"The Pool of Gibeon?", (photo from HolyLandPhotos.org).
In 1957, the St. Petersburg Times (view actual copy) proclaimed that archaeologists had found the 25 century old pool.
Today, however, common wisdom is that the pool to the right is from the "iron age", and thus not likely the actual pool from the days of 2 Samuel.
ESV Study Bible Devotions - 2 Samuel 2.
Now that Saul is dead, I find it interesting to witness the natural behavior of man, as the vacuum left by Saul's death seeks to be filled.
Isn't it interesting that no one proclaims that this whole king idea was a bad one? The prophet Samuel proclaimed that this desire for a king was a "great wickedness", yet here we see Israel clamoring for another king.
Since the time of the fall, we see over and over, with pride at its root, man demanding a ruler other than God. Sometimes this ruler is ourselves, or idols we might create (love of money, love of a beautiful body, etc.), or even the President of the United States.
Fear was introduced to man, at the Fall, and ever since we have this innate desire to rid ourselves of fear. Sometimes, we make ourselves feel better by placing our trust in a ruler.
Presidential elections are a wonderful example of this. For many, there is a desire to have "our man" at the helm of the nation, looking out for our interests. We fight, through elections, for our desired "king", and once elected, we place our faith in our new "king", and go on, by in large, about our business.
The pool of Gibeon is such a scene. Only here, we will see a civil war of sorts as blood is shed within Israel.
We have come many, many centuries since God, in the minds of man, has ruled as King.
If we climb up to 50,000 feet, and look down upon the history of man, we see that the pool of Gibeon is merely systematic of man's plight on this earth.
In the beginning, God walked among the earth with his creation. He was Father, he was Creator, he was King, among many other things.
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, tempted by a fallen angel, choose disobedience, partook of the tree, and whammo....relationship is broken. We lost our King.
And we have been looking in all the wrong places, as natural men, to regain that relationship ever since!
