Page 42 - Holyland Magazine - 2019 Edition

Qasr
El Yahud
The Castle of the Jews
By Reuven Doron
Photos: Amir Aloni
Deep in the Jordan Valley, northeast from
Jericho and not far from the Dead Sea,
the adventurous traveler can discover
one of Israel’s hidden treasures.
Echoing both Old & New Testament
major events, with a touch of modern history,
a visit to Qasr El Yahud is like stepping into
a mystic time capsule in a lush green oasis,
surrounded by an arid wilderness. The ancient
Arabic name, which means “The Castle of the
Jews,” hails back to events that took place
thousands of years ago; events that affected
and changed the world forever.
Emerging during recent years as a popular
Christian baptism site, Qasr El Yahud is
linked with the location and the event of
Jesus’ baptism by John (Matthew Chapter
3). Christian scholars and pilgrims have
recognized the location since the 4th century
AD, and a number of ancient monasteries
and churches built nearby celebrate the
significance and wonder of that event,
marking the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and
His emergence into public life. Still, the site’s
historic and religious significance goes further
back in time than Jesus’ first century baptism.
Jewish tradition recognizes that Qasr El Yahud
is also the general location of the epic crossing
of the Jordan River by the Children of Israel into stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at
the Promised Land nearly 15 centuries earlier,
as they entered Canaan under the leadership
of Joshua the Son of Nun (Joshua Chapter 3).
Think about it, this remote and hard to find
oasis on the western banks of the Jordan
River, far from any modern major city or
42
highway, has witnessed two separate and
major historic events unfolding across its harsh
terrain centuries apart. Historians estimate that
the young Hebrew nation emerging from its
40 years of wilderness journey was possibly
numbering two to three million souls as they
approached the Jordan River from the east.
A massive and well-organized community
moving slowly across the landscape under
the banners of its 12 tribes, the young nation
had a large and strong army ready for battle
as it neared the Promised Land. Following the
Ark of the Covenant that was carried on the
priests’ shoulders at the front of the column,
this unstoppable mass of humanity reached the
Jordan River near Qasr El Yahud, ready to finally
claim God’s great promises to give them their
own land.
The crossing was divinely timed to take place
during the spring of the year when the Jordan’s
flow of water was at its peak due to the
melting snow up north. This way, the miracle
of the stopping of the River upstream, allowing
the nation safe crossing, was dramatically
displayed and recorded in Joshua 3:11-17.
As it is written: “… as those who bore the
ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the
priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge
of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its
banks during the whole time of harvest), that
the waters which came down from upstream
Adam … Then the priests who bore the ark of
the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry
ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel
crossed over on dry ground...”
A pilgrimage gathering water during a
ceremony at the Jordan River