“My people have committed two sins:
Jeremiah 2:13
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
The Jordan River is the most famous river in the Bible. It begins in the north near snow-capped Mount Hermon, the tallest mountain in the country. There are three main sources, of which we visited two.
The western source is at the ancient site of Dan, the northern-most city of ancient Israel (“from Dan to Beersheba”). While the day before we had begun at the desolate, dry Dead Sea, we were now wandering among rushing waters with great groves of greenery growing. Dan was one of two of the places King Jeroboam set up a high place with a golden calf (1 Kings 12:28-29). There is an excavated sacred area that was found that is presumed to be where the golden calf had been set up.
A few miles to the east is another of the headwaters at Banias. In Jesus’ time the city was called Caesarea Philippi. Against a cliff face, a cult center was built to worship Pan and other Greek gods. The waters came out of a cave at the base of the cliff. Unfortunately an earthquake changed this in the 19th century and the water seeps out in front of the cave now. Most groups only visit the base of the cliff, but there is more than that to see. There are ruins to explore like the palace of Herod Agrippa II. One can also hike or drive to follow these headwaters to a waterfall and narrow, gushing canyon.
It’s easy to see why people would be drawn to build cities in these places. Water is an important resource. Why settle for less? God compares rejection of him to rejecting fresh springs of water. Why draw from nasty, polluted cisterns when you can have the good stuff!