In a recent newspaper article by John Ward Anderson of the Washington Post, he states how the name of The Dead Sea is getting more fitting.
About 60 miles north of the Sea, up the Jordan River, "an open drain pumps out 720,000 gallons of raw sewage a day. Chunks of concrete, strips of plastic piping, bicycle tires and other litter cover the shore. The stench of human waste fills the air. If the scene is not cautionary enough, a sign warns: "Danger! Do not enter or drink the water."
"This is the end of the Jordan River as far as clean water is concerned," Gidon Bromberg, head of the Tel Aviv office of Friends of the Earth Middle East, said as he walked around the site. "From here down to the Dead Sea, the Jordan River has been turned into a sewage canal, little more."
The level of the Dead Sea is receding due to springs and tributaries to the Jordan, being dammed up or diverted for drinking water and crop irrigation by Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The Jordan River now delivers about 20 percent less water to the Dead Sea, and as much as half of that is raw sewage.
The article goes on to say "As the level of the Dead Sea falls, it affects everything around it. Underground pools of fresh water are retreating, which pulls water away from plants in major wildlife areas bordering the Dead Sea. The earth is also collapsing into giant sinkholes causing the closure of an army camp and trailor park. As the shoreline shifts, rain runoff digs deep gorges in the newly exposed landscape and wipes out roads and other infrastructure in its path."
The Dead Sea is receding because the Jordan River is dead. "The irony is that today the Jordan is being kept alive by sewage," Bromberg said.
In 1996 I swam the Dead Sea, and was baptized in the Jordan River. At that time I wondered why the baptismal site was in the northern part of the Jordan, just below the Sea of Galilee - when the accepted area of John the Baptist's work and all the great events of the Bible were much further south, a few miles from the Dead Sea. Now from this newspaper article, I can see why.
I don’t know what the dimensions are today, but in 1985, the Dead Sea (also known as the Salt Sea, and the Arabah Sea) was about 48 miles long and eleven miles at its widest point. Other than the Bible, it is best known today as being the lowest point on earth (1200 feet below the level of the Mediterranean) and for being the saltiest and most mineral filled body of water in the world.
With all the world’s problems, the pollution of the Jordan River would be way down on the list. But still, it is the place where Jesus was baptized and the place where John the Baptist preached. Where Joshua, Elijah and Elisha miraculously parted the waters and crossed over. Where Elijah was taken to heaven in a flaming chariot. Where the twelve tribes and the Ark of the Covenant crossed into the land of Milk and Honey.
One would think that somehow with today’s technology, there would be a solution, to the pollution of the most famous river in the world.
I know with the rise of population in Israel from 600,000 in 1935 to about 6,000,000 today, and with more than one country contributing to the pollution of the Jordan, there is no easy fix.
However, whatever the fates are for the Jordan River and the Dead Sea today while under the control of us humans, we do know they will be cleaned up and unpolluted by God Himself in the future, as stated in Ezek. 47:8-9: "He said to me, 'This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and when it enters the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be many fish."
By George Konig
May 29, 2005
www.georgekonig.org
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