A Journey Through Darkness - Isaiah

It was in the summer of 2000 and the tunnel that I was walking through was so black I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed…

Earlier that day we decided to join up with a small group from our tour group. This was our free day to explore some of the ancient sites around Jerusalem on our own. Although we wore our sturdy walking shoes, we were not told that we also needed to bring a flashlight for the final stop of our day. The last stop for day was an ancient water passage, Hezekiah’s Tunnel. It was mentioned in our readings of Isaiah in chapters 7 and 8, and also mentioned in II Kings 20 and in II Chronicles 32.

In Isaiah this tunnel is referred to as Shiloah. It is a little aqueduct that carries water from the Spring of Gihon to a pool inside the city wall of Jerusalem filling the Pool of Siloam. The tunnel was built as a means of providing a safe supply of drinking water inside the city walls. According to an inscription in ancient Hebrew script found in the tunnel, in 700 B.C. two teams, began at opposite ends dug toward each other in the bedrock, and met.

This very aqueduct that we were about to walk (sometimes in water up to our thighs) was the one King Ahaz was probably examining as Isaiah challenged the lack of faith of Israel in 700 BC, almost 3000 years before in the Book of Isaiah!

That dark walk was about a third of a mile through the bedrock. I am told that IF you have a flashlight you can still see the tool marks on the walls. However we had none. Our friends had gone on ahead and the gatekeepers that let us into the tunnel to walk had locked us in and disappeared. We had only one choice, forward. My sister had injured her knee, tearing her ACL just before we left for Israel. Determined to go with us, she had to doctor fit her with a knee brace to steady her knee and had been in quite a lot of pain throughout the trip. We had no choice but to begin the walk, so she placed one hand on my shoulder and one against the wall to steady herself and together we began our journey down the passage. All we could “see” as we crept forward was what we could feel through our fingers as we felt our way along the walls, the tilt of the ground underneath our feet as we carefully chose our steps and our hair as it brushed against the ceiling in places…..it was truly a faith walk.

As we began the descent we didn't know the length of the tunnel or what we would find. We also had to fight an increasing sense of panic in the darkness. To combat that feeling we began to sing, mostly hymns, as we carefully made our way through the tunnel. Often would have to give directions to my sister to help her navigate each step, "okay there's a small ledge and you'll step down." We sang and encouraged each other every step of the journey which seemed to us to last for hours until finally we began to see the faith glow of sunlight ahead. As we emerged from the darkness I can still recall the picture of children playing in the water, laughing and splashing each other and the relief we felt as we walked into the sunlight.

Isn't that just like our journey of life? There are many times we may find ourselves moving into places that are unknown and often we feel ill-equipped for the journey. Yet when we trust in God he can lead and coach us through those dark and anxious times to a place of light and wonder.

The gentle stream of Shiloh was to Isaiah a symbol of quiet and confident faith in Yahweh, whose kingdom is more powerful and everlasting than the mightiest empires. (Isaiah 8:6)