The Brook Kidron

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/3x3w5v

Most young boys like to play in a stream or a brook. I know I loved to do that. When in grade school, our small school had a brook that ran behind it. After school we would sometimes go down and work on our various feats of engineering. We’d experiment with placing a dam in one place, or maybe setting some stones to divert the water into a waterfall. There was just something about that small flow of water that really attracted our attention.

The Bible refers to all kinds of bodies of water. Some are the oceans, some are seas, and others are lakes and rivers. But the significance of a body of water need not be in the size or volume of that water. Such is the case of the Brook Kidron.

The Kidron is a valley or ravine near Jerusalem with a wet weather stream. For such a small body of water, this small brook has been the place of quite a few historical events.

David crossed over the brook while escaping from Jerusalem as his own son, Absalom, was chasing him. Notice this reading from 2 Samuel 15:22-23.

So David said to Ittai, “Go, and cross over.” Then Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the little ones who were with him crossed over. And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people crossed over. The king himself also crossed over the Brook Kidron, and all the people crossed over toward the way of the wilderness.

This was seen as a solemn abandonment of the territory of Jerusalem. And the Brook Kidron served as the border for that action.

Later on in 1 Kings 15:13 we read of Asa, who “removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron.”

When Josiah was in the process of restoring true worship, the young king also used the Brook Kidron as the location for destroying idols. 2 Kings 23:6 is the reference for this. “And he brought out the wooden image from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people.”

There are other references in the Bible to this area. But the one that we find in John comes at the very end of the life of Jesus. It is mentioned on the night of His betrayal. We find this reading in John 18:1-7.

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”

They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?”

And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Interestingly this small brook was the sight of many events as people turned back to God, burning their idols on the banks of that brook. And now we also see Jesus as He crosses this brook to face his betrayal and ultimate death.

Jesus had just finished His marvelous prayer in John 17 when He and the disciples crossed that narrow brook to the other side. Jesus prayed for Himself, the disciples and also for you and me as future believers. He prayed that we might all be one and that we might all know that God and Jesus love us very much.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we take the time to read the prayer of Jesus in John 17 and then reflect upon His desire for us to follow Him. May we know His love for us that led to His own death, and may we be encouraged to live faithfully for Him.

Our thought for the day: “We are never alone when we are alone with Jesus.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.