites in the days of Ahaz and is named as one of the cities of Moab in the prophetic curse recorded in Isaiah 15:2. When the Ammonites were defeated by Joab they found refuge in Madaba (1 Chronicles 19:1-15). Madaba is the site of the beautiful “Madaba Map.” This map was originally part of the floor of a Byzantine church, built during the reign of emperor Justinian, A.D. 527-565. It is the oldest map of the Holy Land that is still extant. Mt. Nebo is the site where God instructed Moses to ascend in order to view the Promised Land. From its summit one can view portions of the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. From Mt. Nebo we traveled to Machaerus, the site of an ancient fortress overlooking the Dead Sea near the southern frontier of the region of Peraea. The fortress was originally built by Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 B.C.), destroyed by the Roman commander Gabinius (57 B.C.) and rebuilt by Herod the Great (37–4 B.C.). According to Josephus, Herod Antipas imprisoned John the Baptist and later had him put to death at this site. After exploring the ruins of the fortress and several of the caves, one of which may have been the prison of John the Baptist, we continued our journey into the Jordan valley to the site of Bethany beyond Jordan, the site of Christ’s baptism. Unfortunately much of the water of the Jordan is now used for irrigation so the river is much smaller today than during the first century.

The next day we toured Jerash, Ajlun, and Umm Qais. Jerash (Gerasa) was one of the cities of the Decapolis. The Decapolis was comprised of ten cities, located mostly in around the Galilee and Jordan valley region. Matthew and Mark refer to Christ’s activities in the Decapolis (Matthew 4:25; Mark 5:20, 7:31). Ajlun is the site of Ajlun Castle which was built by one of Saladin’s generals in A.D. 1184 to control the iron mines in the vicinity, and to deter the Franks from invading the region. Ajlun Castle dominated the three main routes leading to the Jordan valley and protected the trade and commercial routes between Jordan and Syria. It became an important link in the defensive chain against the Crusaders, who unsuccessfully spent decades trying to capture the castle and the nearby village. Umm Qais is the site of another Decapolis city, Gadara. Gadara was the capital of the Roman province of Peraea, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It was near this city that Christ healed the demonic person and cast the demons into a herd of swine (Luke 8:26). After exploring the ruins of this site, we descended into the Jordan Valley and spent the night in Pella. Pella was also a city of the Decapolis. Eusebius mentions that the early church of Judea fled to Pella before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The following morning we enjoyed Sabbath services in our hotel near the ruins of the ancient city and then explored the area before beginning our return to Amman. Being able to observe the Sabbath in Pella where many early Christians lived during the first century was a very memorable experience. During our return to Amman we drove past the Tell of Deir-Alla, which is believed by some to be the site of biblical Succoth; the place where Jacob built booths for his cattle and a house for himself after separating from Esau (Genesis 33:17; Joshua 13:27). The bronze foundries for making the fine work for the Temple were built here (1 Kings 7:46; 2 Chronicles 4:17) and here Gideon met with opposition when pursuing the Midianites (Judges 8:5).

For the next week the volunteers worked on two service projects here in Jordan. Half of the volunteers worked at a camp sponsored by the YMWA Center for Special Education and the other half of the volunteers worked at a kindergarten in the village of Ar Rajef which is sponsored by the Amman Baccalaureate School. After the camp all the volunteers traveled to Wadi Musa and regrouped for a visit to the famous rose-colored city of Petra, the ancient capital of Edom. Petra could probably be considered the national emblem of Jordan and several hundred foreign tourists visit this site each day. I have found Petra to be a fascinating visit regardless of the number of times I have visited the site. After Sabbath services in Wadi Musa the group traveled along the ancient King’s highway to the city of Aqaba located on the Red Sea.

At some point in the future I hope to be able to share some photos and stories with you of these fascinating places mentioned in the Bible.

© 2008 United Church of God, AIA - Pilipinas