HEZEKIAH

 

Hezekiah  (Might of Jehovah) King of JUDA   ca. 740-692 BC

"He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD."

 

He succeeded his wicked father AHAZ when he was 25 years old.

He reigned 29 years.  Within the first week of his first month, he began a religious
revival that was compared to that of David.

He was a close friend of Isaiah.  Hezekiah was famous as a reformer and for
ridding Judah of idols, including the brazen serpent made by Moses in 1452 BC.

 

He was successful against the Philistines and regained GAZA. He prepared for
conflict with fortifications, organization and weaponry.  THEN, depended on God
for an extraordinary victory

 

Sennacherib invaded Judah in 701 BC, Hezekiah's14th year as King.

He tried to unite Israel and Judah, succeeding with three tribes.

 

At 39 years he was healed of a fatal disease and given 15 more years to live.

He died at 54 and was buried in the uppermost graves of David's sons.

 

NOTE:  Several of Hezekiah's famous exploits are given limited exposure in the
Scriptures.  Reference may be made in short sentences listed out of context or
referred from other Books.

         

Background scripture for Hezekiah

2nd Kings 18-20, contain most of the narrative.

2nd Chronicles Ch 29-32, adds detail.

Isaiah Ch 36-39, adds the poetry of his prayers. 
These three books contain cross references to each other.

 

Hezekiah's Water Tunnel is still in place under the
paving of Jerusalem.  (One can wade through it.)

The American Museum exhibits a copy of the plaque that was mounted on the
tunnel wall, at the point where the workers met while digging from both ends!

(Even though it is but a copy, one is not allowed to photograph it!)

 

KFI's Frank Evans can read that interesting text:  (click to play audio)

 

Water flowing thru the tunnel runs about knee deep.  Tourists are encouraged to wade thru it while small boys carry the daypacks, shoes and socks, for a gratuity.

 

Modern engineers speculate that the Biblical engineers, working for the king, used the "level", of the water level to perfect the grade % of the tunnel floor.   This is still being done today! (Landscapers installing drains for me, ran water in the trench to soften the dig.  They deepened the floor enough to allow the water to flow to the curb.  Pipe was placed into the ditch.  When the rains came, the drain field worked perfectly!)

 

The scripture references above will answer your questions of why, where, when, how and by whom! The Hezekiah Water Tunnel was completed.

 

This tunnel was built to provide a secure, water source inside the city walls while under Wartime siege.

(I believe that having this life saving, tunnel in place at the right time was crucial to this city's history.)

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James Mitchner, in his book the Source, details how such a tunnel was laid out sighted, above and below ground and when joined, was re-aligned to perfection. 

 

The Hezekiah Water tunnel was left, rough cut, with the pickaxe, tool marks on the walls, showing how closely they met, from opposite directions!

 

NOTE: With this skill, the work moved twice as fast and eased the Ôcarry out' of the heavy, tunneling, waste.  The gravity, water flow, proved the success of the project.  Parts of this tunnel are as much as 200 feet (100 cubits) below the surface. Because it runs under a hill.

 

Old Testament stories like this help us see these men as real people, doing real things in real places for real reasons.  I see three dimensional, characters, moving in real time, much like us. These workers were weary and wet. Their hands blistered, the air was hard to breathe. The light was bad.  The job was dangerous.  But, It was a key job that changed History and has survived for our own century.  The cool, clean water still flows today!  The story is re-told to each generation. 

 

Open your Bible to this place and read this short, story for yourself. It will speak to you. (In the Bible, nothing is trivial.)  Don't skip over anything.

The compiling of Biblical information applies to other stories as well.

 

Example: Joseph, while a slave in Egypt, wore an Iron collar!  I read it for myself!

This is not mentioned in the Joseph narrative . (Search under <iron> to find the reference.)

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