Unique New York, Unique New York
I’m taking this class here called “Physical Settings of the Bible”. In this class, we do a lot of studying on the geography of the land and also we do a lot of field studies. During these field studies we actually go to the places where significant events took place in the Bible. For example, on Sunday we went to the Pool of Bethsaida (John 5:1-15), which was pretty amazing. I wish we could have spent more time there. It’s close to where I live so I’ll be able to go there again.

Also, on the same day, we went down to the City of David which is just south of the Old City. We saw some of the original city walls, watched this 3-D flick, walked through a cave, etc.

Then we did something really fun…

“Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the pool and the tunnel and brought water into the city, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the King of Judah” (2 Kings 20:20).

What we did that was so fun is that we actually got to go through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. It was awesome. The purpose of the tunnel was to bring water from the Gihon Spring into the Pool of Siloam (John 9:7), which is inside the city walls. The reason for doing this was that when the city was under attack the people could still have water. Brilliant. The tunnel is about ¼ of a mile and is about as wide as I am broad. The height of the tunnel varies. At the highest point the tunnel is about 15ft high and at its lowest point it is about 5ft high. Water still runs through it which is fresh and cool. The dept of the water varies as well. When we first entered into the tunnel it was about waist high, but for the most part it was up to my calves.

Since the tunnel is so narrow, we could only go through in single file and I opted to be the last person in line. About half of the people had flashlights (me not being one of them) and at one point the group decided to turn them all off. When they did it there was utter darkness.

Now, I’ve ran around outside when it was dark out, but the stars and moon still gave me some light. I’ve hidden in closets and covered up my face, but light always seems to creep in somehow. At least enough so that I can make out what is in front of me. However, at that moment in that tunnel, light was absent. I’ve never been in a place where there was absolutely no light. I mean no light what so ever. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I could see nothing.

Not my hand in front of my face…

Not the person in front of me…

Not the rock wall beside me…

Not the water below me…

Just utter darkness. It was a unique experience…