King Hezekiah put WHAT in this temple?!?

Last week, we talked about Lachish's story as the 2nd most important fortified city in Judea. This week, we're going to tour the tel!

First up: the city gates! You can walk up the ramp and right into them. But first, there's this artist rendering of the outer gate from the time of Hezekiah is very helpful:

Then, the inner gates:

Just inside these gates is the remains of temple... with something else very interesting...

This shrine is from King Hezekiah's time. He was a righteous king, and he wanted to stamp out all forms of idolatry and false worship. So, he had the altars smashed and a toilet placed in the corner. Tests of the soil say it likely wasn't used, but that is very interesting nonetheless!

Next, on to the palace! It was HUGE, covering 14 dunams (3.5 acres). Outside of it is a really cool installation: a row of chairs representing all the kings of Judah, in order. The height of the back of the chair indicates the length of their reign. Pretty neat!

And, on top of the palace ruins, are nice overlooks with an interactive display where you can line of ancient cities written in Biblical Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, and English.

Finally, there's a beautiful viewpoint towards Jerusalem with signs and displays talking about the Assyrian conquest and the history of the tel. 

You can also go up to the side of the tel where the Assyrians came up the ramp. On top is a place that looks like a wall or blockade was made in order to stop the Assyrians. Something fascinating about this area is that when the ground in the area was tested, they found the soil in the opposite order it was supposed to be: oldest remains were on top, with the newest on bottom. That's because when you overturn earth to build, what's on top goes to the bottom, and what's on bottom goes on top.

And finally, the Biblical record from 2 Kings 19 showing how God defeated the Assyrians on behalf of Israel.

That's it (for now) of Lachish's story and tour. It was so incredible I'd love to go back. What about you? Did you know the story of Lachish? Let me know in the comments below!

The chilling story of Lachish

I don't know how to tell Lachish's story.

It was a place I didn't know a lot about, and learning it as I toured it was powerful beyond words.

The 2nd most important fortified city of Judea, Lachish guarded a main trade road from Egypt to Jerusalem.

Canaanite Period:

This city dates back to before the Canaanites. At some point it was conquered by Egypt, and then possibly the Israelites or the Philistines. Its first mention in the Bible is in Joshua 10, as one of the Canaanite cities who came against Joshua at Ai. The Biblical account says Joshua chased the 5 kings of Amorites, including the King of Lachish, to Azekah (which overlooks the Valley of Elah, where David would slay Goliath centuries later). God delivered Lachish to Israel. It became part of the tribe of Judah’s land and the city was 2nd only to Jerusalem.

Israelite Period:

During the Israelite period, it held a strong position in defending the western frontier of Judea against the Philistines. King Solomon's son, King Rehoboam, fortified it in 2 Chronicles 11, and King Amaziah fled there for refuge in 767 BC (2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25) after the Northern Kingdom was defeated by the Assyrians.

Assyrian Period:

Then came the Assyrian invasion in 732 BC. In all, Sennacherib, the general of the Assyrians, conquered 46 cities of Judea, and Lachish was the 2nd-to-last.

2 Chronicles 32 says that in 701 BC, during the time of King Hezekiah, the Assyrian army camped nearby, seige to it, and built a ramp—a predecessor for the ramp at Masada- allowing then to breach the walls, taking the inhabitants into captivity. A chilling letter talks of the signal fires of Tel Azekah going out, meaning they were the last 2 cities left.

At this point in hearing the story, I had a picture of the beacons of Gondor being lit in Return of the King (Lord of the Rings), except opposite. Can you imagine knowing the most vicious, powerful, and cruel army of your day is methodically making its way through your country, has conquered every city its encountered, and now the city closest to you, the lights you are supposed to watch, have now been extinguished?

Which means... you are next.

Today, in the British museum, is a relief that was found in Ninevah depicting this victory.

(photo from http://jerusalem.nottingham.ac.uk/items/show/50)

As we know, the Assyrian invasion ended not long after. God spared Jerusalem, and Lachish was rebuilt in Josiah's time.

Then came the Babylonians.

Babylonian Period:

They reached the gates of Jerusalem in 598 B.C. and placed it under seige (2 Kings 24). King Jehoiakim was murdered, and all of the nobles were exiled (including the son of King Johoiakim), all of Jerusalem excepted the poorest of the land were carried away into captivity to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar appointed Johoiakim as king and changed his name to Zedekiah. In 589 BC, King Zedekiah mutinied, and Babylon invaded again. This time it leveled most of the cities of Judah (Jeremiah 34). After Azekah fell, Lachish did, and then finally, Jerusalem on Tisha B'Av, 586 BC.

Persian Period

70 years later, when the exiles were allowed to return, Lachish was one of the cities that were reconstructed (Nehemiah 11). It eventually fell into ruin and was abandoned by the time of Jesus.

Today, you can walk around the top of this incredible tel, thru a gate dating back to Hezekiah, see the remains of the palace, along with a model of chairs to show the length of the reigns of Judah’s kings (we'll see that on next week's post!). On a beautiful winter’s eve, you can see the moon rise as the setting sun lights of the Judean hills in the distance- pointing the way to Jerusalem.

*some information from BibleWalks

City of David: David's Palace and the Gihon Spring

This week is part 1 of a 3 part series on the City of David. This site was so incredible that I lost my mind approximately 6 times. I can't wait to go back when it's warmer and get a full tour, complete with Hezekiah's tunnel (spoiler alert). 

I have tried to get to the City of David for a while now, but it was hard with my schedule whenever I was in Jerusalem over the weekends (because the different sabbaths for the different faiths mean not everything is open). Even this time, I wasn't fully sure what we were going to see. That's why this was such an incredible surprise!

We left the Western wall, exited onto the main road, and turned left towards the Mount of Olives. On the way in, you can see more excavations in progress!

no big deal, just the Mount of Olives straight ahead!

My friends and I opted not to get a tour this time (I hope to when I return), and not to do the wet tunnel because it was February and cold outside. So you understand why I HAVE to return! But that didn't stop us from having an incredible time and learning a lot. 

The City of David is exactly what it sounds like: the Jerusalem from David's time. It's location so close to the Temple Mount gives us an incredible picture of what Jerusalem was like back in his day (the city walls you see in this picture surround what we know of now as the "Old City", but it these walls were built in the 1500s AD over where Herod's walls were). The city of David in this picture is to the right, not behind the "new" walls.

First, we went up to see the view:

That is the Mount of Olives and an Arab village directly across from ancient Jerusalem.

Then, we started by going underneath a shelter and looking at ruins of... DAVID'S PALACE!!!!! This is the first time I lost my chill. DAVID'S!!!! PALACE!!!!

In fact, I was so focused on DAVID'S PALACE that when I saw a tour group ahead, I got close to listen to the guide. I didn't pay attention to any of the people around me. It turned out that they were American NFL players, haha. But, DAVID'S PALACE!!!!!!!!!

These remains were discovered in 2005, and have been excavated since then. It would have been the palace for David and all of his descendants, down to King Zedekiah, the final king before the Babylonian destruction in 586 BC. In fact, 2 bullae, clay impressions found with the king's seal were found... and they had the names of scribes of the final king of Judah, Jehucal and Gedalyahu. Both of these men were antagonists of the prophet Jeremiah and were mentioned in Jeremiah 38!

Right below the palace was a stepped stone structure that supported the palace. Directly below was the royal quarter, the highest family in society under the king.

They would have been incredibly wealthy to live here, right next to the king. And further proof of that is the rectangular stone with a hole in it in the middle of this picture: an ancient toilet! It's placed over a pit, and is something only the very wealthy would have had then.

 

There were many other important finds in these excavations—too many to name. Also, at the top right of this structure (possibly not in the photos) are the remains of a small portion of Nehemiah's wall! There I go again, losing my mind!

Directly across this home is the view I showed previously. Did you see the ancient tombs in the stone below the village?

Then, we left the outside portion of the City of David and started descending down stairs into the rock, until we came to where I'm going to leave this blog for the day... because I lost it again here: The Gihon Spring, where Solomon was crowned king!!!!

In fact, I was so stunned that I forgot I had a polarizing filter on my lens the whole time we were inside. All the pics I took with my camera came out super blurry (another reason I need to go back!). Can you really blame me, though?

The spring is down below. This is where Solomon was crowned king!!!!!!!

Continuing on from there (SO HARD!) were the remains of spring tower, which led to the ancient Canaanite Pool (which received water from the Gihon spring). This was so cool, because there was a simulation superimposed over the ruins so that we could see what it would have looked like (above ground) back in the day. And on the opposite wall was a simulation of what the outside of the city would have looked like—the entire area around the pool, the spring, the tower, and the city walls. 

That's it for now! Was your mind blown too? What was your favorite part?

Of Fire and Lions by Mesu Andrews

Of Fire and Lions, by Mesu Andrews, is a fictional depiction of what some of the Israelites could have experienced from the time of Babylon's first invasion of Jerusalem in 597 B.C. under King Nebuchadnezzar all the way to King Darius' allowance for a group to go rebuild the temple 70 years later.

But before we explore the book, can we talk about this GORGEOUS cover? #coverlove

Andrews chose a really interesting time period to explore in this book, focusing it around Daniel and his contemporaries, best known by their non-Jewish names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Told through the alternating view points of Daniel and a female character named Abigail/Belili, the reader travels with the first wave of Jewish captives from Jerusalem all the way to Babylon and beyond. 

For me, the best part is seeing the most well known stories of Daniel put into a narrative, from his friends being thrown into the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar's transformation into a beast, the lions' den, and the hand writing on the wall. Because this is the first novel I've read dealing specifically with this part of Israel's history, it was so fun to explore it all in story form. I found myself captivated by the story, looking forward to the events still to come as I turned each page. 

If you love Biblical fiction, I definitely recommend this book. Click here to find it on Amazon!

Hadassah: One Night with the King

In continuing with our series on Esther, we're going to look at another fictional retelling of her story: Tommy Tenney's Hadassah.

I first read this book in college, and loved it so much that I kept it. In fact, this is my favorite fictional re-telling of Esther's story. Upon re-reading it, I realized why. 

First of all, it starts off in a place I know well, which is always fun to discover. But more importantly, Tenney's insight into the character of Esther is so profound. His voice is beautiful, and he really takes the time to draw you into her heart and her view of the king. I love how she chose to approach the king, and the parallels Tenney draws between that and how we are to approach God's presence are powerful. 

As one character put it: "When you are in the presence of the King of Kings, destiny—not just your own, but the world's—can change in the twinkling of an eye" (page 78).

In addition, we're given even more insight in this book as to the history between Haman and the Jews, as Haman is an Amalekite. Tenney takes the reader through the line of 500 years and the consequences of Saul's sin of not executing every member of that nation as was commanded by God. 

In fact, this book was so well-received that it became a movie in 2006! Click here to see the movie, or to purchase the book on Amazon, click here!

Esther: Royal Beauty

Okay, we are switching back to Biblical fiction, this time with two different fictional retellings of Esther's story!

First, this week we'll look at Angela Hunt's Esther, the first in her A Dangerous Beauty series.

I'm a fan of Angela Hunt, and Esther is a favorite story of mine, so when I saw that this author and written a re-telling of this story, I had to check it out.

This story is told from 2 characters' viewpoints: Esther's (her Jewish name is Hadassah) and King Xerxes' chamberlain (eunuch), Harbonah. The reader is able to follow Hadassah's journey from a child to queen, while also reading from an "insider's" perspective through Harbonah.

It's a great retelling, and really takes the reader into Hadassah's world. I also loved the depiction of Haman. She wrote him to almost to be like Wormtongue in Tolkien's The Two Towers, in an ostentatious sort of way. You can definitely see this progression in Hunt's portrayal, and because of her deep dive into the characters' flaws and inner struggles, can understand better how it happened—which makes the victory at the end all the more incredible!

If you like the story of Esther, this is a great read. Click here to purchase on Amazon!