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Israel Study Tour with Orchard Hill Reformed Church
July 14-25, 2019
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We are living stones
This mornings devotional featured David’s words from Psalm 91 that tell us that God is our fortress and our strength. This seemed fitting to remember as we were going through many man-made structures in the City of David and Jerusalem, that while they once were magnificent structures they have now since crumbled to be the ruins that we are walking through today. This verse also reminds us that God is someone we can trust, which encouraged many of us as we went through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. In this tunnel we walked in the dark with flashlights being our only source of light, in spaces that were hardly any bigger than the width and height of our bodies, meaning we had to duck and squeeze between the rocky surfaces. For many of us this was out of our comfort zones and was quite scary, meaning we had to put full trust in God that he would be with us in our time of fear and uncertainty.
Hezekiah's Tunnel
A 1750-foot (530m) tunnel carved during the reign of Hezekiah to bring water from one side of the city to the other, Hezekiah’s Tunnel together with the 6th c. tunnel of Euphalios in Greece are considered the greatest works of water engineering technology in the pre-Classical period. Had it followed a straight line, the length would have been 1070 ft (335m) or 40% shorter.
As we walked out of the tunnel we were able to sit next to the Pool of Siloam. Since Siloam means “sent” we took some time to meditate on the idea of us being sent out to follow the One who was sent before us and to be lights to the world that minister to others. Our next stop was to the Cardo or “Main Street” of Jerusalem that would’ve been where the marketplace and shops were located when Jesus was walking the streets of Jerusalem. From here we walked around to the Southern Steps, also known as the “teaching steps” as this would’ve been the location that Jesus often taught.
Southern Steps
An enormous flight of steps leads to the Southern Wall from the south. They were excavated after 1967 by archaeologist Benjamin Mazar and are the northernmost extension of the Jerusalem pilgrim road leading from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount via the Double Gate and the Triple Gate, collectively called the Huldah Gates. These are the steps that Jesus of Nazareth[2][3] and other Jews of his era walked up to approach the Temple, especially on the great pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. [2] The stairs that lead to the double gate are intact and "well-preserved."[4] The steps that lead to the triple gate were mostly destroyed.[4] / The risers are low, a mere 7 to 10 inches high, and each step is 12 to 35 inches deep, forcing the ascending pilgrims to walk with a stately, deliberate tread.[2] The pilgrims entered the temple precincts through the double and triple gates still visible in the Southern Wall.[5][2] Together, the double and triple gates are known as the Hulda Gates, after the prophetess Huldah.[2]
Here it was great to reflect and be reminded of who we are as our tour is starting to come to a close, that we are living stones built around Christ the Cornerstone sent to bring his name to others. Our final stop of the day was at the Holocaust museum which was full of some heavy history and emotion as we learned more about and remembered this horrible event. Overall it was another busy and wonderful day in Jerusalem!
Written by Ashley Boersma
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