Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
History shows us that often when people are experiencing a good time of peace and prosperity adversaries view them as vulnerable and sometimes plan attacks. You may recall the October 7th vicious Hamas attack on peaceful Kibbutz villages near the Gaza in southern Israel, occurred on a significant Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, and one of the key points of attack was a music festival with Jewish people celebrating their heritage and freedoms. Exactly 50 years before, on that same Jewish holiday in 1973, military forces from Egypt and Syria attacked Israel from the south and east as the Jewish people were celebrating Yom Kippur nationwide. Come with me back to Jerusalem in about 701bc and we’ll witness a similar event.
For 14 years King Hezekiah had been leading the people of Jerusalem and the southern kingdom of Judah in spiritual revival and nation wide renewal as the people of Israel, especially the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. The re-opened Temple was flourishing and there was wonderful peace and prosperity all across Judah, while the northern kingdom of Israel was still wallowing in the devastation caused by the invading Assyrian forces 20 years before.
Suddenly in 701bc word came to King Hezekiah that a new generation of Assyrians were on the march again, this time with Jerusalem as their intended target. The record of 2 Chronicles 32:1 says: “After all that King Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer Judah for himself. When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to wage war against Jerusalem, Hezekiah consulted with his officials and military staff…”
Please remember my friends that Jerusalem and the City of David at that time were not very large. Certainly nothing like the great city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. Jerusalem was a peaceful city on a hill, Mount Moriah, surrounded by other hills like the Mount of Olives on the east. Jerusalem had one main freshwater source, the Gihon spring, down at the base of the City of David in the Kidron Valley. As in other towns, that spring was a place of gathering for the people of Jerusalem as they came each day to fetch the water they needed for their homes and animals. King Hezekiah and his officials made a very strategic decision regarding that spring which even today can still be visited if you tour Jerusalem.
It’s one of the great engineering feats of all time. What is called “Hezekiah’s Tunnel” captured the water from the Gihon spring, and flowed it 1700ft through a tunnel, chiseled out of solid rock, in some places more than 100 feet underground!
In this project, overseen by King Hezekiah, these Israeli stonecutters did something that even today, 2725 years later still amazes modern engineers. These workmen did not tunnel from the spring in only one direction as would be normal. No, in part because they had such little time since the Assyrian army was on the march, these Jewish engineers began to chisel this tunnel at the spring outside the City of David; and then determined where the tunnel would end up inside the City of David, and constructed a pool there, and then began tunneling back toward the spring! But they did NOT go in a straight line! The tunnel winds around while at the same time having a constant descent so the water would flow once the two rock chiseling teams met in the middle! Today, visitors are able to walk through this very tunnel, wading in the water which still flows from the Gihon Spring and empties into the Pool of Siloam! It is nothing short of miraculous! Here’s a diagram of the tunnel:
Tunnel map from: https://www.
In addition to this remarkable engineering and construction feat of the water tunnel, King Hezekiah and his officials also mobilized the people of Jerusalem to reinforce the existing city wall and actually build a second wall. The record says: “They worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the city wall and building towers on the wall. They built another wall outside that wall and reinforced the terraces of the City of David. King Hezekiah also made large numbers of weapons and shields.” (2 Chronicles 32:5) Do you see what’s happening here my friends? Is it a good strategic plan for defending ourselves or our families, our cities and even our nation against those aggressors who would do us harm?
First Hezekiah focused on SPIRITUAL revitalization and renewal, remember we looked at that in 2 Chronicles 29:16-19 as they reopened and cleansed the Temple. Then secondly Hezekiah led the people in revitalizing WORSHIP of Almighty God. (2 Chronicles 29:28,29) Then King Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel inviting the people to celebrate the Passover Festival together in Jerusalem, at the Temple and it lasted two week! (2 Chronicles 30) Then a great cleansing of the region took place as the people destroyed the idols and altars dedicated to false gods. (2 Chronicles 31:1) And finally all the people settled into the lifestyle, which God had ordained for His people, as they brought their tithes and offerings so the Levites and priests could dedicate themselves full time to caring for the spiritual vitality of the people who came to Jerusalem and the Temple. (2 Chron. 31)
As God poured out His blessings on the people and the land, wicked adversaries took note and rallied their forces to attack and God gave Hezekiah great wisdom in leading His people in preparing to defend themselves, their city and the Temple of God! (2 Chron. 32:1-8)
As they worked hard on chiseling a water tunnel and building the walls and preparing to defend themselves, King Hezekiah called them all together to give them a word of encouragement from God. The record says: “Hezekiah assembled the people and encouraged them with these words: Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of the flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.’ And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah, king of Judah said!” (2 Chronicles 32:7,8)
That, my friends, is a beautiful example of how we should lead the defense of our families if we are God’s people, do you agree? Do you remember the apostle John wrote something very similar to Christians in the first century? “…greater is HE that is in you than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Now we need to pause and really embrace that great truth, which speaks of the Holy Spirit of God alive and vibrant in God’s people! As always, here’s a song for worship and I’ll meet you here again tomorrow as something very significant was brewing in Jerusalem.
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 32:1-8.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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