Nothing has changed about the way the wealthy think, and you have to feel sorry for them. 😀 They still think they are great and that You see them as righteous, and that the poor are poor because they don’t deserve anything.
The King’s Highway Now standing as highway 65, the King’s Highway stretches 208 miles (335 km) from the capital city of Amman to the southern region of Aqaba.
What has now become a simple route was once an important connection between cities and sea.
The journey is lined with ancient towns representing Jordan’s historical timeline.
The Route Starting from Amman and heading south, set aside a couple of days to make a series of stops.
The route has ample hotels and restaurants so you will have more than enough opportunities to stay comfortable.
Madaba As a first stop, take a detour away from the highway and head towards the town of Madaba.
Recognized for its recovered mosaics, the town’s first necessary stop is the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George.
The floor of the church holds a large mosaic map dating back from the 6th century.
Should you not have gotten your mosaic fill, head over to the Archaeological Museum where many of the town’s mosaics are now preserved.
Most of the images were found throughout the town at people’s homes and churches.
Shobak For your next stop, get off the highway to enjoy the view of the Shobak Castle.
The 12th century relic stands 4,265 feet (1,300 m) above sea level. It was protected by Saladin’s attacks for many years before finally falling into enemy hands in 1189.
The ruins of the castle can be explored freely by visitors.
Though the outer structure maintains its form, the interior portion has faded greatly over time. Some walls still stand but much of the castle has been reduced to rubble.
Petra Jordan’s most famous sight, Petra, makes a great final pit-stop for your road trip along the King’s Highway.
Take a slight detour to arrive in the ancient. town, throw on a good pair of walking shoes, and make your way into the shade of the desert hills.
The cave city is most notable for its intricately designed dwellings carved into the rock face. The image most closely related to Petra is that of the Treasury. Continue along the path to witness sites such as the Monastery or the Palace Tomb.
These types of people obviously 1 have not heard what You, Your prophets, or Your disciples had to say about that, or if they did they just disagree with that.
“But Job answered and said,
Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?”(Job 21:1-4).
Consolations – Job will be comforted if Zophar will hear him out (contrast v 34 – conform ye me in vain.
Is my complain to man? – No, says Job, I’m complaining to God because He’s responsible for my condition – at least Job perceives it that way.
And if it were so…spirit be troubled? – Since my complaint is not with man but God, do I not have a reason to be impatient?
“Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?” (Job 21:5-15)
Amman is the capital and largest city of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan with a population of more than four million. Amman forms a great base for exploring not just Jordan, but the wider region as well and does, despite popular belief, offer much that is of interest to the traveler. The city is generally reasonably well-organized, enjoys great weather for much of the year and the people are very friendly.
Although Amman can be difficult to penetrate at first sight, the city holds many surprises for the visitor. Visit Amman’s Roman Amphitheatre, its many art galleries or the newly opened Jordan Museum, while an afternoon away on a chic cafe terrace, take a course in the University of Jordan or stay in luxurious hotels and dine on the region’s varied and delicious cuisine. Modern shopping malls are increasingly abundant in Jordan but open air souqs are what many travellers will remember most.
Amman is experiencing a massive (some would say: reckless) change from a quiet sleepy village to a bustling metropolis, some of whose neighborhoods seem hell-bent on wanting to imitate Dubai. Amman’s roads have a reputation of being very steep and narrow in some of parts of the city but the city has state of the art highways and paved avenues.
The steep terrain and heavy traffic remains challenging for pedestrians and for the rare cyclist. New resorts and hotels dot the city and there are many things for the traveller to see and do in and around Amman.
Understand A hilly city built of white stone, Amman’s growth has skyrocketed since it was made the capital of Trans-Jordan in the early 1920s, but especially after the 1948 and 1967 wars with Israel when hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees settled in Amman. Another wave arrived after the second Iraq war, with Iraqi refugees forming the majority of newcomers. As of 2011, large numbers of Syrians have made Amman their home.
Its history, however, goes back many millennia. The settlement mentioned in the Bible as Rabbath Ammon was the capital of the Ammonites, which later fell to the Assyrians. It was dominated briefly by the Nabataeans before it became a great Roman trade centre and was renamed Philadelphia. After the Islamic conquests, Amman became part of the Muslim empire and experienced a slow decline, until the Ottomans were forced out by the Allies, with the help of the Hashemites, who formed a monarchy that continues to rule until the present.
Today, West Amman is a lively, modern city. The eastern part of the city, where the majority of Amman’s residents live, is predominantly the residential area of the working class and is much older than the west. While possessing few sites itself, Amman makes a comfortable base from which to explore the northwestern parts of the country.
Many Jordanians understand English to some level, particularly the middle classes of West Amman and those people working in the tourism industry. Charmingly, the most commonly known English phrase seems to be “Welcome to Jordan”.
The only non-Arabic language used in signposting is English, and you will find “Tourist Police” near the major monuments. It is always good to know a few useful phrases and to come prepared with a translation book, or to have the names and addresses of places you are going written in Arabic for use with a taxi driver.
Job’s counselors have elaborated on the fate of the wicked (vs 8:11-19; 15:20-35; 18:15-21; Ch 20), but Job insists that experience shows just the reverse of what his friends have said.
The wicked, who want to know nothing of God’s ways and who even consider prayer a useless exercise(vs 14-15), flourish in all they do.
Far from dying prematurely, as Zophar assumed concerning them(v 20:11), they live long and increase in power(v. 7). Bildad’s claim that the wicked have no offspring or descendants (v 18:19) Job flatly denies(vs 8, 11).
“Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me” (Job 21:16).
Job disavows the unholy counsel of the wicked and knows that God is in control (see v. 17), but such knowledge makes God all the more of an enigma to him.
“How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty”(Job 21:17-20).
He rewardedth him, and he shall know it – What Job desires for the wicked is that they, not their children, receive the punishment of their sins.
“For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he Judgeth those that are high” (Job 21:21-22).
Shall any teach God – See Is 40:14. On the contrary, God is the one who does the teaching (see 35:11; 36:22; Chs 38-41).
“One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
The city of Madaba is the capital of Madaba Governorate
Madaba is one of the governorates of Jordan, it is located south west of Amman, capital of Jordan.
Its capital is Madaba. The governorate is ranked eighth (from 12 governorates) by population and by area in Jordan.
It is bordered by Balqa Governorate from the north, The Capital Governorate from the east, and Karak Governorate from the south, and the Dead Sea from the west.
His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens” (Job 21:23-29).
Job anticipates his friends saying that wicked people don’t prosper. But Job asks if his friends have ever listened to the tokens (eyewitness accounts) of travelers them that go by the way) that attest to the wicked thriving.
“That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?” (Job 21:30-34).
1 “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in Judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor; nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou Judge thy neighbor” (Lev 19:15).
“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them” (1 Sam 2:8).
These are Jesus’ beatitudes:
“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set his disciples came unto him:
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
Shobak Castle Part of the great beacon chain of Crusader fortresses,
Shobak Castle is by far the most lonely. Built in 1115 A.D. by Baldwin I, who later built Karak, it was originally known as Mont Realis (Montreal) and was the first outpost of the kingdom of Jerusalem in the Crusader district of Outrejordain.
Situated on an isolated knoll overlooking the trade routes that ran through the wadi below, Shobak is breathtaking.
The original entrance to Shobak Castle was through a dog-legged triple gate.
Above this is the Crusader Church, with strategic views of the old village.
There are several wells found within the castle walls, although the main water source was the spring at the foot of the hill.
One of the treasures of this site is secret passage of over 350 steps that goes down to the spring, ensuring that during times of siege, the castle would have access to adequate supplies of fresh water.
Baldwin I’s court, a large room with antechambers running around it, has been partially reconstructed.
Other rooms hold olive presses and a second church.
It is still possible to see the cisterns, baths and pipes for harvesting rainwater.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
St. George’s Church Hewn out of solid rock, the extraordinary church of St. George (Bet Giorgis), Ethiopia, represents one of the wonders of the ancient world.
Dating from the late 12th or early 13th century A.D., the construction of the church is ascribed to King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, one of the last kings of the Zagwe dynasty.
It is located near town of Lalibela, which is situated roughly 640 km north of the country’s capital, Addis Ababa.
This town contains a remarkable collection of monolithic, rock-cut churches.
Eleven in total, these buildings were erected in and around the year 1200 and are a testament to the skills of Ethiopia’s medieval stone masons.
The church of St. George stands proud in a 25m by 25m wide pit that is carved out of solid volcanic rock.
The construction of the church involved excavating a free-standing block of stone out of the bed-rock and then removing all the waste material from around it.
The stone masons then carefully chiseled away the church outline, shaping both the exterior and interior of the building as they went.
They fashioned a simple yet exceptionally beautiful cruciform structure approximately 12 m high.
The church contains three west-facing doorways, nine ‘blind’ lower level windows and twelve upper-row windows.
A number of the windows are embellished with carved semi-palette cross motifs, while the roof of the structure contains a sequence of Greek crosses in relief, one inside the other.
The church grounds are accessed via a descending trench and tunnel, which allow access to a sunken courtyard surrounding the building.
This contains a small baptismal pool, while its vertical walls have a number of caves that are used as basic housing for priests and as burial tombs.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matt 5:1-12).
Didn’t hear anything about the wealthy or powerful. This does not mean the wealthy will be condemned, nor does it mean that the poor won’t be condemned. Condemnation is weighed by each person’s faith in Jesus Christ. Wealth and power does not impress God because there is no one more powerful than Him.
God doesn’t want anyone to be poor, and it is up to Him whether you have wealth or not. That doesn’t mean that wealthy people are with God, because Satan can also give you wealth in his evil ways.
“For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become Judges of evil thoughts?” (Jas 2:2-4)
“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue the out of my mouth.
Ruins of an Ammonite tower in Rujm Al-Malfouf in Amman. Rabbah – (Rab’bath, great.) (1.) “Rabbath of the children of Ammon,” the chief city and capital of the Ammonites, among the eastern hills, some 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the southern of the two streams which united with the Jabbok.
Here the bedstead (translated as “sarcophagus” in NIV Archaeological Study Bible) of Og was preserved (Deut. 3:11), perhaps as a trophy of some victory gained by the Ammonites over the king of Bashan.
After David had subdued all their allies in a great war, he sent Joab with a strong force to take their city.
For two years it held out against its assailants.
It was while his army was engaged in this protracted siege that David was guilty of that deed of shame which left a blot on his character and cast a gloom over the rest of his life.
At length, having taken the “royal city” (or the “city of waters,” 2 Sam. 12:27, i.e., the lower city on the river, as distinguished from the citadel), Joab sent for David to direct the final assault (11:1; 12:26-31).
The city was given up to plunder, and the people were put to death, and “thus did he with all the cities of the children of Ammon.”
The destruction of Rabbath was the last of David’s conquests. The crown of the king of Rabbah became David’s crown.
His kingdom now reached its farthest limits (2 Sam. 8:1-15; 1 Chr. 18:1-15).
The capture of this city is referred to in Amos (1:14), Jer (49:2, 3), and Eze (21:20; 25:5).
(2.) A city in the hill country of Judah (Josh. 15:60), possibly the ruin Rubba, six miles north-east of Beit-Jibrin.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked:
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev 3:16-19).
“But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day” (Deut 8:18).
Rabbah
Rabbah, the Ammonite capital, situated along the King’s Highway at the desert’s edge, controlled north-south commerce in ancient times. Its plentiful water supply, fertile surroundings and defensible position afforded the city security, and a thriving caravan trade maintained its prosperity.
Artifacts excavated from tombs demonstrate contact with Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Phoenicia, Midian and Babylon from the Middle Bronze Age to the 5th century B.C.
A crematorium (or possibly a temple) discovered on the current site of the Amman airport suggests the presence of Hittites there during the 14th to 15th centuries B.C.
The iron bed of Og of Bashan was located at Rabbah (Deut 3:11). Centuries later David conquered the city after its king had humiliated his ambassadors (1 Chr 19-20), and it was during the siege of Rabbah that he arranged to have Uriah the Hittite killed in battle (2 Sam 11).
David literally took the crown of the Ammonite king (thereby figuratively subduing him) and consigned the inhabitants to forced labor. Archaeological evidence of defensive wall reconstruction in the tenth century B.C. may be attributed to David’s campaign.
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma’an that is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system.
Another name for Petra is the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved.
Established possibly as early as 312 B.C. as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan’s most-visited tourist attraction.
It lies on the slope of Jebel al-Madhbah (identified by some as the biblical Mount Hor) in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.
Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.
The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
It was described as “a rose-red city half as old as time” in a Newdigate Prize-winning poem by John William Burgon.
UNESCO has described it as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage”.
After the fall of Israel (722 B.C.), Ammonites annexed Gilead (the region where Rabbah was located). The site prospered, as evidenced by a 7th century B.C. residence excavated in the center of Amman.
It included four rooms, a courtyard and numerous costly artifacts. Recently discovered inscriptions and seals specify the names of 11 Ammonite kings from 1000 to 581 B.C., when Rabbah was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon.
Though uninhabited during the Persian period, the city was restored and. renamed Philadelphia during the Hellenistic period. It then became one of the cities of the Decapolis under the Romans.
Nothing has changed about the way the wealthy think, and you have to feel sorry for them. 😀 They still think they are great and that You see them as righteous, and that the poor are poor because they don’t deserve anything. 
