Monuments & Moments – Day 7 – Hezekiah’s Tunnel

Finding Hope in Dark Places

Today was one of the most exciting days in Jerusalem and the Old City of David. We got a chance to travel in a tunnel located underneath the city that ran about 533m (1,748 ft) long and had about 5 inches of water flowing through it. We laughed and screamed and sang songs as we used our cell phone lights to see in this amazing tunnel.This was dug in the days of Hezekiah 2,800 years ago, but what makes it really special is how they made it. Hezekiah’s people dug this with a team on one end of the city and a second team on the other end, digging for several months. Using only hand tools, they dug a tunnel curving back and forth through pure rock underneath a mountain, and some how they met in the middle! How did they find each other? Can you imagine being underneath the earth digging day and night, with hammer and chisel, hoping finding each other? If this wasn’t hard enough, the incline of the tunnel had to be perfect in order to keep the water flowing. This is mind blowing! To this day, it is considered one of the worlds greatest mysteries of architecture.

"The rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the [Siloam] pool and the aqueduct and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?" 2 Kings 20:20 AMP

"This same Hezekiah also stopped up the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and channeled them down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything that he did." 2 Chronicles 32:30 AMP

Hezekiah’s tunnel is very important because it provided water for Jerusalem to protect Israel from the siege of an invading army. Hezekiah commissioned this tunnel to move water from the spring outside of the fortified walls into a pool in the heart of the city. This was a true miracle, and the Bible says God supernaturally helped defeat the enemies of Israel in the battle.

The tunnel represents a path of hope, bringing water to God’s people.

There’s another decision Hezekiah made that still affects God’s people today. King Hezekiah made a law that you could not sacrifice anywhere but in the Temple. The Temple was rebuilt in Jesus’ day, and Jews came from all over to make sacrificial offerings of animals for their sins. Jesus accurately predicted the fall of the temple; it was destroyed three decades after Jesus lived, and has been in ruins for the last 2000 years. Because of Hezekiah’s law, there has been no sacrifice in the temple since 70 AD.

Mankind has been separated from God and Jesus provided a way (a “path” or a “tunnel”) to God. How?

Jesus is known as our offering of sacrifice for our sins. This is a once-and-for all sacrifice and is offered for all of mankind. To add to this thought, the Bible describes us as the Temple of the Lord.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 AMP

In other words, Jesus provided forgiveness for sins through a sacrifice of Himself, and He can reside in us because we are the temple of the Lord. We no longer need a physical temple or a new sacrifice; if you are trapped on the other side of the world in a prison, or live in the skyscraper in Chicago, you can receive the sacrifice of sin. All who call upon the Lord are saved! If Hezekiah would not have stopped all sacrifices outside of the temple, Jews would still be doing that all over the world.

The perfect timing of this is undeniable. The Romans destroyed the temple shortly after Jesus. It has never been rebuilt, so there is no way to sacrifice. Jesus has provided a sacrifice that will last for all of eternity, forgiving sins past, present, and future.

The building of the tunnel of Hezekiah was improbable, but with God’s help, it was possible and saved Israel. In the same way, Jesus dug a tunnel through impossible odds to reunite us with God the Father and save all of mankind. There is nothing separating you from Him now. Jesus is Living Water, so if you are dry or burnt out or loosing energy, drink deeply from this well.

Question:

Do you ever feel dry or empty?

Prayer:

(Prayer template from day 5: Worship, Confess, listen, Declare)

Lord I declare that I will drink deep from your waters. I love you and thank you for dying for my sins. Amen

Bottom line:

Jesus saved us by dying for our sins.