The City of David Field Trip was awesome! We began on a lookout where we could see how David’s Jerusalem would have looked, as well as later expansions in the times of Solomon and Hezekiah.
Jerusalem expands dramatically during time period of Hezekiah. From this lookout at the City of David we can see the area where these refugees settled. Lehi’s ancestors probably settled here.
“Asa...gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.”
“[During the time of Hezekiah]: “Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.”
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After the 3D movie, we went down to the wall that supports what was likely King David’s house.
Several clay seals have been found in and around this area, which, by the time of Jeremiah was an administrative area (later kings likely lived in and around Solomon’s palace). Normally these seals wouldn’t have been so interesting to me; however, having just read Jeremiah it was cool to see the connection between these seals and the names of people who were involved with Jeremiah.
Note that two of the people mentioned above were instrumental in putting Jeremiah in prison:
1 Then...Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah...said unto the king, “We beseech thee, let this man [Jeremiah] be put to death” (Jeremiah 1:1,4).
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We spent a few minutes reflecting on several scripture stories that would have happened in and around this area, such as 2 Samuel 11-12, 2 Kings 23-25, Jeremiah 36-39, and Nehemiah…Speaking of Nehemiah, that’s one of Lani’s favorite books, so we definitely needed a picture in front of what scholars have identified as a wall built by Nehemiah!
Lani and I standing next to Hezekiah's wall!
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This scripture connection is a bit tenuous in my view (because the name is not even an approximate match) but was a fun connection to make with a lesser known story. The picture above talks about a grave found nearby of a man who was buried with his maidservant. Whether or not the grave was of Shebna, it was fun to explore this lesser-known story from Isaiah 22:
15 Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,
16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
17 Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house.
19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.
Dr. Grey pointed out some interesting connections between Eliakim being given keys, become a “viceroy” so to speak, and Christ giving keys to Peter in Matthew 16.
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On to Hezekiah’s tunnel!
“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?” (2 Kings 20:20)
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Our last stop of the day was at the Pool of Siloam. Students here are setting on the steps leading down to the pool where the blind man was healed in John 9. Incredible to be at the actual site!
“And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam...He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”
Mural depicting what the pool of Siloam might have looked like in the time of Christ.
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