Madaba and Mt. Nebo

A view from inside the Basilica of St. George, with the mosaic on the floor

Okay, I realize it's been a while since I posted here but there is a reason. Actually, a couple. First, work caught up with me; or rather, I am trying to catch up with it. Secondly, I got the bug my wife got during her long journey back to the U.S. She got it bad, I only had it for a day or two. So now I return to our fantastic journey to the Holy Land.

Upon arriving in Jordan we stayed at the Movenpick Hotel in Aqaba for dinner and overnight. In the morning we drove to Petra and I have already posted some of my pictures and comments from that experience. I would post more now but the truth is I can't find any of my Petra pictures. I have no idea what happened to them...

mosaic of Palestine with Jerusalem on the middle right and the Jordan River on the top left 

From Petra we went to Madaba and visited a Greek Orthodox Church, the Basilica of St. George, also

known as "the church of the map" because of a mosaic map of the 6th century Holy Land (or a portion of it that has been preserved) can still be seen on the floor of this church. The map contains one million pieces of colored stones representing hills and valleys, villages and towns in Palestine and the Nile Delta. The mosaic contains the earliest extant representation of Jerusalem, which is called "The Holy City." (The Greek writing saying this is right next to "The Mosaic..." above. Click on the picture to increase size. The words are "hagia" = holy; "polis" = city and a fragment of "Ieroysa..." = Jerusalem).

The map is unique because its orientation is an oblique perspective, angled, not parallel or perpendicular to your line of sight. It is rather unique because Jordan is east of Jerusalem, so the view is not what you would expect if you were viewing the site from Jordan. It's more of a western view looking from above.

details of Jerusalem, with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre right in the middle

This makes sense because it is during the time of the Byzantine Empire, which remained until Jerusalem fell to Muslim rulers in 638 A.D. Perhaps this also indicates where the artisans who created the map were originally from and that perhaps they were relying on a early map that had been made by or for Byzantine travelers.

Though the map shows the whole site, Jerusalem figures prominently and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine between 336-345 A.D., is centrally featured  Noticeably absent is the Dome of the Rock and the El-Aqsa Mosque, which had yet to be built.

mosaic portraying Jesus inside the church

From Madaba we went to Mt. Nebo and took in the view of the Promised Land which Moses would have seen before He was taken home by God. This is also the region of Biblical Moab, where Ruth, the ancestor of the Messiah, came from. I have written elsewhere here about this experience but I have to say again that this was a very unique experience. Pastor Bob reminded us of the grace of God and we reflected on how we mess up so many times and in worse way than Moses. We all went away with the thought of "how does He still choose to use me?" And as we walked back to the bus the sounds of "Amazing Grace" kept echoing in our hearts. 

naza looking at the beautiful flowers of the field

As we were finishing our experience at Mt. Nebo, my wife walked over to me with tears in her eyes, holding some Kleenex on her right hand. She wanted me to take a picture. But this was not an ordinary picture. She pointed me to the red flowers she saw in the fields. She wanted me to take her picture, showing the flowers in the background. She told me, "I told God I want to be like that, a beautiful flower that keeps blossoming for Him no matter what."

As we were coming down to the bus I also made a comment to Pastor Bob about the tragedy of missed opportunities. Thousands of people from different religious backgrounds visit this site every day -- Muslims, Jews, various groups of Christians, atheists, you name it. However, there is no pointing the the Gospel anywhere here in this holy site under the control of Franciscan Monks. Is Moses turning over in his grave, wherever that happens to be on that mountain? 

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade

itrindade@woostergrace.org

Scroll down to see more pictures of the kind of people who visit the Mt. Nebo Moses Memorial on a daily basis