Months after announcing it would open the Pool of Siloam to the public for the first time in 2,000 years, the Israel Antiquities Authority says it has unearthed the steps where Jesus healed a blind man as recorded in the New Testament.
Fox News Digital reported that in recent weeks, the IAA has made significant progress in the excavation of the biblical site that is held sacred by both Christians and Jews.
Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, told Fox News Digital earlier this year that these discoveries at the Pool of Siloam are evidence of history preserved for us, that they are being revealed at just the right time and that they hold political significance for Israel.
“Theologically, it affirms Scripture, geographically it affirms Scripture and politically it affirms Israel’s unquestionable and unrivaled link to Jerusalem. Some discoveries are theoretical. This one is an undeniable. It is proof of the story of the Bible and of its people, Israel,” Moore says.
City of David Foundation director of International Affairs Ze’ev Orenstein echoed Moore’s sentiments.
“The ongoing excavations within the City of David—the historic site of biblical Jerusalem—particularly of the Pool of Siloam and the Pilgrimage Road, serve as one of the greatest affirmations of that heritage and the millennia-old bond Jews and Christians have with Jerusalem,” Orenstein explains. “Not simply as a matter of faith, but as a matter of fact.”
Both Moore and Orenstein agree that some of the recent discoveries at the Pool of Siloam are “theoretical.” But Moore says there is one thing that is indisputable.
“It is proof of the story of the Bible and of its people, Israel,” Moore said.
The Pool of Siloam was built roughly 2,700 years ago as part of Jerusalem’s water system in the eighth century B.C. It passed through many stages of construction and reached 1.25 acres in size. John 9:1-8 tells the story of a blind man whom Jesus healed. The man could see after he washed his eyes in the Pool of Siloam.
Many organizations, like the United Nations, have contributed to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in recent years about ownership of holy sites like the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem.
“Whether in the halls of the U.N., ongoing efforts by Palestinian leadership or on university campuses, Jerusalem’s biblical heritage is under assault,” Orenstein said.
With these discoveries, however, Orenstein says visitors to the City of David “will be able to witness the factual history for themselves and see with their own eyes, touch with their own hands and walk with their own feet upon the very stones their ancestors walked thousands of years ago as they made their way to Jerusalem on pilgrimage.” {eoa}
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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.
