Tel Lachish

Lachish is located about 18-20 miles by highway to the southwest of Jerusalem . The place where the ruins of old Lachish is set, is marked by a National Monument sign, and it's entry-way is primitive, with a gravel parking lot, etc.

Lachish is mentioned about 15-18 times in the Old Testament. And it's regularly mentioned to show how strategic of a place it was with reference to the location of Jerusalem . In short, if an army could take Lachish, then it was well-positioned to take Jerusalem. My guess, if you marched troops up to Jerusalem through the brush and thicket, and across streams, you'd be looking at maybe a 12 mile hike. Looks to be rough terrain, but it obviously was done.



If you go to 2 Chronicles 32, here is the amazing story of when Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, made moves into Judah, and he sought to position himself to overtake Hezekiah and the Israelites in the City of David—Jerusalem. He made plans to storm the city.


A most interesting feature is the siege ramp (seen above here). It was constructed by the troops of Sennacherib around 700 B.C. as a way to make his assault on Lachish. Hundreds of iron arrowheads were found in the ramp as well as a chain device that was used for catching the battering rams.

Chapter 32:1 tells us about the cities of fortification—and bingo, one of these is Lachish. As the story goes on in the chapter, it was the Angel of the Lord who came with devastation on the Assyrians; He slew 185,000! God put a trouncing stop to Sennacherib's efforts to invade Jerusalem.

As a Tel, dozens of civilizations had at one time occupied this mound. Hence, the height and the multiple layers of flat surfaces made for an excellent location for a citadel. Up there are ruins of blocks of walls for housing, armament stalls, and nooks for food supplies, etc. I was stunned to think that we were standing on the ground where the very King of Assyria once plotted, planned and resided.

From up on top, we looked directly east across rolling valleys to see Hebron and Bethlehem . Maybe it was those hills near Bethlehem where the angel and the hosts first visited the shepherds announcing Christ's birth.

G. Mark Sumpter