Gihon Spring and Hezekiah's Tunnel

In the previous post we looked at the Gihon spring on the lower east side of Jerusalem and the shaft used by ancient residents to access the water. During Solomon’s reign another passage, the Siloam channel, was excavated channeling Gihon water to the south of the city, but still outside the city walls.

Three centuries after Solomon, Jerusalem found itself in dire straights. The Assyrians who had already defeated the northern kingdom were threatening the cities of Judah. King Hezekiah (715-687 BCE) understood that without a secure water source, Jerusalem could not withstand a long siege.


The Chronicler says that when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib intended to make war on Jerusalem, “he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city. … A large force of men assembled, and they blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?" (2 Chronicles 32:3-4)

So in 702 BCE Hezekiah’s engineers sealed the cave from which the waters of the Gihon flow, so invaders could not access either the waters or the tunnel into the city. They also dug a new 533 meter long S-shaped tunnel to divert the water under the city into a pool they constructed at the south end in the lower city.

Hezekiah was an activist. He proved his faith by his works, and his engineering initiatives helped save Jerusalem during Sennacherib’s siege of the city. His entrepreneurship beautifully illustrates the necessary partnership between nature and human development. Nature provides springs, but engineers must cut tunnels and build infrastructure to move water to where it is needed. Every city, no matter how blessed it is with natural resources, needs both God’s provision and human ingenuity working side-by-side. This partnership shows up in many areas of life where natural gifts must be supplemented by human initiative.

But there’s more to this story – and we’ll look into that further in the next post.

Prayer:
God of ground-water, engineering and science, thank you for your lavish provision of water for our planet and for the consistent laws of nature which enable us to access it safely and sometimes easily. Forgive us for forgetting to receive it as a gift with gratitude, for failing to manage it with wisdom and moderation for ourselves, our neighbors and those who will inherit the planet and its water after us. Remind us that what we do for You, we also do for them, and what we do for them, we also do for You. Amen.

Image Sources:
Map - LDS Seminary
Tunnel - BiblePlaces(dot)Com
Fresh Water - World Vision