Hezekiah’s tunnel, Pool of Siloam, Southern stairs to temple, Genesis Land, Archaeological dig, Wailing Wall

Hezekiah’s tunnel

This was another huge day! We began with a review of Hezekiah’s story found in 2 Kings. Hezekiah trusted in God. Despite having a father, Ahab, that sacrificed children to pagan gods, Hezekiah chose instead to believe in God. In 722 BC Assyrian empire is expanding, and takes out northern Israel. Their method was to capture people groups and then move them to a new place so they would be easier to control. The first time the Assyrians come to Jerusalem, Hezekiah pays tribute, but he knows that only buys time, so he begins to fortify walls and solidify the cities’ water supply by building a tunnel. Meanwhile the Assyrians have taken out all of the neighboring cities. When they return to Jerusalem, their leader gives a speech, basically saying- you depend on your God, you might as well surrender and choose life because if you don’t surrender you will die. So with 185,000 men surrounding the city, Hezekiah prays. (2 Kings 19:35) That night an angel killed the 185,000 soldiers.

The tunnel still has water running through it today. As we marched through, the opening varied in height and width, the water height varied as well from ankles to mid-thighs at it’s highest. We started out with flashlights but a little more than midway through we cut off the lights. In complete darkness we sang praises to God. I walked with one hand up to feel for the ceiling in case I needed to duck, and one hand forward to keep connection with the person in front of me. It occurred to me as I was walking, that this position parallels how I am to walk through life: blindly trusting with one hand up toward God and one hand reaching out to others.

Pool of Siloam

The tunnel emptied out into the pool of Siloam. Siloam means ‘to send’ and this place was known as the fountain of salvation. In John 9 you find the pool mentioned when Jesus put mud on a blind man’s eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. Since he was healed on the Sabbath, the Pharisees were upset and questioned both his parents and then the blind man. When questioned where Jesus is, the blind man responds, “Do you want to become a disciple too?” I can only imagine the sneer of those questioning him. He further added, “If this man was not from God he could do nothing.”

Southern Stairs to temple

Jesus walked and talked here. You could see the white washed tombs that he referred to in comparing the Pharisees. Josephus (early historian who recorded much of early Jewish history) said a million people would come here at Passover/Pentecost. Thousands would have been gathered in this area even as the disciples diligently waited on Jesus. Because of the proximate time of the Passover many of those present would have heard of his miracles, of his death and resurrection. In Acts 2 you read the birthplace of the church as Peter gives a message here, the holy spirit moves among the crowd and thousands are baptized.

Genesis Land

On the lighter side, it brought me much ‘sa-hem’ (joy) to ride a camel. The loading and unloading process combined with our camels continuous roar kept me giggling for a good 15- 20 minutes. It was of course the highlight of my pictures for all three daughters. Taylor Grace said- “You got to ride a camel? NO Fair.” If you have never heard a camel, which I never had, it is quite a loud guttural sound, there were 2 babies that were with our pack, and so the camels were quite vocal throughout our ride. Not a pretty animal, nor particularly fragrant, and to be honest not as comfortable as horseback, nonetheless looking at the size of their feet, you felt confident they would be surefooted, and it was our only option for transportation to the tent other than walking, and where’s the fun in that? As long as you lean back during the mounting and dismounting phase it’s all good.

We arrived at Abraham’s tent where they had prepared a delicious lunch for us. I had become accustomed to the ever-present hummus, grape tomatoes, and salad appetizers. I think I ate healthier while in Israel than I ever have. Abraham (by way of an actor from Australia) gave an abbreviated version of his story and explained that all of the food and herbs had been grown locally. One herb mentioned in particular was hyssop. He explained that hyssop enhanced the natural flavor of the food and was used in almost everything. I wonder how many of us enhance everything we are in…

Archaeological Dig

In 1999, 400 truckloads of dirt were dumped when the Muslims made a new entrance a courtyard near the dome of the rock. In 2005 a project was started that allowed this dirt to be sifted through: Utilizing a combination of volunteers (like us) and experts, they sift through this dirt recovering various items. Coins, weights used in the first temple period, rings, pottery shards, rings, mosaic stones, and many other historic artifacts have been recovered during this process. We were also given a brief lecture explaining the size and building of the first temple destroyed in 586 BC, the second temple destroyed in 70 AD and the current Dome of the rock built around 700 AD.

Western Wall

1 Kings 8:41-43, Solomon prays over the temple. I wasn’t sure what to expect at the western wall or if I would feel the significance. But after hearing Solomon’s prayer that God would hear our prayers, it reminded me again of the vastness of this story and the even bigger greatness of our God. I know God cannot be contained in one place but how amazing that He gives us touchstones: Places to draw near to Him, places that remind us to connect to Him. As I prayed over my husband, children and myself that we would grow in our love for God and know Him more, I became aware that millions of others have come to this very place to pray and connect to God.