Near the Plains of Moab

Our studies continue to be exciting and interesting. Today, we journeyed to the Dead Sea. Though we enjoyed a bit of swimming (floating, actually), the main point was to continue our reading of Ruth and other texts.

From our location near the Dead Sea, we were right across from Mount Nebo, the location referred to in Deuteronomy 34, which says:

“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”
And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.” (Deut 34:1-6 TNIV)

It was also on the Plains of Moab that the book of Deuteronomy was first presented to the people, prior to Moses' death on the opposite side of the Jordan. In the picture below, you can see a green(ish) peak, which is Mount Nebo. (It was pretty hazy, so it is hard to see clearly.) The Plains of Moab are in front of this peak, extending to the north (left). The crossing of the Jordan took place just north of where this picture was taken, near Jericho.



It was also on the שׂדי מוֹאב (Plains of Moab) that Elimelech, Naomi, Mahlon, and Kilion lived after leaving Bethlehem during a famine (Ruth 1). Ruth, a Moabite woman, married into this family and returned to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law after the men died. The rest, as they say, is history!

We also read the Mesha Stele, an inscription by a Moabite king describing his defeat of the Israelites in the time of the Israelite king Omri (9th century BC).

It is an amazing thing to read of these things while seeing where they took place. Experiencing the land gives an opportunity to better understand the text, and appreciate the realities of life for the people described in Scripture.