“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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The Pool of Siloam in the City of David is Undergoing a Full Excavation
Before you read any further, please read this: “Famous Pool of Siloam Undergoing Full Excavation”.
In 2006, Katie and I lived in Israel for a couple of months. We made frequent trips to Jerusalem because it’s our favorite place in Israel. On one of those trips, we visited the City of David. We were the only tourists in the place. They opened it up to us and allowed us to roam around while archeologists worked on various projects.
The highlights of that experience include David’s palace and the Pool of Siloam. Both had just been discovered. The archeologists were excited to tell us about what they had found and the importance of those discoveries to the City of David and the people of Israel. While we were in David’s palace, an archeologist asked if we wanted a memento. Of course, we said yes. Below is a picture of what he gave us:
At first glance, it doesn’t look like much, but it is a 3,000-year-old piece of broken pottery that was unearthed in David’s palace. We showed it to our Israeli family before we returned to the United States, and they were concerned that airport security might not let us take it out of the country. We had a video of the archeologists giving it to us, and I made no effort to conceal it. Thankfully, they let us take it with us.
Three thousand years ago, the Tabernacle was in Jerusalem. King David moved it to Jerusalem from Shiloh (pronounced “she-loh” in Hebrew) where it had stood for 369 years. Joshua set up the Tabernacle in Shiloh when the Israelites took control of the Promised Land in the 1400s BC. As the crow flies, Shiloh is about 20 miles north of Jerusalem.
Israelites would bring offerings that included olive oil, for example, to the Tabernacle for use by the priests. When they made their offerings, they would break into pieces the vessels used to carry the olive oil so that they could never be used again. Those gifts were regarded as holy, and the vessels used to carry the gifts were regarded as holy, too. That’s why they could not be used again for ordinary purposes.
Below is a picture of a reconstructed vessel that was found in Shiloh and pieced together. It’s on permanent display there. The handle we were given in the City of David is remarkably like the vessel that was pieced together in Shiloh. I suspect that our handle was used by someone in David’s palace to take a gift to the Tabernacle in Jerusalem. The Tabernacle was within a stone’s throw of David’s place. The person probably brought it back home with him after he made his offering and destroyed it. It might have been King David himself.
I don’t want to go into detail in this editorial about the location of Yahweh’s Temple, but it was not on the Temple Mount as most people believe. It was in the City of David where Yahweh said it was. You can read my detailed report on the work I have done so far to confirm that fact in “Yahweh’s Temple was not on the Temple Mount”. I hope you will take the time to read it. It’s loaded with information and pictures and videos.
As I said, the Pool of Siloam had just been discovered when we were in the City of David in 2006. The archeologists were busily clearing away debris. Their work is slow, meticulous, and backbreaking, and it costs a lot of money. If you visit the City of David, you will see part of the reason why it costs so much to excavate in the City of David. Steel support structures are everywhere. They aren’t inexpensive.
While we were there in 2006, the City of David didn’t own all the land where the Pool of Siloam sits. In fact, they owned only about half of it. To acquire the other land they needed, they had to buy land that belonged to Palestinians. Problem is, Palestinian law makes selling land to Jews a crime, and it’s a capital offense. That means to acquire land, the City of David must pay for the land and provide enough additional money for the person selling the land and his entire family to live for the rest of their lives in a location where they can’t be found and killed.
All that land has belonged to Israel since Yahweh gave it to Abraham in about 2000 BC, but today, Jews must buy it back from people who don’t really own it and pay exorbitant prices to boot. That’s the way it is, and that’s the way it will remain until Yahweh returns.
When Yahweh returns, there will be some big changes and weeping and gnashing of teeth. He won’t put up with that kind of nonsense. Until He returns, we’ll have to play by a set of rules that Yahweh didn’t put in place and doesn’t endorse.
If you are interested in helping to fund excavation activity in the City of David, go to the “Donations” page in SnyderTalk and read about how to make donations to the City of David. As most of you know, I don’t accept donations for the things I do. I suggest that anyone who wants to support my activities should give the money to the City of David Foundation. It’s a tax-deductible gift.
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
