There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. (Psalm 46:4)
On feast days in ancient Israel as smoke rose up from the temple courtyard, the waters of the Gihon Spring washed away the blood of thousands of sacrificial animals. Today one sacrifice remains, and that is Jesus, who continually offers us cleansing that an ocean of the blood of bulls, sheep and goats could never accomplish. Just so you know.
Old photo of the entrance to Gihon Spring
Wikipedia
The Gihon Spring is a big, big spring. Until the twentieth century it was the only significant water source for that great city Jerusalem. However, due to population growth, most of Jerusalem’s water is now piped in from outside sources.
The word gihon is Hebrew for bursting forth or gushing, which described the activity of this fascinating water work. Gihon is called an intermittent or rhythmic spring due to periodic gushing and tapering of its flow. Typically this type of spring is fed by accumulations of groundwater in naturally formed underground caves and cisterns, which are numerous in the area of Jerusalem, due to the high incidence of limestone and dolomite. The pulsing feature of these springs is generated by a natural siphon channel that empties the water out of the underground reservoir until air breaks the pull of the siphon and the process begins again. An easy to understand explanation of siphoning is available at http://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-does-a-siphon-work.
Hezekiah’s tunnel Wikimedia commons
Some years ago a group of hydrologists monitored the Gihon for a while and reported the spring was not pulsing during the time of their inspection. http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10040-010-0600-6. Whether pulsing or not, a tremendous amount of water still flows from the Gihon Spring. Today, thanks to the efforts of the Israelis, tourists can now wade these waters in the channel known as Hezekiah’s tunnel.
Siphon springs are rare and they do not necessarily go on forever. A small spring of this type that early settlers in Spartanburg County, South Carolina called the Boiling Spring gushed periodically as much as six feet in the air and was quite an attraction for many years. This was apparently a cold water geyser and not part of a geothermal system, as people watered their horses from the spring. But, civilization took its toll. As the town of Boiling Springs prospered and grew, the boiling spring gradually ceased its boiling. However, the spring flows today and is protected by a small park. http://www.sciway.net/city/boilingsprings.html. Besides urbanization, changes in landforms such as that produced by earthquakes can damage delicate subterranean systems, causing springs to fail.
Jerusalem is an ancient city, located in Biblical Canaan, the land promised by God to the Hebrews through their earliest ancestor Abraham. The first mention of Jerusalem in the Bible occurs in Genesis 14, where we find Melchizedek, the king and priest of Salem (ancient Jerusalem) coming out to meet Abraham as he returns from the battle of Siddim (the battle of the four kings). Jerusalem was then a city of roughly twelve acres situated atop the ridge above the Gihon spring which at that time emptied down the side of the hill and into the Kidron Valley. Easily defensible from its high elevation, Jerusalem had already been inhabited some thousands of years.
Here is a primitive illustration of the “blind and the lame” taunting David.
Several generations later, around 1,000 BC, King David captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites. By then the Hebrews had been attempting to take that city for nearly four hundred years. The Jebusites held a very advantageous position at the top of their ridge and they taunted David, saying their city was so impregnable their “blind and lame” could defend it. David knew it was impossible to attack them from below. Somehow David and his men had to get inside the city walls.
From earliest times the Jebusites had furnished their settlement with water from the Gihon Spring. They took advantage of naturally occurring shafts and tunnels, adding to these by their own efforts as necessary, chiseling through the soft limestone and dolomite subsurface of their hill. Dating these subterranean water structures today remains a difficulty; however, we know there were Jebusite waterways in use in David’s time. One such channel, which positively dates before David was cut from the surface and covered with stones.
We are not privy to David’s military “intelligence” about these various underground watercourses. All we know is that eventually David said to his men, Whoever getteth up to the tsinor, and smiteth the Jebusites, . . . he shall be chief and captain. (Second Samuel 5:8) (The word tsinor is ambiguous, probably it means pipe or tunnel, or perhaps gutter.) Joab, one of David’s “mighty men” went up first. We have no more details. In all likelihood Joab and his men entered the city through a water passage. They succeeded in taking the strong hold of Zion: the same is the City of David. (Second Samuel 5:7)
While he was yet living, King David amassed a great supply of building materials in preparation for the magnificent temple of the Lord that his son Solomon would build in Jerusalem. Construction began soon after David’s death and took seven years. Solomon spared no expense, using the finest materials and employing the most skilled artisans, plus thousands of workers. First Kings Chapter 6 gives details of the temple’s ornate features: for example, doors carved with cherubims, palm trees and flowers, and overlaid with gold. It was here the Israelites brought their sacrifices and offerings including, yes, live animals and birds that were slain by the priests and Levites, their blood sprinkled upon the altar, and their flesh consumed by fire. Water from the Gihon Spring (for there was no other water source) cleaned up the mess in short order. Thank goodness, I say! But how? We will see.
Though there were times when worship at the temple of Solomon was neglected due to the apostasy of the people, the magnificent structure stood nearly 400 years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians who invaded Judah, killing thousands, and finally taking thousands captive to Babylon. Seventy years later the Jews under the leadership of Zerubbabel were allowed to return to their land and rebuild their temple. Recorded in the book of Ezra is the celebration that was held when the foundation of the rebuilt temple was laid. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks to the Lord; And all the people shouted with a great shout; because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, . . . wept with a loud voice. (Ezra 3:11-12)
This second temple, known as Zerubbabel’s temple is the one we read about in the letter of Aristeas from the third century BC. Aristeas was an Egyptian official, sent to visit Eleazar, the high priest in Jerusalem. Here is an exerpt from his eye witness account:
The whole of the floor is paved with stones and slopes down to the appointed places, that water may be conveyed to wash away the blood from the sacrifices, for many thousand beasts are sacrificed there on the feast days. And there is an inexhaustible supply of water, because an abundant spring gushes up from within the temple area . . . There are many openings for water at the base of the altar . . . so that all the blood of the sacrifices which is collected in great quantities is washed away in the twinkling of an eye. http://www.ellopos.com/blog/4508/letter-of-aristeas-full-text-in-greek-and-english/34/
A replica of the Temple
The historian Josephus gives us some detail about the next temple, the magnificent structure built by the Roman ruler Herod on the site of Zerubbabel’s temple. Herod’s temple was lauded for its beauty and artistry, its gates covered with gold, doors hung with beautifully colored veils, and decorative vines made of gold. (The Wars of the Jews, Book 5, Chapter 5, Section 4) When Herod spoke to the people of his elaborate plan for a new temple many were afraid he might tear their temple down and not be able to accomplish his monumental building plan. But he told them “he would not pull down their temple until all things were gotten ready for building it up entire again. And as he promised them this beforehand, so he did not break his word to them.” (The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 15, Chapter 11, Section 2) This, then, is the temple of Jesus’ time. It was made of beautiful white stones, and was so impressive that one of Jesus’ disciples exclaimed to him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! And Jesus answering said unto him, seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. (Matthew 13:1-2)
And so it was. Not even a stone is left of these three temples. Only the water remains — the sacred Gihon Spring.
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