THE SOURCES OF THE JORDAN.

finding their territory on the borders of Sharon too strait for them, sent spies northward, who reported that "the land was very good, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth." The Zidonian colonists, far from their mother city, were leading lives of luxury and licentiousness; "they dwelt carelessly, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land that might put them to shame in anything." The warlike Danites burst upon them, stormed their city of Laish, conquered the whole territory, and transferred the head-quarters of the tribe to their new home. The exquisite fertility and beauty of the country justifies the report of the spies. But, like Lot under a similar temptation, they seem to have succumbed to the evil influences around them, and to have sunk down into a condition of semi-heathenism from which they never emerged. The mounds of ruins which mark the site of the city show that it covered a considerable extent of ground. But there remains no record of any noble deed wrought by the degenerate tribe, and, as we have seen, their name disappears from the roll both of the natural and of the spiritual Israel.

The other main source of the Jordan rises at the town of Banias, about four miles from Tell-el-Kadi. At the foot of a limestone cliff is a large cave, formerly dedicated to the god Pan, from which the modern Arabic name of the town is derived. Several niches and dedicatory tablets, with Greek inscriptions, cut in the face of the rock yet remain. Masses of fallen rock and débris obstruct the entrance and bury the actual fountain-head. From beneath these a stream rushes forth in wonderful strength and volume. As at Tellel-Kadi, it is a river at its source. Only a few yards from the spot at which it emerges from its rocky birth-place, I plunged in, and found myself out of my depth, in a current so strong that it was difficult to swim against it. The torrent rushes on over a rocky bed fringed with oleanders, past the ruins of the ancient city, and soon is joined by its sister-stream from Tell-el-Kadi. The Hasbany then falls into it a few miles above Lake Hûleh. The united waters from this point take the familiar name of the Jordan, to pursue their impetuous course till they are lost amid the arid shores of the Dead Sea.

The situation of Banias is one of unusual beauty. Robinson speaks of it as "unique; combining in an unusual degree the elements of grandeur and beauty. It nestles in its recess at the southern base of the mighty Hermon, which towers in majesty to an elevation of seven thousand or eight thousand feet above; whilst the abundant waters of the glorious fountain spread over the terrace luxuriant fertility, and the graceful interchange of copse, lawn, and waving fields." All travellers are struck by the park-like character of the surrounding district. Trees of great size and beauty stand in clumps upon the green turf. Innumerable rivulets and waterfalls give vivacity to the scene, and justify the epithet of Dean Stanley, who calls it "a Syrian Tivoli." Massive remains of Roman fortifications give to the modern village an air of venerable dignity. The ruined castle of Es-Subeibeh, on the peak of

Hermon just above the town, is incomparably fine. Its situation, its extent, and the magnificent views which it commands over the fertile plains of the Upper Jordan on the one side, and the gorges of Hermon on the other, are perhaps unsurpassed in the world.

Banias does not appear in Scripture under its present name. Robinson

suggests that it is the "Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon," up to which the conquests of Joshua extended in this direction. For us its chief interest is found in the fact that it was the CESAREA PHILIPPI which formed the northern limit of our Lord's ministry, and the neighbourhood

1 Joshua xi, 17.

CESAREA PHILIPPI.

of which was the scene of His transfiguration. The monkish legend which placed it at Tabor is now universally abandoned. The secluded valleys and gorges which run from the very suburbs of the town amongst the spurs of Hermon afford a fitting theatre for this wonderful manifestation. It was in sight of the mighty mass of the venerable mountain that He proclaimed Himself to be the rock upon which His church should be built. Surrounded by the temples of Syrian, Greek, and Roman deities, with which the region was profaned, He declared that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. It was amongst these solemn solitudes that the voice was heard from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son: hear Him.”

There was deep significance in the time and place at which this manifestation of Divine glory was made. It was, as we have seen, the northern limit of His earthly ministry. It was, too, at the close of His last missionary journey. Henceforward His face was "steadfastly set to go up to Jerusalem," for "the time was come that He should be received up." He now commenced that pilgrimage southward of which the cross was the foreseen goal. Step by step along the road by which we have travelled He pressed onward, each step bringing Him nearer to "the decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem;" of which "Moses and Elias spake with him" as they “appeared in glory."3

The thoughts and feelings excited by a visit to Palestine, find apt expression in the words of two authors, widely separated from each other in time and in character. The first is a crusader, Sir John Mandeville, deeply imbued with the credulity and superstition of the Middle Ages. Writing more than five centuries ago, he says in the Prologue to his Voiage et Travaille': "Forasmuch as the land beyond the sea, that is to say, the Holy Land, which men call the land of promise or of behest, passing all other lands, is the most worthy land, most excellent, and lady and sovereign of all other lands, and is blessed and hallowed with the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; in which land it pleased him to take flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary, to environ that Holy Land with his blessed feet; and there he would, of his blessedness, shadow him in the said blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, and become man and work many miracles, and preach and teach the faith and the law of Christian men unto his children; and there it pleased him to suffer many reprovings and scorns for us; and he that was king of heaven, of air, of earth, of sea, and of all things that are contained in them, would only be called king of that land, when he said 'Rex sum Judeorum,' that is to say, I am king of the Jews; and that land he chose before all other lands, as the best and most worthy land, and the most virtuous land of all the world. See, now, how dearly he

1 Matthew xvi. 13-28; xvii. 1-13. Mark ix. 2-13. Luke ix. 28-36.

3 Luke ix. 31.

2 Luke ix. 51.

bought man, that he made after his own image, and how dearly he redeemed us for the great love that he had to us, and we never deserved it of him; for more precious goods or greater ransom might he not put for us, than his blessed body, his precious blood, and his holy life, which he enthralled for us; and he offered all for us, that never did sin. Oh! dear God! what love had he to us his subjects, when he that never trespassed, would for trespassers suffer death! Right well ought we to love and worship, to dread and serve such a Lord, and to worship and praise such a Holy Land, that brought forth such fruit, through which every man is saved, unless it be his own fault. Well may that land be called delectable and a fruitful land, that was made moist with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; which is the same land that our Lord promised us in heritage."1

The second is a writer living in our time and expressing the critical and sceptical tendency of modern thought-M. Renan. He says: The scientific mission, having for its object the exploration of ancient Phoenicia, which I directed in 1860 and 1861, led me to reside on the frontiers of Galilee, and to travel there frequently. I have traversed in all directions the country of the Gospels, I have visited Jerusalem, Hebron and Samaria; scarcely any important locality of the history of Jesus has escaped me. All this history, which at a distance seems to float in the clouds of an unreal world, thus took a form, a solidity which astonished me. The striking agreement of the texts with the places, the marvellous harmony of the gospel ideal with the country which served it as a framework, were like a revelation to me. I had before my eyes a fifth gospel, torn, but still legible, and henceforward, through the recitals of Matthew and Mark, in place of an abstract being, whose existence might have been doubted, I saw living and moving, an admirable human figure."

2

The superstitious crusader and the cold sceptical critic thus agree in attesting the influence exerted upon them by 'those holy fields.” The devotion of the one is kindled as he visits the earthly abode of the incarnate deity. The intellect of the other is convinced as he traces the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth. To many of the readers of this volume it may not be granted to gaze upon the spots hallowed by memories of patriarchs and prophets, and apostles, and of our Lord himself. But all may reach "the better country, that is, a heavenly," of which the earthly Canaan was but a type; all may share the vision and the blessedness of "the New Jerusalem," "the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

Early Travels in Palestine.' Edited by Wright, pp. 127–28. 2 The Life of Jesus,' by Renan, pp. 30, 31.