When Jesus travelled from Galilee to Judea, it is likely He traveled the Jordan Rift Valley. This was the easiest route (without going through Samaria) to get from Galilee to Judea.
The Jordan River flows through the valley and gives it its name, and runs from north of Lake Huleh to the Dead Sea. The valley itself is part of a larger geologic feature called the Great Rift Valley that runs 3,700 miles, from northern Syria to northeastern Africa. At the Dead Sea, the valley is the lowest place on land at more than 1,200 feet below sea level.
The climate of the Jordan Valley changes dramatically as it moves from north to south. In the north, near Lake Huleh, the valley is fertile, and plentiful rainfall allows substantial agriculture. South of the Sea of Galilee, the valley rapidly dries out and increases in temperature. Agriculture here is only possible by using the Jordan River for irrigation. Near the Dead Sea, the temperature is too high for most agricultural activity, although some palm crops are grown, like dates and bananas.
Humans have occupied the valley for thousands of years. Jericho, at the southern end of the valley, is considered by some to be the oldest inhabited city in the world. Other cities include Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Scythopolis (Beth Shean), Bethsaida, and Caesarea Philippi. John the Baptist ministered in the valley as well. As mentioned, it is also a major thoroughfare, allowing relatively easy travel from north to south. In the New Testament, Jesus traveled the valley several times, going from Galilee to Jerusalem and back, and was baptized in the Jordan River.
The Jordan River
Site Study
| Hershel Wayne House
The Jordan River is the only major waterway between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates River. It runs north to south 223 miles through the Jordan Rift Valley, from its headwaters in the foothills of Mt. Hermon, through Lake Huleh, through the Sea of Galilee, and on to where it empties into the Dead Sea. Over its course it falls 2885 feet in elevation, from 1500 ft. above sea level at its headwaters to 1385 feet below sea level at its mouth.
Due to the geography and climate of the area, the Jordan was subject to rapid fluctuations in flow during ancient times. From the Sea of Galilee south, the climate of the Jordan River Valley dries dramatically. With very little vegetation to hold excess water, heavy rains resulted in flash flooding in the canyons prevalent along the slopes of the valley. These flash floods swelled the amount of water flowing into the Jordan, and in turn the Jordan’s water level rapidly rose. Because of this, crossing the River ranged from fairly easy to very dangerous.
Although there are no major cities at the Jordan river, several important towns were located in the valley near the river, including Jericho in the south and Scythopolis (Beth Shean) further north, Bethsaida north of the Sea of Galilee, and Caesarea Philippi near one of the streams that form the headwaters of the Jordan.
Although there are few cities in the region of the Jordan River, it has been the scene of countless historical events. In the New Testament, it is the region where John the Baptist ministered, and the site of Jesus’ Baptism. Jesus undoubtedly traveled the route along the Jordan River valley between Galilee and Jerusalem.
“that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon,
and it will become a desolate heap,
and her daughters will be burned with fire;
then Israel will possess those who possessed him,”
says Yahweh.
3“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
Cry, you daughters of Rabbah!
Clothe yourself in sackcloth.
Lament, and run back and forth among the fences;
for Malcam will go into captivity,
his priests and his princes together.
4Why do you boast in the valleys,
your flowing valley, backsliding daughter?
You trusted in her treasures,
saying, ‘Who will come to me?’
5Behold, I will bring a terror on you,”
says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies,
“from all who are around you.
All of you will be driven completely out,
and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives.
6“But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,”
says Yahweh.
7Of Edom, Yahweh of Armies says:
“Is wisdom no more in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8Flee! Turn back!
Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan;
for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him.
9If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
If thieves came by night,
wouldn’t they steal until they had enough?
10But I have made Esau bare,
I have uncovered his secret places,
and he will not be able to hide himself.
His offspring is destroyed,
with his brothers and his neighbors;
and he is no more.
11Leave your fatherless children.
I will preserve them alive.
Let your widows trust in me.”
12For Yahweh says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished, but you will surely drink. 13For I have sworn by myself,” says Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.”
14I have heard news from Yahweh,
and an ambassador is sent among the nations,
saying, “Gather yourselves together!
Come against her!
Rise up to the battle!”
15“For, behold, I have made you small among the nations,
and despised among men.
16As for your terror,
the pride of your heart has deceived you,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill,
though you should make your nest as high as the eagle,
I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
17“Edom will become an astonishment.
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished,
and will hiss at all its plagues.
18As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh,
“no man will dwell there,
neither will any son of man live therein.
19“Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation;
for I will suddenly make them run away from it,
and whoever is chosen,
I will appoint him over it.
For who is like me?
Who will appoint me a time?
Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?”
20Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom,
and his purposes that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman:
Surely they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them.
21The earth trembles at the noise of their fall;
there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.
22Behold, he will come up and fly as the eagle,
and spread out his wings against Bozrah.
The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23Of Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad are confounded,
for they have heard evil news.
They have melted away.
There is sorrow on the sea.
It can’t be quiet.
24Damascus has grown feeble,
she turns herself to flee,
and trembling has seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
as of a woman in travail.
25How is the city of praise not forsaken,
the city of my joy?
26Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day,”
says Yahweh of Armies.
27“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
28Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck, Yahweh says:
“Arise, go up to Kedar,
and destroy the children of the east.
29They will take their tents and their flocks.
they will carry away for themselves their curtains,
all their vessels, and their camels;
and they will cry to them, ‘Terror on every side!’
30Flee!
Wander far off!
Dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor,” says Yahweh;
“for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you,
and has conceived a purpose against you.
31Arise! Go up to a nation that is at ease,
that dwells without care,” says Yahweh;
“that has neither gates nor bars,
that dwells alone.
32Their camels will be a booty,
and the multitude of their livestock a plunder.
I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off;
and I will bring their calamity from every side of them,”
says Yahweh.
33Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals,
a desolation forever.
No man will dwell there,
neither will any son of man live therein.”
34Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35“Yahweh of Armies says:
‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
the chief of their might.
36I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky,
and will scatter them toward all those winds.
There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come.
37I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,
and before those who seek their life.
I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,’ says Yahweh;
‘and I will send the sword after them,
until I have consumed them.
38I will set my throne in Elam,
and will destroy from there king and princes,’ says Yahweh.
39‘But it will happen in the latter days
that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says Yahweh.”
