City of David and Hezekiah's Tunnel!!

The sixth of February we went on our field trip to the City of David and Hezekiah’s Tunnel. It was a chilly day, and we had to leave the Center at 7:30 in the morning, but we made the 15 minute walk to the oldest part of the city in good spirits. When we arrived we sat through an informational video. Most of the “informational videos” we watch at these sites are really corny and seem outdated. This video, however, was great. It was in 3D (and good 3D, at that… not the silly red and blue glasses kind), and pretty exciting.

On our way to City of David (quick note: I didn't bring my camera on this field trip, for fear of it falling into  the water, so all pictures are stolen from Huntsy (aka, Papa Hunts, aka Dr. Huntsman)

After the video we were pretty psyched for seeing the city. We walked through the remains of the City of David, which have been taken care of fairly well. They were more extensive than I thought they would be. They looked pretty similar to the multitude of other ruins we see on a regular basis, but a few of the places we saw were places that Christ actually would have walked. The added significance definitely brought these a notch above the regular rocks. :)

Our OT class, with part of the City of David in the background

After the ruins, we proceeded to Hezekiah’s Tunnel. The tunnel is about 1750 feet long, and at sometimes only three feet or so wide. There’s anywhere from six inches to two and a half feet or so of water running through it at all times as well. Being a cold day (for here, at least…) we weren’t particularly looking forward to drenching ourselves in water. However, once we got in, we found it to be way more fun than we were expecting. We pushed thoughts of flash floods out of our minds, and wandered through the channel, which was manmade in under Hezekiah's rein, around 700 BC. It's mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20: "And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"

 For the first five minutes everyone had their headlamps on and flashlights out, but one by one, we all extinguished our lights in favor of complete and utter black. This prompted a lot of sudden grabbing of arms, and subsequent screaming, which added to the creepy ambiance. Of course there was also plenty of bumping into the person in front of you, uttering apologies, and then going slow with your arms stretched ahead of you to avoid the problem, only to realize you’re now 20 feet behind them. In any case, it was quite the thrill, and we all had a great time. By the end, with our pants soaked three-quarters of the way up our legs, we didn’t even realize we were cold.

After coming out of Hezekiah's tunnel--notice how soaked (and yet how happy) we all are.

Sitting on the steps by the pool of Siloam

We finished off the day at the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus sent the blind man to be healed in John 9. This is one of the few places where we can actually say, “I walked where Jesus walked.” A lot of the city of Jerusalem is built up ten or fifteen feet from where it would have been two thousand years ago, so though we’re walking “close to” or “directly above” where Jesus walked, it’s not quite as effective as sitting on some steps, singing hymns, knowing that Jesus had sat where you were. It’s mind-blowing, actually. Sometimes I think it’s hard to realize that Jesus was, at one time, a man. Or at least for me it is. We read stories about Him countless times, sing songs praising Him, and pray in His name. But to take time to actually picture Him, walking around, just like you or I—that’s a powerful image. He’s not just some idealized character. These stories took place, on Earth. They really happened. He really came. And thank God for that.