My regular readers will have noted by now that I have been away from my blog for quite a while - two weeks to be exact. For on October 30, my wife and I joined a group for a tour to Israel and Jordan. We enjoyed our trip, to be sure; but it is certainly good to be back here in beautiful east Tennessee.
I have been privileged to do a fair amount of traveling in my life. But at the end of the day, for sheer beauty, few places can compare to the part of the world in which we are blessed to live. One can drive up to the top of Chilhowie Mountain, and with the beautiful Great Smokey Mountains at his or her back, behold the awesome sight of the Tennessee River valley.
Or one can drive down to Chattanooga and climb Lookout Mountain where, from one spot, one can behold seven different states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Once one has viewed this gorgeous panorama, he or she will not soon forget it!
I have been privileged to do a fair amount of traveling in my life. But at the end of the day, for sheer beauty, few places can compare to the part of the world in which we are blessed to live. One can drive up to the top of Chilhowie Mountain, and with the beautiful Great Smokey Mountains at his or her back, behold the awesome sight of the Tennessee River valley.
Or one can drive down to Chattanooga and climb Lookout Mountain where, from one spot, one can behold seven different states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Once one has viewed this gorgeous panorama, he or she will not soon forget it!
While in Jordan, our group visited the top of Mt. Nebo. This was the place that Moses was taken before he passed on to Heaven in order to be allowed to view the entirety of the Land of Promise across the Jordan River.
While there, we stood on a spot where the whole panorama of the land of Canaan can be viewed. I took the following photos to give my readers the impression.
While there, we stood on a spot where the whole panorama of the land of Canaan can be viewed. I took the following photos to give my readers the impression.
Here one can see the Jordan River valley with Dead Sea to the left and the land of Canaan beyond. It is indeed a sight to behold!
This is the very view that Moses was allowed to behold before he died. No doubt it was quite a sight for him. For this faithful servant of God had labored for forty years to get the children of Israel out of Egypt and across the desert to this very spot. And even though he, himself, would not be allowed to enter the land, he died with complete assurance that the children of Israel would.
But Moses died with another assurance - that he would now be going to a far better place than even Canaan. Like Abraham, he looked for a city not built with the hands of men, but rather whose foundations had been laid by God Himself! For a man raised in the splendor of Egypt, he must have wondered just how marvelous a city built by God would be!
I am privileged to live in a beautiful part of this world. I have also been privileged to see the land of promise up close. But neither of these places can compare to that other place I will one day dwell! For, as the Bible puts it (in chapter 2, verse 9 of the Apostle Paul’s First New Testament Letter to the Corinthians):
“That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’”
Amen!
SOURCES:
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN SEVEN STATES PHOTOS SOURCE: http://www.seerockcity.com/gallery/entry/views.
MT. NEBO PHOTOS SOURCE: Taken by the author.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/2-9.htm.
This is the very view that Moses was allowed to behold before he died. No doubt it was quite a sight for him. For this faithful servant of God had labored for forty years to get the children of Israel out of Egypt and across the desert to this very spot. And even though he, himself, would not be allowed to enter the land, he died with complete assurance that the children of Israel would.
But Moses died with another assurance - that he would now be going to a far better place than even Canaan. Like Abraham, he looked for a city not built with the hands of men, but rather whose foundations had been laid by God Himself! For a man raised in the splendor of Egypt, he must have wondered just how marvelous a city built by God would be!
I am privileged to live in a beautiful part of this world. I have also been privileged to see the land of promise up close. But neither of these places can compare to that other place I will one day dwell! For, as the Bible puts it (in chapter 2, verse 9 of the Apostle Paul’s First New Testament Letter to the Corinthians):
“That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’”
Amen!
SOURCES:
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN SEVEN STATES PHOTOS SOURCE: http://www.seerockcity.com/gallery/entry/views.
MT. NEBO PHOTOS SOURCE: Taken by the author.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/2-9.htm.