Today we walked to the Western Wall and observed the “Broad Wall”.  Hezekiah built this wall to defend it from Sennacherib who invaded Jerusalem and is described in 2 Chronicles 32:1-8.  This passage explains Hezekiah’s efforts to defend the city.  The wall was built through houses and this is also explained in Isaiah 22:10-11.  Today there is not much left of the wall but a woman by the name of Catherine Ceyon who excavated the wall believed that the Bible made up David’s kingdom. She never confessed that she was wrong, even until death and ultimately was proven wrong.  

The next place we stopped at was a museum near the “Broad Wall”.  Nearby were tombs located outside of the city and on the Mount of Olives.  The tombs were outside because the dead bodies were considered unclean.  The tombs that were found had inscriptions above them that would warn the potential thieves to not break in.  Because there was believed to be gold and silver inside, thieves often tried to break into the tombs. However, there was an inscription placed on the tomb that warned if it were broken into, there would be a curse placed on the invader.  Would that warning stop the thief?  No one knows at this point but it was a fair warning.  Later in the Byzantine Period, monks would use the tombs as houses.

            The next stop included David’s tomb, it is widely believed by most that David was buried here; however today there is some question as to where he was actually buried.

            The Upper Room was the next stop we visited.  This was the room where they believe was the Last Supper before Jesus’ crucifixion; we read the account in John 13.

            We then visited the three graves of some very important people to the Jewish nation.  The first was Oscar Schindler.  This brave man saved 960 Jews from the concentration camps in Germany.  The second was Flinders Petreie, he was best known for his work in the world of archeology.  He was the first to define a tel, or mounds, which consist of cities on top of cities. This was a critical find and accomplishment.  He was also the first to discover and encrypt the Mecca Steele in which a tribe boasts of defeating Israel.  The third man’s grave we visited and my favorite was Horatio Spafford.  This man wrote the amazing hymn, “It is Well with My Soul”.  This powerful hymn comes from a man who had just lost his job and two daughters. The words of this beautiful hymn, continues to be an encouragement and blessing to all to hear or sing it.   Behind these graves we looked upon the Hinem Valley.  This place served as a good defense mechanism because the valley was large.  At one point, there was a gate called the Potsherd Gate.  This gate was used for a time when Jerusalem had come under attack.  Jeremiah and the elders of the city were to break pots to warn the citizens in the gate. 

            The last place we stopped was Hezekiah’s Tunnel mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20.   It begins from Jerusalem’s only spring inside the city, Gihon Springs, and runs all the way to the Pool of Siloam.  King Hezekiah built this tunnel for the water to flow to the Pool of Siloam because at the time the Assyrians were invading Jerusalem.  Fearing that the stream would be tampered with by the enemy, he formed the tunnel.   Today, many people marvel at the way the tunnel was made.  It is said that people stood at opposite ends of the tunnel and completed the tunnel by following either a bead of water or shouting at each other.

            Last of all, The Pool of Siloam was a place where Jesus walked and even healed many.  We read in John 9 that Jesus healed a blind man here and was quizzed by the Pharisees.