Day 02 - Into the Wilderness : Petra, Wadi Rum

Our day began with breakfast at the beautiful Old Village Hotel in Wadi Musa. Wadi Musa is situated in the desert of southwest Jordan and, in ancient times, was the land of the Edomites.

The desert, as we talked about in our morning devotional, is a harsh, inhospitable, desolate place. And yet God so often uses desert terminology and imagery to reveal to us His heart and character. God protects and provides for His people in the desert. The desert teaches us about His love. It invites us to trust and depend upon Him.

We then drove just a few miles to Petra – architecturally one of the most magnificent sites in the world. This ancient desert city was carved into the soft sandstone of the region. The most recognizable of these buildings is, of course, the Treasury, made famous by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Petra was the capitol city of the Nabataeans – a once nomadic tribe from Arabia. The Nabataeans quickly attended vast economic and political power and Petra became a wealthy city.

Herod the Great’s mother, according to the first-century historical Josephus, was the daughter of a Nabataean noble.

As I was reflecting on our experience at Petra, it occurred to me that the Nabataeans were a people who sought to be their own source of protection and provision in the desert. And, for a time, they seemed to manage on their own. They built up an incredible city and accumulated incredible wealth. They garnered economic and political power.

But it didn’t last. The ruins we walked through were astonishing, yes, but they were ruins nonetheless.

The desert, where I most need God’s protection and provision can so often be the place where I put my trust elsewhere. But it won’t last. The kingdoms I build for myself will fall. It will eventually come to ruins.

Thank you God, not only for your protection and provision in the desert, but for your grace in the desert.

We then headed further south to Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but the people of Israel would have come through here or very near here on their journey towards the Promised Land.

We enjoyed a very dusty but very beautiful Jeep ride through the desert, climbed a sand dune, then found a spot to watch the spectacular sunset.

As we sat there, Randy continued teaching us about the desert.

We read the story of when three strangers came to visit Abraham “at the hottest part of the day” (Genesis 18:1-2). Abraham immediately invited them in and offered them extravagant hospitality.

The truth is that, while we need God’s provision and protection, we also need others – and they need us.

Biblical hospitality is about more than a social gathering, though relationship is certainly a necessary and beautiful part of hospitality. Biblical hospitality, rather, is about joining people in their desert, being a place of rest for them, finding a way to serve them.

How could we be that kind of a people? How could we join others in their deserts? What sort of a difference could we make if we did?

We ended our day with an amazing Bedouin dinner, conversation, music, and dancing (though some of us opted to watch rather than participate).

Tomorrow we leave Jordan behind and cross into Israel. It’s been a fantastic first couple of days.