temptation, tunnels and tombs

Today I felt like Indiana Jones. Thanks girls, for singing the theme song. We spent time today in three locations. First, we went and saw Hezekiah's broad wall. I was amazed to see that the city didn't look anything like the city of Jesus' day. That has been very striking for me thus far. Each time period had a very different Jerusalem. In my mind I had always pictured the same place. But David's Jerusalem was incredibly different from Hezekiah's Jerusalem or Herod's Jerusalem.
The next place we went was the city of David. We walked along the southern wall to the Dung Gate (that's where all the sewage would run out because it's the lowest point). I found the time in David's City to be powerful as we read the story of David, Bathsheba and Uriah. It was easy to put yourself in David's shoes, looking down upon the city from where your palace would be. He would be able to see anyone. It was really awesome when our prof was authentic and spoke reality into the story.
Next was Hezekiah's Tunnel. This was a tunnel that was built in order to seal off Jerusalem's water source from the Assyrian Army. The water source was outside the walls, but it got sealed off and channeled into the city. This was a big engineering feat. They started one man at the spring and another from the city and they met halfway. It is amazing they even got close to each other. We walked through the tunnel in ankle deep water. It took quite a while to walk through - about 30 minutes. The whole time I was thinking about the work that it would take to create such a tunnel. A man with a pick axe and an oil lamp. That is hard work and dedication. It was also a stunning display of faith on Hezekiah's part to seek God and plan effectively for the protection of the city.

To end the day, we walked up the Kidron Valley. I was struck by the elevation change up to the city of David and the temple mount. When you are up top, it doesn't seem that far down, but when you are at the bottom, it is a very arduous task to get to the top. It also struck me that these battles with large numbers of soldiers would fit in this valley. It is stated that at least 185,000 soldiers were in the valley with Sennacherib when the Assyrians attacked Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:35). They would have spread farther than you can see. It would have been quite a sight. We also got to see some tombs and monuments that would have been present as Jesus crossed the valley. That was really cool. Large tombs, that I crawled inside of, really brought it home that I was here.