The Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Where were the First and Second Jewish Temples Located?

Highlighting the Research of Tel Aviv Architect Tuvia Sagiv

Aerial photo of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem showing the Proposed Northern,
Central and Southern Sites for the First and Second Temples.
"As the navel is set in the centre of the human body,
so is the land of Israel the navel of the world...
situated in the centre of the world,
and Jerusalem in the centre of the land of Israel,
and the sanctuary in the centre of Jerusalem,
and the holy place in the centre of the sanctuary,
and the ark in the centre of the holy place,
and the foundation stone before the holy place,
because from it the world was founded."
Midrash Tanchuma, Qedoshim.

Highlights in the History of

Jerusalem and the Temple Mount
Dates:
Jewish /
Common
Era

Key People

City of Jerusalem

c. 1760/
c. 2000
BCE

Abraham

Abraham visits Melchizedek,

King of Salem and Priest of El
Elyon ("God Most High")
(Genesis 14:18-20, Hebrews
6:20-7:22)

c. 1760/
c. 2000
BCE

Abraham
Isaac
Jacob/Israel
Joseph

Abraham journeys three days

from Beershiva or Garet to Mt.
Moriah in Jerusalem to offer his
son Isaac as a sacrifice in
obedience to God's command.
God provides a substitute.
(Genesis 22, Hebrews 11:8-19)

c. 2360/
c. 1400
BCE

Joshua

After setting up the Ark at Shiloh

near Shechem (Nablus), Joshua
launches foray into Jerusalem.
(Joshua 10:23, 15:63)

c. 2760/
c. 1000
BCE

David

David conquers Jebosite

stronghold of Zion, builds city f
David south of Temple Mount,
reigns 33 years in Jerusalem
after 7-year reign at Hebron. (2
Samuel 5:1-15)

Temple Mount

Mt. Moriah is the site of the

Temple Mount.

David returns Ark to Jerusalem

and places it in Tabernacle of
Moses erected there. (2 Samuel
6:1-18, 1 Chronicles 15:116:43). David plans First
Temple, but not permitted to
build it. (2 Samuel 7:1-17)
David purchases Threshing
Floor of Araunah, site of First
Temple and erects altar of
sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. (2
Samuel 24:1-25 1 Chronicles
21:1-22:5)

c. 2810/
Solomon
c. 950 BCE

Solomon builds Royal Palace

Solomon, with help of Hiram
and enlarges city, 13-year period. of Tyre and 183,600 workers,
(I Kings 7:1-12)
builds the First Temple and
Royal Palace using local
limestone, cedar from Lebanon
and great amounts of gold and

silver. (Temple built in seven

years.) (1 Kings 5-9, 2
Chronicles 2)
c. 2850/
Rehoboam
c. 910 BCE Elijah
Elisha
Obadiah
Jonah

Kingdom divided, 10 northern

tribes, 2 southern tribes.

Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt

plunders temple carrying off
much gold and silver. (1 Kings
14:25-28, 2 Chronicles 12:111)

c. 2925/
Joash
c. 835 BCE Amos
Hosea

Joash, King of Judah

Joash repairs temple,

establishes maintenance fund,
and brings period of revival
and reforms to southern
kingdom. (2 Kings 12:5ff).

c. 3040/
Ahaz
c. 720 BCE Micah

Ahaz, King of Judah

Dismantles Solomon's bronze

vessels and places private
Syrian altar in the temple. (2
Kings 16:1-20, 2 Chronicles
28ff)

c. 3044/
Hezekiah
c. 716 BCE Isaiah

Hezekiah, King in Jerusalem,

with help of God and the prophet
Isaiah resists Assyrian attempt to
capture Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles
32). Wells and springs stopped
up.

Restore. Temple and brings

period of national reform and
revival (2 Chronicles 29-31).
Later strips gold to pay tribute
to Sennacherib. (2 Kings 1816)

c. 3120/
Josiah
c. 640 BCE Nahum
Zephaniah
Habakkuk
c. 3174/
Sunday, 9th
of Av, 587
BCE

Jehoichin
Zedekiah
Gedaliah
Jeremiah

Josiah repairs the Temple and

brings about national religious
reforms. (2 Chronicles 34-35).
Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to
Jerusalem, burning the city,
murdering inhabitants, and
carrying a remnant into captivity.
(2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36,
Josephus)

Temple destroyed and sacred

vessels carried off to Babylon.
These vessels desecrated in
Babylon by Belshazzar. (Daniel
5)

c. 3187/
Ezekiel
c. 573 BCE Daniel

Jeremiah prophesies a 70-year

captivity in Babylon. (Jeremiah
29:1-14)

Ezekiel receives a vision from

God describing in detail the
great Temple to be built during
the reign of the Messiah in an
age which is yet to come.
(Ezekiel 40-48)

c. 3219/
Zerubbabel
c. 541 BCE Ezra
Nehemiah
Haggai

First Jews return from Babylon

in small numbers to rebuild the
city and its walls. 70 years of
exile terminated. (Daniel 9,

Second Temple built despite

fierce opposition and delays,
beginning with erection of an
altar of sacrifice on Mt.

Zechariah
Malachi
(Esther)

Haggai 2:18-19)

Moriah. Temple completed

after 15-year delay in 515
BCE.

c. 3428/
Alexander the
c. 332 BCE Great (Daniel
8:21-23, 11:24)

Priests from Jerusalem meet

invading army of Alexander and
dissuade him from destroying
Jerusalem by showing him
Scriptures that predict his rise to
power. After the death of
Alexander a series of wars
between Syria and Egypt subject
the Holy Land to multiple
distresses. (Daniel 9:24-27, 11:135; Zechariah 9:1-10; Josephus)

c. 35853597/
c. 175-163
BCE

Antiochus
Ephiphanes
IV

The "little horn" of Daniel 8:9, a

cruel Syrian (Selicid) king
plunders Jerusalem, murdering
many Jews. (Daniel 11:21-35)

Antiochus desecrates the

temple, offers a sow upon the
altar and carries off temple
treasuries. Worship and
sacrifices haIted, 15 December
167 BCE.

c. 3570/
170 BCE

Maccabees

Godly Jews under Mattathias

begin revolt culminating in
repossession of Jerusalem. (1
Maccabees)

Temple purified and worship

and sacrifices restored in 165
BCE.

c. 3615/
c. 141 BCE

The Roman Akva Fortress is

conquered by the Maccabees,
thus freeing the Temple from
alien supervision.

c. 3697/
c. 63 BCE

Pompey

Roman conquest of the Holy

Land. (Daniel 2:40-43)

Pompey brazenly enters Holy

of Holies, disappointed to find
it empty.

c. 3720/
c. 40 BCE

Herod the
Great (d. 4
BCE)

Cruel, despotic Roman ruler, an.

Idumean, (who murdered the
infants in Bethlehem). Building
projects at Jericho, Hebron, and
Caesarea to placate the Jews.

Temple Mount vastly enlarged

and leveled. Second Temple
rebuilt and enlarged, 10,000
workers, 100 priests, 1000
wagons. Temple and courts
rebuilt until 63 BCE. City and
walls under construction 46
years.

c. 3837/
c. 3 BCE
to
c. 3822/
62 CE

Early Christian Era Highlights Located Below in Separate Section

c. 3831/
9th of Av,70
CE

3896/
c. 136 CE

Hadrian

Roman General Titus besieges

Jerusalem destroying city and
murdering inhabitants, terrible
suffering and destruction.
(Josephus)

Temple set afire, soldiers tear

every stone apart to get melted
gold. Menorah and vessels
carried to Rome. Treasury
robbed.

Undertakes rebuilding of
Jerusalem as "Aelia Capitolina"
provoking unsuccessful Bar
Kochba revolt in 135 by devout
Jews.

Hadrian erects Temple of

Jupiter on Temple Mount and
statue of himself facing east in
front. Jewish attempt to build
Third Temple fails.

c. 4093/
c. 333 CE

"Traveller of Bordeaux" visits

Jerusalem and relates Jews
praying on Temple Mount.

c. 40904400/
c. 330-640
CE

Constantine

c. 4122/
c. 362 CE

Julian

Byzantine Period. Christianity

Temple Mount neglected,
made official religion of Roman becomes refuse heap. Herodius
Empire. Church of the Holy
proposes building near temple.
Sepulchre built. Persian conquest
in 614 CE. 37,000 Christians
exiled to Persia, Jews later
banished from Jerusalem also.
Byzantine Emperor Herodius
recaptures Jerusalem, 629 CE.
Authorizes Jews to rebuild
Temple. Work stopped by fire
or earthquake.

c. 4160/
c. 400 CE

Heronymus describes Jews

mourning onTemple Mount.

c. 4398/
c. 638 CE

Moslem conquest.

c. 44454465/
c. 685-705
CE

Abd el-Malik Extension of the city and

rebuilding of walls and roads.

c. 4204510/
c. 660-750
CE

Umyyads
Abbasids

Power struggles, revolts and

persecutions of Jews and
Christians causes Jerusalem to
deteriorate.

c. 4496/
c. 746 CE
c. 4628/

Islamic tradition alleges that

Caliph Omar clears rubbish
from temple Mount and prays
there in 638 CE. Old wooden
El Aksa Mosque constructed,
700 CE, and Dome of the Rock
by Abd el-Malik, 684-690 CE.

Earthquake destroys El Aksa

Mosque.
Ahmed ibn

Palestine annexed to Egypt.

831 CE Caliph al-Mamun

c. 868 CE

Tulun

c. 4700/
c. 940 CE

orders restoration work on the

Dome of the Rock.
Fatimid Caliphs role from Egypt,
969 CE, El-Hakem orders
destruction of churches and
synagogues, 1010 CE.

Karaite scribe Salomon ben

Yerucham writes of
synagogues within Temple
Mount courtyard.

c. 4776/
c. 1016 CE

Earthquake causes structural

damage on Temple Mount.

c. 4790/c.
1030 CE

Rabbi Shlomo ben Yehuda

describes Jewish custom of
encircling Temple Mount.

c. 48594947/
c. 10991187 CE

Crusaders

Violent conquest of Holy Land

in the name of Christianity.
Many Jews and Moslems
murdered. Jews sold into slavery
and banished from Jerusalem.

Dome of the Rock

reconsecrated as "Temple
Domini" and El Aksa as
"Temple Salomonis."

c. 4793/
1033 CE

Earthquake damages El Aksa

Mosque.

c. 4860/
1100 CE

Rabbi Avraham bar Chaya

writes of synagogues on
Temple Mount.

c. 4926/
1165 CE

Maimonides visits Jerusalem

and prays on Temple Mount.

c. 4947/
1187 CE

Saladin

Jerusalem recaptured for Islam.

Crusaders defeated.

c. 4989/
c. 1229 CE

Frederick II

Al-Malik Al-Kamil of Egypt

cedes Jerusalem to Frederick II.

c. 50045277/
c. 12441517 CE

c. 5277/
c. 1517 CE

Rule by Tartars, Mongols,

Ayybids and Mamelukes.

Ottoman
Period

Dome of the Rock and El Aksa

restored to Islam. Icons
removed. 1190, walls overlaid
with marble inscriptions added
in Arabic.

Moslem control of the holy

places 1270-1290 CE. Moslem
restoration work on Dome.
Brass doors added in 1467.
Persian tiles added by
Suleiman. Lead sheathing to
Dome, 1735 CE. Mosaic
removed 1835, 1874 CE.

Turkish rule

5206/c.
1546 CE

Earthquake causes serious

damage in Jerusalem.
6

c. 55925600/
c. 18321840 CE

Turkish conquest by Sellim I.

Suleiman the Magnificent builds
walls and improves the city and
aqueducts. Jews tolerated, but
heavily taxed and property
confiscated. Egyptian
governorship under Mohamed
Ali and Ibrahim Pasha. (1831
CE)

5615/
1855 CE

First acknowledged nonMoslem visitor permitted to

enter Temple Mount since 1187
CE.

5626/
1866 CE

Jews become majority in

Jerusalem.

5678/
December
1917 CE

British capture of Jerusalem

from the Turks.

5861-5707/
1921-1947
CE

Rule under British Mandate. UN

participation in November 1947.
Deterioration of British rule.
Waves of immigration by Jews
under very adverse conditions.

5687/
1927 CE
5708/
June 1948
CE

Temple Mount first opened to

Europeans.

Earthquake weakens El Aksa

Mosque foundations.
Rebirth of the State of Israel.
December 1949 Jerusalem made
capital city. Kenesset built.

5711/
1951 CE

July 20, King Abdullah

assassinated at entrance to El
Aksa Mosque.

5715-5725/
1955-1965
CE

Jerusalem divided. Jordanian

rule over old city.

5727/
June 1967
CE

Jerusalem reunited in 6-day war. Israeli flag flies temporarily

over Temple Mount. Control
and stewardship of Temple
Mount returned to Moslems.
Fire in 1968 destroys pulpit and
Mihrab in El Aksa.

5742/
Spring 1982

Dome foundations
strengthened by Jordanians,
1955-1965 CE. Electric lights
added.

Union of Third Temple Groups,

"To the Mountain of the Lord,"

CE

"The Faithful of the Temple

Mount," and the "Jerusalem
Temple Foundation." Planning
for the Third Temple.

Early Christian Era Highlights

c. 3757/
c. 3 BCE

Jesus
Simeon
Anna

c. 3768/
c. 8 CE

Jesus
Mary
Joseph
John the
Baptist

Herod the Great crowned king,

40 BCE.

Jesus presented at the temple

and dedicated to God by his
parents, doves offered in
sacrifice. (Luke 2:21-24)
Jesus at age 12 talks to priests
and teachers in the Second
Temple while his parents are in
Jerusalem for Passover. Family
home at Nazareth (Luke 2:4150)

c. 3790Jesus
3793/
c. 30-33 CE

Pilate, 26-36 CE
Herod Antippas, exiled 39 CE
Herod Agrippa, died 44 CE

Jesus tempted by the devil on

the pinnacle of the temple,
(Luke 4:1-12). Jesus casts out
money changers from the
temple early in his ministry
(John 2:13-16), and again three
years later. During his final
week of life before the
resurrection, he taught in the
temple courts and confronted
the crowds and Pharisees there.
Jesus predicts destruction of
the Second Temple. (Matthew
21ff, Mark 11, Luke 19, John
12)

c. 3793Peter
3795/
John
c. 33-35 CE

Jesus leaves his disciples 40 days

after the resurrection, ascending
from the Mount of Olives. (Acts
1:1-6, John 20-21, 1 Corinthians
15:1-8)

Followers of Jesus gathered in

Temple Courts 10 days later on
Pentecost Sunday, experience
coming of the Spirit of God to
give birth to the Church of
Jesus Christ. Peter preaches to
the crowds and many are
healed. (Acts 1ff)

c. 3793Stephen
3795/
c. 33-35 CE
c. 3822/
c. 62 CE

Martyrdom of Stephen on the

Temple Mount, Saul of Tarsus
consenting. (Acts 6-7).

James the Just Christians driven from Jerusalem James, brother of Jesus and
John (d. 100 by persecution.
leader of the Church in

CE)

Jerusalem, martyred by being

thrown from the pinnacle of the
Temple Mount.

Based upon document prepared by:

Lambert Dolphin, SRI International, Menlo Park, California 94025
for Jerusalem Temple Foundation, Jerusalem, Israel.
February 1983

Early History Of The Temple Mount

by Lambert Dolphin

Before The First Temple

There is an outcropping of starkly bare rough limestone rock in Jerusalem which for thirty
centuries past has gripped the minds and hearts of sons of men as being the most sacred spot
on earth. Known to the Jews as the Temple Mount and to the Moslems as the Noble
Sanctuary. Tradition and legend blend together where it is difficult to separate the two. . . Few
places in the world have been . . . as sacred as this city, this flattened mountain and this rock.
While the world lasts and as long as the sons of men believe that one spot on it is more sacred
and hallowed than another, this will remain so. (Ref. 1)
Earliest Legends about the Promised Land
No one knows exactly where the Garden of Eden described in the Bible was located. The
general area is generally thought to be in the Tigris-Euphrates Valleys. Sedimentary deposits
from the flood of Noah are thousands of feet deep now in the entire area, so the "ruins" of the
Garden of Eden are not likely to turn up by accident.
However, Adam after he was created was placed in the Garden which lay to the East. Because
of this statement Jewish sages have long claimed that Adam was created in what is now the
land of Israel. Adam's footprint in stone is said by Muslim guides to still exist in the bedrock
of the Macpelah in Hebron. Early Jewish legends state that Adam himself was buried in the
Cave Abraham later purchased for burying his wife.
On Mt. Moriah, the present-day Temple Mount in Jerusalem the exposed bedrock under the
Dome of the Rock is known as "the Foundation Stone"in Hebrew Even ha-Shetiyah. Although
the Jewish Temples were later built on the same foundation stone, or an extension of this same
bedrock elsewhere on Mt. Moriah, the term "foundation stone" refers to the creation of the
earth by God on the First Day.
And it was called the Foundation Stone because the world was founded on it. For Isaiah the
prophet said, "Thus saith the Lord, 'Behold I lay in Zion a foundation for a stone...a costly
corner-stone of sure foundation."' The Almighty, blessed be He, dropped a rock in the waters,
and from thence the world expanded.
The Almighty created the world in the same manner as a child is formed in its mother's womb.
Just as a child begins to grow from its navel and then develops into its full form, so the world
began from its central point and then developed in all direction. (Ref. 2)
The Foundation Stone in known in Arabic es-Sakhra (and the Dome of the Rock, Kubbat esSakhra). On the western facade of the Dome of the Rock is the following Arabic inscription,
The Rock of the Temple from the garden of Eden. The northern gate of the mosque facing the
foundation stone is named the Gate of Paradise, Bab ej-Jinah. On the floor in front of this

10

gate is a stone of green jasper about half a meter square called by the Arabs "the Stone of
Eden."
From the Muslim tradition
The Rock of the Temple is of the stones of the Garden of Eden. At resurrection day, the Kaaba
Stone, which is in holy Mecca, will go to the Foundation Stone in holy Jerusalem, bringing
with it the inhabitants of Mecca, and it shall become joined to the Foundation Stone, When
the Foundation Stone shall see the Kaaba Stone approaching, it shall cry out, "Peace be to the
great guest!" (Ref. 2)
Even more interesting than the legends concerning the Foundation Stones are the stories about
the Abyss which is supposed to lie beneath.
The Zohar relates,
"When the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to create world, He detached one precious
stone from underneath His throne of glory and plunged it into the abyss; one end of it
remained fastened therein, whilst the other end stood above...out of which the world started,
spreading itself to the right and left and into all directions."
Some of the Jewish sages say that this stone was called Shetiyah, which in Hebrew also
means "drinking" because beneath it is hidden the source of all the springs and fountains from
which the world drinks its water. An Arab tradition also states that all the fresh waters of the
world have their origin under this rock.
In the floor of the small cave (measuring about 14 feet square with a six foot ceiling) under
the great foundation stone in the Dome of the Rock is round marble slab closing a well shaft
known as "the well of the souls" (Bir al Arwah). A Muslim tradition holds this is the entrance
into the bottomless pit, the abyss. The souls of the dead awaiting judgment are said to be
audible beneath. The Talmud claims that this is the abyss above the primeval waters of
creation and of the Flood. During the illegal Parker expedition of 1911 the marble cover was
lifted and found to cover just a depression and not a well shaft. However there are other
traditions that suggest this part of Mt. Moriah may once have been a burial place, or possibly
a Canaanite High Place. Either of these stories, if they proved true would be reasons for the
site to have been disqualified as a location for Solomon's Temple because of the required
Jewish sanctity of the temple site, as discussed below.
The Land: Settled Originally by the Sons of Canaan
The cataclysmic flood of Noah (Gen. 7, 8; 2 Peter 3) destroyed the entire population of the
earth - probably many billions of inhabitants - leaving only eight survivors. These four
couples were all righteous, that is, all believers in the one true God, all had been "justified by
faith," (as the term is interpreted in the New Testament). Noah's three sons and their wives
were given the opportunity of repopulating the earth by raising their children in the fear and
knowledge of the Lord. The human family, all three branches, managed to mess things up
very quickly, within one generation in fact.
In the line of Ham a special moral weakness was noted by Ham's father Noah at the time of
Noah's drunkenness, (Gen. 9:20-27). Noah observed further that this inherited moral

11

weakness in his son Ham was already present to an even greater degree in the young
grandson, Canaan. Noah thus predicted that moral perversion and lust would especially
plague the descendants of Canaan. This so-called "curse" on one branch of Ham's family
became true in history. We know quite a bit about the Canaanites from the Biblical records
and from archaeology. These peoples became known for their sexual promiscuity
(heterosexual and homosexual), for their extreme idolatry, for endemic venereal diseases and
for their sensuous, hedonistic life-styles.
Because the earliest known inhabitants of Jerusalem (Jebus) were Canaanite peoples there are
good reasons to believe that pagan shrines dedicated to Baal and Ashtoreth were to be found
in the city in the earliest period. Traditionally these shrines were located on the higher peaks
and mountains - hence the common name "high places." (Ref. 3)
The Israelites were commanded by God to eradicate the Canaanites when they entered the
land.
And the LORD said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, "Say to the
people of Israel, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive
out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and
destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places; and you shall take
possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall
inherit the land by lot according to your families; to a large tribe you shall give a large
inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; wherever the lot falls to
any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. But if you
do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let
remain shall be as pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in
the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them." (Numbers 33:5056)
The incomplete obedience that took place during the conquest of Joshua left pockets of
Canaanites surviving, (see Judges 1:22-2:5). The pagan influences of these peoples on the
Jews was the cause of much later degradation of the worship of the God of Israel. Some of the
kings of Judah - Solomon was the first - incorporated pagan rites and rituals into the worship
of Yahweh. To their credit, a few kings of Judah (such as Josiah, about 630 B.C.E.) removed
these "high places" and restored the First Temple to its prescribed furnishings and forms of
service and worship (Ref. 3).
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in
Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David
his father; and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. For in the eighth year of his
reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father; and in the twelfth
year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the graven
and the molten images. And they broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and he
hewed down the incense altars which stood above them; and he broke in pieces the Asherim
and the graven and the molten images, and he made dust of them and strewed it over the
graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He also burned the bones of the priests on their
altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem. And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon,
and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins round about, he broke down the altars, and beat the
Asherim and the images into powder, and hewed down all the incense altars throughout all the
land of Israel... (2 Chronicles 34:1-7)
In considering the possible location of the Temples on Mount Moriah it will be necessary to
raise the possibility that the site of the Dome of the Rock was, in an earlier period, one of

12

these notorious Canaanite High Places. Consideration will also be given to the possibility that
very early tombs were located in the caves beneath the "sacred rock." Either of these
considerations would preclude the First Temple being located on the site of the present Dome
of the Rock Islamic Shrine.
Because pagan temples and shrines were traditionally placed on the tops of the highest hills
and mountains, there is also reason to believe the Jewish First Temple may well have been
deliberately located well below the summit of Mt. Moriah.
More Early History After the Flood
The famous "Table of Nations" in Genesis Chapters 10 and 11 gives us an amazing and
accurate account of the first few generations of the human race after the great flood of Noah.
From this table and the root names listed there, many of which have survived to this day we
know that the descendants of Japheth migrated largely to the North and West, populating what
is now Europe as well as Russia. (One branch of Japheth's family colonized what is now
India). The Shemites, (Semites), stayed largely in the Fertile Crescent area and Arabia. The
Hamites were the progenitors of the Egyptians, Africans, New World Indians, and Oriental
peoples. Many Hamites moved into Persia, China, and Africa.
Ham's son Canaan's family took up residence in what is now the land of Israel:
The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan...Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the
Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the
Canaanites spread abroad. And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the
direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and
Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, by their families, their languages, their
lands, and their nations. (Genesis 10:6-20) (See Ref. 4).
It is difficult to place a firm date on the time of the flood. Based on a "tight" reading of Old
Testament genealogical listings (few gaps) in the names in the line of promise between the
First and Second Adam, the flood could have occurred as recently as 3500 BC, about a
thousand or twelve hundred years before the birth of Abraham. Little is known about the Land
of Canaan during this time period, but ten or twelve centuries are more than enough for small
families of nomads to build up cities and tribes numbering many thousands of people in the
region.
Since the Hebrew term "son of so-and-so" can mean grandson or even great grandson it is
quite possible that the date of the Flood can be moved backwards at least several hundred
years. This would bring the Biblical record into closer harmony with what is now fairly
certain about ancient civilizations such as Egypt.
God had plans made much earlier, long before the flood, to give this plot of land - Canaan - to
Abram, son of Terah, son of Nahor, son of Eber, son of Shem.

13

Jerusalem: Chosen by God from Antiquity

A number of Psalms speak boldly and forthrightly about God's choice, in antiquity, of
Jerusalem and Mount Zion as His permanent dwelling place:
Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain,
beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the
great King. Within her citadels God has shown himself a sure defense. For lo, the kings
assembled, they came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded, they were in
panic, they took to flight; trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in travail.
By the east wind thou didst shatter the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes for ever.
[Selah]
We have thought on thy steadfast love, O God, in the midst of thy temple. As thy name, O
God, so thy praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Thy right hand is filled with victory; let
Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of thy judgments! Walk about
Zion, go round about her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her
citadels; that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God for ever and ever. He
will be our guide for ever. (Psalm 48. A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah)
Though occupied by the children of Ham, Canaan, the Promised Land, had been promised to
another son of Noah, to Shem, and one of Shem's unique descendants who was to be the
Savior of the world.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam---the world's three great monotheistic religions all owe their
earliest traditions to this one Semitic man, Abraham. Every religion has an outstanding figure
who is credited as one a leader of central importance. To the Jews it is Moses, the giver of the
Law. To the Moslems it is Mohammed, the last and greatest of the prophets. To the Christians
it is Jesus, the Son God and the promised Savior of the world. Actually, Jesus, Moses, and
Mohammed all were, paternally, flesh and blood descendants of Abraham, all were of Semitic
stock. Forty centuries ago, God had called this man Abram out of a pagan culture to the East,
Ur of the Chaldees (in what is now Iraq).
Now the Lord said to Abram:
"Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father's house, to a land I will
show you - I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and
you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you;
and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:1-3).
God showed Abraham the borders of the land that was to belong to him and his descendants:
And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look
to the place where you are---northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land
which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants
as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your
descendants also could be numbered. Arise and walk the land through its length and width, for
I give it to you." (Genesis 13:14-17).
Moreover, as we have seen the promises made to Abraham and his descendants are
everlasting:
"And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in
their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after
you. And I will give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a

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stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
(Genesis 17:7-8).
This covenant, or agreement, that God made with Abraham's descendants could not, nor
cannot be revoked.
God's Promises to Abraham
In these passages God made the following promises to Abraham and his descendants:
A great earthly nation, Israel, would spring from Abraham.
A great spiritual nation, a heavenly people, the church, would also spring from
Abraham.
Abraham's name would be blessed forever.
He was to be a blessing to all nations.
Those who bless Abraham's people will be blessed.
Those who curse Abraham's people will be cursed.
His descendants will be countless.
His descendants in the earthly line would inherit this promised plot of land.
His descendants in the spiritual line would inherit the universe.
The land given to Abraham was to belong to the earthly people, Israel forever.
Abraham's son Ishmael was to be the father of a great people.
Abraham's descendants through his second wife Keturah would be blessed.
Against all odds, these promises have been literally fulfilled. The fact that they all continue to
come true in history as promised demonstrates the character and faithfulness of God.
Promise of a Unique Seed
Among the promises God made to Abraham was that of a son. The Bible says that the Lord
appeared to Abraham when he and his wife Sarah were advanced in age and promised they
would have a son the next year. Sarah laughed when she overheard the promise:
And Sarah was listening in the tent door behind them. Now Abraham and Sarah were old,
well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed
within herself, saying, 'After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child,
since I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:11-14).
As God had promised Abraham and Sarah indeed had a son they named him Isaac, which
means "laughter."
Centuries later the Apostle Paul commenting on the promised seed, or heir, of Abraham tells
us that all the promises of God to the Patriarch were to find their fulfillment in one unique
Seed, Yeshua, the promised Messiah. Paul wrote these words,
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to
offsprings," referring to many; but, referring to one, "And to your offspring," which is Christ.
(Galatians 3:16)
Thus it was God's intention from before the creation of the universe to bring the promised
Messiah into the world as the biological, genetic, flesh and blood descendant of Abraham.

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Abraham Meets the King of Jerusalem

Lot, Abraham's nephew had made an unfortunate choice in choosing to dwell in Sodom, a
choice he would regret not only for time but also eternity. He had more than one opportunity
to move. Genesis 14 tells of five marauding kings from the East (Babylon) who overran
Sodom and the other Canaanite cities of the plain, taking Lot temporarily captive. Abraham
and a mere 318 of his men pursued these bad guys the full length of the country, rescuing Lot
and returning him "home" again to Sodom.
It was after these events that Abraham, stopping at Canaanite Jerusalem on his way back to
Hebron that the Patriarch was served bread and wine and blessed by the King of Salem, a man
who was not only the local King but also a Priest of El Elyon, "God most High."
After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king
of Sodom went out to meet him (Abraham) at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most
High. And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven
and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!"
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Gen. 14:17-20)
It is beyond the scope of this essay to dwell at length on the mysterious meeting between
Abraham, the progenitor of God's chosen people Israel, and a certain righteous gentile
believer who served the true and living God in the Canaanite city of Jebus that would one day
be Jerusalem, the capital city of the world. It should be noted that Melchidezek is the subject
of a lengthy discussion in the letter to the Hebrews in connection with a later and better
priesthood that the Messiah would one day institute, (see Psalm 110, Heb. 7-10). Ordinarily
the Bible does not speak much in the Old Testament about God's gracious and merciful
dealings with peoples other than Israel. Yet the case of Melchidezek shows clearly that God
had His man, His priest, in Jerusalem even before the Jewish people came into existence!
Testing on Mt. Moriah
God tested and proved Abraham's faith as He does with all those who believe. This is to grow
us up into mature, whole, complete persons fit for eternity. The most severe of all of God's
tests of Abraham's faith came when Isaac had grown into a man, Abraham was asked to take
this long-awaited, beloved son of promise and offer him as a burnt offering.
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am." And he said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you
love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the
mountains of which I shall tell you." (Genesis 22:1-2).
Abraham acted in obedience to God and went on a three days journey to the site which God
had chosen. The site that God brought Abraham would later become the City of Jerusalem
The exact location on Mt. Moriah is believed to be the Temple Mount:
When they reached the mountain that God had chosen, Abraham was prepared to sacrifice
Isaac:
But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said . . . "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is
the lamb for a burnt offering. And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the
lamb for the burnt offering." (Genesis 22:7, 8)

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At the last moment, God stayed the hand of Abraham as he was about to sacrifice his son.
Instead, Abraham offered a ram as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. There Abraham appropriately
named the spot:
And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide (Yahweh-Jireh); as it is
said to this day, "In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided. (Genesis 22:14).
Abraham looked forward to the day when God would provide another and better sacrifice on
that same Mountain.
The New Testament speaks of Abraham's great faith which became fully pleasing to God. The
writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that Abraham had come to the conclusion that God
was obligated to raise Isaac from the dead should the sacrifice be made:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the
promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your
descendants be named." He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead;
hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (Hebrews 11:17-19)
Jesus was to comment later on Abraham's obedience at Mount Moriah, "Your Father Abraham
rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." (John 8:56)
Here Jesus claims to be the Intimate of God, the One who thoroughly knows God because he
has been with him from the very beginning. "Abraham is my credential, my proof of that," he
declares. "Abraham looked forward, saw my day, and approved of me 2,500 years before I
came. He understood who I am and what I am here to do, and when he saw it he rejoiced."
(Ray C. Stedman)
Twenty centuries after Abraham another Father was to give up His only begotten, beloved Son
on the same Mount Moriah. This time the offering would not be averted:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the
world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16, 17)
Promise fulfilled
As God had promised, a great nation sprung from Abraham through his son Isaac. From Isaac
came the next son of the promise, Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel and from Isaac
were born the twelve Patriarchs of Israel:
Abraham
Isaac - not the servant Eliezer, not Ishmael
Jacob (Israel) - not Esau, then:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph (sons: Ephraim and Manasseh),
Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
Abraham had not passed each and every test God had given him, his lapses and failures are
recorded for our learning in Genesis. Some of his failures brought serious consequences, but
all that have taken place was woven into the plan of God for his chosen people the sons of
Israel:
Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in
a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred
years; but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come
out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be

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buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the
iniquity of the Amorites (i.e., the Canaanites) is not yet complete." (Genesis 15:13-15)
So the descendants of Israel, some 70 persons, (Gen. 46:27) went down to Egypt and spent
four hundred years there as slaves. They would increase in number to several millions in the
time of their exile from the Promised Land.
The Biblical record, Old and New Testaments alike, tell us that the Exodus of the Jews from
Egypt under Moses marks the time the people of Israel became a nation under God.
And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do
them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God
of your fathers, gives you...For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the
LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has
statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?.. For ask
now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man
upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this
has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking
out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to
go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by
wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? (Deut. 4:134)
Under Moses' leadership in the wilderness, God began to reveal to Israel that had been called
out of Egypt on a pilgrim journey to the land promised four centuries earlier to their
forefather. They were dealing with no ordinary God, they were told, Yahweh was a holy God
and could not dwell with an unclean, profane people. The character of this God was revealed
in the Decalogue, the Law of Moses, made known to them at Mt. Sinai. At the same time their
sinful failings began to be evident, (see 1 Cor. 10:1-11). Rather than showing justice, God
displayed his mercy, patience, loyal-love and longsuffering. A priesthood, a Tent of Meeting,
and an elaborate system of animal sacrifices were given them to show that this God was
prepared to make provision for every kind of and every manner of human sin whether it was
directed against Him or against one another, or against the community. The first great lesson
of redemption through blood sacrifice and deliverance by power had been shown to them at
the first Passover, (Exodus 12). Sins could be covered by the blood sacrifice of unblemished
animals, and "passed-over" until Messiah came to take sins away forever.
It was in the wilderness of Sinai after the crossing of the Red Sea that God revealed how it
was He planned to meet in fellowship with His people.
A Tabernacle in the Desert
Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8).
Moses did not suggest to God that a Tabernacle should be built and then God agreed to
occupy it. God lovingly looked down upon His people as He directed them toward the
Promised Land. He would not only guide them, He would dwell with them to give them
constant assurance of His shepherdly care. Yahweh instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle
in the midst of the camp, just as a Bedouin chieftain would pitch his tent in the midst of an
encampment. Furthermore the complete blueprints for this strange tent, courts, and furniture
were given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

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The Tabernacle itself was basically a huge elaborate tent about forty-five feet long divided
into two parts by a curtain, or veil. The first room, upon entering - called "the Holy Place" was about thirty feet by fifteen feet in size. In the center of the room, before the veil was the
ark of incense standing about three feet high. On it was placed charcoal and a mixture of
incense and aromatic resins. This incense was burned twice a day.
On the left of this altar was the seven branched golden candlestick (the Menorah). On the
right was the Table of Showbread where twelve loaves of bread were placed in two piles of
six. The bread, a memorial to the twelve tribes of Israel, was renewed every Sabbath day.
The Holy of Holies
Beyond the veil was the holiest place known as the Holy of Holies. The dimensions were 15
cubits on a side - approximately 22 feet on a side. Inside the Holy of Holies was the Ark of
the Covenant. And above the Ark was the Mercy Seat.
The Ark was a wooden chest made to Divine specifications to contain the two tablets of the
Law, Aaron's rod that budded and a pot of manna. Made out of acacia wood, this strange
cabinet-like box with carrying poles was also known as the Ark of the Law. It was about four
feet long and two and one half feet high. The Ark was covered inside and outside with gold.
There were four rings fixed to its side through which two carrying poles were passed. The Ark
was placed under the care of the Levites, who were exempt from military duties.
On the top of the Ark was the mercy seat that had two golden cherubim with outstretched
wings at its ends. The Cherubim, of which little is known, were winged celestial creatures
whose purpose was to guard and protect.
The Mercy Seat received its name because the High Priest, once a year on the Day of
Atonement, sprinkled it with the blood of the sacrifice. This was the most sacred place in the
entire Sanctuary. It was to symbolize the visible throne of the invisible presence of God.
How God Communicated to Man
It was from the Holy of Holies God spoke to His people:
And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from
between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, of all things which I will
give you in commandment to the children of Israel. (Exodus 25:22)
And the Lord said to Moses: "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at simply any time into the
Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will
appear in the cloud above the mercy seat." (Leviticus 16:2)
The Tabernacle was erected each time God indicated to the children of Israel they were to
temporarily halt from their march in the wilderness. The imagery is clear - this tent was only a
temporary structure, looking forward to the day when a permanent house of the Lord could be
built.
Numerous Bible commentaries have commented in detail on the symbols of the Ark, the
sacrifices, the furnishings, the courts and the Tabernacle. These matters can be studied with
great benefit by believers today for the principles of God's dealings with His people are the

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same in every generation even though the coming of Messiah has brought a fulfillment of the
many types and pictures portrayed by the Tabernacle of Moses.
The Jordan Crossed at Last
Under the leadership of Joshua, Moses' successor, the children of Israel entered the land of
Canaan, the Promised land. The Book of Joshua describes in some detail the conquest of the
land and the new lessons God taught his people Israel about living in the land that had been
given to them four hundred and forty years earlier. After the conquest of Canaan, the tent of
meeting remained in Shiloh through the time of the Judges, a period of time which totals
approximately another 400 years. Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines (1050 BC) and
never rebuilt.
Joshua and Jerusalem
More information about early Jerusalem is contained in the record in the book of Joshua at the
time of the conquest. Jerusalem was then under the control of the Jebusites under a king
whose name (or title) was Adonizedek (Lord of righteousness").
When Adonizedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly
destroyed it doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the
inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, he feared greatly,
because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than
Ai, and all its men were mighty. So Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of
Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon,
saying, "Come up to me, and help me, and let us smite Gibeon; for it has made peace with
Joshua and with the people of Israel." Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of
Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of
Eglon, gathered their forces, and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon,
and made war against it. And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying,
"Do not relax your hand from your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us and help us;
for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country are gathered against us." So
Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of
valor. And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your
hands- there shall not a man of them stand before you." So Joshua came upon them suddenly,
having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the LORD threw them into a panic before
Israel, who slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the
ascent of Bethhoron, and smote them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. And as they fled before
Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Bethhoron, the LORD threw down great
stones from heaven upon them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died
because of the hailstones than the men of Israel killed with the sword...
Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. These five kings fled,
and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. And it was told Joshua, "The five kings have
been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah." And Joshua said, "Roll great stones against the
mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them; but do not stay there yourselves, pursue
your enemies, fall upon their rear, do not let them enter their cities; for the LORD your God
has given them into your hand." When Joshua and the men of Israel had finished slaying them
with a very great slaughter, until they were wiped out, and when the remnant which remained
of them had entered into the fortified cities, all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp

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at Makkedah; not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel. Then Joshua
said, "Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out to me from the cave." And
they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the
king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. And when
they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel, and said to
the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, "Come near, put your feet upon the
necks of these kings." Then they came near, and put their feet on their necks. And Joshua said
to them, "Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and of good courage; for thus the LORD
will do to all your enemies against whom you fight." And afterward Joshua smote them and
put them to death, and he hung them on five trees. And they hung upon the trees until
evening; but at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them
down from the trees, and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and
they set great stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.(Joshua
10:1-27)
In attempting to understand what appears at first glance to be the ruthless destruction of
innocent men, women and children, it is important for us to understand that Israel was, at this
time in her history, the instrument of God in bringing divine judgment on a thoroughly
corrupt, pagan, wicked people, (Numbers 21:1, 2; Deut. 7:2,13:15, 20:17; Josh 10-11). The
inhabitants of Canaan had, in fact, had 400 years to mend their ways and turn to the living
God who owned the land, (Gen. 15:16). Instead they had grown only more corrupt and
beyond the hope of salvation. To allow them to continue and propagate would only spread the
cancer of their idolatrous ways further.
In fact Israel's incomplete obedience of God in allowing remnants of the Canaanites to live
was the cause of much subsequent heartache and disaster for centuries to follow, (Joshua
17:13, Judges 1:22ff-3:6).
The Fate of the Tabernacle
The Books of Samuel tell of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines and give
us also the subsequent story of the wanderings of the Ark for some years until it was brought
to Jerusalem by David. After the fall and destruction of Shiloh in 1050 BC the tabernacle and
its furnishings - minus the Ark - were brought to Jerusalem, and, according to tradition
eventually set up there on Mount Moriah by King David. When the Ark was at last recovered
it was evidently returned to its proper place in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle. Now the
Ark and the Tabernacle had come to rest permanently at God's chosen destination for His
people Israel.
According to 2 Samuel 5 David, in the eight year of his reign had captured Jerusalem from the
Jebusites:
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land,
who said to David, "You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off "
- thinking, "David cannot come in here." Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, that
is, the city of David. And David said on that day, "Whoever would smite the Jebusites, let him
get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul."
Therefore it is said, "The blind and the lame shall not come into the house." And David dwelt
in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built the city round about from
the Millo inward. (2 Sam. 5:6-9)
The first rightful king of Israel was David. David captured the city of Jerusalem from the
Jebusites and was crowned king of Israel in the city of Hebron. David solidified the nation by

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making Jerusalem its capital. He brought the Ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and placed it in
the tabernacle.

King David observed that while he lived in a house of cedar, God's presence still was in
curtains (the Tabernacle). Hence David conceived a plan for a more permanent structure to be
built, a Temple.
God told king David that a Temple was to be built, but not by him. David was not to be the
one who would build the Temple because he was a man of war. That job would belong to his
son Solomon. The original command for building the Temple was given by God, "He shall
build a house for my name" (2 Samuel 7:13).
The fact that other nations had temples and Israel did not is not the reason it was built. The
Temple was to be a memorial to Israel to turn her heart away from the idols of their
contemporaries. The Temple would provide them for an incentive not to practice the same evil
things as the Canaanites.
After the Temple was built the Tabernacle was dismantled. Its fate is unknown. But, it may
well have been stored in a room under the Temple Mount were it remains to this today. Quite
a few Jewish leaders in Israel today will tell you that this is so!
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
so the LORD is round about his people,
from this time forth and for evermore.
For the scepter of wickedness
shall not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous put forth their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts!
But those who turn aside upon their crooked ways

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the LORD will lead away with evildoers!

Peace be in Israel!
(Psalm 125. A Psalm of David. A Psalm of Ascents)

End Notes
1. Solomon Steckoll, The Temple Mount, London, Tom Stacey Limited, 1972, p. 9.
2. Zev Vilnay, Legends of Jerusalem, The Jewish Publication Society of America,
Philadelphia, 1973.
3. Mention of the "high places" is found in 1Kgs. 3, Kgs. 12:31-32, 1Kgs. 13, b1Kgs. 14:23,
1Kgs. 15:14, 1Kgs. 22:43, 2Kgs. 12:3, 2Kgs. 14:4, 2Kgs. 15:4, 35, 2Kgs. 16:4, 2Kgs. 17:9-11,
2Kgs. 17:29-32, 2Kgs. 18:4, 22, 2Kgs. 18:22, 2Kgs. 21:3, 2Kgs. 23:5-9, 2Kgs. 23:13
2Kgs. 23:19-20, 2Chr. 11:15, 2Chr. 14:3-5, 2Chr. 15:17, 2Chr. 17:6, 2Chr. 20:33, 2Chr. 21:11,
2Chr. 28:4, 25, 2Chr. 31:1, 2Chr. 32:12, 2Chr. 33:3, 17-19, 2Chr. 34:3, Ps. 78:58, Prov. 9:14,
Eccl. 10:6, Isa. 15:2, Isa. 36:7, Jer. 19:5 ,Jer. 32:35, Ezek. 6:3, Ezek. 6:6, Hosea 10:8,
Amos 7:9, Micah 1:3, and Hab. 3:19.
4. Other ancient peoples are named frequently in the Old Testament records. These include:
(a) The Philistines, present in the land from early times, invaded the coastlands in force in
1200 BC. They were fierce warlike Hamitic peoples descended from Mizraim (Egypt). (b)
The Ammonites, descended from Lot through his son Ammon. Ammon was born out of Lot's
incestuous relationship with one of his daughters. (c) The Moabites sprang from Lot's
relationship with his other daughter resulting in the birth of his son, Moab. (d) The Edomites
are descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob. (e) The Midianites were peoples
descended largely from the sons of Abraham's second wife, Keturah.

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Mount Moriah, Site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

by Lambert Dolphin

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Topographic Map of Jerusalem

Contour Interval is 10 meters
Even prior to the conquest of the city of Jebus - which became the City of David, (1
Chronicles 11:4) - we know of the existence of Jerusalem from the record of Abraham's visit
to Melchizedek there, recorded in Genesis Chapter 14. Although the original inhabitants were
descendants of Noah's son Caanan, Melchizedek was both a priest and a king of "God Most
High," in Jerusalem about 4 millennia ago. Melchizedek (his name means "king of
righteousness") was a man to whom Abraham paid tithes, and he is a "type" of Jesus Christ as
the believer's Great High Priest, (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5-7).
Jerusalem does not lie on any important trade routes nor is there any natural reason why this
city should be one of the most important places in the world for more than four thousand
years. Jerusalem lies at the crest of a low range of hills which are a barrier to winter rains
from the Mediterranean Sea which is only 30 miles to the West. Immediately to the East,
annual rainfall drops nearly to zero in the Judean Wilderness. The elevation to the East also
drops rapidly to the Dead Sea, falling to 1290 feet below sea level, in less than 15 miles as the
crow flies.
Jerusalem's importance as a site chosen by God for His special purposes dates from the call of
God to Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, in the city of Jebus, as
recorded in Genesis 22. (This important event in the life of Abraham is known to the Jews as
"the Akeda" or "the binding of Isaac.")
"After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am
I." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of
Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell
you."
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with
him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the
place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the
place afar off. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will
go yonder and worship, and come again to you."
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in
his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his
father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire
and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide
himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. When
they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the
wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the
LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."
He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear
God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

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And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a
thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering
instead of his son.
So Abraham called the name of that place The LORD will provide; as it is said to this day,
"On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided." And the angel of the LORD called to
Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the LORD,
because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed
bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is
on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your
descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my
voice." So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
The topographic map shows that Mount Moriah is not a single peak, but an elongated ridge
which commences to rise at its Southern end at the junction of the Kidron and Hinnom
Valleys, at the original City of David, (elevation approximately 600 meters). The ridge then
climbs in elevation to a maximum of 777 meters just Northeast of the present Damascus Gate
of the Old City. The Temple Mount, prominent in most photos of Jerusalem occupies an area
of about 45 acres. However the elevation of the bedrock outcropping on the Temple Mount
within the Dome of the Rock Moslem shrine is only 741 meters.
A distinctly separate "mountain" is Mount Zion (elevation 772 meters) which lies about 600
meters to the West. In ancient times a deep valley, the Tyropean Valley, or Valley of the
Cheesemakers, separated Mt. Zion from Mt. Moriah. Today many layers of ruined city and
rubble from Jerusalem's many destructions completely fills this valley. In fact at the Western
Wall, the Kotel, or Jewish prayer plaza, about half of the old wall of the Temple Mount lies
below the present ground level. (Sometimes Scripture calls all of Jerusalem "Zion" or "Mt.
Zion"). Outside the present old city walls, the traditional tomb of David and site of the Upper
Room are located on present-day Mt. Zion, as well as the Church of the Domition and the
Institute of Holy Land Studies.
East of Mt. Moriah a few hundred meters is the Mount of Olives which is about 100 meters
higher than the high points of Mt. Zion or Mt. Moriah. Jesus ascended to heaven from the
summit of the Mt. of Olives according to Acts 1:1-12 and will make his triumphant return to
earth from the same location, according to Zechariah 14:4. At the Western base of the Mount
of Olives just above the Kidron Brook is the Garden of Gethsamene. This was not only the
place of Jesus' arrest and final prayers, it was a popular spot where he and his disciples often
met and slept.
There is sound archaeological evidence to suppose that the place of the crucifixion of Jesus
was at the summit of Mt. Moriah, probably near the present-day Damascus Gate and the
Garden Tomb which would of course be a literal fulfillment of Abraham's offering of Isaac
when God said, "On the mount of the Lord it [the final offering for sin] will be provided."
Late in his reign as King of Jersualem David erred grievously in the sight of the Lord by
ordering a census. (I Chronicles 21, 2 Samuel 24). As part of his repentance before the Lord,
David purchased a large piece of property owned by a Jebusite man named Ornan (or
Araunah) for 600 shekels of gold. David's purchase of Ornan's property seems to have
included an additional 50 shekels of silver for the purchase threshing floor proper, and oxen
for sacrifice. David then erected an altar there and offered sacrifices there.

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It was David's intent to build a temple to the Lord on this property, on Mt. Moriah, however
God chose Solomon for this task instead, after allowing David to amass the material resources
that would be required. (I Chronciles 22ff, 1 Kings 5ff).
Our knowledge of the topography of present-day Jerusalem is due to a careful survey of Israel
by the Palestine Exploration Society in 1868-1881. Cisterns and sub-surface rooms under the
Temple Mount were also more accessible then and were mapped by Sir Charles Warren.
I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD!"
Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem, built as a city which is bound firmly together,
to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
"May they prosper who love you!
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers!"
For my brethren and companions' sake I will say, "Peace be within you!"
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.
(Psalm 122)

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The Temple of Solomon

by Lambert Dolphin

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD
watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up
early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved
sleep.
Lo, sons are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in
the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver
full of them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(Psalm 127. A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.)

Kings Come to Ancient Israel

After the conquest of the land and the death of that great leader Joshua, the tribes of Israel
settled into the chaotic, disjointed, and disorganized period described in the Book of Judges.
This whole time period of nearly four centuries was characterized by the repeated descriptive
phrase, "In those days there was no king in the land, everyone did what was right in his own
eyes." (Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25) Failure to drive out and exterminate the corrupting
Canaanites who lived previously in the land caused these peoples to grow back like poisonous
weeds until they oppressed and harassed Israel.
During this time God graciously raised up "judges" (shophetim) who reversed the status quo
for a season by calling on God and rally the people around the One who had chosen them and
commissioned them to occupy the land.
Moral and spiritual conditions were very low at Shiloh when the prophet Samuel was born.
The Levitical priesthood under Eli was about to be disqualified in the deaths of Eli's
disreputable sons Hophni and Phinehas. Although God had desired to rule Israel as their
invisible Monarch and Lord, the people clamored for a national champion to rule them:
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and carne to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him,
"Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to
govern us like all the nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a
king to govern us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel,
"Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you,
but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds which they

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have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me
and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, hearken to their voice; only,
you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over
them."
So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking a king from him.
He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons
and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots - and
he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to
plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the
equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his
servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers
and to his servants. He will take your menservants and maidservants, and the best of your
cattle and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you
shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have
chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day."
But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel - and they said, "No! but we will have
a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and
go out before us and fight our battles." And when Samuel had heard all the words of the
people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD.
And the LORD said to Samuel, "Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. (1 Samuel
8:4-22)
The first king chosen, Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, a son of Kish - though a man of proven
military ability - failed the tests God gave him and was soon disqualified (1 Samuel 15)
leaving the newly formed "monarchy" in a state of civil war.
Young David, a Bethlehemite shepherd lad from the tribe of Judah was then chosen by God.
As everyone knows, he proved by his wise choices to be a man "after God's own heart." As a
great military strategist David united the tribes and extended the national boundaries so that in
his time Israel enjoyed a greater fraction of the land promised to Abraham than has ever since
been the case.
David ruled as king for seven years and Hebron, then established his throne in Jerusalem after
overcoming the ancient Jebusite (Canaanite) community there. His reign continued there in
Jerusalem for the next 32 years. Secure on his throne and dwelling in a magnificent palace of
cedar and stone, David began to be concerned that he, the visible king, dwelled in a
magnificent house, but the invisible King of kings still dwelt in an aging temporary tent, the
Tabernacle of Moses.
At first the prophet Nathan gave David approval to construct a temple, but the following night
God intervened. Speaking to Nathan in a dream God laid out for David an amazing covenant
whose promises continue to this present day. God committed himself to establishing the house
of David forever, to a specific land and people (Israel), and to a temple (see 2 Samuel 7).
Messiah, in fact, would be one of David's sons.
David, a man of war, was not, however, to build the First Temple. That task was given to his

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son Solomon, although David drew up the plans.

The fact that other nations had temples and Israel did not is not the reason The First Temple
was to be built. The Temple was to be a memorial to Israel to turn her heart away from the
idols of the surrounding nations. The Temple would provide them for an incentive not to
practice the same evil things as the Canaanites.
After the Temple was built, the Tabernacle was dismantled. It may have been stored in a room
under the Temple Mount. It is quite possible it is still there to this day, as many rabbis and
authorities in Jerusalem believe.
Araunah's Threshing Floor
David was by no means a perfect king. He had a number of wives and his marriages were
apparently nothing to boast about. His grievous sin of murder and adultery in the case of
Bathsheba brought war in David's household for the rest of his days. Yet when confronted
with his sin David showed contrition and repentance (Psalms 32, 51 for instance).
Late in his reign David carelessly chose to take a census of the army acting against the advice
of General Joab and other army leaders. The Lord was provoked to great anger at David who
evidently had forgotten that the strength of Israel was in her God and not in the number of her
soldiers or skill in battle. Confronted with the seriousness of his poor judgment by the prophet
Gad, David was given three choices by God as to the consequences that were to follow this
serious mistake on the part of the king. The three choices given him were (1) three years of
famine, (3) three years of devastation by Israel's foes, or (3) of three days of destruction
(pestilence) wrought by The Angel of the Lord, (see 1 Chr. 21, 2 Sam 24 for the accounts).
Knowing that God was merciful, David asked God to choose. The result was three terrible
days of pestilence from the Angel of the Lord. Jerusalem was spared at the last minute when
David cried out for mercy--the sin was his and not that of the people--they were but sheep.
It was at this time, when the hand of the Angel of the Lord was stayed, that David was told by
Gad to erect an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah (Ornan) the Jebusite. The location was
on wind-swept Mount Moriah. The site is the place where one thousand years earlier God had
stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac.
And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the
threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." . . . And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and
the plague was withdrawn from Israel. (2 Samuel 24: 15,1 6, 18, 25).
Plans and Preparations for the Temple
David's role, and careful attention to all the details, plans and preparation for the temple are
recorded for us in First Chronicles Chapter 22:
David commanded to gather together the aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set
stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. David also provided
great stores of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in
quantities beyond weighing, and cedar timbers without number - for the Sidonians and

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Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. For David said, "Solomon my son is young
and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly
magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands; I will therefore make preparation for it."
So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.
Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for the LORD, the God
of Israel. David said to Solomon,
"My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. But the
word of the LORD came to me, saying, You have shed much blood and have waged great
wars; you shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before
me upon the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you; he shall be a man of peace. I will give
him peace from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give
peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son,
and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel for ever.' Now, my son,
the LORD be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the LORD your
God, as he has spoken concerning you. Only, may the LORD grant you discretion and
understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the LORD
your God. Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances
which the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong, and of good courage. Fear not; be
not dismayed. With great pains I have provided for the house of the LORD a hundred
thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for
there is so much of it; timber and stone too I have provided. To these you must add. You have
an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen
without number, skilled in working gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and be doing! The
LORD be with you!"
David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, "Is not the
LORD your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has
delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand - and the land is subdued before the LORD
and his people. Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Arise and build the
sanctuary of the LORD God, so that the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels
of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the LORD."
The Construction of the Temple
After the death of his father David, Solomon issued the orders for the building of the First
Temple to commence:
You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God
because of the wars which were fought against him on every side until the Lord put his foes
under the soles of his feet. (1 Kings 5:3).
The building of the First Temple was a monumental task. Phoenician craftsmen were
employed to build the Temple. Construction began in the fourth year of Solomon's reign and
took seven years:
Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel - and the labor force was thirty
thousand men . . . Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand

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to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. (1 Kings
5:13; 2 Chronicles 2:2).
The stones were hewn from a quarry and brought to the Temple:
And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no
hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. (1 Kings
6:7)
Generous sections of First Kings (Chapters 5-8) and 2 Chronicles (Chapters 1-7) give us great
detail about the construction of the Temple, the priesthood and the temple services. A
summary is given in 1 Kings 6:
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt,
in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second
month, he began to build the house of the LORD. The house which King Solomon built for
the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. The vestibule in
front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten
cubits deep in front of the house. And he made for the house windows with recessed frames.
He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running round the walls of the house,
both the nave and the inner sanctuary - and he made side chambers all around. The lowest
story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad and the third was seven
cubits broad - for around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the
supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house. When the house was
built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry; so that neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of
iron was heard in the temple, while it was being built. The entrance for the lowest story was
on the south side of the house; and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the
middle story to the third. So he built the house, and finished it; and he made the ceiling of the
house of beams and planks of cedar. He built the structure against the whole house, each story
five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.
Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, "Concerning this house which you are
building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my ordinances and keep all my
commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to
David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my
people Israel." So Solomon built the house, and finished it. He lined the walls of the house on
the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling, he
covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of
cypress. He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to
the rafters, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the most holy place. The house,
that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. The cedar within the
house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, no stone was seen.
The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the
covenant of the LORD. The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and
twenty cubits high; and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also made an altar of cedar.
And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold
across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. And he overlaid the whole
house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the
inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive

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wood, each ten cubits high. Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five
cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to
the tip of the other. The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same
measure and the same form. The height of one cherub was ten cubits and so was that of the
other cherub. He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house; and the wings of the
cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other
cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the
house. And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
He carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm
trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. The floor of the house he overlaid with
gold in the inner and outer rooms. For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of
olive wood; the lintel and the doorposts formed a pentagon. He covered the two doors of olive
wood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; he overlaid them with gold,
and spread gold upon the cherubim and upon the palm trees. So also he made for the entrance
to the nave doorposts of olive wood, in the form of a square, and two doors of cypress wood;
the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were
folding. On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them
with gold evenly applied upon the carved work. He built the inner court with three courses of
hewn stone and one course of cedar beams. In the fourth year the foundation of the house of
the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv. And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which
is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its
specifications. He was seven years in building it.

Art work by Rodney, rtreadway@excite.com, (used by permission)

Islamic Traditions
According to Islamic tradition, Solomon was able to converse freely with animals and birds,
understanding their languages. Because of his wisdom and the grace and favor with which
God endowed him, was able to converse with the spirits of the underworld who Solomon used

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as servants. The Moslem historian al-Siuti gives the following mythical description of how
Solomon built the Temple:
When God revealed unto Solomon that he should build him a Temple, Solomon assembled all
the wisest men, genii and Afrites of the earth, and the mightiest of the devils, and appointed
one division of them to build, another to cut blocks and columns from the marble mines, and
others to dive into ocean-depths, and fetch therefrom pearls and coral. Now some of these
pearls were like ostrich's or hen's eggs. So he began to build the Temple . . . the devils cut
quarries of jacinth and emerald. Also the devils made highly-polished cemented blocks of
marble. (Ref. 1)
An even more fanciful Jewish legend states,
When King David began to dig the foundation of the Temple, the waters of the abyss burst
forth and hastened to cover the whole world. David took a fragment of pottery and wrote on it
the divine Name, then threw it into the abyss. Immediately the abyss receded sixteen thousand
cubits into the depths. When David saw this he said "the closer the abyss is to the earth, the
more the earth drinks of its waters and is blessed thereof." What did he do? He sang the
fifteen Songs of Degrees of the Book of Psalms, and the abyss rose again fifteen thousand
cubits. And it remained one thousand cubits beneath the surface of the earth. (Ref. 2)
Dedication
After the completion of the Temple it was dedicated by King Solomon in 953 BC Solomon's
speech to the people and his marvelous prayers were followed by an enormous offering of
22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. A great public feast followed:
So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the
entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days. On the
eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their homes joyful
and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to
Israel his people. (l Kings 8:65, 66)
The account in 2 Chronicles tells us that fire from heaven ignited the offerings on the altars as
Solomon finished praying:
When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt
offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. And the priests could
not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house.
When all the children of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the
temple, they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and worshiped and
gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever."
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. King Solomon offered as
a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king
and all the people dedicated the house of God. The priests stood at their posts, the Levites
also, with the instruments for music to the LORD which King David had made for giving
thanks to the LORDfor his steadfast love endures for everwhenever David offered praises by
their ministry, opposite them the priests sounded trumpets; and all Israel stood. (2 Chronicles
7:1-6)

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Art work by Rodney, rtreadway@excite.com, (used by permission)

A Temple without an Idol

The feature that set apart the Solomonic Temple from other Temples in the ancient world is
that there was no idol in it. It contained only the Mercy Seat over the Ark and the Cherubim
overshadowing the Mercy Seat. This declared to the world that idols are unnecessary for God
to be present. The God of Israel was not localized in any sense. Neither was He bound to any
other form such as the Ark. The Temple therefore was not necessary because of God's nature.
He did not need it. One thousand years later, the first Christian martyr, Stephen, said to an
unruly crowd:
...Solomon built God a house. However the Most High does not dwell in temples made with
hands, as the prophet says: "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is my footstool. What house
will you build for Me? says the Lord or what is the place of My rest? Has not My hand made
all these things?" (Acts 7:47-50, quoting Isaiah 66:1-2).
The Temple was built to meet the limitations and needs of God's people. It emphasized the
way of salvation to the those who asked His forgiveness and represented the believers
assurance of the grace of God for their joy and blessing. (1 Kings 8:27-30).
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot
contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!" (V. 27)
The Temple also symbolized the hearing ear of God:
Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the
cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: that Your eyes may be
open toward this temple night and day toward the place of which You said, "My name shall be
there," and that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. (1
Kings 8:28-29).
It was also a place of refuge for the stranger:

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Moreover concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far
country for Your name's sake. (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand
and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, hear in heaven
Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all
peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that
they may know that this temple which I have built is called by your name (1 Kings 8: 4143).
The Temple is the house of prayer for all people where all nations of the earth should fear
God:
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My House of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be
called a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7).
What we know about Solomon's Temple
The on-going, intensive research now being conducted by The Temple Institute, and other
groups in Jerusalem, will soon bring us more published and accessible information on the
Temple of Solomon. Until now most of the published descriptions of the temple have been
based on the Bible only.
Extra-biblical sources (Ref. 2) describe the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of ancient Israel as
being housed in a special building in the Temple courtyard named the Chamber of Hewn
Stone (Lishkat ha-Gazith).
We have descriptions of the ritual bath (mikvah) used by the high priest. The mikvah was
supplied by flowing ("living") water from the spring called Ein Eitam which is in the hills of
Bethlehem near the Pools of Solomon which are still extant. The spring was 23 cubits above
the level of the Temple court.

Plan of Solomon's Temple (Encyclopedia Judaica)

Two chambers in the Temple are named in the Mishnah. One, the Chamber of Secrets, was
where the devout placed their gifts in secret. The poor received support from these gifts also
in secret. The Chamber of Utensils was also a room for storing gifts from which distribution

36

was made every 30 days.

The vaulted Chamber of the Hearth (also mentioned in the Mishnah) was the room the eldest
sons could stay and young priests sleep with the keys of the Temple Court in their custody. A
fired burned continuously there to keep the occupants warm.
Incense for the temple was prepared by a family named Abtinas in the upper story of a special
building in the courtyard, the Chamber of Abtinas.
We can easily imagine that rooms were needed for wood storage, for extra copies of the
sacred vessels, for priestly garment storage, for temple records. Access tunnels came into the
temple underground (according to more than one historical account) and some of the storage
rooms were underground. These underground rooms and tunnels have apparently not been
cleared, entered nor explored since the destruction of Solomon's Temple on the 9th of Av, 586
BC!
Soon-Fading Splendor
Solomon's great wisdom and the unrivaled splendor of the First Temple brought pilgrims from
near and far. The account of the visit of the Queen of Sheba (2 Chron. 9, 1 Kings 10) tells us
something about this great king and the magnificent and holy light from God that blessed him
and all the people.
Yet Solomon failed to heed the counsel of God and of his father David. He soon had
accumulated horses and chariots (disregarding the admonition of Samuel and the Law of
Moses), and in the course of time he excelled his father's love of women by accumulating
"700 wives and 300 concubines." One of the great understatements of the Bible attributes
Solomon's downfall to the influence of his foreign wives:
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moabite,
Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the
LORD had said to the people of Israel, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither
shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods; Solomon clung
to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and
his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart
after other gods- and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of
David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after
Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not wholly follow the
LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the
abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain
east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed
to their gods.
And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD,
the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this
thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD commanded.
Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your mind and you have not kept
my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom

37

from you and will give it to your servant Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it
in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away all the
kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the
sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen." (1 Kings 11:1-13)
For many years Solomon evidently wandered away from fellowship with His God, returning
only much later, near the end of the life, to record for us in his book, Ecclesiastes, what he had
learned about the emptiness of all of life apart from God.
When Solomon died his son Rehoboam became king of Israel. The nation, however, was on a
spiritual decline. Rehoboam's policies caused the kingdom to be divided into north (Israel)
and south (Judah) separate regimes. Jeroboam, the first king of Israel. He built two substitute
places of worship, one in Bethel and one in Dan for fear the people would return to Jerusalem:
And Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now the kingdom may return to the house of David. If these
people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this
people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go
back to Rehoboam king of Judah. Therefore the king took counsel and made two calves of
gold and said to the people. "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods,
O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt. (1 Kings 12:26-28).
Because the people felt bound to the legal system of worship in Jerusalem Jeroboam realized
the need that worship be centralized in the north. The northern kingdom remained in idolatry
until it was overrun and taken captive in 721 BC by the Assyrians. Nineteen kings had ruled
over the ten Northern tribes - the Bible has no good thing to say about a single one of them.
The dismal record of the lives of Jeroboam I, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab,
Ahaziah, Jehoram (Joram)), Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash (Joash), Jeroboam II, Zechariah,
Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah and Hoshea is given in the books of the Kings.
Invasion of Shishak
Another consequence of Solomon's compromise with idolatry and the resultant spiritual
decline was that God raised up an adversary against him, Hadad the Edomite (1 Kings
11:14ff). The result was considerable turmoil in the land and the king's courts. Finally God
allowed Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt to come down and plunder the Temple.
And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak, king of Egypt came
against Jerusalem because they transgressed against the Lord. . . So Shishak king of Egypt
came up against Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the
treasures of the kings house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which
Solomon had made. (2 Chronicles 12:2, 9).
The temple would now continue to decline and wealth and splendor and importance for the
next 367 years.
The two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, retaining the Temple and its sacrifices as the
center of their national and corporate life, were to experience the reign of 20 kings.
Fortunately several of these rulers turned from the ways of their forefathers and followed the
God of Israel. When they did so, the nation enjoy a season of revival and divine blessing with

38

a temporary respite from the general downhill course that characterizes all of human history
in every nation.
Temple Harmony Disturbed and Restored
Judah's kings - Rehoboam, Abijah (Abijam), Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah,
Joash, Amaziah, Azariah (Uzziah), Jotham, Ahaz (Jehoahaz), Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon,
Josiah, Jehoahaz II (Shallum), Jehoiakim (Eliakim), Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), and Zedekiah
(Mattaniah) - were mostly individuals who lived out their own self-centered and personallyambitious lives in indifference to the calling of the God of Israel. A few wonderful exceptions
stand out. Some few of these rulers are noteworthy for their influence on the temple, for good
or for ill.
King Asa, placed in the Temple the spoils of his father:
He also brought into the house of the Lord the things which his father had dedicated, and the
things which he himself had dedicated: silver and gold utensils (1 Kings 15:15).
In his earlier years Asa followed the ways of the Lord and renewed the altar in the inner court.
However, when Baasha, King of Israel made war against Judah, Asa collected all the treasures
and sent them to Ben-hadad of Damascus. By sending the treasures of the Temple this sealed
an alliance with him against Israel (1 Kings 15:18-20.). Asa was rebuked by God's prophet
Hanani for his alliance with Syria (2 Chronicles 16:7-9). Since the temple vessels were all
precisely specified by the Lord for purposes of teaching Israel about themselves and their
personal relationship with their God the contents of the temple were not to be altered or
modified.
Queen Athaliah, daughter of Ahaziah, was a notorious wicked woman. She went so far as to
murder the royal sons who were heirs of the throne, and had she succeeded, the line of
promise to the Messiah would have been broken. Fortunately God preserved the boy Joash
who would live to sit on his father's throne. It fell to Joash, a good king because of the godly
influence of Jehoida the priest, to restore the house of the Lord from predations of Athaliah,
...Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD. And he gathered the priests and the
Levites, and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to
repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that you hasten the matter." But the
Levites did not hasten it. So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, "Why
have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by
Moses, the servant of the LORD, on the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?" For
the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God; and had also
used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals.
So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the
LORD. And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the
LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness. And all the
princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until
they had finished. And whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites,
when they saw that there was much money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the
chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they
did day after day, and collected money in abundance.

39

And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the
LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD and also
workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. So those who were engaged in
the work labored and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of
God to its proper condition and strengthened it. And when they had finished, they brought the
rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house
of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense, and
vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD
continually all the days of Jehoiada. (2 Chronicles 24:4-14)
Amaziah did what was right before the Lord, "but not with a blameless heart" (2 Chr. 25:2).
During a civil war with Joash, King of Israel, Amaziah ignored the advice of God's prophet.
But Amaziah would not listen - for it was of God in order that he might give them into the
hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom. So Joash king of Israel
went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh,
which belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home.
And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, at
Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four
hundred cubits, from the Ephraim Gate to the Comer Gate. And he seized all the gold and
silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Cod, and Obed-edom with them; he
seized also the treasuries of the king's house, and hostages, and he returned to Samaria (2
Chronicles 25:20-24)
Uzziah (Azariah) enjoyed a long and peaceful reign of 52 years in Jerusalem. He is described
as a king who "did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father
Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah (the priest) who
instructed him in the fear of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to
prosper." (2 Chr. 26:4,5) But power and success ruined this man, as it does many in positions
of power,
But when he was strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the LORD his
God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah
the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor, and they
withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the
LORD, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of
the sanctuary; for you have done wrong, and it will win you no honor from the LORD God."
Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he
became angry with the priests leprosy broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests
in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the
priests, looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they thrust him out
quickly, and he himself hastened to go out, because the LORD had smitten him. And King
Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper dwelt in a separate house, for he
was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's
household, governing the people of the land. (2 Chronicles 26:16-21)
What is interesting about Uzziah's illegal entry into the temple in 750 BC to burn incense, is
that significant tradition claims that an extraordinarily powerful earthquake occurred at that
very time. (Ref. 3)

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One of the worst kings of Judah was Ahaz. He desecrated the Temple and robbed it of its
treasures. He sent the Temple treasures along with his own to the Assyrian monarch TiglathPileser III to secure his aid in an alliance against Israel and Syria. Ahaz went to Damascus and
had a copy of their altar made and brought to Jerusalem. There he placed it before the altar of
the Lord and made a sacrifice on this pagan replica. He also closed the Temple and broke up
the vessels. These actions represented a terrible profanation of God's holy temple.
Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had
done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering,
according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the
people of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and
under every green tree...
Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the
treasures of the king's house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria
hearkened to him; the king of Assyria marched up against Damascus, and took it, carrying its
people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin. When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet
Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to
Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. And Uriah the
priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah
the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. And when the king carne from
Damascus, the king viewed the altar.
Then the king drew near to the altar, and went up on it, and burned his burnt offering and his
cereal offering, and poured his drink offering, and threw the blood of his peace offerings upon
the altar. And the bronze altar which was before the LORD he removed from the front of the
house, from the place between his altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north
side of his altar. And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, "Upon the great altar
burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening cereal offering, and the king's burnt offering,
and his cereal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their cereal
offering, and their drink offering; and throw upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all
the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by." Uriah the priest
did all this, as King Ahaz commanded. And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands, and
removed the laver from them, and he took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were
under it, and put it upon a pediment of stone. And the covered way for the sabbath which had
been built inside the palace, and the outer entrance for the king he removed from the house of
the LORD, because of the king of Assyria. (2 Kings 16:2-18)
And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of
the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the LORD; and he made himself
altars in every corner of Jerusalem. In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense
to other gods, provoking to anger the LORD, the God of his fathers. (2 Chronicles 28:24, 25)
It fell to good King Hezekiah, who succeeded Ahaz, to restore the desecrations of the temple
done by Ahaz:
Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into
the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. And let them

41

deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the
Lord; let them give it to those who are in the house of the Lord doing the work, to repair the
damages of the house. (2 Kings 22:4, 5).
Hezekiah opened the doors and restored the vessels which Ahaz had put away. Unfortunately
Hezekiah was limited up with pride and made alliances with foreign nationsand he unwisely
showed the treasures of the temple to the Babylonians. His careless actions assured the
eventual downfall of Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 32:24).
Manasseh built idolatrous altars in the Temple Courts and placed a graven image in the
Temple (2 Kings 21:3-9, 2 Chron. 33:2-9). God punished him by sending him to Babylon as a
prisoner in chains. Though he was the most evil of all the kings amazingly he repented while
in Babylon and turned to God after which he returned to Jerusalem where he repaired the altar
(2 Chron. 33:14-17). His son Amon followed in the idolatrous example of his father. He
worshiped an image of his father. After two years his servants assassinated him. The people
then killed the assassins and made Josiah king.
Josiah took the throne at the age of 8 and at 16 years of age he set out to bring spiritual reform
to the whole land. A significant reformation took place under his rule. Josiah ordered the
Temple repaired. The stone work was repaired and certain timbers replaced. Josiah removed
the idols from the Temple and restored two of the temples courts. He also had the Ark of the
Covenant put back into the Holy of Holies (2 Chron. 35:3). The people, however, did not truly
turn to the Lord in repentance in spite of the thirty-one year reign of this vigorous and godly
reformer.
The reign of Jehoiakim was the beginning of the end for the Southern Kingdom.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made this man a vassal king. After three years Jehoiakim
rebelled and Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to the city. (2 Kings 24:1).
Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin (Coniah) also did evil. The Temple vessels were taken to Babylon
while Jehoiachin and his family were taken prisoner along with the thousand captives
including the skilled craftsmen. Only the poorest of the poor remained in the land.
Destruction of First Temple Foreseen
The prophet Jeremiah predicted the destruction of the Jerusalem and a seventy year captivity
of the people. He also pronounced judgment on those who would destroy her, namely the
Babylonians. It was only a matter of time until the times of the First Temple were to come to a
sad and terrible end:
And the whole land [of Israel] shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations
shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will come to pass, when seventy years
are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the
Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' says the Lord; 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation.
(Jeremiah 25:12, 13).

End Notes

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1. Solomon Steckoll, The Temple Mount, Tom Stacey Ltd., London, 1972.
2. Zev Vilnay, Legends of Jerusalem, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia,
1973.
3. Steve Austin, The Extraordinary Middle East Earthquake of 750 BC, Institute of Creation
Research, San Diego, 1989.
4. In response to a question about the actuals dates for the First and Second Temples the
following brief comments are offered: Solomon spent 13 years building his own house and
seven years building the First Temple ("Solomon's Temple"). It was twice the size of the
Tabernacle and was finished in the Jewish month of Bul, 960 BC. I Kings and II Chronicles
describes the building of the temple in detail.
This temple was totally destroyed by the Babylonians led by King Nebuchadnezzar. That
occurred on the 9th day of Av, 586 BC. That means the First Temple stood for 374 years.
At the end of the 70 years captivity of the Jews in Babylon, the Medes and Persians who
conquered Babylon allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem, first to build a new temple and
later to rebuild the walls of the city. (See Ezra, Haggai, Nehemiah).
The foundation of the Second Temple was laid in 535 BC and finally finished (after delays)
on March 12, 515 BC.
Persian rule over the area was replaced by Greek control and then Roman. Herod the Great
was ruler of Israel under the Romans from about 47 BC to 4 BC. He built extensively around
the country and greatly enlarged the Second Temple, its courts and walls. The work was
begun in 20 BC and continued well beyond Herod's death to 63 AD. Jewish revolts against the
Romans in 70 AD caused the Roman General Titus (later to become Caesar) to beseige the
city. The second Temple was totally destroyed by fire on the 9th of Av, 70 AD. Thus that
temple (with its enlargements was in service about 584 years.

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THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST TEMPLE

by Lambert Dolphin

The First 9th of Av, 586 B.C.E.

O God, the heathen have come into thy inheritance;
they have defiled thy holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the bodies of thy servants to the birds of the air for food,
the flesh of thy saints to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem,
and there was none to bury them.
We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those round about us.
How long, O LORD?
Wilt thou be angry for ever?
Will thy jealous wrath burn like fire?
Pour out thy anger on the nations that do not know thee,
and on the kingdoms that do not call on thy name!
For they have devoured Jacob,
and laid waste his habitation.
Do not remember against us the iniquities of our forefathers;
let thy compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name;
deliver us, and forgive our sins, for thy name's sake!
Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of thy servants be known
among the nations before our eyes!
Let the groans of the prisoners come before thee;
according to thy great power preserve those doomed to die!
Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors the taunts
with which they have taunted thee, O Lord!
Then we thy people, the flock of thy pasture,
will give thanks to thee for ever;
from generation to generation we will recount thy praise.
(Psalm 79. A Psalm of Asaph)
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God of Love, God of Judgment

A common charge leveled by critics of the Bible is that the Jewish Scriptures teaches a God of
wrath and judgment and the Christian Writings teaches that God is love. Such claims are
naive: God is Love, but He is also Holy and Just and can not act in a manner that is
inconsistent with His character. At the time of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai the
LORD passed before Moses:
...and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth
generation." (Exodus 34:6, 7)
The Psalmist declares,
For thy steadfast love is great above the heavens, thy faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be
exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let thy glory be over all the earth! (Psalm 108:4, 5)
Because judgment from God is delayed, often for very long periods of time, some suppose
that it will never happen. Yet individuals who have experienced the judgment of God for the
failure to correct sinful failings in their lives will testify that when God does judge sin He is
both relentless and thorough.
Isaiah reveals God's reluctance to judge his people - his longsuffering and patience. But when
He acts God is thorough in "his stange work" of judgment:
For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon;
to do his deed - strange is his deed! and to work his work - alien is his work! Now therefore
do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the
Lord GOD of hosts upon the whole land. Give ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my
speech. Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? does he continually open and
harrow his ground? When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cummin, and
put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and spelt as the border? For he is
instructed aright; his God teaches him. Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a
cart wheel rolled over cummin; but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cummin with a rod.
Does one crush bread grain? No, he does not thresh it for ever; when he drives his cart wheel
over it with his horses, he does not crush it. This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is
wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom." (Isaiah 28:21-29)
The Lamentations of Jeremiah describes God's judgment as accompanied by mercy and
compassion,
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never
ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy
faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The
LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should
wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his

45

youth. Let him sit alone in silence when he has laid it on him; let him put his mouth in the
dust - there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not cast off for ever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the
sons of men.
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth, to turn aside the right of a man in the
presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve.
Who has commanded and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? Is it not from the
mouth of the Most High that good and evil come?
Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? (Lamentations
3:21-39)
A little reflection will show that God must intervene in human affairs as Judge of all the
earth:
"All through the Bible we see God's love is manifest to men and women everywhere in urging
them to escape this judgment. God in love pleads with people, 'Do not go on to this end!' But
ultimately he must judge those who refuse his offer of grace. He says, in effect, 'I love you
and I can provide all you need. Therefore love me, and you will find the fulfillment your heart
is looking for.' But many men and women say, 'No, I do not want that. I will take your gifts, I
will take all the good things you provide, but I do not want you! Let me run my own life. Let
me serve my own ends. Let me have my own kingdom.' To such, God ultimately says, 'All
right, have it your way!'
"God has three choices: first, he can let rebellion go on forever and never judge it. In that case
the terrible things that are happening on earth, all these distressing injustices, the cruelty, the
anger, the hate, the malice, the sorrow, the hurt, the pain, the death that now prevails, must go
on forever. God does not want that, and neither does man. Second, God can force men to obey
him and control them as robots. But he will never do that because that means they cannot
truly love him. Love cannot be forced. Therefore, third, the only choice God really has is that
he must withdraw ultimately from those who refuse his love. He must let them have their own
way forever. That results in the terrible torment of godlessness. If God is necessary to us, then
to take him out of our lives is to plunge us into the most terrible sense of loneliness and
abandonment that mankind can know. We have all experienced it to some small degree when
we get what we want and then discover we do not want what we got! For that sense of bored
emptiness to go on forever, is unspeakable torment." (Ref. 1)
What is more difficult for us to accept is that God also judges His own covenant peoples, not
just His enemies. These temporal judgments are disciplinary and corrective rather than
punitive. In fact before God judges the unbelieving world He first judges His own people:
For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with
us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? And "If the righteous
man is scarcely saved, where will the impious and sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:17, 18)

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It is not as though the Lord had never warned His people Israel. The blessings and curses of
Deuteronomy 27-28 Moses gave to the people as they were preparing to enter the land under
Joshua were later to be read from Mt. Gerazim and Mt. Ebal at Shechem. The list is clear, and
it is black and white.
Sadly, all manner of persons who know God, not just His special people the Jews, show a
propensity for ignoring God, for not taking Him seriously, and for running off to follow their
own ways and the ways of the world. Israel is a model nation, put on public display as
"Exhibit A" to show us what any people is like when they ignore or rebel against their
Creator--the One true God, Holy One of Israel.
The Hebrew Bible is a sad record of the gradual downhill course of Israel and Judah after the
death of Solomon. Occasional good kings in Jerusalem brought about temporary reforms and
revivals but these were soon forgotten after the death of the reformer. Repentance on the part
of God's people delays judgment, so the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple
occurred almost a century and a half after the fall of Samaria and the captivity of the ten
northern tribes.
Prophets from God were sent both to Israel and to Judah, beginning with Elijah (about 875850 B.C.) and extending to well after the return from exile (ie., to Malachi, 500-450 B.C.).
The prophets revealed God's great displeasure at the course of events and they warned of
impending judgment. This judgment on Israel was to eventually come, the prophets
announced, by foreign invasion. Ruthless gentile kings and great armies were to sweep into
Israel in waves of destruction in order to awaken the people - and to save a remnant. (Ref. 2)
In the days of Elijah only a small fraction of the nation was faithful to the Lord. But in answer
to Elijah's complaint - he thought he was the only one left who was faithful - the Lord told
him,
...I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every
mouth that has not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18)
Typically what the prophets had to say regarding impending judgments soon came to pass in
accurate detail (the test of a true prophet is that his predictions must come true - 100% otherwise he is a false prophet and under sentence of death). Many of the prophecies of the
Bible have both an immediate and also a long term fulfillment. Sometimes there were more
than two fulfillments intended.
In fact, many Old Testament prophecies have their greatest fulfillments in the future - which
stretches out immediately before us in our own time. What these great men of God of old had
to say is highly relevant for our understanding of the events that must unfold in the Middle
East as the kingdom of God comes down upon us. There is good reason to believe that the
human race is now being plunge into a time of history about which the Bible has more to say
that any other period of history.
Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Destruction of Jerusalem
As the time of Judah's captivity and the destruction of the First Temple drew near Daniel,
Ezekiel and Jeremiah were particularly key figures.

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Nebuchadnezzar ascended to the throne of Babylon on the death of his father Nabopolassor in
September 605 after defeating the Egyptian armies under Pharaoh Neco at the famous battle
of Carchemish in May and June of that year. (Mighty Egypt was permanently weakened at
that battle and Babylon moved into ascendancy as the greatest gentile power in the ancient
world). Daniel, and others were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar in the same year (2 Kings
24:1). King Jehoiakim was made a vassal at that time, but soon proved rebellious.
And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands
of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it,
according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by his servants the prophets. Surely this
came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins
of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood that he had
shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. (2 Kings
24:2-4)
The second invasion of Nebuchadnezzar came in 597. Jerusalem was captured, King
Jehoichin was deported to Babylon, and Zedekiah was placed on the throne. (2 Kings 24:17)
The final end is described in 2 Kings:
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did
what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because
of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out
from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to
it; and they built siegeworks against it round about. So the city was besieged till the eleventh
year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the
city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city; the
king with all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by
the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction
of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains
of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king, and brought
him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence upon him. They slew the sons
of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and
took him to Babylon.
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month - which was the nineteenth year of King
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon - Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of
the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. And he burned the house of the LORD, and the
king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. And all the
army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around
Jerusalem. And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had
deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard carried into exile.
But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and
plowmen. And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and

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the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried
the bronze to Babylon. And they took away the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the
dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, the firepans also,
and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of
silver, as silver. As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands, which Solomon had made
for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. The height of
the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and upon it was a capital of bronze; the height of the capital
was three cubits; a network and pomegranates, all of bronze, were upon the capital round
about. And the second pillar had the like, with the network.
And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest,
and the three keepers of the threshold; and from the city he took an officer who had been in
command of the men of war, and five men of the king's council who were found in the city;
and the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and
sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. And Nebuzaradan the captain
of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And the king of
Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was
taken into exile out of its land. (2 Kings 24: -25:21)
Second Chronicles, which emphasizes issues closer to the temple and God's point of view,
gives this account:
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself
before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. He also rebelled
against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and
hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. All the leading priests and
the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the
nations; and they polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he
had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the
messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the
LORD rose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought up against them
the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their
sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged; he gave them all
into his hand.
And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the
LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. And
they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its
palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those
who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the
establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of
Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept
sabbath, to fulfil seventy years. (2 Chronicles 36:11-21)
The famous account of the destruction of Jerusalem written by the Jewish historian Josephus
(who lived much later - during the Roman Period) is given in Ref. 3.

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Ezekiel was a young married man who intended to enter the Temple priesthood when he
reached the age of 30. He was taken captive in 597 B.C.E and appointed to care for the exiles
in his company. The Book of Ezekiel opens with an awesome vision of God's chariot throne
and mighty angels accompanying the remnant of His people into exile. In September 592,
Ezekiel was taken to Jerusalem "in visions of God." The terrible idolatrous state of the temple
was unfolded to him by The Angel of the Lord. A detailed account of this vision and the
subsequent destruction of the city as outlined by the Angel are given in separate essays.
Ezekiel also witnessed the departure of the Shekinah, the divine presence, in stages from the
temple, the temple courts, and finally from above the Eastern gate, (Ezek. 10-11)
In 587 Ezekiel's young wife died as a sign from God that Jerusalem was about to fall, (Ezek.
24:16-18). The prophet was not allowed to mourn her passing. Daniel's' great vision of the
Millennial Temple was given to him about 572 B.C.
While Daniel spent a long and productive life as a major statesmen in the successive
governments of Babylon, accompanied by some 10,000 of his countrymen, and while Ezekiel
accompanied another large group of later exiles to Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah was chosen
to remain in Jerusalem during the final siege and destruction. Jeremiah, "the weeping prophet"
took the judgments falling on Judah as if they were God's personal judgments upon himself.
He was not, however, allowed by God to pray for the people (Jer. 8:16):
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole
day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; he has
besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy
chains on me; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways
with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a
lion in hiding; he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; he bent
his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow. He drove into my heart the arrows of his quiver; I
have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the burden of their songs all day long. He has
filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood. He has made my teeth grind on
gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what
happiness is; so I say, "Gone is my glory, and my expectation from the LORD."
(Lamentations 3:1-18)
For forty years Jeremiah continued to preach and warn the people, all without any reward or
sense of accomplishment. He was told to prophesy about the coming judgment on Israel's
judgment as other prophets also did, and he was given promises of the future restoration and
blessing of Israel.
Jeremiah specifically predicted the destruction of the Jerusalem and a seventy year captivity
of the people. He also pronounced judgment on those who destroyed her, Babylon:
And the whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve
the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are
completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans,
for their iniquity,' says the Lord; 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation. (Jeremiah
25:12,13).

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For thus says the LORD: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you,
and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I
have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a
hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek
me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, will be found by you, says the LORD,
and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I
have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you
into exile." (Jer. 29:10-14)
Babylon was of course subsequently judged and leveled as predicted. In 553 B.C.E. Babylon
fell to the Medes and the Persians (Daniel 5). So significant were the prophecies of Jeremiah
(50-51) against Babylon that major portions of his predictions await fulfillment in our own
day.
Tradition has it that Jeremiah was martyred about 584 after being taken captive to Egypt by
his fellow countrymen who tried to flee Nebuchadnezzar.
The Lamentations of Jeremiah are read every year, to this day, by devout Jews gathering at the
Western Wall of the Temple Mount on the 9th day of the month of Av. It was on the 9th of Av,
586 B.C.E. that the magnificent temple of Solomon was destroyed. It was on the 9th of Av in
the year 70 C.E. that the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans.
Jerusalem During the Exile
After the First Temple was destroyed small numbers of Jews still came - when they were able
- to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices:
Certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men with beards
shaved and their clothes torn, having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand,
to bring them to the house of the Lord (Jeremiah 41:5).
A Psalm for Times of Desolation:
O God, why dost thou cast us off for ever? Why does thy anger smoke against the sheep of
thy pasture? Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old, which thou hast
redeemed to be the tribe of thy heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where thou hast dwelt.
Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place; they set up their own signs for signs. At
the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes. And then all its carved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers. They set thy sanctuary on fire; to the ground
they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name. They said to themselves, "We will utterly
subdue them"; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land. We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. How long,
O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile thy name for ever? Why dost thou hold back
thy hand, why dost thou keep thy right hand in thy bosom?
Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst
divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters. Thou
didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the
wilderness. Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks; thou didst dry up ever-flowing

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streams. Thine is the day, thine also the night; thou hast established the luminaries and the
sun. Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter.
Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles thy name. Do
not deliver the soul of thy dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of thy poor for ever.
Have regard for thy covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of
violence. Let not the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise thy name.
Arise, O God, plead thy cause; remember how the impious scoff at thee all the day! Do not
forget the clamor of thy foes, the uproar of thy adversaries which goes up continually! (Psalm
74. A Maskil of Asaph.)

End Notes:
1. Ray C. Stedman, The Time of Harvest, Discovery Paper No. 4206, Discovery Publishing,
3505 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94306.
2. The lives of the kings of Israel and Judah tell us much about ourselves. In a sense every
man is king over the kingdom of his life. The extent that we subject ourselves to the inner rule
of the King of kings, we shall prosper spiritually. But our waywardness will bring with it the
same consequences as those ancient kings suffered. For this reason the books of Samuel,
Kings and Chronicles should be read by believers with more than history in mind.
3. The Destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple:
The Account of Josephus:
Now the king of Babylon was very intent and earnest upon the siege of Jerusalem; and he
erected towers upon great banks of earth and from them repelled those that stood upon the
walls: he also made a great number of such banks round about the whole city, the height of
which was equal to those walls. However, those that were within bore the siege with courage
and alacrity, for they were not discouraged, either by the famine or by the pestilential
distemper, but were of cheerful minds in the prosecution of the war, although those miseries
within oppressed them also; and they did not suffer themselves to be terrified, either by the
contrivances of the enemy, or by their engines of war, but contrived still different engines to
oppose all the other withal, till indeed there seemed to be an entire struggle between the
Babylonians and the people of Jerusalem, who had the greater sagacity and skill; the former
party supposing they should be thereby too hard for the other, for the destruction of the city;
the latter placing their hopes of deliverance in nothing else but in persevering in such
inventions, in opposition to the other, as might demonstrate the enemy's engines were useless
to them; and this siege they endured for eighteen months, until they were destroyed by the
famine and the darts which the enemy threw at them from the towers.
Now the city was taken on the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year of the reign
of Zedekiah. They were indeed only generals of the king of Babylon, to whom
Nebuchadnezzar committed the care of the siege, for he abode himself in the city of Riblah.
The names of these generals who ravaged and subdued Jerusalem, if any one desire to know
them, were these: Nergal Sharezer, Sangar Nebo, Rabsaris, Sarsechim, and Rabmag; and
when the city was taken about midnight, and the enemy's generals were entered into the
temple, and when Zedekiah was sensible of it, he took his wives and his children, and his

52

captains and friends, and with them fled out of the city, through the fortified ditch, and
through the desert; and when certain of the deserters had informed the Babylonians of this, at
break of day, they made haste to pursue after Zedekiah, and overtook him not far from
Jericho, and encompassed him about. But for those friends and captains of Zedekiah who and
fled out of the city with him, when they saw their enemies near them, they left him and
dispersed themselves, some one way and some another, and every one resolved to save
himself, so the enemy took Zedekiah alive, when he was deserted by all but a few, with his
children and his wives, and brought him to the king. When he was come, Nebuchadnezzar
began to call him a wicked wretch, and a covenant breaker, and one that had forgotten his
former words, when he promised to keep the country for him. He also reproached him for his
ingratitude, that when he had received the kingdom from him, who had taken it from
Jehoiachin, and given it him, he had made use of the power he gave him against him that gave
it: "but," said he, " God is great, who hateth that conduct of thine, and hath brought thee under
us." And when he had used these words to Zedekiah, he commanded his sons and his friends
to be slain, while Zedekiah and the rest of the captains looked on; after which he put out the
eyes and bound him, and carried him to Babylon. And these things happened as Jeremiah and
Ezekiel had foretold to him, that he should be caught and brought before the king of Babylon,
and should speak to him face to face, and should see his eyes with his own eyes; and this far
did Jeremiah prophesy. But he was also made blind, and brought to Babylon but did not see is
according to the prediction of Ezekiel.
We have said thus much because it was sufficient to show the nature of God to such as are
ignorant of it that it is various, and acts many different ways, and that all even happen after a
regular manner, in their proper season, and that it foretells what must come to pass. It is also
sufficient to show the ignorance and incredulity of men, whereby they are not permitted to
foresee any thing that is future, and are, without any guard, exposed to calamities, so that it is
impossible for them to avoid the experience of those calamities.
And after this manner have the kings of David's race ended their lives, being in number
twenty-one, until, the last king, who all together reigned five hundred and fourteen years, and
six months, and ten days: of whom Saul, who was their first king, retained the government
twenty years, though he was not of the same tribe with the rest.
And now it was that the king of Babylon sent Nebuzaradan, the general of his army, to
Jerusalem, to pillage the temple; who had it also in command to burn it and the royal palace,
and to lay the city even with the ground, and to transplant the people into Babylon.
Accordingly he came to Jerusalem, in the eleventh year of king Zedekiah, and pillaged the
temple, and carried out the vessels of God, both gold and silver, and particularly that large
laver which Solomon dedicated, as also the pillars of brass, and their chapters, with the golden
tablets and the candlesticks: and when he had carried these off, he set fire to the temple in the
fifth month, the first day of the month, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, and in
the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar; he also burnt the palace, and overthrew the city. Now
the temple was burnt four hundred and seventy years, six months, and two days, after it was
built it was then one thousand and sixty-two years, six months, and ten days, from the
departure out of Egypt; and from the Deluge to the destruction of the temple, the whole
interval was one thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven years, six months, and ten days; but
from the generation of Adam, until this befell the temple, there were three thousand five
hundred and thirteen years, six months. and ten days; so great was the number of years hereto
belonging; and what actions were done during these years, we have particularly related. But
the general of the Babylonian king now overthrew the city to the very foundations, and

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removed all the people, and took for prisoners the high-priest Seraiah, and Zephaniah, the
priest that was next to him, and the rulers that guarded the temple, who were three in number,
and he eunuch who was over the armed men, and seven friends of Zedekiah, and his scribe
and sixty other rulers; all whom, together with the vessels they had pillaged, he carried to the
king of Babylon to Riblah, a city of Syria So the king commanded the heads of the high-priest
and of the rulers, to be cut off there; but he himself led all the captives and Zedekiah to
Babylon. He also led Josedek the high-priest, away bound. He was the son of Seraiah, the
high-priest, whom the king of Babylon had slain in Riblah, a city of Syria, as we just now
related.
And now, because we have enumerated the succession of the kings, and who they were, and
how long they reigned, I think it necessary to set down the names of the high priests, and who
they were that succeeded one another in the high-priesthood under the kings. The first highpriest then at the temple which Solomon built was Zadok; after him his son Achimas received
that dignity; after Achimas u as Azarias; his son was Joram, and Joram's son was Isus; after
him was Axioramus; his son was Phideas, and Phideas's Soll was Sudeas, and Sudeas's son
was Juelus, and Juelus's son was Jotham, and Jotham's son was Urias, and Urias's son was
Nerias, and Nerias's son was Odeas, and his son w as Sallumus, and Sallumus's son was
Elcias, and his son [was Azarias, and his son] was Sareas, and his son was Josedec, who was
carried captive to Babylon. All these received the high-priesthood by succession, the sons
from their father.
When the king was come to Babylon, he kept Zedekiah in prison until he died, and buried him
magnificently, and dedicated the vessels he had pillaged out of the temple of Jerusalem to his
own gods, and planted the people in the country of Babylon, but freed the high-priest from his
bonds. (Antiquities of the Jews, Chapter VIII.)

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Second Temple Times

by Lambert Dolphin

Israel in Exile
Taken from Jerusalem to Babylon in 605 B.C.E. when he was not yet 20, Daniel served his
God faithfully under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach, Labashi-Marduk,
Nabonidus, Belshazzar, Cambyses, Smerdis, Darius I, and Cyrus. He served each regime with
fidelity and godliness so that he remained a respected statesman in all these regimes for nearly
seven decades. The "times of the gentiles" spoken of by Yeshua in Luke 21:24 date from the
fall of Jersualem on the 9th of Av, 586.
Daniel was late in life during the beginning of the reign of Darius the Mede. The prophet
happened to be reading the great scroll of his contemporary Jeremiah (Jeremiah was about 25
years older than Daniel). There, in Chapter 25 of Jeremiah, he came upon the prophecy
concerning the predicted return from captivity:
In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made
king over the realm of the Chaldeans in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the
books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord, given through Jeremiah the
prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:12).
Realizing the captivity was about to be complete, Daniel began to pray. Though there was no
doubt his own godliness and unblemished life, he acknowledged in his prayer the sins of all of
Israel as if they were all his own:
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and supplications with fasting
and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, "O
Lord, the great and terrible God, who keepest covenant and steadfast love with those who
love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly
and rebelled, turning aside from thy commandments and ordinances; we have not listened to
thy servants the prophets, who spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
and to all the people of the land.
To thee, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men
of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those that are near and those that
are far away, in all the lands to which thou hast driven them, because of the treachery which
they have committed against thee. To us, O Lord, belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to
our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God
belong mercy and forgiveness; because we have rebelled against him, and have not obeyed
the voice of the LORD our God by following his laws, which he set before us by his servants
the prophets. All Israel has transgressed thy law and turned aside, refusing to obey thy voice.
And the curse and oath which are written in the law of Moses the servant of God have been
poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which
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he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity;
for under the whole heaven there has not been done the like of what has been done against
Jerusalem.
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us, yet we have not
entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and giving heed to thy
truth. Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the
LORD our God is righteous in all the works which he has done, and we have not obeyed-his
voice. And now, O Lord our God, who didst bring thy people out of the land of Egypt with a
mighty hand, and hast made thee a name, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done
wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteous acts, let thy anger and thy wrath turn away
from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy hill; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our
fathers, Jerusalem and thy people have become a byword among all who are round about us.
Now therefore, O our God, hearken to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplications, and
for thy own sake, O Lord, cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary, which is desolate. O my
God, incline thy ear and hear; open thy eyes and behold our desolations, and the city which is
called by thy name; for we do not present our supplications before thee on the ground of our
righteousness, but on the ground of thy great mercy. O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O
LORD, give heed and act; delay not, for thy own sake, O my God, because thy city and thy
people are called by thy name." (Daniel 9:3-19)
God was about to move to return the Jews from their long exile, and Daniel was God's
instrument in prayer for this great work to begin. Incidentally, another part of the answer to
Daniel's' prayer was an immediate revelation from the angel Gabriel (Daniel 9:24-27) which
we now call the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. All subsequent Jewish history - until the
final coming of Messiah and His kingdom - was to be accomplished in but 490 years of
prophetic history, Daniel was told. We now know how all details of 69 of those 70 weeks have
come to pass with complete accuracy in every detail.

Why Seventy Years?

God can be exacting in the details of his work and in the fulfillment of specific prophecies.
Israel had forgotten to allow the land to rest every seventh year as God had clearly ordained to
Moses at Sinai
"Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you, the land shall
keep a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune
your vineyard, and gather in its fruits; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of
solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field or prune your
vineyard. What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your
undressed vine you shall not gather; it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The sabbath
of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and
for your hired servant and the sojourner who lives with you; for your cattle also and for the
beasts that are in your land all its yield shall be for food." (Leviticus 25:2-7)
Israel had forgotten to rest the land every seventh year, for 490 years, so God collected on
behalf of the land,
He (Nebuchadnezzar) took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and
they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia,
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to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its
sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years. (2 Chron.
36:20-21)
And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve
the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are
completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans,
for their iniquity,' says the Lord: 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation. (Jeremiah 25:1012)

A Strange Prophecy Concerning Cyrus

One of the most amazing prophecies in the entire Bible concerns the return of the Jews from
captivity and the building of the Second Temple. Isaiah the prophet, writing in 700 B.C.E.
records the Lord as saying:
Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into
singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and
will be glorified in Israel. Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the
womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, who
spread out the earth Who was with me? who frustrates the omens of liars, and makes fools of
diviners; who turns wise men back, and makes their knowledge foolish; who confirms the
word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'She
shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built, and I will raise up their
ruins'; who says to the deep, 'Be dry, I will dry up your rivers'; who says of Cyrus, 'He is my
shepherd, and he shall fulfil all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of
the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid."'
Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue
nations before him and ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not
be closed: "I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of
bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the
hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is 1, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call
you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your
name, I surname you, though you do not know me. I am the LORD, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God; I gird you, though you do not know me, that men may know,
from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD,
and there is no other. If form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe, I am the
LORD, who do all these things. "Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down
righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation may sprout forth, and let it cause
righteousness to spring up also; I the LORD have created it.
"Woe to him who strives with his Maker, an earthen vessel with the potter! Does the clay say
to him who fashions it 'What are you making'? or 'Your work has no handles'? Woe to him
who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?' or to a woman, 'With what are you in travail?"'
Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker "Will you question me about my
children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? I made the earth, and created
man upon it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. I
have aroused him (Cyrus) in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways; he shall

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build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward," says the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah
44:23-45:13).
Cyrus the Great, Cyrus the Persian, father of Cambyses of Media, would later conquer the
mighty city of Babylon (at age 62) on the night of Belshazzar's feast (Daniel 5) in 539 B.C.E.,
by diverting the Euphrates River and sending troops through the river channels under the
walls. When Isaiah wrote of him, Cyrus had not been born by a good twenty years! Yet Isaiah
named him by name and commissioned him - a gentile no less - to play a major role in the
restoration of the Jews to their homeland. (Isaiah 48:14ff also talks about Cyrus as
foreordained of God to conquer Babylon).

Rulers of Babylon and Persia

Ruler

Dates of Rule

Merodach-Baladan II

Biblical Significance
2 Kings 20: 12: Isa. 39: 1

721-689 B.C.E.
(Marduk-apal-iddin)
Nabopolassar

Hezekiah's Illness
625-605 B.C.E.

Nebuchadnezar II

2 Kings 24-25. Dan. 1-4

605-652 B.C.E.
(Nebuchadressar II)

Conquered Israel

Evil-Merodach

2 Kings 25:27-30: Jer. 52:31-34

562-560 B.C.E.

(Amel-Marduk)

Liberated Jehoiachin from prison

Nergal-Sharezer

Jer. 39:3.13
560-556 B.C.E.

(Neriglissar)
Labashl-Marduk

A royal prince in Babylon

556 B.C.E.

556-539 B.C.E.

Nabonidus
(Nabu-na'ld)
Belshazzar
(Bel-shar-usur)
Cyrus

556-539 B.C.E.
(co-regent
Nabonldus)
Persian Rulers
539-530 B.C.E.

Dan. 5: 7:1
Belshazzar's feast. Fall of Babylon
2 Chr. 36:22-23: Ezra 1. Isa. 44:28ff. Dan. 1:21,
10:1
Permitted Jews to rebuild temple

Cambyses

530-522 B.C.E.

Darius I

Ezra 4-6: Neh. 12:22: Hag. 1-1, Zech. 1:1.7

522-486 B.C.E.
Hystaspes
Xerxes I

Zechariah's visions and prophecies: Haggai

486-465 B.C.E.

Ezra 4:3-6:
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(Ahasuerus)

The time of the book of Esther

Artaxerxes I

Ezra 4:7-23: 7: 8:1, Neh. 2:1-8

464-423 B.C.E.

Longimanus

Ezra goes to Jerusalem, Nehemiah builds walls

Darius II
423-404 B.C.E.

404-359 B.C.E.

359-338 B.C.E.

338-335 B.C.E.

335-331 B.C.E.

Nothus
Artaxerxes II
Mnemon
Artaxerxes III
Ochus
Arses
Darius III
Codomanus
Alexander the Great

331 B.C.E.

Beginning of World Dominion of Greece

When the prophecy of Isaiah was given the First Temple, that of Solomon, was still standing,
the city of Jerusalem had not been destroyed and would not be for at least another hundred
years, and the people were not in exile. Yet all these multiple predictions were to be literally
fulfilled as Isaiah prophesied.

The Response of Cyrus

There is extra-biblical evidence that Cyrus was aware of the prophecies. The first-century
Jewish writer Flavius Josephus wrote:
...by reading the book which left behind of his prophecies; for this prophet said that God had
spoken thus to him in a secret vision "My will is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be
king over many and great nations, send back my people to their own land, and build my
temple." Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the divine power, an earnest desire
and ambition seized upon him to fulfil what was so written. (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, xi,
Chapt. 1-2)
Almost all that is known about the history of the Jews between 538 B.C.E., when Cyrus
conquered Babylon and 457 B.C.E. when Ezra came to Jerusalem, is known from the book of
Ezra the scribe. Ezra records Cyrus' decree of 538 which allowed the Jews to return to
Jerusalem and rebuild the temple:
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he
made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: "Thus says Cyrus
king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth,

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and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is
among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which
is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel he is the God who is in
Jerusalem; and let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his
place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house
of God which is in Jerusalem." (Ezra 1:14)
Added details of the decree of Cyrus, evidently not part of his public proclamation but added
to the official record are given in Ezra 6:3-5:
In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of
God at Jerusalem, "let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices are offered and burnt
offerings are brought; its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, with three
courses of great stones and one course of timber, let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.
And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out
of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the
temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; you shall put them in the house of God."
The majority of Jews living in Babylon were prosperous and assimilated and unwilling to
undertake the hardship and danger of moving back to their ruined homeland. Ezra tells us that
42,360 Jews chose to return plus 7,3000 servants, and 200 singers; 736 horses, 245 mules,
435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys. (2:64-66). With them went some of the sacred temple vessels,
1000 basins of gold, 1000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 2,410 bowls of silver,
and a thousand other (major) vessels - totaling 5,469 in all (1:9-11).
According to their ability the Jews contributed to the treasury 277,550 ounces of silver and
6,250 pounds of silver (2:69) for the treasury. This would be about $80 million at today's
prices.
The journey is 530 direct miles, but about 900 miles by road and took about 4 months, (7:89). After the Jews arrived in Jerusalem they "gathered as one man" And,
Then arose Jeshua (the high priest) the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel
the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer
burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. They set the altar
in its place, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt
offerings upon it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast
of booths (the 15th to the 22nd day of the seventh month), as it is written, and offered the
daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as each day required, and after
that the continual burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts
of the LORD, and the offerings of every one who made a freewill offering to the LORD.
From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD.
But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. So they gave money to the
masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring
cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant which they had from
Cyrus king of Persia. (Ezra 3:2-7)
The altar was erected on the first day of the seventh month which is the beginning of the Feast
of Trumpets (Numbers 29:1-6), an interesting foreshadowing of Israel's final regathering.

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The temple foundation was laid some months later:

Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second
month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning,
together with the rest of their brethren, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to
Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward,
to have the oversight of the work of the house of the LORD. And Jeshua with his sons and his
kinsmen, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together took the oversight of the
workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and
kinsmen.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their
vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to
praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel; and they sang
responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love
endures for ever toward Israel." And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they
praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of
the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house,
wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many
shouted aloud for joy; so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout
from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the
sound was heard afar. (Ezra 3:8-13)
As is always the case, the work of God in the world always meets with opposition from the
Enemy, no matter what form it takes, or the period of history. Ezra recorded four different
attempts originating in the counsels of Satan to stop the work. First, Samaritan enemies of
Benjamin and Judah tried to join the work force and to undermine the efforts. When this
attempt failed, these enemies mounted a campaign of discouragement. Next the enemies of
Israel wrote letters to Xerxes I (Ahasuerus) and his successor Artaxerxes I Longimanus (who
later followed Cyrus, Cambyses and Darius I Hystaspes as successors to the throne of Persia).
Finally force was even used. Work on the temple was stopped for 16 years (until 520 B.C.E.).
Stirred up and encouraged by the prophet Haggai, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, the elders of
the Jews were able to obtain a written reversal of the order to stop work, and in fact a new
decree from Darius allowing the work to proceed and in fact providing the Jews with tax
revenues for their work:
...Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the
rebuilding of this house of God; the cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay
from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. And whatever is
needed young bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven wheat, salt, wine,
or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require--let that be given to them day by day without fail,
that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king
and his sons. Also I make a decree that if any one alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out
of his house, and he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. May the
God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people that shall put forth
a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a
decree; let it be done with all diligence." (Ezra 6:8-12)

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Haggai's exhortations delivered between August and December, 520 B.C.E. challenged the
people to put the building of the temple above their own home building:
Thus says the LORD of hosts: "This people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house
of the LORD." Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, "Is it a time for you
yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore thus
says the LORD of hosts: "Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested
little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe
yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag
with holes." Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider how you have fared. Go up to the hills
and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may appear in my
glory, says the LORD. You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you
brought it home, I blew it away.
"Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of my house that lies in ruins, while you busy
yourselves each with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew,
and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought upon the land and the
hills, upon the grain, the new wine, the oil, upon what the ground brings forth, upon men and
cattle, and upon all their labors."
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with
all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of
Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared before the
LORD. Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD's
message, "I am with you, says the LORD." And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel
the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high
priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house
of the LORD of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.
(Haggai 1:2-15).

The Greater Glory of the Second Temple

In his second of four messages to the people Haggai that assured that the very modest temple
they were building would enjoy a greater glory and importance than the splendid Temple of
Solomon which preceded it:
"Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of
Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 'Who is left among
you that saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not in your sight as
nothing?' Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son
of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work,
for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when
you came out of Egypt. My Spirit abides among you; fear not.
For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and
the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all
nations shall come in (or, "the one desired by all the nations," referring to the Messiah), and I
will fill this house with splendor, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is
mine, says the LORD of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the

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former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of
hosts."' (Haggai 2:2-9).
Malachi the prophet, a contemporary of Haggai, predicted that the Messiah of Israel would
come into this very temple bringing it honor and glory beyond the wealth that can be
measured in gold or silver. Christians believe that Malachi's prophecy has a double fulfillment
the first of which took place when Jesus led by his forerunner John the Baptist came to this
temple:
"Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek
will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight,
behold, he is coming," says the LORD of hosts. "But who can endure the day of his coming,
and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; he
(Messiah) will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and
refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the LORD. Then the
offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in
former years." (Malachi 3:14)
The temple was completed four years later, in 516. God was pleased with the newly built
Second Temple in spite of its modest size and beauty. Once again He again took up His abode
with His people. However this Temple was without the Ark of the Covenant. A seven
branched Menorah stood in the Holy place instead of the ten lamp stands in Solomon's
Temple.

Artist's sketch of Herod's Temple looking Northwest (from an old Bible).

Fortress Antonia is immediately to the right ot the Temple compound.
The apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees provides some details of its furnishing:
They renewed the sacred vessels and the lamp-stand, and brought the altar of incense, and the
table to the temple. They burnt incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lamp-stand to

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shine within the temple. When they put the Bread of the Presence on the table and hung the
curtain their work was completed. (1 Maccabees 4:49,50).
But in general, of the Temple built by Zerubbabel little is known. Israeli archaeologist
Benjamin Mazar writes:
It is most difficult to determine, even in general outlines, the stages in the historical
development of the Temple Mount and its fortifications during the long era of the Second
Temple, from Zerubbabel at the end of the sixth century B.C.E. up to the commencement of
Herod's building project at the end of the first century B.C.E. The literary sources are
insufficiently clear, and archaeological data are very few and problematic.

No Kings in Israel
Israel's exile for seventy years in Babylon marked a new era of government for God's chosen
people. They had entered what Jesus would later call "the times of the gentiles," (Luke 21:24).
Since the last King (Jeconiah) sat on the throne of Israel, that people have had no king over
them to the present day. Israel has been subject to foreign control as vassals. Jerusalem has
been "trodden down by the gentiles" with more yet to come. After the Babylonians came the
Persians, then the Greeks, followed the Romans.
One legitimate king, doubly heir to the throne of Israel, rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday
on the foal of a donkey. Acclaimed by the people, this Man was rejected by the leaders and
put to death. Israel would wait at least 20 centuries for their rightful king's return.
After the Romans came the Arabs, the Turks, the French and British. In spite of national
independence and statehood in 1948 Israel has no central authority figure in charge. This
situation will soon change! A king and a priest in the line of David is due to return to the
throne of a united, restored Israel in the near future. All the prophets speak of this event:
But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into
contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make
glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people
who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined...For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government
will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Of the increase of his government and of peace there
will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold
it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the
LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9: l-7)
Haggai's fourth message to the people, brought to them in October of 520 B.C.E., was brief,
"Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the
earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms - I am about to destroy the strength of the
kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders - and the horses and their
riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his fellow. On that day, says the LORD of
hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the LORD, and
make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the LORD of hosts." (Haggai 2:23)

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This message promised Israel final overthrow of all her enemies and a special royal blessing
(symbolized by the king's signet ring) for Zerubbabel. Earlier God had sworn that no king in
the blood line of Jeconiah would sit upon the throne of Israel:
"As I live says the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet
ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off and give you into the hand of those who seek
your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and the
mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die.
But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return." Is this man
Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled
and cast into a land which they do not know?
O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD: "Write this man down
as childless (without a royal heir), a man who shall not succeed in his days; for none of his
offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David, and ruling again in Judah." (Jeremiah
22:24-30)
Joseph, husband of Mary was of the line of Jeconiah (Matthew 1:12,16), but not the biological
father of Jesus. The blood line or genetic heir was in the line of Mary. Jerubbabel (Luke 3:27)
was a descendant of David and in the line that would lead to Mary.
Zechariah the prophet lived and wrote during early Second Temple times. One of his most
interesting prophecies concerning Messiah centers around the future re-unification of the
offices of King and Priest in Israel. Messiah, the Branch, would not only be the priestly king
in the line of Joshua, he would be given the task of building a final temple in Israel (see
Chapter 14):
And the word of the LORD carne to me (Zechariah): "Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah,
and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon; and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the
son of Zephaniah. Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it upon the head
of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak (a descendant of Zadok, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son
of Aaron), the high priest; and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, the man
whose name is the Branch: for he shall grow up in his place, and he shall build the temple of
the LORD.
"It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and
rule upon his throne. And there shall be a priest by his throne, and peaceful understanding
shall be between them both."' And the crown shall be in the temple of the LORD as a
reminder to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah the son of Zephaniah.
"And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD - and you
shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will
diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God." (Zechariah 6:9-15)

Nehemiah and the Walls of Jerusalem

Nehemiah held the office of cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I in the Persian capital of Susa. A
relative from Jerusalem visited him and gave a report of the ruined condition of the city. He
told him how vulnerable the city was to attack because the walls were still debris. This
65

disturbed Nehemiah to such a degree that he made a personal visit to Jerusalem. The King
gave him permission to leave and even provided him with an armed escort. Nehemiah also
had royal letters ordering the provincial authorities to provide him with timber and other
materials he required (Nehemiah 1:1-2:8).
He arrived in Jerusalem in 445 B.C.E., 16 years after the temple had been completed and
placed in service. By moonlight he began to inspect the walls and gates. Nehemiah then called
the leading and produced the letters from the king. Based upon this they accepted him as their
governor. Nehemiah then outlined his plans for the urgent task of rebuilding the fortifications
and securing the city. Work was done on a voluntary basis.
Nehemiah's arrival provided a new enthusiasm to the those in Jerusalem but it also caused
intense, hostile reaction from the enemies of God's people. The main adversaries were
Sanballat, the local governor of Samaria, Geshem, leader of the Edomites, and a wealthy
apostate Jew named Tobiah.

Copyright 1997 MANNA. Used with permission. Bible Maps Program for Mac and Windows
(http://www.elnet.com/~manna/biblemaps)

These opponents began by verbally attacking the project but when the walls were half way
complete they resorted to force. Nehemiah countered by providing full-time armed patrols.
Each worker was given a weapon to defend himself. Nehemiah 2-6). In spite of the intense
opposition the walls were built in 52 days by the united labor force.
When the walls around Jerusalem had been finished, Nehemiah and Ezra instructed the people
from the Scriptures, reviewing their national history in detail in a great prayer (Neh. 9:6-38)
which ended by the Jews making a new covenant with God. This was signed and sealed by
the priests, nobles, and leaders of the people. The people took responsibility for the support
and upkeep of the temple also, ending with the promise "We will not neglect the house of our
God." (10:32-39). The closing chapters of Nehemiah tell of the dedication of the walls and

66

gates and give us important clues concerning life in Jerusalem immediately after the end of
the Babylonian exile.

Alexander the Great and His Successors

Daniel's detailed predictions about a long line of rulers in the Middle East, especially those of
Daniel Chapter 11, have been fulfilled in such incredible detail that critics of the Bible have
long attempted to assign a late date to this book. If that were the case, Daniel would have been
merely a historian, not a prophet of God. Yet it is very clear from a careful study of history
that Daniel lived nearly 300 years before Alexander the Great and his successors, about whom
he wrote these words given to him by the angel Gabriel:
"...in the first year of Darius the Mede, I (Gabriel) stood up...And now I will show you the
truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia (see Table) - and a fourth (Xerxes the
Great) shall be far richer than all of them - and when he has become strong through his riches
he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king (Alexander) shall arise,
who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his
kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity,
nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up and
go to others besides these. (Daniel 11:14)
As God had foreordained, Alexander conquered the Persians by defeating the Persian armies
at the Battle of Arbela in 331. He extended his territory as far as India and Egypt. Trained
under Aristotle, this son of Phillip of Macedon sought to indoctrinate all of his empire with
Greek culture, philosophy and religion. This effort is referred to as "Hellenization," and has
had far-reaching consequences. Even our New Testament was not to be written in Hebrew but
in the Greek language.
Alexander died in a Babylon in a drunken stupor at the age of 33, disillusioned, it is said,
because he had no more worlds left to conquer. His body was taken to Alexandria, Egypt and
buried there in a casket of glass and gold. The site of Alexander's tomb the subject of ongoing
searches today.
Upon his death, Alexander's empire was divided among his five generals (diadochoi).
Seleucus received Babylon, Ptolemy Lagi was given Egypt, Antigonus took Phrygia,
Lysimachus inherited Thrace and Bythinia, and Cassander assumed control of Greece proper,
and Macedonia. As far as biblical history related to the Jews is concerned, only Seleucus and
Ptolemy are of importance. These men and their heirs squabbled back and forth for the next
150 years and Israel just happened to be on the paths of their armies, caught in the middle as it
were. Seleucus added Syria and Phoenicia to his territory. Ptolemy Lagi annexed Palestine to
Egypt. Little Judah was caught in the middle.
The first century of rule by the Ptolemies was a golden age of peace for the Jews it was an era
of peace and prosperity for them. The great library of Alexandria was established in this
period and Jewish scholars favorably treated in Egypt began to translate the Hebrew Bible
into Greek resulting in the Septuagint.
After a season of tranquillity for the Jews, the Selucids of Syria grew envious, and in 198
B.C.E. took control of Palestine. This brought the Jews under the rule of Antiochus the Great.
Thus begun one of the most oppressive periods of Jewish history in the on-going "times of the
67

gentiles." Selucid sovereignty was to give way to the Romans in 63 B.C.E. but not before
great damage was done to the Jews in Israel.

The Desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes

In 175 B.C.E. the Selucid throne was assumed through treachery by an 8th king, Antiochus
IV, a son of Antiochus the Great. He took upon himself the title Epiphanes (the illustrious
one). But because he was so corrupt, he was popularly known as Antiochus Epimanes (the
madman). Sometimes erratic, sometimes eccentric he was wantonly cruel and brutal to the
Jews. This man is responsible for the most vile outrages against the Jews ever perpetrated. For
this reason Daniel (and later Jesus, referring to Daniel) spoke of him as "the abomination that
makes desolate."
Prior to his reign the Jews had lived peaceably with Greek culture and customs, however
Antiochus determined to force Greek polytheistic religion upon the strictly monotheistic Jews.
The Jews actively resisted. Angered at the Jews for some insult they had given him, Antiochus
defied the high priests in Jerusalem and entered into the sacred temple. (See Appendix D for
details). Antiochus actually erected a pagan altar in the temple at Jerusalem and offered upon
it a sow in sacrifice, an unclean animal. He took the broth of the sow and sprinkled it
throughout the sanctuary, thus defiling the whole sanctuary. Then, as a final insult, he erected
a statue of Jupiter in the holy place.
This, of course, brought to an end the twice-daily sacrifice called "the continual burnt
offering," which Daniel had predicted was to be taken away for a definite period of time. The
apocryphal Book of the Maccabees records that the offering was taken away for a period of a
little over three years. Finally Judas Maccabaeus and his sons rose in revolt and led the people
of Israel to retake Jerusalem, cleansed the sanctuary and restored the offerings at the end of
eleven-hundred and fifty days, exactly as predicted by Daniel.
The Book of 1 Maccabees records some of Antiochus' deeds:
On his return from the conquest of Egypt, in the year 143 (169 B.C.E.), Antiochus marched
with a strong force against Israel and Jerusalem. In his arrogance he entered the temple and
carried off the golden altar, the lamp-stand with all its equipment, the table for the Bread of
the Presence, the sacred cups and bowls, the golden censers, the curtain and the crowns. He
stripped off the gold plating from the Temple front. He seized the silver, gold, and precious
vessels, and whatever secret treasures he found, and took them all with him when he left for
his own country. (1 Maccabees 1:21)

Alexander the Great and Jerusalem

A fascinating aside regarding the conquests of Alexander the Great is the account of how
Jerusalem was spared. During his long siege of Tyre, Alexander sought the help of
neighboring peoples. The Samaritans accepted, but the Jews refused because of previous
oaths to their Persian overlords. The Samaritans, long rivals of the Jews, sought Alexander's
permission to destroy the temple in Jerusalem.
Jaddua, the high priest in Jerusalem donned his priestly garments and together with notables
from the city set out to meet Alexander and his generals. According to Josephus (Antiq. VIII,
p l40-146), Jaddua showed Alexander the scroll of Daniel and read for him the predictions
68

that he, Alexander, was to overwhelm the Persians and rule the world. Not only was the city
and temple spared, but the flattered Alexander showed favor the Jews and added three
Samaritan districts to their precincts.

Maccabean Revolt
Daniel the prophet had also predicted the deeds and exploits of the Maccabees which brought
about the restoration of temple worship,
...but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And those among the
people who are wise shall make many understand, though they shall fall by sword and flame,
by captivity and plunder, for some days. When they fall, they shall receive a little help. And
many shall join themselves to them with flattery; and some of those who are wise shall fall, to
refine and to cleanse them and to make them white, until the time of the end, for it is yet for
the time appointed. (Daniel 11:32-35)
In 168 B.C.E. the Jewish war of independence, also known as the Maccabbean revolt, broke
out in Israel. (The Maccabee family line is usually referred to as the "Hasmonean" period
from references in Josephus and the Mishnah). A godly priest, Mattathias, withdrew to
Modein (near Lod) with his five sons to avoid the persecutions of Antiochus. Pursued by his
Hellenizing enemies, he killed a traitorous Jew thus precipitating a war of revolt. Mattathias
did not live much longer, but the cause of freedom for the Jews was taken up by his third son,
Judas Maccabaeus.

The Selucid
Kings
Seleucus I
(Nicator)

The Ptolemaic Kings

The Maccabees

Ptolemy I Satrap of Egypt

Mattathias 166
323-305/4 BC

321-281 B.C.E.
Antiochus I
(Soter)

Judas Maccabeus
166-160

281-261
Antiochus II
(Theos)
261-246
Seleucus II
(Callinicus)

Ptolemy I (Soter I)
305/4-283

Jonathan

Ptolemy II (Philadelphus)

160-143

283/3-246
Ptolemy III (Euergetes)

Simon
143-135

246-222

246-225
Seleucus III
(Soter)

(see: The House of Ptolemy: web

site).

John Hyrcanus

Ptolemy IV (Philopater)

1135-104

222-205/4

69

225-223
Antiochus III (The
Great)

Aristobulus

Ptolemy V (Epiphanes)

104-103

205/4-180

Seleucus IV
(Philopater)

Alexander
Janneus

Ptolemy VI (Philometor)

187-175

103-76

Antiochus IV
(Epiphanes)

Salome Alexandra

175-163

76-67

Antiochus V
(Eupater)

Hyrcanus II

223-187

180-145

145-144
Ptolemy VIII (Euergetes II or
Physcon) restored

67 (3 months)

163-162
Demetrius I
(Soter)

145-116
Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX
(Soter II or Lathyrus)

Aristobulus
67-63

162-150

Ptolemy VII (Neos Philopater)

117/6-108/7

Alexander Balas

Cleopatra III and (Alexander I)

Romans

150-145

107/6-102/1

Demetrius II
(Nicator)

Ptolemy X (Alexander I) and

Cleopatra Berenice

145-139

102/1-89/8

(Antiochus VI
[Epiphanes
Dionysus]

Ptolemy IX (Philometor Soter II

"Lathyrus"), restored (2nd reign)

89/8-82/1

145-142)
Antiochus VII
(Sidetes)

Cleopatra Berenice and Ptolemy

XI (Alexander II)

139-129

80

Demetrius II
(Nicator)

Ptolemy XII (Neos Dionysus

"Auletes")

129-125

81/0-69/8

70

Antiochus VIII
(Grypus)

Bernice IV (at first with Cleopatra

Tryphaena)

125/4-113

58-56

Antiochus IX
(Philopater
Cyzicenus)

Berenice IV and Archelus

56-55

113-111
Antiochus VIII
(Grypus)

Ptolemy XII (Neos Dionysus "Auletes")

restored.

111-95

55-52/1
Cleopatra VII (Philopator Nea Thea)

Seleucus VI
95-54

52/1-31/0

Antiochus X
(Eusebes)

Ptolemy XV (Caesar Philopator

Philometor "Caesarion")

94-83
Tigranes, King of
Armenia

30 BC
-

ROMANS

83-69
Antiochus XIII
(Asiaticus)

69-65
Romans

Initially the Jewish revolt under Judas met with great success. The Syrians were defeated at
Emmaus, at Hebron and at Jerusalem. Jerusalem was taken and the temple was cleansed and
rededicated in 165 on the 25th day of Kislev. The rededication of the temple is celebrated to
this day by the Jews as the Feast of Lights, or Hanukkah, which falls in December. Antiochus
died the next year bringing great rejoicing in Israel (and in Syria). Peacemaking attempts by
the Lysias, successor to Antiochus, were rejected by Judas. However Judas was killed soon
after at the Battle of Adasa in 160 B.C.E.
Jonathan, another son of Mattathias assumed leadership over the movement but intrigue and
treachery resulted in his capture. Another son, Simon, took over declaring independence in
142, however Simon was assassinated in 135. Israel knew a brief period of independence
however the Romans had been drawn in to the latter day politics of the revolt (Dan. 11:35).
Simon was followed by John Hyrcanus who assumed the office of high priest and took over
control of the military as well. After Hyrcanus came Alexander Jannaeus, his son, who in his
rage against the Pharisees enlisted the help of foreign troops. Six thousand Jews were killed
and a civil broke out which was to last six years and cost 50,000 lives. Both internal factions

71

of the Jews finally appealed to Rome to arbitrate the dispute. Pompey came, in 63 B.C.E.
killing 12,000 Jews and bringing an end to the Hasmonean Dynasty and ushering in the
Roman Empire as the appointed steward of the Holy Land. The Romans entered the Holy of
Holies, but Pompey did not touch the temple treasures.

Aristobolus I, son of Hyrcanus, was the first of the Maccabean rulers to take the title "King of
the Jews." After a short reign his brother Alexander Janneus succeeded him. However the
precedent set by Aristobolus gave precedent for Herod the Great to claim to be a legitimate
king of the Jews.
There is much interest today in modifications to the Second Temple and changes on the
Temple Mount during the 100-year Hasmonean period. Tuvia Sagiv's studies are especially
helpful in recovering for us this lost period of the history of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

Herod the Great

Herod the Great was the son of Antipater, governor of Idumea. Herod married Marianne,
granddaughter of Hyrcanus thus linking himself with the Jews. In reality he can be considered
the one of the last descendants of Esau, brother and rival of Jacob.
After Augustus confirmed Herod as king, Herod began a frenzy of construction. He built
whole cities, temples, gymnasiums, and palaces. The money came from all kinds of taxes
imposed upon the people. Josephus says in The Jewish Wars,
The people of Judea, who at the beginning of his rule were in a good economic condition,
were humbled to the ground and turned into miserable paupers. he had the leaders killed, in
order to confiscate their property.
Herod's Jerusalem main palace the seat of his government is what is now the Citadel at the
Jaffa Gate. North of the Temple Mount he enlarged a fortress built by Hyrcanus, renaming it
the Fortress Antonia in honor of his Roman benefactor.

72

He built a palace at Masada, another at Jericho, and the Herodium at Bethlehem. The large
coastal city, Caesarea, popular with tourists today, was another of his works, dedicated to
Augustus Caesar (Octavian) who was invited to its dedication. Herod built a great building
over the cave of Abraham at Hebron. To this day many Herodian ruins are extant in Israel.

Nearly all of Herod's grandiose building programs were intended to impress foreigners in and
around Israel. His ambitious building program on the Temple Mount was the one exception to
the rule. Nearly 600 years after Second Temple had been dedicated, Herod determined to
impart the splendor of Solomon's Temple to the existing edifice--to his own honor and glory
of course. The Talmud (Bava Basra 3b-4a) tells how this came about:
Herod learned that the Torah requires that a Jewish king may be only a person "from among
your brethren" (Deut. 17:15), which implies that a non-Jewish slave like Herod could not
become king of Israel. Not surprisingly, Herod became furious at this interpretation that
disqualified him from the monarchy. "Who taught this?" he demanded. When he heard that it
was the Sages, he ordered that they be killed. Hardly a sage was left by the time his rage had
stilled...
Josephus reports (Josephus, Antiq. 15:38-425; Wars,5:184-247) that many Jews who heard of
Herod's plans were shocked; they feared he would destroy the old building and not build a
new one. Herod was sincere, however. He prepared all the building materials in advance
before beginning the work in 19 or 20 B.C.E. (see John 2:20). Some 10,000 (to 18,000)
workmen were employed, plus 1000 priests, since only priests were allowed to work on the
sanctuary proper. The major work occurred in the first three years although the workers
continued improvements there for many years, well beyond Herod's death in 4 B.C.E. to 64
C.E., just four years before it was to be destroyed by Titus. Herod's work more than doubled
the size of the Temple building and the Temple Mount itself was greatly expanded to a plaza
area measuring about 2,575 by 985 feet, with eight gates. Most of the enlargement was to the
South by means of fill and underground vaults and supports. Josephus has much to say about
Herod and his building program. When finished the new temple itself had a portal 65 feet high
and a terraced roof 165 feet above the ground. Golden needles were emplaced around the
edges of the roof to ward off birds and their droppings, and a vine of gold was placed in front
73

of the now-imposing edifice.

When the Temple had been enlarged and decorated Herod offended the people by mounting a
Roman golden eagle over the gate. When Herod lay dying some years later two fearless sages
and their followers tore down the eagle. The men were dragged to Herod's deathbed where the
tyrant gave orders for them to be burned alive. (The records of the long reign of cruelty and
violence of King Herod are enough to fill several books).

Herod's enlargement of the Second Temple (Encyclopedia Judaica)

Herod's enlargements to the Temple Mount are the subject of vigorous discussion and debate
in Israel in our time. The following notes by Prof. George Knight of Hardin-Simmons
University, Abilene, Texas are helpful:
"...the complex constructed under the instigation of Herod the Great was an entirely different, larger and grander
structure than the previous one. As a part of his campaign to impress and obligate folk to him, Herod the Great
undertook many enormous building projects, including the port of Caesarea Maritima and the fortress of
Masada. However, nothing else approached the undertaking of building a new temple for the Jews in Jerusalem
beginning in 20 B.C. In order for the structure to achieve Herod's purposes, it had to be large. To accomplish that
primary goal, the entire mountain was extended. (The major primary source for this information is the firstcentury writer Flavius Josephus. He devoted a portion of Antiquities 8:3:6-9 and Wars of the Jews 1:7:6 to a
detailed description of the temple and its construction. Josephus is accused of exaggeration in some of his
descriptions, but his overall reports are of value in understanding the temple of Jesus' day).
The expansion of the area was achieved by building huge retaining walls to the east over the slopes of the Kidron
and to the west into the Tyropoeon Valley. These walls were, in places, more than 80 feet high and sat on
foundations some 50 feet deep. The area was then filled in and paved over, making an area of more than 35 acres
upon which to build the new complex.
The plan of the new complex had the "temple" proper located to the western part of the area facing the east and
enclosed in a series of terraces and walls. The interior dimensions of the building appear to have been left much
as the previous structures with the hekal being 60 feet long and 30 feet wide while the debir remained 30 feet by
30 feet, although it appears that the height increased to 90 feet. The porch was described by Josephus as
measuring 150 feet high and 150 feet wide, all covered with gold that reflected the sun so brightly that a person
could not look directly upon it. The furniture of the holy place was the same as Zerubbabel's and the holy of

74

holies remained empty, still separated by a veil. Directly in front of the building was now an altar of burnt
sacrifice measuring 75 feet square.
Several different plans of the arrangement of the courts in the temple have been suggested over the last century
because the sources are unclear and at points contradictory. (See for example W. F. Steinspring, "Temple,
Jerusalem," Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, George A. Buttrick, ed. Nashville: [Abingdon Press, 1962],
4:534-560. See 4:556 for the suggestion by Vincent-Steve and page 558 for the attempt by Schick. Another
possibility is given in Alfred Edersheim, The Temple, [ rev. and ill, with introduction by John J. Bimson Grand
Rapids: Kregel, 19971,31]. Although the details are difficult to explicate, the overall understanding of the
relationship of the courts to the temple proper is rather clear. Mound the sanctuary and in front was the court of
the priests. Beyond that was the court of Israel, which was limited to Jewish men. A semicircular set of stairs led
down to another level that was occupied by the court of women, as close to the sanctuary and altar as Jewish
women could go. From this terrace apparently there were stairs that led down to the next level. Entry to these
stairs and thus the court was protected by a stone partition four and one-half feet high that had inscribed on it
warnings in Greek and Latin prohibiting Gentiles from entering. Beyond this partition was the court of Gentiles,
which was a large part of the temple enclosure and was accessible to all people. In Mark 11 Jesus referred to this
area as having become used as a marketplace and otherwise unsuitable for worship. By Jesus' time the rest of the
temple platform included many other structures that added to the impressive complex. Inside the walls there
were porticoes with colonnaded walkways, the best known of which is the Royal Porch or Portico of Solomon. It
was located on the southern side and apparently served many purposes, including a business center, a place for
exchange, and perhaps the meeting place for the Sanhedrin. Many gates were located in the walls and
archaeological investigation has established a magnificent entry from the south up a monumental staircase that
led into the two Huldah gates through underground passages that brought visitors into the temple court from
below. One gate led through the western wall over a viaduct into the upper city, and another led through the
southwestern part of the wall down a huge staircase that turned into the Tyropoean Valley. Another famous gate
was the main gate in the eastern wall that led into the Kidron Valley and thus to Bethany. One other feature
requiring mention was the Antonia fortress at the northwest corner of the temple that housed Roman soldiers and
some Roman government offices. The entire complex was destroyed along with the city by the Roman general
Titus in A.D 70.
Herod's temple, the temple of Jesus' day, was a huge and magnificent structure, a wonder of the ancient world. It
was an architectural marvel of overwhelming proportions that called attention not only to Jerusalem as the place
where the Jewish people carried out their rituals of sacrifice but also to Herod the Great as the builder. In Mark
11 Jesus called for the temple to be a place of worship and a place for all nations because He came to seek and
save those who were lost. While He began in Jerusalem and Judea, He pointed the disciples to the ends of the
earth." (Biblical Illustrator, Vol. 25. No. 2 Winter 1998-99).

Model of Jerusalem and the Second Temple (Roman Period). At the Holyland Hotel in Jerusalem. Looking
Southwest.

75

The Christian Era

Important events in the life of Jesus Christ took place in the Temple area. Jesus was brought to
the Temple to be dedicated at the age of eight days (Luke 2:27). When He was twelve Luke
records that Jesus confounded the elders with His wisdom. (Luke 2:41-50)
Several of the most famous incidents in the life and ministry of Jesus took place in the Temple
area. His public teachings often took place there when he was in Jerusalem several times each
year, and his white-hot polemic denunciation of the Pharisees took place in the Courts.
Many people think of Jesus as someone meek and mild who would never raise His voice or be
upset at anything. Consequently, they have a hard time understanding the Gospel accounts of
Him going into the temple on two different occasions and disrupting the activities of the
moneychangers. John records what occurred on the first occasion, at the beginning of his
ministry:
Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in
the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business.
When He had made a whip of cords, He drove all out of the temple, with the sheep and the
oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those
who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of
merchandise!" (John 2:13-16).
Three years later, during Passion Week just after entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus
again cleansed the temple, this time temporarily halting the sacrifices:
And Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple,
and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you make it a
den of robbers." (Matthew 21:12,13. Compare Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:4548)

Second Temple Destruction Predicted by Jesus

During his final week in Jerusalem Jesus wept over Jerusalem,
At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod
wants to kill you." And Jesus said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons
and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless I
must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet
should perish away from Jerusalem.'
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How
often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her
wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken.
And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord!"' (Luke 13:31-35)
Luke's account adds details about the coming destruction of the city and the temple:
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And when he drew near (on Palm Sunday) and saw the city he wept over it, saying, "Would
that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your
eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and
surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your
children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did
not know the time of your visitation." (Luke 19:41-44)
As the Shekinah glory left the First Temple as recorded by Ezekiel, Jesus as God's prophet
announced at this time that the Second Temple was from that point on to be left desolate, until
He returned. Soon, the Second Temple would also be destroyed as the First had been.
In the last week of His life Jesus pronounced judgment upon the Temple on a second
occasion:
Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show
Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?
Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown
down." (Matthew 24: 1-2)
According to Jesus, not one stone would be left upon another when the Temple was destroyed.
Jesus also predicted the destruction of the city of Jerusalem:
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then
let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart and let not
those who are in the country enter her. (Luke 21:20-22).
The prophet Daniel had also predicted the destruction of the Second Temple:
And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of
the prince who is to come (the Romans) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. (Daniel 9:26)
Daniel's prediction said that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem and be cut off (put to
death) followed by yet another destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
And so there was to be a Second 9th of Av catastrophe on the Temple Mount. It was to come
655 years after the first.

Reference:
An excellent book on the Second Temple period adapted by Rabbi Hersh Goldwurm is
History of the Jewish People: The Second Temple Era, Artscroll History Series, Mesorah
Publications. Ltd., Brooklyn, 1982. The early period dates given in this book are, however,
incorrect.
Revised July 6, 1997.

77

THE 400 YEARS

BETWEEN
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS
by Ray C. Stedman

At the close of the book of Malachi in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is back again in
the land of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity, but they are under the domination of the
great world power of that day, Persia and the Medio-Persian empire. In Jerusalem, the temple
had been restored, although it was a much smaller building than the one that Solomon had
built and decorated in such marvelous glory.
Within the temple the line of Aaronic priests was still worshiping and carrying on the sacred
rites as they had been ordered to do by the law of Moses. There was a direct line of
descendancy in the priesthood that could be traced back to Aaron.
But the royal line of David had fallen on evil days. The people knew who the rightful
successor to David was, and in the book of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, his name is given
to us. It was Zerubbabel, the royal prince, yet there was no king on the throne of Israel, they
were a puppet nation, under the domination of Persia. Nevertheless, although they were beset
with weakness and formalism as the prophets have shown us, the people were united. There
were no political schisms or factions among them, nor were they divided into groups or
parties.
Now when you open the New Testament to the book of Matthew, you discover an entirely
different atmosphere---almost a different world. Rome is now the dominant power of the
earth. The Roman legions have spread throughout the length and breadth of the civilized
world. The center of power has shifted from the East to the West, to Rome. Palestine is still a
puppet state---the Jews never did regain their own sovereignty---but now there is a king on
the throne. But this king is the descendant of Esau instead of Jacob, and his name is Herod the
Great. Furthermore, the high priests who now sit in the seat of religious authority in the nation
are no longer from the line of Aaron. They cannot trace their descendancy back, rather, they
are hired priests to whom the office is sold as political patronage.
The temple is still the center of Jewish worship, although the building has been partially
destroyed and rebuilt about a half-dozen times since the close of the Old Testament. But now
the synagogues that have sprung up in every Jewish city seem to be the center of Jewish life
even more than the temple.
At this time the people of Israel were split into three major parties. Two of them, the Pharisees
and Sadducees, were much more prominent than the third. The smaller group, the Essenes,
could hardly be designated as a party. Not long ago, however, they came into great
prominence in our time and took on new significance because they had stowed away some
documents in caves overlooking the Dead Sea---documents which were brought to light again
by the accidental discovery of an Arab shepherd boy and are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Now, what happened in these four hundred so-called "silent" years after the last of the
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inspired prophets spoke and the first of the New Testament writers began to write? You
remember there is a word in Paul's letter to the Galatians that says, "When the time had fully
come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law." (Gal. 4:4) In other words,
the time of our Lord's birth was God's appointed hour, the moment for which God had been
long preparing. Some of the exciting preparations took place during that time of "silence,"
however, and you will understand your New Testament much better if you understand
something of the historic events during the time between the Testaments.
After Malachi had ceased his prophesying and the canon of the Old Testament closed---that is,
the number of the books in the Old Testament was fulfilled and the inspired prophets ceased
to speak---God allowed a period of time for the teachings of the Old Testament to penetrate
throughout the world. During this time, he rearranged the scenes of history, much as a stage
crew will rearrange the stage sets after the curtain has fallen, and when the curtain rises again
there is an entirely new setting.
In about 435 B.C., when the prophet Malachi ceased his writing, the center of world power
began to shift from the East to the West. Up to this time, Babylon had been the major world
power, but this was soon succeeded by the Medio-Persian empire, as you remember from
ancient history. This shift had been predicted by the prophet Daniel, who said that there would
rise up a bear who was higher on one side than the other, signifying the division between
Media and Persia, with the Persians the predominant ones (Dan. 7:5).
At the height of the Persian power there arose in the country of Macedonia (which we now
know as Greece) north of the Black Sea. a man by the name of Philip of Macedon, who
became a leader in his own country. He united the islands of Greece and became their ruler.
His son was destined to become one of the great world leaders of all time, Alexander the
Great. In 330 B.C. a tremendous battle between the Persians and the Greeks entirely altered
the course of history. In that battle, Alexander, as a young man only twenty years old, led the
armies of Greece in victory over the Persians and completely demolished the power of Persia.
The center of world power then shifted father west into Greece, and the Grecian empire was
born.
A year after that historic battle, Alexander the Great led his armies down into the Syrian world
toward Egypt. On the way, he planned to lay siege to the city of Jerusalem. As the victorious
armies of the Greeks approached the city, word was brought to the Jews in Jerusalem that the
armies were on their way. The high priest at that time, who was a godly old man by the name
of Jaddua (who, by the way, is mentioned in the Bible in the book of Nehemiah) took the
sacred writings of Daniel the prophet and, accompanied by a host of other priests dressed in
white garments, went forth and met Alexander some distance outside the city.
All this is from the report of Josephus, the Jewish historian, who tells us that Alexander left
his army and hurried to meet this body of priests. When he met them, he told the high priest
that he had had a vision the night before in which God had shown him an old man, robed in a
white garment, who would show him something of great significance to himself, according to
the account, the high priest then opened the prophecies of Daniel and read them tn Alexander.
In the prophecies Alexander was able to see the predictions that he would become that notable
goat with the horn in his forehead, who would come from the West and smash the power of
Medio-Persia and conquer the world. He was so overwhelmed by the accuracy of this
prophecy and, of course, by the fact that it spoke about him, that he promised that he would

79

save Jerusalem from siege, and sent the high priest back with honors. How true that account
is, is very difficult at this distance in time to say; that, at any event, is the story.
Alexander died in 323 B.C. when he was only about thirty-three years old. He had drunk
himself to death in the prime of his life, grieved because he had no more worlds to conquer.
After his death, his empire was torn with dissension, because he had left no heir. His son had
been murdered earlier, so there was no one to inherit the empire of Alexander.
After some time, however, the four generals that had led Alexander's armies divided his
empire between them. Two of them are particularly noteworthy to us. One was Ptolemy, who
gained Egypt and the northern African countries; the other was Seleucus, who gained Syria, to
the north of Palestine. During this time Palestine was annexed by Egypt, and suffered greatly
at the hands of Ptolemy. In fact, for the next one hundred years, Palestine was caught in the
meat-grinder of the unending conflicts between Syria on the north and Egypt on the south.
Now if you have read the prophecies of Daniel, you will recall that Daniel was able. by
inspiration, to give a very accurate and detailed account of the highlights of these years of
conflict between the king of the North (Syria) and the king of the South (Egypt). The eleventh
chapter of Daniel gives us a most amazingly accurate account of that which has long since
been fulfilled. If you want to see just how accurate the prophecy is, I suggest you compare
that chapter of Daniel with the historical record of what actually occurred during that time. H.
A. Ironside's little book, The 400 Silent Years gathers that up in some detail.
During this time Grecian influence was becoming strong in Palestine. A party arose among
the Jews called the Hellenists, who were very eager to bring Grecian culture and thought into
the nation and to liberalize some of the Jewish laws. This forced a split into two major parties.
There were those who were strong Hebrew nationalist, who wanted to preserve everything
according to the Mosaic order. They resisted all the foreign influences that were coming in to
disrupt the old Jewish ways. This party became known as the Pharisees, which means "to
separate"; they were the separationists who insisted on preserving traditions. They grew
stronger and stronger, becoming more legalistic and rigid in their requirements, until they
became the target for some of the most scorching words our Lord ever spoke. They had
become religious hypocrites, keeping the outward form of the law, but completely violating its
spirit.
On the other hand, the Hellenists---the Greek lovers---became more and more influential in
the politics of the land. They formed the party that was known in New Testament days as the
Sadducees, the liberals. They turned away from the strict interpretation of the law and
became$the rationalists of their day, ceasing to believe in the supernatural in any way. We are
told in the New Testament that they came again and again to the Lord with questions about
the supernatural, like "What will happen to a woman who has been married to seven different
men? In the resurrection, whose wife will she be?" (Matt. 22:23-33) They did not believe in a
resurrection, but in these questions they were trying to put Jesus on the spot.
Now there was also a young rebel Jewish priest who married a Samaritan, went down to
Samaria, and in rebellion against the Jewish laws, built a temple on Mount Gerizim that
became a rival of the temple in Jerusalem. This caused intense, fanatical rivalry between the
Jews and the Samaritans, and this rivalry is also reflected in the New Testament.
Also during this time, in Egypt, under the reign of one of the Ptolemies, the Hebrew scriptures

80

were translated for the first time into another language, in about 284 B.C. A group of 70
scholars was called together by the Egyptian king to make a translation of the Hebrew
scriptures. Book by book they translated the Old Testament into Greek. When they had
finished, it was given the name of the Septuagint, which means 70, because of the number of
translators. This became the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. From it many of the
quotations in the New Testament are derived. That is why New Testament quotations of Old
Testament verses are sometimes in different words---because they come from the Greek
translation. The Septuagint is still in existence today, and is widely used in various parts of the
world. It is still a very important document.
A little later on, about 203 B.C., a king named Antiochus the Great came into power in Syria,
to the north of Palestine. He captured Jerusalem from the Egyptians and began the reign of
Syrian power over Palestine. He had two sons, one of whom succeeded him and reigned only
a few years. When he died, his brother took the throne. This man, named Antiochus
Epiphanes, became one of the most vicious and violent persecutors of the Jews ever known.
In fact, he is often called the Antichrist of the Old Testament. since he fulfills some of the
predictions of Daniel concerning the coming of one who would be "a contemptible person"
and a "vile king." His name (which he modestly bestowed upon himself) means "Antiochus
the Illustrious." Nevertheless, some of his own courtiers evidently agreed more with the
prophecies of Daniel, and they changed two letters in his title. from Epiphanes to Epipames,
which means "the mad man."
His first act was to depose the high priest in Jerusalem. thus ending the long line of
succession, beginning with Aaron and his sons through the many centuries of Jewish life.
Onias the Third was the last of the hereditary line of priests. Antiochus Epiphanes sold the
priesthood to Jason, who was not of the priestly line. Jason, in turn, was tricked by his
younger brother Menelaus, who purchased the priesthood and then sold the golden vessels of
the temple in order to make up the tribute money. Epiphanes overthrew the God-authorized
line of priests, then, and under his reign the city of Jerusalem and all the religious rites of the
Jews began to deteriorate as they came fully under the power of the Syrian king.
In 171 B.C. Antiochus invaded Egypt and once again Palestine was caught in the nutcracker
of rivalry. Palestine is the most fought-over country in the world, and Jerusalem is the most
captured city in all history. It has been pillaged, ravished, burned and destroyed more than 27
times in its history.
While Antiochus was in Egypt, it was reported that he had been killed in battle, and Jerusalem
rejoiced. The people organized a revolt and overthrew Menelaus, the pseudo-priest. When
report reached Antiochus (who was very much alive in Egypt) that Jerusalem was delighted at
the report of his death, he organized his armies and swept like a fury back across the land,
falling upon Jerusalem with terrible vengeance.
He overturned the city, regained his power, and guided by the treacherous Menelaus, intruded
into the very Holy of Holies in the temple itself. Some 40,000 people were slain in three days
of fighting during this terrible time. When he forced his way into the Holy of Holies, he
destroyed the scrolls of the law and, to the absolute horror of the Jews, took a sow and offered
it upon the sacred altar. Then with a broth made from the flesh of this unclean animal, he
sprinkled everything in the temple, thus completely defiling and violating the sanctuary. It is
impossible for us to grasp how horrifying this was to the Jews. They were simply appalled
that anything like this could ever happen to their sacred temple

81

It was that act of defiling the temple which is referred to by the Lord Jesus as the "desolating
sacrilege" which Daniel had predicted (Matt. 24:15), and which also became a sign of the
coming desolation of the temple when Antichrist himself will enter the temqle, call himself
God, and thus defile the temple in that time. As we know from the New Testament, that still
lies in the future.
Daniel the prophet had said the sanctuary would be polluted for 2300 days. (Dan. 8:14) In
exact accordance with that prophecy, it was exactly 2300 days---six and a half years---before
the temple was cleansed. It was cleansed under the leadership of a man now famous in Jewish
history, Judas Maccabaeus. He was one of the priestly line who, with his father and four
brothers, rose up in revolt against the Syrian king. They captured the attention of the
Israelites, summoned them to follow them into battle, and in a series of pitched battles in
which they were always an overwhelming minority, overthrew the power of the Syrian kings,
captured Jerusalem, and cleansed the temple. The day they cleansed the temple was named
the Day of Dedication, and it occurred on the 25th day of December. On that date Jews still
celebrate the Feast of Dedication each year.
The Maccabees, who were of the Asmonean family, began a line of high priests known as the
Asmonean Dynasty. Their sons, for about the next three or four generations, ruled as priests in
Jerusalem, all the time having to defend themselves against the constant assaults of the Syrian
army who tried to recapture the city and the temple. During the days of the Maccabbees there
was a temporary overthrow of foreign domination, which is why the Jews look back to this
time and regard it with such tremendous veneration.
During this time, one of the Asmonean priests made a league with the rising power in the
West, Rome. He signed a treaty with the Senate of Rome, providing for help in the event of
Syrian attack. Though the treaty was made in all earnestness and sincerity, it was this pact
which introduced Rome into the picture and history of Israel.
As the battles between the two opposing forces waged hotter and hotter, Rome was watchful.
Finally, the Governor of Idumea, a man named Antipater and a descendant of Esau, made a
pact with two other neighboring kings and attacked Jerusalem to try to overthrow the
authority of the Asmonean high priest. This battle raged so fiercely that finally Pompey, the
Roman general, who happened to have an army in Damascus at the time, was besought by
both parties to come and intervene. One side had a little more money than the other, and
persuaded by that logical argument, Pompey came down from Damascus, entered the city of
Jerusalem---again with terrible slaughter---overthrew the city and captured it for Rome. That
was in 63 B.C. From that time on, Palestine was under the authority and power of Rome.
Now Pompey and the Roman Senate appointed Antipater as the Procurator of Judea, and he in
turn made his two sons kings of Galilee and Judea. The son who became king of Judea is
known to us a Herod the Great. ("Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the
days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, 'Where is
he who has been born king of the Jews?'" (Matt. 2:1, 2)
Meanwhile, the pagan empires around had been deteriorating and disintegrating. Their
religions had fallen upon evil days. The people were sick of the polytheism and emptiness of
their pagan faiths. The Jews had gone through times of pressure and had failed in their efforts
to re-establish themselves, and had given up all hope. There was a growing air of expectancy

82

that the only hope they had left was the coming at last of the promised Messiah. In the East,
the oriental empires had come to the place where the wisdom and knowledge of the past had
disintegrated and they too were looking for something. When the moment came when the star
arose over Bethlehem, the wise men of the East who were looking for an answer to their
problems saw it immediately and came out to seek the One it pointed to. Thus, "when the time
had fully come, God sent forth his Son."
It is amazing how God utilizes history to work out his purposes. Though we are living in the
days that might be termed "the silence of God," when for almost 2,000 years there has been
no inspired voice from God, we must look back---even as they did during those 400 silent
years---upon the inspired record and realize that God has already said all that needs to be said,
through the Old and New Testaments. God's purposes have not ended, for sure; he is working
them out as fully now as he did in those days. Just as the world had come to a place of
hopelessness then, and the One who would fulfill all their hopes came into their midst, so the
world again is facing a time when despair is spreading widely across the earth. Hopelessness
is rampant everywhere and in this time God is moving to bring to fulfillment all the prophetic
words concerning the coming of his Son again into the world to establish his kingdom. How
long? How close? Who knows? But what God has done in history, he will do again as we
approach the end of "the silence of God."
Prayer
Our Father, we are constantly encouraged as we see the fact that our faith is grounded upon
historic things; that it touches history on every side. It is integrally related to life. We pray that
our own faith may grow strong and be powerful as we see the despair around us, the shaking
of foundations, the changing of that which has long been taken to be permanent, the
overthrowing of empires and the rising of others. Lord, we are thankful that we may look to
you and realize that you are the One who does not change. The One whose word is eternal. As
the Lord Jesus himself said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass
away." We pray in Christ's name, amen.

Catalog No. 240

October 2, 1966
Fortieth Message

83

The Roman Emperors

49 BC - 44 BC Julius Caesar

276 - 282 AD Probus

31 BC - AD 14 Augustus

282 - 283

14 - 37

283 - 285

Carus
Numerianus

Tiberius

Carinus (Co -Emperors)

37 - 41

Gaius (Caligula)

284 - 286

41 - 54

Claudius

286 - 305

Diocletian
Diocletian
Maximian (Co -Emperors)

54 - 68

Nero

305 - 306

Constantius

68 - 69

Galba

305 - 311

Galerius

69

Otho

306 - 307

Severus

69

Vitellius

306 - 308

Maximian

69 - 79

Vespasian

306 - 312

Maxentius

79 - 81

Titus

307 - 313

Maximinus

81 - 96

Domitian

307 - 337

Constantine I (the Great)

96 - 98

Nerva

307 - 324

Licinius

98 - 117

Trajan

308 - 313

Maximine Daia

117 - 138

Hadrian

337 - 340

Constantine II

138 - 161

Antoninus Pius

337 - 361

Constanius II

337 - 350

Constans I

Marcus Aurelius
161 - 169
Versus (Co -Emperors)
169 - 180

Marcus Aurelius

350 - 353

Magnentius

180 - 192

Commodus

360 - 363

Julian the Apostate

193

Pertinax

363 - 364

Jovian

193

Didius Julianus

364 - 367

Valentinian I

193 - 194

Pescennius Niger

364 - 378

Valens

193 - 197

Albinus

367 - 375

Valentinian I
Gratian
Gratian
193 - 211

Septimus Severus

375 - 383
Valentinian II (Co -Emperors)

211 - 212

Caracalla

379 - 395

84

Theodosius I

Geta (Co -Emperors)

Maximus
212 - 217

Caracalla

383 - 388
Valentinian II (Co -Emperors)

217 - 218

Macrinus

388 - 392

Valentinian II

218 - 222

Heliogabalus

392 - 394

Eugenius

222 - 235

Alexander Severus

395 - 423

Honorius

235 - 238

Maximinus

425 - 455

Valentinian III

238

Gordianus I

455

Petronius Maximus

238

Gordianus II

455 - 456

Avitus

238

Pupienus

457 - 461

Majorian

238

Balbinus

461 - 465

Severus

238 - 244

Gordianus III

467 - 472

Anthemius

244 - 249

Philip the Arabian

472

Olybrius

249 - 251

Decius

473 - 474

Glycerius

251 - 253

Gallus

474 - 475

Nepos

251 - 253

Volosianus

475 - 476

Romulus Augustus

253

Aemilianus

253 - 260

Valerian

260 - 268

Gallienus

268 - 270

Claudius II

270

Quintillus

270 - 275

Aurelian

270 - 274

Tetricus I (Gaul)

274

Tetricus II (Gaul)

275 - 276

Tacitus

276

Florianus

Reference: World History, Maps, Rulers and Leaders Page

Copyright (C) 1995 Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church.
This data file is the sole property of Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church. It may be
copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above
copyright notice.
This data file may not be copied in part, edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial

85

publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, without the
written permission of Discovery Publishing. Requests for permission should be made in writing and addressed to
Discovery Publishing, 3505 Middlefield Rd. Palo Alto, CA. 94306-3695.

86

The Destruction of the Second Temple

by Lambert Dolphin

"Sorely have they afflicted me from my youth," let Israel now say - "Sorely have they
afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed
upon my back; they made long their furrows." The LORD is righteous; he has cut the cords of
the wicked. May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward! Let them be like the
grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper does not fill
his hand or the binder of sheaves his bosom, while those who pass by do not say, "The
blessing of the LORD be upon you! We bless you in the name of the LORD!"
(Psalm 129. A Psalm of Ascents)

Prelude to the Second Desolation of Jerusalem

Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, as well as most every one of the prophets of Israel, give us
copious amounts of information telling us why it was that Israel was taken into exile in
Babylon and why the magnificent First Temple should be destroyed. The terrible loss of life
and all the associated suffering which took place especially on the 9th of Av, 586 B.C.E. were
followed by a slow restoration. By the time of Yeshua (Jesus), 600 years later, Israel enjoyed a
modest place among the nations of the Middle East. Gone was the great military prowess she
had enjoyed under King David. Gone was the King - Israel had been a vassal state under
foreign dominion for centuries. However, a respectable Temple stood in Jerusalem. Sacrifices
and offerings and the externals of her religion were in place. The priesthood was corrupted
and the number of the godly who were faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was
very few. There was little evidence of real spiritual life from God. Demonic activity and
occult practices were at an all time high, as the Christian gospels reveal, and the Jews were
not highly regarded by the Greeks and Romans for their religion, or for their exemplary
lifestyles. The internal politics of a once unified people was divided into factions of
Herodians, Hellenists, Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Scribes. Thankfully, a tiny believing
remnant remained faithful to the Holy One of Israel.
The four Christian gospels say very little about the Temple in the days of Jesus. Except for a
few brief words from Jesus there was no extensive public warning that the Second Temple
was to be destroyed. The analysis of why this happened would be explained afterward, after
resurrection of Jesus. It was then that the Apostles (all Jews) confronted the nation with her
grievous sins.
The life of Jesus seemed unimportant to the Romans and to many of the Jewish people at the
time Jesus the Christ taught and walked among his own people. The resurrection of this same
Jesus and His ascension after a number of public appearances was followed 50 days later by
the birth of church on Pentecost Sunday. This took place on the Temple Mount. However, it

87

was not long before persecution drove the apostles and church leaders North to Antioch. The
Jewish people were accustomed to outspoken sect leaders and false messiah so Jesus was
soon forgotten and his qualifications as a true prophet of God were ignored. The hundreds of
new followers of Jesus after the Day of Pentecost were of course originally all Jews.
Caligula
Shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the mad Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar
Germanicus - nicknamed Caligula ("little boots") - attempted to desecrate the Temple.
Everywhere else in the Roman empire subjugated peoples had been forced to conform to the
cult of Rome and acknowledge not only Caesar as Lord but also fall into line by adopting the
Roman pantheon of gods. The Jews had been left alone and it was time they began to
conform. Caligula gave an order to set up his statue in the Holy of Holies in the Temple:
Now Caius Caesar did so grossly abuse the fortune he had arrived at, as to take himself to be a
god, and to desire to be so called also, and to cut off those of the greatest nobility out of his
country. He also extended his impiety as far as the Jews. Accordingly he sent Petronius with
an army to Jerusalem to place his statues in the temple, and commanded him that, in case the
Jews would not admit of them, he should slay those that opposed it, and carry all the rest into
captivity. (Ref. 1)
The Roman writer Tacitus adds that Caius commanded the Jews to place his effigies in the
Temple. Josephus records that the Jews pleaded with Petronius not to do this. The Jews in
their stubborn monotheism were willing to sacrifice their whole nation before they would
allow the Temple to be defiled. Petronius marveled at their courage and ceased with the
process so confrontation was temporarily averted. An enraged Caligula commanded that
Petronius be put to death. Josephus records that Caligula himself died soon thereafter and due
to bad weather at sea, the letter ordering Petronius' death arrived three weeks after the news
arrived of Caligula's death. Petronius was not executed and the Temple was spared this
particular abomination.
Revolt and Turmoil
To enforce their rule the Romans were forced to brutally repress the rebellions led by various
"messiahs" - Theudas, James and Simon. One Jewish group, the Zealots, in existence since the
turn of the century, gained enough strength by 50 A.D. that they were able to raid Jerusalem.
The Roman procurator Gessius Florius (62-64), whose headquarters were in Sebaste
(Samaria), had taken advantage of the instability by taxing the Temple treasury for his own
benefit. He was the most cruel of all Roman leaders to date. Florius met the Zealots in
Jerusalem by killing 3600 Jews as he pillaged the upper market place. The Zealots in response
destroyed the northern portico of the temple adjacent to the Antonia fortress thus preventing
Florius from reaching the Temple where he wanted to seize the temple treasures.
Florius was driven from the city eventually and the high priest Eliezer ben-Hananiah
persuades the priests to cease offerings to the health of the Emperor. This gave Rome even
more reason to crack down.
At the outset of the revolt Herod Agrippa II (grandson of Herod the Great) gained control of
the Upper City but the high priest Eliezer took over the Lower City and a civil war began.
Agrippa gathered the people in the Chamber of Hewn Stone in a futile effort to restore peace.

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The rebels set fire to the palaces of the king, his sister Bernice, and to the house of the high
priest. Agrippa fled from Jerusalem allowing the Zealots to capture Fortress Antonia and
Herod's palace. The former was set on fire and burned.
As the civil war raging in Jerusalem intensified Cestius Gallius, procurator of Syria attacked
Jerusalem in 66 A.D. from Mt. Scopus and the ascent of Beth-Horon, but a Jewish group led
by Simon Bar-Giora harassed the soldiers of Gallius from the rear and captured all their arms.
The rebels had a respite for four years during which time they were able to complete the third
wall.
The struggles between the Zealots and the Roman soldiers from Syria destroyed the food
stocks of the Zealots who then robbed the homes of the local Jewish population. The
inhabitants of Jerusalem died in great numbers by famine as had happened when
Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem centuries earlier (Jer. 52:6,7). Greater disaster was soon
to come.

The Second Temple Destroyed - As Predicted

During the last days of his life Jesus had assembled his disciples together on the Mt. of Olives
overlooking the Temple. The disciples were uncertain and anxious about the future especially
in light of Jesus' cleansing of the Temple and stopping the sacrifices, and his astonishing
statements delivered in holy anger denouncing the Pharisees. The disciples opened the
conversation by talking about the beauty of the temple and its courts. Jesus opened his
amazing and detailed reply by predicting the soon-coming destruction of that magnificent
building:
Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the
buildings of the temple. But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to
you, there will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down." As he
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sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will
this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" (Matthew 24:13)
Both the Temple and the City of Jerusalem were indeed about to be destroyed. With four
Legions, Titus the Roman General, later to become Caesar, began the siege of Jerusalem in
April, A.D. 70. He posted his 10th legion on the Mount of Olives, directly east of and
overlooking the Temple Mount. The 12th and 15th legions were stationed on Mount Scopus,
further to the east and commanding all ways to Jerusalem from east to north. The 5th legion
was held in reserve.
The Second 9th of Av - 70 C.E.
On the 10th of August, in A.D. 70 - the 9th of Av - in Jewish reckoning, the very day when the
King of Babylon burned the Temple in 586 B.C., the Temple was burned again. Titus took the
city and put it to the torch, burning the Temple.
Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus was present in Jerusalem when the city was captured and
the Temple was burnt. He described the event in this manner:
The Romans, though it was a terrible struggle to collect the timber, raised their platforms in
twenty-one days, having as described before stripped the whole area in a circle round the
town to a distance of ten miles. The countryside like the City was a pitiful sight; for where
once there had been a lovely vista of woods and parks there was nothing but desert and
stumps of trees. No one - not even a foreigner - who had seen the Old Judea and the glorious
suburbs of the City, and now set eyes on her present desolation, could have helped sighing
and groaning at so terrible a change; for every trace of beauty had been blotted out by war,
and nobody who had known it in the past and came upon it suddenly would have recognized
the place: when he was already there he would still have been looking for the City. (Ref. 3)

Josephus speaks of the house to house fighting that occurred:

These Romans put the Jews to flight, and proceeded as far as the holy house itself. At which
time one of the soldiers, without staying for any orders, and without any concern or dread
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upon him at so great an undertaking, and being hurried on by a certain divine fury, snatched
some what out of the materials that were on fire, and being lifted up by another soldier, he set
fire to a golden window, through which there was a passage to the rooms that were round
about the holy house, on the north side of it. As the flames went upward, the Jews made a
great clamour, such as so mighty an affliction required, and ran together to prevent it; and
now they spared not their lives any longer, nor suffered anything to restrain their force, since
that holy house was perishing . . . thus it was the holy house burnt down . . . Nor can one
imagine any thing greater or more terrible than this noise; for there was at once a shout of the
Roman Legions, who were marching all together, and a sad clamour of the seditious, who
were now surrounded with fire and sword . . . the people under a great consternation, made
sad moans at the calamity they were under . . . Yet was the misery itself more terrible than this
disorder; for one would have thought that the hill itself, on which the Temple stood, was
seething hot, as full of fire on every part of it. (Ref. 4)
And Josephus lists the horrendous outcome:
To give a detailed account of their outrageous conduct is impossible, but we may sum it up by
saying that no other city has ever endured such horrors, and no generation in history has
fathered such wickedness. In the end they brought the whole Hebrew race into contempt in
order to make their own impiety seem less outrageous in foreign eyes, and confessed the
painful truth that they were slaves, the dregs of humanity, bastards, and outcasts of their
nation.
. . . It is certain that when from the upper city they watched the Temple burning they did not
turn a hair, though many Romans were moved to tears. (Ref. 5)
The prediction of Jesus with regard to the city and the Temple were now fulfilled:
As the flames shot into the air the Jews sent up a cry that matched the calamity and dashed to
the rescue, with no thought now of saving their lives or husbanding their strength; for that
which hitherto they had guarded so devotedly was disappearing before their eyes. (Ref. 6)
Jerusalem was totally destroyed and as Jesus had predicted - not one stone was left upon
another. When the Temple was set on fire the Roman soldiers tore apart the stone to get the
melted gold. The Menorah and vessels were carried to Rome and the treasury was robbed.
As Daniel had predicted the Temple was destroyed after the Messiah had come, not before.
Bible scholar Ray C. Stedman comments on the predictions of Jesus and their fulfillment in
history a few years later,
In Luke 21:20 we have other details of this predicted overthrow of the city and the Temple.
There Jesus adds, "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its
desolation has come near." Forty years later the Roman armies under Titus came in and
fulfilled the prediction to the very letter. With Titus was a Jewish historian named Josephus
who recorded the terrible story in minute detail. It was one of the most ghastly sieges in all
history. When the Romans came the city was divided among three warring factions of Jews
who were so at each others' throats that they paid no heed to the approach of the Romans.
Thus Titus came up and surrounded the city while it was distracted by its own internecine

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warfare. The Romans assaulted the walls again and again, and gave every opportunity to the
Jews to surrender and save their capital from destruction.

During the long siege a terrible famine raged in the city and the bodies of the inhabitants were
literally stacked like cordwood in the streets. Mothers ate their children to preserve their own
strength. The toll of Jewish suffering was horrible but they would not surrender the city.
Again and again they attempted to trick the Romans through guile and perfidy. When at last
the walls were breached Titus tried to preserve the Temple by giving orders to his soldiers not
to destroy or burn it. But the anger of the soldiers against the Jews was so intense that,
maddened by the resistance they encountered, they disobeyed the order of their general and
set fire to the Temple. There were great quantities of gold and silver there which had been
placed in the Temple for safekeeping. This melted and ran down between the rocks and into
the cracks of the stones. When the soldiers captured the Temple area, in their greed to obtain
this gold and silver they took long bars and pried apart the massive stones. Thus, quite
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literally, not one stone was left standing upon another. The Temple itself was totally
destroyed, though the wall supporting the area upon which the Temple was built was left
partially intact and a portion of it remains to this day, called the Western Wall. (Ref. 2)
A Temple Legend
Flavius Josephus also recorded a legend that sprung up about the Temple. While the Temple
was on fire and there was tremendous looting, killing and rape many rushed to the Temple to
die rather than become Roman slaves. When the flames leaped through the roof and the
smoke had risen in thick columns one of the priests supposedly climbed to the top of the main
tower. He had in his hand the key to the sanctuary. When he reached the top he cried out, "If
you, Lord, no longer judge us to be worthy to administer Your house, take back the key until
You deem us worthy again." As the legend goes, a hand appeared from heaven and took the
key from the priest.
A Second Exile for Israel
When the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 the period of the second exile began. The Jewish
people were soon to be scattered throughout the earth. For the next 1900 years the Jews would
have no authority in the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However during most
of the period of this Second Exile there have always been some Jews living in Jerusalem.
Although most of the nation was in exile from their land, the Jews did not forget Jerusalem or
the Temple Mount. Their daily prayer was for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. The
traditional Jewish prayer book contains the following passage:
Because of our sins we were exiled from our country and banished from our land. We cannot
go up as pilgrims to worship Thee, to perform our duties in Thy chosen house, the great and
Holy Temple which was called by Thy name, on account of the hand that was let loose on Thy
sanctuary. May it be Thy will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, merciful King, in Thy
abundant love again to have mercy on us and on Thy sanctuary; rebuild it speedily and
magnify its glory.
For the next two thousand years, the Temple Mount would lack any Jewish presence. The
destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 caused the beginning of the scattering of the Jews
throughout the world. During this period, the Temple Mount was for the most part neglected
and profaned. Though this time constituted a period of neglect some significant events
concerning Jerusalem and the Temple Mount did occur. More information on this time period
of Temple Mount history is given in Tuvia Sagiv's writings.
Hadrian
In the first hundred years after the city and Temple were destroyed, there was high expectation
among the Jews that they would once again return to their land and rebuild that which was
devastated. The Court of 70 Elders, the Sanhedrin, was intact and many Jews still lived in
small communities in Israel. Their hopes were dashed by the Emperor Hadrian when he
decided to establish a new city on the ruins of Jerusalem. The Old City was plowed up to
make way for the new Roman city to be named Colonia Aelia Capitolina.
Second Jewish Revolt

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Hadrian's actions, particularly his attempted to eradicate all traces of a Jewish city named
Jerusalem, caused ongoing rebellion among the Jews. In response, there were large scale mass
murders of Jews in Caesarea and other communities by the Romans. These murders sparked a
larger rebellion led by a man named Simon Bar Kochba (A.D. 132-135). Bar Kochba rallied
the people and massacred the famous 12th legion of the Roman army. Jerusalem was liberated
for three years and Rabbi Akiva proclaimed Bar Kochba as the Messiah who was to deliver
the Jewish people.
The Jews proceeded to set up an independent government. Coins were struck that
commemorated the "First Year of the Deliverance of Israel." One coin showed the facade of
the Temple. It is possible that Bar Kochba attempted to rebuild the Temple. One later
historical work (Chronicon Paschale) describes Hadrian as the one who destroyed the Temple
of the Jews. The Roman historian Dio Cassius also said that Hadrian built his Temple to
replace the one of the God of Israel. Some, therefore, assume that the Chronicon is not
referring to the destruction of the original Temple by Titus in A.D. 70 but to a later destruction
by Hadrian of a partially restored Temple built by Bar Kochba.
Within three years of Jerusalem's liberation under the Bar Kochba revolt, Rome marched
against the rebels and killed Bar Kochba. The Sanhedrin officially labeled him a false
Messiah and Jerusalem was again in Roman hands. Jewish Jerusalem was once again blotted
out and Aelia Capitolina was built on its site as had been planned. Because the war had cost
the lives of Roman heroes, the Jews were thenceforth forbidden to enter Jerusalem upon
penalty of death. Hadrian attempted to destroy every connection Jerusalem had with the
Jewish people. Christians of Jewish background were also excluded from the city, but gentile
Christians were able to remain.
In an effort to leave no trace of the Second Temple, Hadrian erected a Temple to Jupiter
Capitolinus on the site. An equestrian statue of Hadrian was also built on the site. The next
Emperor, Antonius Pius (A.D. 138-161), added another statue. The Jews were only allowed to
enter the city on special occasions to mourn on the Temple Mount.
Constantine and the "Christian" Roman Empire
In A.D. 324 Emperor Constantine and his mother Queen Helena were converted to
Christianity. Aelia Capitolina was renamed Jerusalem and the title of "Holy City" was
restored to her. It was now, however, considered the Holy City of Christianity, not the national
capital of the Jews. The pagan temple Hadrian was destroyed and the church of Holy Zion
was built on the Temple Mount. These conditions lasted under A.D. 362 when the Roman
emperor Julian the Apostate permitted the Jews to return.
A Plan to Rebuild
There was one occasion after the destruction of the Second Temple when the Jews were able
to formulate plans to rebuild their temple. The man behind this project was the Roman
Emperor, Flavius Claudius Julianus, a nephew of Constantine - also known as Julian the
Apostate because of his opposition to Christianity. Julian planned the project in the last year
of his reign in A.D. 363. Julian rescinded all the anti-Jewish laws that his uncle Constantine
had instituted. He issued an edict that the Temple be rebuilt in Jerusalem. This caused a great
deal of excitement among the Jews. From far and wide, Jews came to Jerusalem to help in the
rebuilding work. Julian supplied the necessary funds and appointed Alypius of Antioch, the

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Roman Governor of Great Britain, to carry out the project. Jews from all over gave from their
wealth upon the projected work of rebuilding the Temple. The roads to Jerusalem were filled
with multitudes of Jewish men and women who had hopes of seeing a Third Temple built.
Then sudden tragedy struck. The foundations of the Second Temple were barely uncovered
when flames of fire burst forth from under the ground. The flames were accompanied by large
explosions. The cause for the flames were probably the result of noxious gas in the
subterranean passages catching fire. The workmen fled and the building was stopped, never
again to be restarted. Many believed that the explosion and fire were a demonstration of the
anger of God.
With their hopes dashed, the Jews were then driven into Exile and became wanderers in
foreign lands. They were people without a homeland. For some eighteen centuries they would
be dispersed and persecuted. Throughout time their thoughts were of the Temple which once
stood in Jerusalem and prayers for its restoration.
Visible Remains of the Temple
From ancient records we can glean some information about visible remains of the Temple
after its destruction. Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea (A.D. 260-340) testified that he could still
see the remains of the sanctuary. He said that the large stone blocks were hauled away to build
sanctuaries and theaters. During this period of exile the city was visited by a pilgrim known as
the traveler of Bordeaux. He gave the following testimony in A.D. 333:
At the side of the Sanctuary, there is a pierced stone. Jews visit there once a year, pour oil
over it, lament and weep over it, and tear their garments in token of mourning. Then they
return home.
The once-a-year visit was probably on the 9th of Av, the Jewish date of the destruction of both
Temples. The pierced stone, or a rock with a hollow in it, is not identified. It is assumed by
some to have been the foundation stone upon which the Holy of Holies was built. In the
Talmud we find a reference to the "Foundation Rock" which the Holy of Holies had rested
(Yoma 5:2).
Early church father John Chrysostom wrote:
The Jews began uncovering the foundations by removing masses of earth, intending to go
ahead and build ...You can see the bared foundations if you visit Jerusalem now...Some of its
parts (sanctuary) are razed to the ground.
The Jews were allowed to enter the city only one day a year during this period of exile. In
A.D. 392 the Christian leader Jerome wrote concerning this day:
On the anniversary of the day when the city fell and was destroyed by the Romans, there are
crowds who mourn, old women and old men dressed in tatters and rags, and from the Top of
the Mount of Olives this throng laments over the destruction of its Sanctuary. Still their eyes
flow with tears, still their hands tremble and their hair is disheveled, but already the guards
demand pay for their right to weep. (Ref. 7)

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In the sixth century the Pilgrim of Piacenze mentions the ruins of the Temple of Solomon.
From these accounts we can deduce that there were at least some visible remains of the
Temple foundation through the sixth century.
Cursed of God?
In the early years, the Christians looked upon the Temple Mount as a place that God had
cursed. As Christianity gained foothold in the Roman world the Temple Mount was left to
become a desolate rubble heap. In A.D. 534, over the site of Solomon's elaborate palace, the
Emperor Justinian built mighty substructures as foundations for the New Church of St. Mary.
While other holy sites in Jerusalem were explored and identified, the Temple Mount was
neglected.
The Scourge of Anti-Semitism
One of the tragedies of this period was the anti-Semitism that arose among the "Christians."
Concerning the Jews, early Christian leader John Chrysostom falsely wrote:
They sacrificed their sons and daughters to devils: they outraged nature and overthrew their
foundations the laws of relationship. They are become worse than the wild beasts, and for no
reason at all, with their own hands, they murder their offspring, to worship the avenging
devils who are foes of our life...They know only one thing, to satisfy their gullets, get drunk,
to kill and maim one another. (Ref. 8)
Chrysostom delivered eight sermons which expressed intense hatred of the Jews. His
accusations were nothing but outright lies. The purpose of these falsehoods was to keep the
Christians in Antioch from having any contact with the Jews. In another act of anti-Semitism,
Bishop Ambrose of Milan ordered a synagogue to be set on fire. When Emperor Theodosius
demanded an explanation the Bishop wrote him back:
I declare that I have set fire to the synagogue, or at least that those who did acted on my
orders, so that there would be no place where Christ is rejected . . . Moreover, the synagogue
was in fact destroyed by the judgment of God. (Ref. 8)
This desecration even angered the Romans. The bishop was required to rebuild the synagogue
and those who had participated in its destruction were punished.
These, and others, failed to realize that it was God who had scattered the Jewish people and
that He had ultimate purposes in doing so. The Jews would be a blessing to each city in which
they were scattered to be regathered by God at the right time.

End Notes:
Special thanks to John G. Yimin (jyimin@earthlink.net) for permission to reproduce his rare
David Roberts lithographs.

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The abbreviations B.C. and B.C.E. and also A.D. and C.E. are used synomously in these
articles.
1. Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, 15, 403 ff.
2. Ray C. Stedman, What's This World Coming To? (An expository study of Matthew 24-26,
the Olivet Discourse). Discovery Publications, 3505 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94306.
1970
3. Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War, p. 303
4. Josephus, Antiquities xi. 1.2
5. Josephus, The Jewish War, p. 292
6. Josephus, ibid. p 323
7. Chrysostom's Sermons, cited J. Parkes, The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue, pp.
105-106
8. Bishop Ambrose, Eleventh letter to Theodosius as quoted by Parkes, ibid. pp. 163-164
9. Summary from ISBE:
1. Destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70). After A.D. 6 Jerusalem was under Roman procurators,
with the exception of the years 41-44 under Herod Agrippa I. Judea was apparently the least
desirable post in government service. and the province's procurators were among the worst
Roman officials. The Jews were increasingly restive under Roman control and the procurators
were increasingly violent, cruel, and dishonest. Open rebellion broke out in A.D. 66. Two
years earlier Gessius Florus, the procurator, had sent his troops on a mad rampage in
Jerusalem, and the extreme Zealot faction of the Jews had reacted violently. The war began
when the Zealots seized Masada and then under Menahem, marched on Jerusalem.
Simultaneously Jews in the gubernatorial city of Caesarea were massacred, and news of this
atrocity spread throughout the country. New coins were marked Year 1 through Year 5 of the
revolt (A.D. 66-70). The emperor Nero dispatched Vespasian to Judea to put down the
revolution in 68. Vespasian had isolated Jerusalem and was ready to begin a siege. The
empire, however, was in turmoil. with unrest in the east and revolt in the west. Nero
committed suicide. Vespasian, who was acclaimed emperor in 69, left for Rome to secure his
throne and gave his son Titus responsibility for ending the Jewish war.
Titus had four legions. The Tenth had moved from Jericho to the Mt. of Olives, destroying the
Qumran community on its way. The Twelfth had come from Caesarea and was encamped W
of the city, along with the Fifth and Fifteenth that had come from the north. In the spring of 70
the offensive was launched. The Jewish forces were under Simon bar-Giora and Yohanan of
Gush-Halab (John of Gischala). The Romans breached the third wall on the west and then the
second wall, but their attempt to take Antonia failed. Titus thereupon decided on a siege, and a
circumvallation was thrown up, according to Josephus almost 8 km. (5 mi.) long, built in
three days (BJ Y. 12. If. 1491-511 ]). According to some scholars, the "third wall" of Sukenik
and Mayer was part of this circumvallation (but see S. Ben-Arieh, "The 'Third Wall' of
Jerusalem," in Jerusalem Revealed, pp. 60-62). The horrors of the six-month siege are

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graphically told by Josephus (BJ v.12,3 [512-181). Antonia was taken, and the Jews
barricaded themselves in the temple. On 9 Ab (Aug. 5, A.D. 70) the temple was burned and
the Roman soldiers carried out a campaign of slaughter along the entire east ridge. The Jews
made their last stand in Herod's palace but the end was inevitable. Titus ordered the entire city
razed to the ground except for the three large towers at the northwest corner. Many Jews were
executed, others were carried off as slaves, the Tenth Legion was quartered in Jerusalem, and
Titus held a triumphal procession in Rome in which he displayed the golden candelabra from
the temple. The Arch of Titus in Rome was built to commemorate the triumph and on one of
its panels is carved in high relief the scene of his soldiers carrying the candlestand.
J. Destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 135). The Christians had fled from Jerusalem in 66, basing
their action, it is said, on the Lord's words in Mt. 24:15f. They located at Pella and returned to
Jerusalem later. A Jewish center of learning was established at Yavneh (Jamnia) under the
leadership of Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai. The next sixty years were rather uneventful. But
when the emperor Hadrian visited the province in A.D. 130 and sensed the feeling of revolt
still strong in the hearts of the Jews, he decided to crush it once for all. The rigid demands he
imposed touched off the War of Freedom led by Ben-Koziba (Bar Cochba) in 132. Once again
Jewish coinage was minted, with years 1. 2, and 3 of the Liberation appearing on the coins.
The Roman troops, led by Julius Severus, triumphed in 135. This time Hadrian made good his
plan to wipe out Jewish resistance in Jerusalem by destroying the city completely, pulling
down every wall and plowing the entire area. Then he built a new city named Aelia
Capitolina, with a main north-south street from the location of the Damascus Gate southward,
a main east-west street about where David Street is today, and a forum at the intersection of
the two. Streets were laid out on a grid, not following contours as previously. Walls were
built, approximately where they are located today. A temple of Jupiter was built on the site of
the temple and a temple of Venus on the site of Golgotha. The city had the usual Roman
structures such as a theater, a hippodrome, public baths, and an aqueduct. No Jews were
allowed in the city, or even within sight of it - a condition that prevailed until the 4th cent.,
and even then they were allowed to visit the city only on 9 Ab to bewail the destruction of the
temple. Jesus' prophecy had become stark reality: Jerusalem was trodden down by the
Gentiles (Lk. 21:22-24), (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "Jerusalem" 1982 Wm
B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids).

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Preparations for a Third Jewish Temple

Edited by Lambert Dolphin from various sources
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
We hung out harps upon the willows in the midst of it.
For there those who carried us away captive required of us a song. And those who plundered us required
of us mirth, saying,
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget her skill!
If I do not remember you,
let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth
- if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.
(Psalm 137:1-6)

Yearnings for a Third Temple

The 137th Psalm, a hymn of the exiles of Jerusalem during the Babylonian captivity,
eloquently expresses the yearnings of the Jewish people for their homeland, their city and
their temple - then and now.
Jerusalem, "City of Peace" has known nearly two dozen wars and destructions since its
existence was first known to us from the Biblical record. Abraham's meeting with
Melchizedek about 2000 BC reveals that there was in the city (known then as "Salem"), even
at that early date. A righteous Gentile king, Melchizedek, ruled there as "priest of God Most
High" (El Elyon). Abraham's family had lapsed into idolatry living in Babylon (Ur of the
Chaldees), in spite of his legitimacy of his being in the line of Noah's son, Shem. It is possible
that Melchizedek was Abraham's teacher and spiritual mentor who gave Abraham additional
information, and possibly even ancient documents, concerning the God of the land of Israel
who had called him there.
During the time period after 70 A.D. Jerusalem should have long since fallen into oblivion.
This city with no natural wealth, no oil reserves, and no great strategic military value. Ancient
trade routes passed up and down the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea or along the Jordan
Valley. The "King's Highway" ran North and South on the plateau of Jordan - Jerusalem was
out of the way. Why should anyone pass by there?
Today, centers of modern commerce and trade are in Tel Aviv or Haifa. Jerusalem is more of a
city of religion, art, culture, and museums than an economically viable regional marketplace
or a center of business activity. Yet Jerusalem thrives in our time as a city full of mystical
attractiveness and endless fascination.
As never before in history, Jerusalem is at the center of today's headlines. The city which
grew up around the small walled-village captured by King David from the Jebusites 3000
years ago is the focal point of never-ending debate among the great superpowers. No other
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city has been desired and fought over has Jerusalem. In its history Jerusalem has been fought
over by armies of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Ptolemies, Seleucids,
Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Crusaders, Mongols, Mamelukes, by the
Turks, the British, and the Jordanians. Today the nations of all the world consider it their
responsibility and obligation to meddle in her politics and destiny.
As a religious center Jerusalem remains sacred to (and fought over by) all three monotheistic
religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is an open secret that the Pope aspires to set up
his world headquarters there, having claimed for many years that the Holy Land has all along
really been under Roman Catholic "stewardship." UN debates, Arab neighbors, and the PLO
urge the "internationalization" of this modest city, though it is no secret that the actually want
the city all to themselves without any Jews. All the while, religious pilgrims from all nations
continue to flock to the Holy City in droves numbering millions per year.
Thus all the eyes of the world are upon Jerusalem, City of Peace, today as never before. This
is a city that has been besieged about forty different times and destroyed (at least partially) on
thirty-two different occasions. The rulership of Jerusalem has changed hands some twenty-six
times. Since 1948 Jerusalem has experienced four wars.
From the time of the establishment of the State of Israel in May of 1948 until 1967, the city
was divided. Walls, barbed-wire fences and a desolated strip of non-man's land cut through
the very heart of the city, especially excluding the Jews from the Old City and the Temple
Mount. During that time the Jewish Quarter was levelled and its synagogues burned. Jewish
graves and monuments were desecrated or turned into latrines.

The Old City Liberated

In June of 1967 the Jews were involved in a war that resulted in the liberation of the Old City
of Jerusalem. On the third day of the Six Day War, Israeli paratrooper Motta Gur, mounted on
a half-track, announced that the Temple Mount has been regained. On June 7 of that year the
Israeli troops moved into the Old City and stood at the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) for
prayer. Rabbi Shlomo Goren declared:
"We have taken the city of God. We are entering the Messianic era for the Jewish people, and
I promise to the Christian world that what we are responsible for we will take care of."
The city of Jerusalem was reunified and the Star of David flew again from its ramparts.
The Temple Mount Restored to Muslim Control
On Saturday June 17, 1967, shortly after the end of the Six Day War, Defense minister Moshe
Dayan entered the Al-Aksa Mosque for a historic meeting. In a gesture of good will, Dayan
sat down on the prayer carpet with five leaders of the Supreme Muslim Council (the Waqf) of
what had been Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem. That discussion fixed Israel's policy regarding
the Temple Mount, a policy that remains unchanged to this day.
Dayan had ordered the Israeli flag removed from on top of the Dome of the Rock on the
afternoon of the Old City's liberation. His discussion with the Muslims led to further

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concessions. The administrative control over the Temple Mount was to be the sole
responsibility of the Supreme Muslim Council - the (Jordanian) Waqf. Though the Jews
would be permitted free access to the Mount, prayer by Jews was prohibited. Dayan refused
to permit any Jewish identification with Judaism's holiest site. To him, the Temple Mount held
only historic interest. He said:
"I have no doubt that because the power is in our hands we must take a stand based on
yielding. We must view the Temple Mount as a historic site relating to past memory."
The government of Israel then allocated responsibility of the Temple Mount area to different
groups. Israel's Department of Antiquities were given the south, southeast, and southwest area
of the Temple Mount to explore archaeologically. The top of the Temple Mount, however, site
of the First and Second Temples, was given over to the Muslims to administrate. To the
present day, the PLO Muslim Waqf allows tourists to visit the Mount a few hours per day but they do not allow any freedom of worship or any non-Muslim archeological activity there.
The entire area is treated as if it were a gigantic outdoor mosque. To this day, visitors who
stroll out of very limited areas - to view over the wall at the Pinnacle of the Temple, or to see
the interior of the Golden Gate, for example - will be quickly restrained by an Arab guard.
Shortly after the Temple Mount was recaptured, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, then chief chaplain of
the Israeli army, and one of the leading advocates for the rebuilding of the Temple, attempted
to establish a Jewish identity on the Mount. The Western Wall below the Mount was all Israel
actually possessed and to Goren that was not enough. He believed regaining Jewish presence
on the Mount would be a major step towards Israel's long-awaited redemption. On August 15,
1967, Goren led demonstrative Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount compound. His actions
caused shockwaves and much apprehension among Muslims as to the fate of their sacred
sites.
Goren prayed within the Temple Mount courtyard, but this was contrary to the newly agreed
arrangement with the Israeli government. The Waqf responded by locking the entrance gate
above the Western Wall that leads to the Temple Mount. The keys to that gate were
confiscated soon thereafter by the government of Israel and Jewish military police have been
on duty at the entrance gate ever since.
The two chief Rabbis of Israel (Sephardic and Askenazi) then compiled a joint statement
forbidding Jews to visit the Temple Mount. There position was that the Jewish people were
ceremonially unclean and might accidentally tread on the place where the holy of holies stood
in the Temple.
Now a Political Issue
The Temple Mount had become a political issue as far back as 1930 when Mufti Haj Arain ElHusseini turned Solomon's Stables into a shooting range and whipped up a frenzy over Jewish
prayer at the Western Wall. The current PLO-controlled Supreme Muslim Council looks to a
1931 decision that the Temple Mount is exclusive Waqf property. The Waqf - who nomimally
owe their allegiance to Jordan - do not accept the reunification of Jerusalem. Islamic
preachers during the regular Friday day of prayer on the Mount regularly and routinely
denounce Israel the right of the Jews to exist, frequently delivering inflammatory polemics
designed to foster Arab hatred towards the Jews.

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Prior to 1967 the central structure on the Mount for the Muslims was the Al-Aksa Mosque.
After the city was recaptured in 1967, the Waqf began to term the entire Temple Mount as AlAksa. In effect, they annexed the entire Mount.
No Exploration or Excavation
The rabbinical prohibition against Jews walking around on the Temple Mount has now been
extended. The rabbis next declared that there was to be no exploration, excavation, or even
prayer on the Temple Mount. Yet they continued to acknowledge that the Temple Mount is the
center of Jerusalem:
The Temple Mount is the red-hot heart of the city. This doesn't mean that everyone who lives
here turns up there in the course of a day, a week, a month or a year, or even turns his mind to
it. He may go through years without giving it a thought, just as a Roman might not think of St.
Peter's. Some young Jerusalemites, who can't remember a time when Jews couldn't freely and
safely go to the Wall, do take it for granted. Yet even they know that Jerusalem, unlike Rome,
is contested. They believe too that whoever holds the Holy Places, and especially the Temple
Mount, possesses the upper hand in city, and therefore the country. (Ref. 1)
Orthodox Jews and the Temple Mount
In their attempts to minimize tensions between Jew and Arab concerning the Temple Mount a
ban on Jewish entry was formally posted at the entrance gate by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

NOTICE AND WARNING

Entrance to the area of the Temple Mount is forbidden to everyone
by Jewish Law owing to the sacredness of the place.
---The Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

Jews were thus officially banned from setting foot on the Temple platform. In practice many
Orthodox Jews observe the ban while other Jews do not. The stated reason for the ban is that
gentiles, as well as Jews, are regarded as "unclean" today and are thus unfit to walk on the
sacred mount. The Mount is considered so sacred that one is forbidden even to fly over it
because the holiness of the site extends into the heavens. Therefore the Orthodox Jew is
allowed only to admire the mount from a distance. This ban will stay in effect, many believe,
until the Messiah comes. Because of the ban the Jews pray and celebrate at the Western wall,
an area in earlier times known as the "Wailing" wall.
Other devout Jews have disputed the reasons for the Rabbinical ban claiming that the Temple
Mount foundations are indeed defiled and must be ceremonially cleansed. Until the new
temple is completed and ready to be placed into service it is permissible for unclean persons
to visit there and even to work on the building of the Third Temple. First the temple must be
cleansed - then the people - is their argument.
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We know from history that when the Herodian Temple stood, stone plaques, some in Latin,
others in Greek, were placed in the Court of the Gentiles warning any Gentile not to enter the
precincts of the Temple at the risk of losing his life.

No Gentile is to be approach within the balustrade

round the Temple and the peribolos.
Whosoever is caught will be guilty of his own death
which will follow.

While there were no such signs in later times, for example when the enclosure became a
sacred place for Islam, Muslims were no less jealous to guard the area from the steps of nonMuslims and threats to kill people trying to enter are recorded in the reports of travelers who
came to Jerusalem in the past. The restrictions were partially lifted in the middle of the
nineteenth century but were clamped down again when Arab nationalism rose to a peak under
the then Jerusalem Mufti, Haj Amin el Husseini, during the thirties of the twentieth century.
The Waqf these days only permits very limited access to the Temple Mount as noted.
Sometimes for only a few hours a day and at other times no access whatsoever. Any attempts
by Jews or Christians to pray, read from the Bible, sing or speak openly about their faith are
immediately squelched by the ever-zealous and ever-present Arab guards, most of whom are
ill-tempered, rude, and disrespectful to tourists. In all fairness, it should be added that those
visitors who treat the Muslim guides, guards, and care-takers with courtesy and respect will
often receive a warm response. As the Bible says, "Love covers a multitude of sins."
Role of the Jewish Ministry of Religious Affairs
The ministry of religious affairs have not been sympathetic to those who wish freedom of
access on the Temple Mount. On June 27, 1967, the day the law regarding the Holy Places
was adopted, the Israel Minister of Religious Affairs said "it is our standing afar and our
disinclination to enter that illustrate our awe and reverence over the site of our former
Temples."
After the city of Jerusalem was reunified in 1967 the Knesset passed a law which guaranteed
freedom of access and worship in all the holy sites. This law is enforced with sensitivity and
diligence all over Israel---with one notable exception, and that is the Temple Mount. Though
freedom of worship is said to be guaranteed, any open display of non-Islamic worship is not
allowed. The carrying of a Jewish prayer book or the attempt to pray on the Mount is strictly
taboo. The police believe that such an act is a threat to the peace because of Muslim reaction,
and indeed the Muslims regard such actions by non-Muslims are acts of disrespect for Allah.
Hence the Temple Mount is treated differently by the government from all the rest of the holy
sites in Israel.
On at least four different occasions the High Court of Justice has heard pleas from Jews to
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permit freedom of worship on the Temple Mount. Each time they have been denied. One of
the reasons that this has not caused more of a furor is a ban on the entrance to the Temple
Compound that has been published by the chief Rabbinate of Israel. The holy site is off limits
to those who may transgress its sacred ground.
Former chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren believed otherwise. It was his opinion that only a small
part of the Temple Mount area, some 15%, is off limits to the people. Goren attempted to
measure the area to pinpoint where a worshipper can or cannot stand. It was his contention
that worshippers should be allowed in the large area of the Temple Compound that is not the
sacred portions. The problem is that there is no consensus of opinion as to where to measure
to indicate what parts are sacred and what parts are not.
Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu suggested that if a synagogue were to be built, it should be
done on the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. Such a synagogue stood there until the 16th
century. The entrance to the synagogue could be from outside the wall preventing people from
walking upon the prohibited areas of the Mount.
"Assaulting" the Mount
Since 1967 there have been various attempts by individuals and by groups to assault the
Temple Mount in order to perform Jewish blood sacrifices, to destroy a Muslim building, or to
upset the balance of power and to alter the status quo.
On August 21, 1969 Michael Rohan a non-Jewish tourist from Australia set fire to the Al Aksa
Mosque. Firefighters fought the blaze for four hours as an angry Muslim crowd shouted
"Down with Israel." The president of the Muslim Council accused the fire brigades of a
deliberately slow response. The Arab states blamed Israel for the incident even though Rohan
identified himself as a "Church of God" member. The fire destroyed a priceless on thousand
year old wood and ivory pulpit (minbar) that had been sent from Aleppo by Saladin.
At his trial Rohan told the court that he believe himself to be "the Lord's emissary" in
accordance with a prophecy in the Book of Zechariah. The court convicted Rohan but then
declared him criminally insane. He was placed in an Israeli mental hospital. The Temple
Mount remained closed to non-Muslims for two months after the incident. For the next three
years, all non-Muslims were barred from El Aksa Mosque.
After the ban was lifted the Muslim guards were still very nervous. The mere opening of a
purse for a handkerchief would cause the guards to come running and search for a bomb.
The Case of Yoel Lerner
In October 1982 Yoel Lerner, a member of Meir Kahane Kach movement, was arrested for
planning to sabotage one of the mosques on the Temple Mount. Lerner was convicted of
planning to blow up the Dome of the Rock. Previously he had served a three year sentence for
heading a group that plotted to overthrow the government and establish a state based upon
religious law. He was sentenced to two and one half years in prison.
...And of Allen Harry Goodman

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In April 11,1982 Allen Harry Goodman, an Israeli soldier, went on a shooting rampage on the
Temple Mount. Storming into the Al Aksa Mosque with an M-16 rifle Goodman killed a
Muslim guard and wounded other Arabs. This incident set off a week of rioting and strikes in
Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. At his trial Goodman told the court that he had
expected to become "King of the Jews by liberating this holy spot." He was convicted a year
later and sentenced to life plus two terms of twenty years.
Jerusalem's psychiatrists and mental institutions have learned to expect, and to professionally
render aid to a growing number of insane or marginally unstable individuals who flock to
Jerusalem every year. Some pilgrims claim to be the True Messiah, or the Virgin Bride of
Jesus, or the Two Witnesses of the Apocalypse. Moses, Elijah and Nehemiah, usually in
costume, announce their return from the dead fairly often in the public square. Quickly these
problem children are whisked off to wards now accustomed to the bizarre and the unexpected
as regular parts of living in "the City of a Great King." The problem is so significant it has
been labeled "the Jerusalem Syndrome." The City of Peace" preserves its tranquillity and
peace one day at a time, sometimes by a slim margin indeed.
Another Foiled Raid on the Mount
On March 10, 1983 the police quickly stopped an attempted raid on the Mount:
JERUSALEM --Israeli security forces arrested about 45 Jewish extremists, including
supporters of radical Rabbi Meir Kahane, foiling an armed raid on the Temple Mount to seize
Muslim and Jewish holy places, police said Friday.
Security forces, working on a tip, Thursday night captured 10 of the extremists carrying army
rifles, hoes and crowbars near an ancient passageway to the area in East Jerusalem, Israel
radio said.
Thirty-five other Israelis were subsequently arrested, but four were later released after proving
they had nothing to do with the incident.
An undisclosed number of those detained were Israeli soldiers but were not in uniform, police
spokesman Meir Gilboa said.
The religious militants...wanted to occupy the area to be able to pray on the site, where
Muslims worship, Israeli radio said...
Interior Minister Yosef Burg, the nation's internal security chief, assured leaders of the
Supreme Muslim Council that authorities will stop any possible attacks of worshipers or
attempts to curtail freedom of worship. Jerusalem Police Chief Yehoshua Caspi said a
takeover "could have caused a most serious conflagration" between Arabs and Jews.
Twenty-nine people were eventually charged for the intrusion but were acquitted of all
charges.
Jerusalem Day 1983
On May 11, 1983 the Israeli high court of Justice ordered a very limited lifting of the ban of
worship on the Temple Mount Compound. The court ordered the Jerusalem police to permit

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Gershon Salomon and other members of the "Faithful of the Temple Mount," to enter a small
corner of the Temple precincts to worship for an hour and a half. The service commemorated
Jerusalem Day, the anniversary of the reunification of the Holy City. Hundreds of worshippers
crowded into the tiny area, defined by a rim of police barricades stretching but 15 feet from
the Mograbi Gate. The entire space allowed for Jewish worship was approximately 700
square feet, between 3:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., on Jerusalem Day.
The court order was controversial. Many Muslims saw it an infringement on their religious
sovereignty over the Temple Mount. More secular Jews feared that the court's decision would
simply complicate the already delicate relationships with the Arabs. Many religious Jews
celebrated the decision, declaring that Jerusalem cannot truly be considered liberated until a
Jew has a right to share the Temple Mount equally with other religions who wish to worship
the true and living God. Some Rabbis called for more severe restrictions to the point of
allowing the Mount to be in permanent Muslim control so as to prevent Jews from entering
altogether. As usual, paradoxes, extreme pluralism, diversity of opinion, and multiple
contradictions (common to daily life in Jerusalem) prevailed.
An Underground Riot
In the summer of 1983 Rabbi Yehuda Getz, the former Rabbi of the Western Wall, (he died in
1995) broke through the Western Wall deliberately excavating to the East (at "Cistern 30") in
their newly excavated underground tunnel which runs under the old city. This tunnel extends
from the prayer area, Ha Kotel, North towards the Fortress Antonia. Getz hoped to eventually
reach the foundation of the Second Temple. During this tunnelling, Rabbis Getz and Goren
claim to have seen the Ark of the Covenant according to statements they later made to the
press. However the Waqf guards on the Temple Mount discovered the underground activity
and soon sent down some young men through cistern entrances above to "discourage" the
work. A fist fight ensued and the episode concluded with the sealing of the wall with six feet
of reinforced cement. The incident was especially tense as it was not certain at the time
whether or nor the Jerusalem police had jurisdiction to intervene in the undergound
excavation since the area was under the jurisdiction of Rabbi Getz. The so-called Rabbinical
Tunnel was opened to the public in 1996 as an outstanding new archaeological attraction.
The Lifta Band Incident
In January 27, 1984 the most ambitious plan to assault the Temple Mount occurred. The Lifta
band, evidently wanting to bring the return of the Messiah, attempted to blow up the Muslim
Holy sites on the Temple Mount.
The plan drew international attention. The headlines read "Israel Investigates Jewish
Extremists in Mosque Plot."
Israeli police established a special task force Sunday to investigate suspected Jewish terrorism
after an attempt to destroy one of Islam's holiest sites was thwarted at the last minute.
Police reportedly believe that Jewish zealots, perhaps including some with Israeli army
training, organized the plot to blow up the Dome of the Rock shrine and Al Aqsa mosque in
the walled Old City of Jerusalem.
Security forces, notified by an Arab watchman, prevented the assault early Friday. The

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attackers fled, leaving behind them explosives, including hand grenades of a type issued by
the Israeli army.
Information about the thwarted attack was withheld for about 36 hours, apparently to allow
emotions to cool. News of an attempt against the Islamic shrines could have touched off riots
among the Arabs of Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank of the Jordan River and Gaza
Strip, who are overwhelmingly Muslim. Israeli military censors prohibited publication of the
news in Arabic-language newspapers published Saturday. Israeli police revealed the attempted
attack late Saturday.
The mass-circulation Tel Aviv newspaper Yediot Aharnot said police recovered almost 250
pounds of explosives, including dozens of grenades, boxes of dynamite and about 12 mortar
rounds. . .
Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek expressed shock over the incident. He assured the cities top
Muslim official, Mufti Saadedin Alami, that the authorities will do everything possible to
apprehend the criminals.
Kollek also urged Alami to permit installation of an electronic fence to increase security
around the site. . .
The Supreme Muslim Council, which supervises the shrine, warned, "If the attempted
explosions had succeeded all Arab countries would have immediately launched a holy war
against Israel." Based on the aftermath of far less serious incidents on Temple Mount - which
have triggered rioting among the Arabs of Israel and the territories - the prediction seems to
have been a reasonable one."
This latest plot caused all of Jerusalem to shudder:
JERUSALEM --The attempted terrorist bombing of Islam's third-holiest sight has created
aftershocks in Jewish and Arab sectors of this city, releasing a collective shudder at the
thought of what might have happened if the golden-topped Dome of the Rock or the silverdomed Al-Aksa mosque had been destroyed by dynamite. . .
A week ago Friday, six to eight intruders armed with at least 30 pounds of explosives and 22
Israeli army-issue hand grenades scaled the outer wall before dawn and sipped under the
cover of a cloud sky onto the compound that contains the mosques. They headed toward the
Dome of the Rock.
An unarmed Muslim guard noticed them and alerted Israeli police, who chased them off. The
intruders left behind explosives, ropes, ladders and knapsacks. Palestinian sources claim that
the amount of dynamite left was nearly 10 times what police have reported.
No suspects have been arrested, but police commander Yehoshua Caspi told a parliamentary
committee Tuesday that he is convinced Jewish extremists had plotted the attack. . .
"There would have been riots and mass murder," said a dental technician in Jewish West
Jerusalem, reflecting the concern that has spread throughout the city. "And you know, I
wouldn't have blamed the Arabs. What would we do if Arab fanatics blew up the Western
(Wailing) Wall?"

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The aborted attack, media reports of which were censored for nearly two days, sparked
isolated riots in Nablus and a nearby refugee camp on the West Bank. Arab commentators
elsewhere in the Middle East claimed that if the bombing had been successful, it would have
started a new jihad, or holy war, against Israel.
"It would have been the disaster of the decade," said Bishara Bahbah, the new editor in chief
of East Jerusalem's Al-Fajr newspaper.
The incident has renewed a call for more protection for Jerusalem's religious sites.
Police have not arrested anyone in those attacks, during which a Muslim clergyman and a
Christian nun were injured. Anonymous callers have claimed responsibility on behalf of a
group calling itself Terror Against Terror.
"Sometimes I can accept these things as isolated acts for extremist purposes," said Nazmi
Ju'beh, curator of the Islamic Museum near the Dome of the Rock, "but this is happening in
an organized way, and the government isn't doing anything."
Police patrols have been stepped up since the foiled attack, and officials said they are
planning new electronic surveillance around the 30-acre plateau that occupies the entire
southeast corner of the walled Old City of Jerusalem.
Many Jerusalem residents believe that the attempted bombing is connected with increasing
pressure from Jewish nationalist extremists to be allowed to pray on the compound , where
the ancient Temple stood.
This threat to the peace of the city and the security of the Temple Mount was further
complicated by claims in the press that money for the assault on the Mount was provided by
Christian sources.
Not the Last Attempt
After the foiled attempt the Jerusalem Temple Foundation issued the following statement:
The latest attempted assault on the Temple Mount will not be the last as long as the present
injustice prevails. Police and soldiers and violence and barbed wire could be dispensed with,
and peace reign if one simple basic condition were fulfilled - namely freedom of worship for
all faiths on the Temple Mount as provided by Israeli law and as confirmed by the high court
of Israel. The rule of Israeli law must be observed and upheld.
Arrests and Convictions
Yehuda Cohen, one of the members of the assault group was sentenced to one and one half
years of prison for his part in the conspiracy. Cohen confessed to scouting the security
arrangement of the Temple Mount as his part in blowing up the Dome of the Rock. He later
expressed remorse over his actions. The judge, Ezra Hedaya, stressed the gravity of the crime.
I won't exaggerate if I say that the aim of the conspiracy - to blow up the Dome of the Rock,
holy to many millions of Muslims around the world is shocking, and constitutes a threat to

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public order and endangers the public. Who knows what would have been the consequences
of the conspiracy. (Ref. 2)
Claims by the Islamic Council
Jerusalem (UPI) --The Islamic Council in occupied East Jerusalem Wednesday said Israel is
resuming controversial Temple Mount archeological excavations and charged the digging is
destroying foundations of Muslim structures. A spokesman for the Council, who asked not to
be identified, said foreign diplomatic missions were asked to intervene to stop the digging at
Judaism's holies site, where the Islamic shrines of Al-Aksa and Dome of the Rock also
stand. ..
Sheik Saad-Eddin Alami, head of the Supreme Islamic Council, the highest religious body for
east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, charged Tuesday that excavations continued
despite Islamic objections. . .
Israeli officials denied they have renewed excavation work, and said people seen at the site
are merely stationed as observers.
They said the actual digging, undertaken by the Ministry for Religious Affairs in a tunnel
along the northern section of the Temple Mount's Western Wall, was stopped in early April
following appeals by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek.
The excavations have been in dispute since October 1981, when Old City Arabs clashed with
authorities as diggers veered eastward toward the Dome of the Rock Mosque, the legendary
site of the prophet Mohammed's ascent to heaven.
The eastward dig was sealed off at the time, but continued in other directions.
A leader of the Islamic Council, Adnan Husseini, told United Press International "something
is going on again down there in the tunnel."
He said he and his fellow engineers have been barred from approaching the excavation site.
Husseini said he was "very concerned over the ongoing underground activity. " He said he
could hardly cope with the damage already caused to five Islamic structures straddling the
dig.
Sheikh Sa'ad Din Alami, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council for the Waqf and Islamic
Holy places, reacted in the following manner to various journalists concerning Jewish
attempts to regain the Temple Mount:
The Temple Mount belongs to Muslims. Muslims only hate the Jew as a ruler. The Jews are
free to believe that the Temple Mount is sacred to them, but I think that it is holy to me. To
permit them a corner for prayer is against the Koran. (Ref. 3)
"There are no Jewish remains on the Mount. There never were Jewish antiquities here." (Ref.
8)

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"They must know that this is a mosque and they cannot pray in a mosque with a Sefer Torah."
(Ref. 9)
From these responses it is clear that the Muslims officially disdain any attempts by the Jews
(or Christians) to have a presence on the Mount.
A Secret Weapons Cache?
Members of the Knesset, the Israeli government, have from time to time accused the Arabs of
stashing arms on Temple Mount. Access to the entire area of the Southeastern corner of the
Mount is strictly forbidden to all but the Muslim guards. This area below which are vaulted
rooms known as Solomon's stables, are reportedly an arms dump for Arab terrorist groups.
There have been outcries from many Jews that the government investigate this allegation and
take action.
On January 8, 1986 a group of Israel Parliament (Knesset) members including those who
believe that the Jews have a right to pray upon the Temple Mount gathered to investigate
charges that arms were being stored beneath the Dome of the Rock and that archaeological
sites were being destroyed. Because of the growing number of Jews who wish to rebuilt the
Temple, it is believed that Muslims were systematically destroying any evidence of the
previous Temples.
When the group of Knesset members reached Solomon's stables on their official tour they
were informed that no cameras were allowed below the ground. Assuming the Muslims had
something to hide, the Israeli officials then demanded to be allowed to take their cameras with
them. The Muslim authorities confronted the delegation and an altercation broke out. Atop a
Muslim minaret, a loudspeaker announced that the Jews were attempting to commandeer the
Temple Mount. A near riot occurred and the legislators decided to leave.
They returned six days later with one member reading aloud from Psalm 123 and others
praying aloud. This caused another disturbance of the peace. An Arab delegate in Morocco
responded to this event by calling for Islamic countries to "wage a jihad (holy war) in all its
forms until Jerusalem is liberated."
More Flag Waving at Gate
Following the visit of the Knesset member to the Mount, three young people hoisted an Israeli
flag over the Mograbi Gate of the Temple Mount. The flag was flying for about three minutes
before they were arrested by police officers who removed the flag. The demonstrators were
arrested for civil disturbance.
A local Sheik reacted to the visits of the Knesset members:
I condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms and demand that the keys be returned
to the Waqf immediately, that the police be reminded that the Mosque is an Islamic holy
shrine, whose gates only Muslims are entitled to open or seal off, and that the army and
border police be forbidden to enter the Mosque area. Thousands of years ago, the Jews built a
temple which was subsequently destroyed. During the period of the second Caliph, Omar Ben
Khatab, a mosque was built on the southern part of the yard of Al-Aksa Mosque. At that time,
there were neither temples for the Jews, nor churches for the Christians on the site and no

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building was destroyed.

Historically, there is no proof that Al-Aksa or the Dome of the Rock were built on the grounds
of Solomon's Temple, although the Jews claim that the Temple originally stood on this site.
The Muslims have been in charge of this piece of land for 14 centuries now and the Jews have
no right to advocate the destruction of our mosques because they want to rebuild Solomon's
Temple.
It is impossible for any Jew to be allowed to pray in the grounds of the Al-Aksa Mosque.
They will have to kill all the Muslims before they can pray there unhindered. (Ref. 4)
Originally the Ottoman government designated a specific place on the Mount from which
police could ensure the security of the Mosque. The British and later the Jordanians and the
Israelis later used the same place as a police center. Then, the Israeli police were joined by
border police. Following our protests, it was decided that the border police should merely man
the doors of the Mosque area and would not actually wander in the grounds themselves, but
this decision has subsequently been ignored, unfortunately.
The Islamic Council asked the Waqf to form a guard unit to protect the Mosque area day and
night and survey all those entering. These guards have the authority to prohibit any nonMuslim from praying in the Mosque, and if necessary to use force in order to ensure that these
rules are adhered to.
Yet Another Riot
In October 1990, when the Crisis in the Persian Gulf between the Allied Forces and Iraq was
heating up an incident took place on the Temple Mount that caught the attention of the world.
The Temple Mount Faithful marched on the Mount and unfurled a banner denouncing the
Muslim presence. New reports erroneously said that the were Jews attempting to lay a
foundation stone for the Third Temple on the Temple Mount. They marched from toward the
Temple but were stopped by the Israeli authorities.
In the wake of the riot 22 Palestinians were killed. The United Nations censured Israel for
overreacting to the incident. The United States, wishing to keep together the fragile coalition
with Arab states against Iraq, voted against Israel. There was no censure of the Palestinians
who started the riot.
Newsweek reported on the bloody clash that left over twenty Palestinians dead:
Last weeks clash was only the most bloody of several incidents in recent years in which
young Arabs, rocks in hand, have rushed to ward off Jewish "attack." Their religious leaders
teach that those who die defending the Noble Sanctuary go immediately to heaven. "If we
give up one centimeter, if we let them place even one toe [on the mount] it will be the end of
our holy places," said Muhammad Watani, a resident of the Old City. "It will be easier for us
to die first." To Muslims, the deaths last week only deepened the sanctity of a place both
faiths have long associated with glorious redemption and epic destruction. (Ref. 5)
Newsweek also said it was:

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...a cycle of misunderstanding: following rumors of a Jewish "invasion," Palestinian youth

rushed Israeli police on Al Aqsa plaza. When the police killed an Arab, the Palestinians
replied with rocks, scattering worshipers at the Western Wall below. Enraged Israeli's fought
back with live ammunition killing 21. (Ref. 5)
This is what was commonly reported. But is that what really occurred? Mortimer Zuckerman,
Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News and World Report, tells a different story:
The impression given to the world is that the Palestinians assembled at the Al Aksa Mosque in
order to confront a small band of Jewish Zealots, the Temple Mount Faithful, who have been
intent on establishing a third Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. It is true the group planned
a march---marches in previous years have been non-violent---but there was no march of the
Faithful on the fateful Sunday. The Supreme Court of Israel had banned the demonstration.
The Muslim Council, Wakf, a kind of mini-Vatican organization that the Israelis permit to rule
the Muslim holy places on the Temple Mount, was informed of the Supreme Court ruling. All
the Arab language newspapers in Jerusalem had published news stories about the Court's ban
several days earlier, at the request of Israeli authorities. These efforts to keep the peace were
frustrated because on the night before this holy day of Judaism, Palestinian-Arab activists
recruited thousands of Arabs to come to this holy place where some 20,000 Jewish pilgrims not the faithful zealots - would be praying on the adjacent plaza some 40 feet below the
Western Wall.
Present on that day, in the mosque, was Faisal Husseini, a key Palestine Liberation
Organization intifada leader, who is normally not seen at the mosque on a day that is not a
special day of prayer for the Muslims. But not present on that day were the Wakf security
personnel who had been surreptitiously withdrawn from the area between the gates, at the
Western edge of the Mount that overlooked the Western Wall and the Jewish pilgrims
gathering before it. Forty feet above them, the Arab youths assembled and did what they had
been gathered to do. They rioted. (Ref. 6)
Summary: The Temple Mount Remains a Volatile Issue
Even though the Temple Mount has been regained and is officially part of the State of Israel,
it is still being profaned as far as the God of Israel is concerned. When the Mount fell into
Jewish hands after the Six Day War, Israel took the Western Wall Area but left administration
of the Mount to the Muslim Council of Elders. Israel also banned Jewish worship. The secular
Jews did not care and many of the Orthodox Jews believe that the Third Temple would have
to await the arrival of the Messiah. These issues remain stalemated to the present day.

Current Preparations To Build A New Temple

The following section contains illustrative quotes from the literature of various groups who
have been involved one way or another in plans for the rebuilding of the Temple in recent
decades. This author does not necessarily endorse nor condemn these statements, they are
merely offered in the interest of giving a broad picture of the complexities of Temple Mount
politics at the present time.

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The various Jewish groups change frequently. Some fade away or move to other pursuits,
others join forces for a time - but nothing remains very static for very long.

TO ALL PERSONS OF THE JEWISH FAITH ALL OVER THE WORLD:

A project to rebuild the Temple of God in Israel is now being started. With Divine Guidance
and Help the "Temple" will be completed. Jews will be inspired to conduct themselves in such
a moral way that our Maker will see fit to pay us a visit here on earth. Imagine the warm
feeling that will be ours when this happy event takes place. "THIS IS MY GOD" is the book
that was the inspiration for this undertaking. God will place in the minds of many person in all
walks of Jewish life the desire to participate in this work. Executive talent, Administrations,
and Workers on all levels are needed. All efforts will be anonymous. GOD will know those
desiring to participate.
Please write to Box M-917, The Washington Post. Under no circumstances send contributions.
"GOD'S WILL WILL PREVAIL."

The above advertisement appeared in the Washington Post, on May 21, 1967---before
Jerusalem was liberated. The caption letters were 72 points - one inch - high. The ad occupied
a space of eleven by eight inches.
Although the ban on visiting the Temple Mount is in effect it has not stopped those in Israel
for thinking about the realization of a long lost dream, the rebuilding of the Temple. Once the
city of Jerusalem was retaken this was no longer a pipe dream. Time magazine reported:
Since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, Conservative and Orthodox Jews
have beseeched God four times a week to 'renew our days' as they once were---a plea for the
restoration of the Temple. Although Zionism was largely a secular movement, one of its
sources was the prayers of the Jews for a return to Palestine so that they could build a temple .
. . Learned Jewish opinion has long debated when and how the temple can be rebuilt. The
great medieval philosopher Maimonides, in his Code of Jewish Law, argued that every
generation of Jews was obliged to rebuild the temple if its site was ever retaken, if a leader
descended from David could be found, and if the enemies of Jerusalem were destroyed. (Ref.
7).

Why Rebuild the Temple?

Number 20 of the 613 commandments in the Torah (according to Maimonides) calls for the
building of a Temple building in Jerusalem if one does not exist or orders the maintenance of
a Temple if it exists. Orthodox Jews during the diaspora call for the eventual building of the
Temple in Jerusalem.
The question arises as to the incentives the Jewish people would have for constructing a new
Temple. Why would they want to rebuild it? Two reasons come to mind. (1) The fulfillment of

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a national dream of the Jewish people. (2) A rallying point for the nation's religious and
cultural heritage.
For centuries the Jews did not possess their homeland---they forced to wander as strangers
and vagabonds across the face of the earth. Deep within the Jewish heart has been a longing
for a return to the land and a rebuilding of the Temple. The temple is also a symbol of
prosperity granted them from heaven, and a reminder of better days that the nation had in the
days of David and Solomon. Desire for the restoration of the Temple has been the prayer of
the Orthodox Jew since the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70.
A rebuilt temple could also be a unifying force for this small beleaguered nation. During their
relatively new existence as a reborn nation Israel has experience a series of major wars. A
house of worship, especially a house of prayer for all the peoples as they First and Second
Temples had been, could serve as a rallying point for Jews worldwide. Not only would this
help unify the many Jewish factions that exist in Israel today, but the Jewish people feel
deeply that the redemption of all mankind is tied to the redemption of their land. When
Messiah comes, he will be the King and Savior of all the nations.
Not a United Front by Any Means---"Two Jews Equals Three Opinions"
In l982, after years of disagreement about methods of approach, three groups of devout Jews,
The Jerusalem Temple Foundation, To the Mountain of the Lord, and The Faithful of the
Temple Mount combined their forces to plan for and build the Third Temple. More recently
The Temple Institute has begun to build the sacred vessels to be used in the Third Temple. One
yeshiva (Yeshivot Ateret Cohanim) is presently located in the Old City in the historic Torat
Haim Yeshiva building. Prior to the Arab riots of 1936 this area of the Old City was a thriving
Jewish community. The yeshiva's location places it not far from the spot the Holy of Holies
(Kodesh Hakodoshim) once stood on the Temple Mount.

The following is an extract from the constitution of The Jerusalem Temple Foundation:
PURPOSES:
a) To undertake research into the history of Holy Places in Israel.
b) To provide scientific means and equipment for the efficient investigation of such places and
of archaeological sites.
c) To study the religious, political, economic, social, cultural and ethnic aspects and
implications of these investigations and explorations.
d) To advance the learning and application of the scriptures.
e) To work for the safeguarding an preservation of the integrity of Holy Places in Israel, and
their restoration, with special emphasis on the Temple Mount.
f) To provide a forum for authoritative discussion of matters falling with the Foundation's
scope of interest.

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g) To publish the results and records of its discussions and research in order to endow the
public with a wider knowledge of Holy Places and archaeological sites in Israel.
h) To launch world-wide competitions for the design and construction of suitable edifices and
similar projects in Israel.
i) To raise funds for the promotion and development of these and allied activities.
It is true that some of the Temple Mount activists view the matter in more nationalistic than
religious terms. They see the Temple Mount as part of the land of Israel. They believe that
until the Mount is in Israeli control then Israel does not have complete sovereignty over its
country. One of their poets, Uri Zvi Greenberg wrote, "Israel without the Mount---is not
Israel. He who controls the Mount, controls the land of Israel."

The Faithful of the Temple Mount, under the leadership of Israeli military hero and patriot
Gershon Salomon, issued the following:
A Jewish Prayer for All Peoples
The Faithful of the Temple Mount have provided a prayer which they feel that all true
believers in the God of Israel can pray.
A Prayer of the Nations from
THE FAITHFUL of the TEMPLE MOUNT JERUSALEM
Our Father which art in Heaven! Guard the children of all nations who perform Thy will and
fear Thy great name. Bestow upon them Thy blessings for prosperity and brotherhood and
peace. Instill in the hearts of all the faith that Thou art alone G-d in heaven above and on the
earth below.
Let all men call on Thy name and serve Thee with undivided heart. Bring near that day on
which a multitude of nations will go forth and say, "Come, let us go to the Mount of the Lord,
to the House of the G-d of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His
paths - for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
Save they people Israel in the Holy Land, and grant her sons the strength to withstand the foes
who rise against them. Open the eyes and hearts of their neighbors that they should know that
only in Israel's peace will they enjoy peace. Let them understand that the Word of G-d came to
the forefathers of this nation to grant them this Land - as it is written in the Law of Moses,
and as was promised throughout the prophets - that He will gather them from their dispersion,
settle them on their soil, renew their Sanctuary, and reestablish their Kingdom as of old.
Awaken the hearts of the Children of Israel for whom You descended upon Mount Sinai to
give them the Law and its commandments by the hand of Moses - to observe all that is written
in Thy Law, in order that they should succeed in all they do, and thus to hasten the coming of
their salvation, and the salvation of the world. AMEN.

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Are Materials for the Third Temple Ready?

For a number of years, especially back in the '70's, there were rumors that precut stones have
been cut in America and shipped to Israel for the building of the Third Temple. Evangelist
John Wesley White wrote:
Late in 1979 I was riding in Indiana with a local Presbyterian minister. At a certain point
along the highway he informed me that we were driving past the gate of a company which
purportedly handled a highly classified order of the finest building stones in the world. Sixty
thousand tons of pre-cut stones had been shipped on 500 rail cars. They were allegedly bought
by the Israeli Government, and had already arrived in Israel. (Ref. 8)
Such claims are highly unlikely! Anyone who has ever visited Israel will immediately be
impressed that stones are everywhere. In fact, Israel actually exports them, and they have the
highest quality of pure white limestone in abundance! Whether precut stones have already
been made in Israel is another matter. Though rumors abound, no concrete evidence has come
forward to support this idea.
During 1982 military action in Lebanon, the Israeli Army discovered and captured huge stores
of Russian and Syrian weaponry stored in secret bunkers and tunnels in preparation for a
Northern invasion. It was also reported by very reliable sources that a large supply of the
famous Lebanese Cedar was also recovered and is safely stored away for use in construction
of the Third Temple.
A New Priesthood
If a new Temple is to be constructed then there must be a functioning priesthood to perform
the proper rites and ceremonies. Such a priesthood is now in the works. In an old stone
building in the Old City of Jerusalem, a small group of young scholars are preparing for the
building of the Third Temple and the coming of the Messiah.
The founder of one particular yeshiva (school) is Motti Hacohen. Hacohen knew he was a
priest but that never affected his life very much. Until, that is, the day he looked up from his
opened Talmud while he was studying at a Yeshiva on the Golan Heights and saw a friend
pouring over a tractate dealing with the laws of the temple and the priesthood.
Hacohen asked him why he was studying such obscure laws. His friend responded, "Why
aren't you?"
He told Hacohen that he should be more interested in the Temple regulations seeing that he
was from the priestly line. Hacohen decided to take up the challenge.
Hacohen then began a search for a yeshiva that could teach him matters concerning the
rebuilding of the Temple. Finding none that would satisfy his needs Hacohen founded the
Tora Kohanim.
On Good Friday, 1990, one hundred fifty devout Jews, members of the Yeshivot Ateret
Cohanim, moved into four buildings in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem causing a protest

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from both Muslim and Christian groups. The site of the building, just around the corner from
the church of the Holy Sepulchre, was chosen to help create Jewish settlements in the Old
City of Jerusalem geographically near the Temple Mount. (The city is presently divided into
separate quarters for Christians, Muslims, and Jews and each district's residents are very
sensitive to outsiders moving into their territory for any reason).
Temple Sacrifices and Offerings
The problem of restoring the sacrificial system is one that devout Jerusalem Jews have been
researching with great zeal and diligent. In an article called, the "Significance of Sacrifice,"
Jewish writer Pinhas H. Pell writes:
Ambivalence in regard to the sacrificial cult permeates Jewish thought and literature from the
time of the ancient pre-exilic prophets through the Psalms to the rabbis of the Talmud and
Midrash and the major medieval philosophers, down to contemporary religious thinkers. It
left its imprint on the liturgy and has been (and still is to some extent) the subject of heated
debates.
It is generally thought that sacrifices of life were among the earliest and most profound
expressions of the human desire to come as close as possible to God. While in English the
verb "to sacrifice" means "to make sacred," the Hebrew word for "sacrifice" (korban, lehakriv) is from the same root as "to come near, to approach. . . . "
Sacrifices do indeed present an esthetic, sometimes a moral problem to many modern Jews
who are unable to envision being spiritually uplifted at the sight of slaughtered animals,
spilled blood and burning incense. Yet, with all the reservations prophets, rabbis and
philosophers have expressed about sacrifices they are indisputably an integral part of Torah
legislation, as well as Jewish history in the First and Second Temples and are included in
Jewish aspirations concerning the third temple, for whose speedy rebuilding Jews pray daily
according to their traditional prayer book. (Ref. 9)
The Jerusalem Post reports:
The modern Jew found it difficult to face the binding obligation to rebuild the sanctuary,
combined with the great dreams linked with it. He has suppressed the demands they make on
him.
He was hesitant to use religious language to describe the historic return to Zion and to
national sovereignty. There are indeed a few exceptions to this, as for example, "the Third
Temple," once used by Ben-Gurion or the excessive use of prophetic terminology of the
"ingathering of the exiles" during the years of mass aliya.
Far beyond the formal commandment, the yearning to behold an actual concrete expression of
a central religious and national focal point permeates all Jewish history.
Another argument is that the rebuilding as postulated by Maimonides requires a certain order
of events: 1) coming to the land; 2) appointment of a king from the house of David; 3)
blotting out the descendants of Amalek; and only then 4) the building of the Temple. The
counter argument claims that, while this is indeed the ideal order of events, the events

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themselves are not necessary mutually interdependent and one must carry out whichever is
possible at the time. (Ref. 10)
Time magazine observed:
Next week Israel's Ministry of Religious Affairs will sponsor a first-ever Conference of
Temple Research to discuss whether contemporary Jews are obligated to rebuild the Temple.
However, several small organizations in Jerusalem believe the question is settled. They are
zealously making preparation for the new Temple in spite of the doctrinal obstacles and the
certainty of promoting Muslim fury.
Two Talmudic schools located near the Western Wall are teaching nearly two hundred
students the elaborate details to Temple service. Other groups are researching the family lines
of Jewish priests who alone may conduct sacrifices. Former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren, who
heads another Temple Mount organization, believes his research has fixed location on the
ancient Holy of Holies so that Jews can enter the Mount without sacrilege.
No group is more zealous than the Temple Institute, whose spiritual leader, fifty-year-old
Rabbi Israel Ariel, was one of the first Israeli paratroopers to reach the Mount in 1967. "Our
task," states the institute's American- born director, Zev Golan, "is to advance the cause of the
Temple and prepare for its establishment, not just talk about it."
One difficulty is the requirement that priest purify their bodies with the cremated ashes of an
unblemished red heifer before they enter the Temple. Following a go-ahead from the Chief
Rabbinate, institute operatives spent two weeks in August scouting Europe for heifer embryos
that will shortly be implanted into cows at an Israeli cattle ranch.
But historian David Solomon insists that a new Temple is essential: "It was the essence of our
Jewish being, the unifying force of our people . . . but sooner or later, in a week or a century,
it will be done. And we will be ready for it." He adds with quiet urgency, "Every day's delay is
a stain on the nation." (Ref. 11)
There were more expressions of Jewish desire to build upon the Temple Mount during 1990:
According to tradition, no Jew may step foot on the site of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
But this week, leading Israeli rabbis, including the former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Shlomo
Goren ruled that while Jews may not step on holy soil, they are obliged to pray at a sanctuary
to be established adjoining the site of the Holy of Holies.
The ruling touched off a storm in Muslim circles. Previously Jews had been forbidden to even
enter the Temple Mount. Muslims were allowed total control of the area. The temple Mount
includes the Dome of the Rock and the El-Aksa Mosque.
According to Rabbi Goren, a 1967 survey of the Temple Mount shows the exact location of
the First and Second Temples as well as the site of the Ark of the Covenant.
By elimination, the rabbi determined the exact areas on the Temple Mount where a Jewish
sanctuary could be constructed without violation of the ancient decree not to tread on holy
soil.

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The synagogue of course would not interfere with Muslim areas of the Mount, Rabbi Goren
said.
Earlier efforts by Jews to pray on the Temple Mount touched off clashes with police and
Arabs on the Mount. Mayor Teddy Kollek said he feared that Jews praying on the Temple
Mount might encounter violence, since Muslims would interpret the Jewish presence as
provocation.
But Jews and Muslims conduct prayers side by side at the Cave of Machpeleh in Hebron, site
of the tombs of the Patriarchs.
Kollek voiced opposition to the rabbinical action, declaring that "the clam in Jerusalem is a
direct result of the 1967 decision not to alter the status of the rights of the various religious
groups."
The action by Israel's rabbinate calling for a sanctuary to be built on the Temple Mount is a
religious edict that has the authority of . . . Jewish Law. (Ref. 6)
The Ark of the Covenant
One of the main issues surrounding a Third Temple is the long lost Ark of the Covenant. What
will be its place, if any, in the Third Temple? The last mention of the Ark is 2 Chronicles 35:3
where it is placed back into the Temple in the realm of King Josiah. There was no ark in the
Second Temple. There is no concrete evidence today that the Ark still exists or that someone
has it. Does the Ark exist? If it does will it appear before the Third Temple is consecrated?
Most Orthodox Jewish believers in Jerusalem who are working towards the building of the
Third Temple believe that the Ark of the Covenant is safely hidden in a chamber under the
Temple Mount. They feel certain God has preserved the Ark for 25 centuries and that it will
be available when the Temple is restored. The issue of the Ark, its history and present location
(if it exists at all) is reserved for a later discussion.
The Ashes of the Red Heifer
Some rabbis claim that one of the things necessary for a Third Temple is the ashes of the Red
Heifer. Of all the sacrifices for sin mentioned in the Old Testament, only the slaying of the
Red Heifer was "outside the camp," i.e., not in the temple. Numbers Chapter 19 describes this
offering, and instructions for preparing water for ritual purification from the ashes of the
sacrificed animal after it had been burned.
Red heifers without spot or blemish are today being bred and raised by at least one group in
the United States, Rev. Clyde Lott who writes in a new 1995 Jewish publication, "The
Restoration." (Ref. 12)
American amateur archaeologist Vendyl Jones of Arlington, Texas, has for many years been
searching in caves near Qumran for the ashes of the last red heifer sacrificed before the
destruction of the temple in AD 70.

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Authorities at The Temple Institute have stated, however, that Third Temple sacrifices and
ritual cleansing can be accomplished (restored) without these old ashes if they are not found.
An Evangelical Group Gets Involved
Entering into the dispute over the Temple Mount which previously had been entirely an issue
between the Jews and Muslims came a small but vocal group the evangelical Christians. The
following open letter appeared in the Jerusalem Post in 1983.

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER AND PEOPLE OF ISRAEL THE

IMPRISONMENT OF RELIGIOUS ISRAELIS
Thursday, March 10, witnessed a great setback to religious freedom in Israel---and throughout
the world. We refer to the jailing of earnest, faithful sons of Israel---whose only crime was to
try and pray upon the most sacred site of Judaism, The Temple Mount:
Our Father which art in heaven: Guard the children of all nations who perform thy will and
fear they (sic) great name.
We, as evangelical Christians, find the imprisonment of these sons of Israel with the gates of
Jerusalem, biblically unconscionable.
This comes as an international shock to vast segments of the Evangelical world. For the
Jewish people to be restricted and imprisoned for such a noble design staggers the moral
imagination.
Exclusive and erroneous Islamic claims to this most holy site, militate against historical and
biblical injunction. The People of Israel, through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon,
Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and the early church (Stephen, Paul, James and Jesus
Himself) with many others, paid the most holy price for this sanctified space. The Almighty
desires it to be a House of Prayer for all peoples. (Isaiah 56:7) If the sons and daughters of
Zion are restricted access to Zion's holy hill, then the return of His chosen people to their land
of promise is in vain--for the heart of Jerusalem awaits the foot of the Jew, not the trodding
down by the gentiles.
Mr. Prime Minister, your brethren have considered their ways and gone up to the Mountain of
the Lord. Therefore, we ask you to intervene on behalf of Israel's faithful who demonstrate
their divine privilege. Your people, who gave to the gentiles the knowledge of the one true
God, must be allowed full freedom of worship within the holy boundaries of the Mount.
May the Almighty strengthen the resolve of your government to do that which is right in the
sight of the Lord.
. . . and the gentiles shall come to Thy light
and kings to the brightness of Thy rising. . .
the forces of the gentiles shall come upon Thee
. . . they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar,

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and I will glorify the house of my glory.

(Isaiah 60)
Be strong, Mr. Prime Minister, and "all ye people of Eretz Israel, saith the Lord, "and work;
for I am with you, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Haggai 2:4)
YOUR EVANGELICAL FRIENDS IN AMERICA
Committee of Concerned Evangelicals
for Freedom of Worship on the Temple Mount
P.O. Box 6081; Norman, Oklahoma 73070
Terry Risenhoover, Doug Krieger, Dr. James DeLoach; Co-Chairmen
The Feast of Freedom--Pessah, 1983 (5743)< P>

This same group at the same time formed a Jerusalem Temple Foundation branch in America,
but without the sanction and endorsement of the Jewish group of the same name in Jerusalem.
Those involved were evangelical Christians who, for various motives, want to help the Jews
gain access to the Temple Mount and rebuild a Third Temple. One of the members even
considered himself to be "the new Nehemiah." This group lobbied extensively on behalf of
the various Temple Mount groups for some months beginning in 1983. Anti-Semitic and AntiIsrael groups made an enormous mountain out of the mole-hill activities of this evangelical
group. The group ceased to exist altogether after a few years and as far as anyone can tell only
very modest sums of evangelical funds were ever contributed to the cause of rebuilding the
Jewish temple.
More Media Reaction and Response
Segments of the international press immediately took an interest in the link between the
Evangelical Christians and those in Israel who are associated with making the Temple Mount
a free forum for worship.
In the magazine, The New Republic, an article appeared entitled "The Temple Mount Plot" by
Barbara and Michael Ledeen. Over the title of the article the headline read, What do Christian
and Jewish fundamentalists have in common? The article begins as follows:
A casual observer might be excused for believing that nearly all of the recent violence in
Israel has been part of the usual cycle of Arab-Israeli conflict. The observer would be wrong.
Though some of the recent acts, such as the plans to place time bombs on Arab buses in
Jerusalem, seem to be the work of extremist Israeli nationalists, much of the destructive intent
is fueled by a mixture of nationalist politics, messianic longing, and the search for roots. In
fact, some of the current extremism is a direct outgrowth of the ancient forecast of the
Apocalypse.
The targets of the most spectacular incidents over the past months have been the Muslim
authorities and the area they control in Jerusalem, but for the most part the people who
planned or participated in the attacks are the violent fringe of an informal movement that
stretches from the United States to the Middle East, and encompasses millions of evangelical

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Christians as well as some Israeli Jews. This unlikely coalition rests upon a common belief
that the Final Days are upon us. (Ref. 13)
Other reporters went on to write concerning this supposed plot or "conspiracy" between
Christian and Jewish forces to rebuild a Third Temple. The Jerusalem Post even ran a special
supplement on September 30, 1983 about these new Temple Mount controversies. One of the
articles in the supplement, entitled "The Christian Connection," had this to say:
While Gush Emunim, Yeshivot Ateret Cohanim and other Jewish groups cast their eyes in the
direction of the Temple Mount, evangelical Christians abroad are digging into their pockets to
help things along.
So far, the Christian Community's support for the construction of the Third Temple has been
somewhat discreet. But there are growing numbers of Christians, many organized into small
churches and larger groups, who see the construction of a Third Temple as the cornerstone of
their beliefs.
These are evangelical or Pentecostal Christians who believe the prophecies in the Hebrew
Bible and the New Testament indicate that the building of the Third Temple on the Temple
Mount is part of a divine plan leading up to the end of days.
Though there is a clear divergence in religious belief between these Christians and Jews who
work towards the rebuilding of the Temple, they willingly and enthusiastically cooperate.
Indeed, the Christians are encouraged by their leaders to contribute towards such groups as
the Jerusalem Temple Foundation.
Such a view was stated by Stanley Goldfoot, activist and "foreign minister" of the Faithful of
the Temple Mount who, in an earlier interview said, 'I tell them there is no dialogue. I make it
clear that I can't accept their views and they can't accept mine. If they prepared to help us
openly, then we're prepared to accept it. (Ref. 14)
A World Council of Churches periodical entitled "The Link" (a journal funded by Arab oil
interests) commented:
Two violent attempts to "liberate" the Temple Mount recently have taken place. . . According
to Middle East correspondent Grace Halsell, "Increasingly Zionist fanatics---Israelis and
Americans---are plotting to destroy Islam's sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the
Rock in Jerusalem. It is said that many of Israel's highest officials sanction Zionist plans to
destroy the mosque, the site from whence Muhammad ascended into heaven, and to build a
Jewish temple there.
Christian Zionists, uncritical of any action undertaken by the Israeli government, apparently
have the same rationale for supporting such actions. (Ref. 15)
These articles are representative of items that have appeared in print which have attempted to
link Evangelical Christians to those groups of Jews who are attempting to "liberate" the
Temple Mount. Only a small handful of evangelical believers were involved and it is now
clear that no substantial sums of money were raised or donated to the Jewish groups.
Evangelical ties with Jewish Third Temple groups have been almost entirely dialogues based

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on common interests in the Bible and the common heritage Christians share together in their
hopes for the coming of the world's true and final Messiah.
Disinformation and Misinformation Abound
One fallout from bad press over the years is the disinformation and misinformation that has
appeared in the press concerning Christians and the Temple Mount. The Jerusalem Post
reported:
. . . recently the Syrians have tried to make their mark by taking new directions. They have
taken aim at Christians who support Israel. They have made a particular target the
International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, which represents in its own telling way the
many millions of Evangelical Christians around the world.
Thus in a recent issue of the Syrian Times, the Rev, Jan Willem van der Hoeven, one of the
prominent leaders of the Embassy was accused of telling the Jerusalem Post that "he believes
in rebuilding the Temple on the debris of the holy al-Aksa Mosque."
That Rev. Wm. van der Hoeven told The Post in an interview just the opposite proved no
obstacle for the propagandists in Damascus. . .
The Syrians are evidently so disturbed by such "Biblical Christians" who have lent their
support to Israel, that they are prepared to malign them and distort their views.

MORE PUBLISHED STATEMENTS BY JEWISH GROUPS

The Sanhedrin of the Sixth Millenium
G-D CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH AND ALL THAT IS THEREIN, IN SIX DAYS. AND GD SAW EVERYTHING THAT HE HAD MADE AND, BEHOLD, IT WAS VERY GOOD. AND G-D
BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY AND SANCTIFIED IT, AND SET IT APART FOR MAN TO CELEBRATE
HIS CREATION(GENESIS). THE JEWISH PEOPLE DATE THE COMPLETION OF THE UNIVERSE 5745
YEARS AGO. THUS OUR ERA IS THE SIXTH MILLENIUM AFTER THE CREATION. THE WISDOM OF
OUR SAGES PRESCRIBES THAT EACH DAY OF CREATION REPRESENTS A MILLENIUM (1000
YEARS) AND THEREFORE OUR ERA IS THE EVE OF THE SEVENTH DAY, THAT IS, THE SABBATH
EVE. THIS IS THE EVE OF THE "PERFECTION OF DAYS," THE EVE OF THE COMING OF THE TRUE
MESSIAH-SON-OF-DAVID.
HISTORY of the SANHEDRIN

The SANHEDRIN (from the Greek meaning "assembly") has its origins in the Exodus from
Egypt, when G-d commanded Moses to assemble 70 Elders to share the leadership of the
nation with him. This Council of 71 assumed all legislative and judicial powers throughout
the history of the Israelites, until the destruction of the First Temple.
The GREAT SANHEDRIN---Men of the Great Assembly---was instituted by Ezra on the
return of the Jewish People from the exile in Babylon and the rebuilding of the Temple. It
convened in the Chamber of Hewn Stone adjoining the Inner Temple Courts. The Presidency
of the Sanhedrin was conferred on the High Priest or on "he who excels all others in wisdom."
Though the GREAT SANHEDRIN had full legislative and executive powers, capital
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punishment was pronounced only in the rarest of instances. During the Roman occupation, the
powers of the Sanhedrin was whittled down to matters of ritual, and its authority was further
impaired by internal strife between rival factions. Though the Sanhedrin was dissolved by the
Romans in 66 CE, four years before the destruction of the Second Temple, traces of it
persisted in various forms throughout Jewish history in the Land of Israel.
Outstanding leaders of the GREAT SANHEDRlN included Shimon ben Shetah, who
introduced legislation for universal education, women's rights, the administration of trial
courts, acceptance of testimony; Rabbi Hillel whose dictum, "That which is hateful to you do
not do not others" was enunciated as the quintessence of Jewish teaching.
The rebirth of the State of Israel has given rise to ardent hopes for the re-establishment of the
GREAT SANHEDRIN as the guiding light for the Jewish people.
THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM

Even as the Jewish people were crossing the Sinai desert, out of the bondage of Egypt on their
way to the Promised Land, G-d said: "Build me a Temple and I shall dwell amongst you."
(Exodus 25:2)
Ever since those days, the Temple of Jerusalem has been the soul of the spiritual and national
existence of the Jewish People. The Temple was the center of the royal authority of the
Davidic and Hasmonean dynasties. It was the high point of all religious ceremony and the seat
of the High Priest. Its Chamber of Hewn Stone was the convening place of the SANHEDRIN,
the legislative and judicial authority of the Nation.
Twice the Temple was destroyed and the Jewish People dispersed, yet the Spirit of the Temple
in all its implications sustained them through their bitter exile.
The prophecy of redemption is being fulfilled in our days with the Ingathering of the Exiles
and the Liberation of the Land. Yet the great task of rebuilding the Temple is still before us.
It is written that the Temple of Jerusalem will be rebuilt by a King of the Davidic line, who
will be installed by the High Court of Seventy-One, that is, the SANHEDRIN.
"And it shall come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of G-d's house shall be set
over all other mountains and lifted high above the hills and all the nations shall come
streaming, For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah and the word of G-d from Jerusalem."
(Isaiah 2:2-4)
The SANHEDRIN of the SIXTH MILLENIUM

For the prophecies to be fulfilled and the Temple rebuilt, the Nation must have a form of
leadership, political and spiritual, worthy of the honour of such a task. It must be a Torahbased system of government, that is, the SANHEDRIN.
Like its predecessors, the NEW SANHEDRlN shall consist of 71 judges excelling in whom;
understanding and knowledge of Torah, international law, physics and mathematics, macro
and micro-economics, cybernetics, human sciences, and conversant with many cultures and
languages. They will be people of exceptional moral fibre, maturity and human compassion.

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By virtue of its collective acumen and wisdom, the NEW SANHEDRIN will be the guiding
light which alone will be capable of leading the Jewish Nation to fulfill its mission and
rebuild the Temple.
THE SANHEDRIN NOW

The SANHEDRIN is needed today to provide the Jewish Nation with the political and
spiritual leadership it must have to achieve the long-awaited redemption of the People and the
Land.
The SANHEDRIN is needed today to restore Torah law and Jurisprudence to the courts of the
Jewish State.
The SANHEDRIN is needed today because it is the Torah-ordained and only authentic form
of government for the Jewish People in their Sovereign State. All other forms of government
are foreign to the spirit of the Nation and only lead to waste of the human resources of the
Jewish People, to corruption of the moral fibre of the nation, to disorder. Witness the present
situation.
The SANHEDRIN is needed today to reunite the Hebrew Nation and lead it to the heights of
glory for which it is destined.
THE ISRAEL TORAH FOUNDATION AIMS AND MEANS:

To prepare the ground in Israel for the re-establishment of the SANHEDRIN in

our time, that is, in the era of the Sixth Millenium.

To raise Torah-consciousness through special education programs, seminars,

congresses.
To establish an Information and Research Center, partly in conjunction with
Bar-Ilan University, where all relevant data and its applications will be
computerized.
To design Teaching Modules relevant to the SANHEDRIN and the Jerusalem
Temple for distribution to educational institutions.
To reverse negative influences undermining the Nation's faith in Torah and in
the Jewish heritage.
To expose and combat manifestations of anti-Semitism in all its insidious
forms, inside and outside Israel.
To restore Torah jurisprudence as the basis of the Israel legal system.

THE ISRAEL TORAH FOUNDATION

ITF Registered as a Fellowship, No. 58 - 007 - 740 - 2
P.O. Box 9433 Jerusalem Israel
25 Misgav Ladakh Street, Jerusalem 97500 Israel
Phone: From abroad 972-2-289023; In Israel 02-289023

A statement by the Temple Mount Faithful Group:

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THE TEMPLE MOUNT AND LAND OF ISRAEL FAITHFUL MOVEMENT

LEADERSHIP
The founder and leader of the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement is
Gershon Salomon. In his private life, Gershon is an expert researcher and lecturer in Middle
Eastern studies, specializing in the history of the national movement of the Kurdish people.
He is an officer in the Israel Defense Force. Gershon is a 10th generation Jerusalemite. He is
descended from Rabbi Avraham Solomon Zalman Zoref who settled in Jerusalem in 1811.
Rabbi Zoref was the first Jewish pioneer in Jerusalem to start the redemptive process of the
people and the land by rebuilding the waste land. He even sent out one of his sons to locate
the ten lost tribes to bring them back to the Land of Israel, because he knew the return of the
ten tribes was a condition for the redemptive process. Rabbi Zoref was assassinated by Arabs
who thought they could stop this Godly process.
Even as a child, Gershon Salomon knew that God was calling him to continue the work for
the redemption of the people of Israel. Gershon was involved as a youth in the War of
Independence. He was arrested at age 11 by the British Mandatory police. Later when he
joined the IDF, he led a company in the Golan Heights. In 1958, in a battle with the Syrian
Army, Mr. Salomon was injured accidentally when, in the heat and confusion of battle, he was
run over by a tank. Syrian soldiers are trained to shoot "again" any wounded Israeli soldiers.
When they were about to shoot "again" Mr. Salomon, they all suddenly ran away. Later these
Syrians soldiers reported to UN officers that they had seen thousands of angels around this
IDF officer and had, therefore, fled. It was at this time that Mr. Salomon heard the voice of
God speaking to him that He was not yet finished with him. Gershon Salomon understood this
as a divine call to consecrate himself to the work of the Temple Mount.
After one year in the hospital, Mr. Salomon had recovered sufficiently to return to his unit
even though he now walked on crutches. He continued his service in defense of the land of
Israel. He feels that the greatest moment of his life, thus far, was his participation in the
liberation of the Temple Mount and Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. He believes at that
moment that the circle was closed between his generation and the generation of the
destruction of the Temple in 70 CE
Moshe Dayan, the defense minister of Israel in 1967, made a terrible decision by turning
control of the Temple Mount to the Muslim authorities of Jerusalem. Since that time Muslim
Arabs have maintained control of this crucial Biblical site. Gershon Salomon recognized the
tragedy of this action and formed the Temple Mount Faithful organization. Since that time he
has dedicated himself to the vision of consecrating the Temple Mount to the Name of God, to
removing the Muslim shrines placed there as a symbol of Muslim conquest, to the soon
rebuilding of the Third Temple there, and the Godly redemption of the People and the Land of
Israel.

LONG TERM OBJECTIVES

1. Liberating the Temple Mount from Arab (Islamic) occupation. The Dome of the Rock and
the Al Aqsa mosque were placed on this Jewish or Biblical holy site as a specific sign of
Islamic conquest and domination. The Temple Mount can never be consecrated to the Name
of God without removing these pagan shrines. It has been suggested that they be removed,
transferred to and rebuilt at Mecca.

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2. Consecrating the Temple Mount to the Name of God so that it can become the moral and
spiritual center of Israel, of the Jewish people and of the entire world according to the words
of all the Hebrew prophets. It is envisioned that the consecration of the Temple Mount and the
Temple itself will focus Israel on (a) fulfilling the vision and mission given at Mt. Sinai for
Israel to be a chosen people separate unto God, a holy nation, and a nation of priests, and (b)
becoming a light unto all the nations (Isaiah 42:6) so that the Name of God may be revered by
all nations and the Biblical way of life may be propagated throughout the world.
3. Rebuilding the Third Temple in accordance with the words of all the Hebrew prophets. This
temple will be a house of prayer for the people of Israel and all nations.
4. Providing a Biblical point of assembly in order that all Israel may fulfill the commandment
to assemble three times annually at the times of the Lord's festivals and at the place where
God established His Name forever.
5. Making Biblical Jerusalem the real, undivided capital of the state of Israel.
6. Rejecting false "peace talks" which will result in the dividing of Israel and the breaking of
God's covenant. God promised to Abraham and to his seed that the land and the borders of
Israel are eternal and cannot be divided and given to other people and nations.
7. Supporting the settlements in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights as they are
holy. No one is allowed to break the Word and the Will of God by commanding the settlers to
leave. In the Biblical era, God commanded the people of Israel to settle the land completely.
This command is applicable today. The holy connection and covenant between God, the
People of Israel and the Land of Israel is eternal.

SHORT TERM OBJECTIVES

1. To strengthen the organizational structure of the movement in Jerusalem in order to pursue
its long-term objectives.
2. To raise the awareness of the people of Israel to the significance of their nation in God's
plan of redemption. This will be accomplished in a number of ways including (a) youth
education, (b) formation of youth clubs, (c) publication and propagation of relevant
educational materials.
3. To demonstrate the fulfillment of the TANACH to the people of Israel.
4. To publicly proclaim the message of the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Movement in
newspapers, flyers, posters, newsletters, radio and television.
5. To demonstrate publicly to raise awareness of Israel to the issue of the Third Temple, the
Temple Mount and the Land of Israel.
6. To buy a house in the Old City (Biblical Jerusalem) near the Temple Mount to establish a
spiritual and educational center to be used by everyone. The four-ton cornerstone will be
stored and exhibited on this site. This first stone of the Third Temple will soon be laid.

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7. To organize conferences for the study of the issues dealing with the Temple Mount and the
Third Temple.

VISION OF REDEMPTION
The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement understands the phenomenon of
modern Israel as the beginning of the redemption of the world. Two and one-half millennia
ago, the Hebrew prophets spoke that in the "last days" God would regather His people from
all the lands where He had scattered them (Isaiah 43:6-7). For the last 100 years the Jewish
people have been returning to and rebuilding Zion. Today Israel is again the dynamic center of
Jewish life across the world. The regathering is not yet complete. Ezekiel prophesied that God
would "leave none of them there any longer." (Ezekiel 39:28b)
It is the view of the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful that the redemption will
proceed in an orderly fashion according to God's plan. First is the foundation of the modern
state of Israel and the miraculous victories that God gave the people of Israel in the wars
against 22 Arab enemy states. Second is the regathering of the people of Israel from all over
the world to the Promised Land. Third is the liberation and consecration of the Temple Mount
and fourth is the building of the Third Temple. The final step is the coming of the King of
Israel, Messiah Ben David.
The existence of the state of Israel and the return of the people of God to the Promised Land
is the biggest Godly event and miracle in the history of mankind-ever. This was predicted by
the prophets of Israel. We are calling all the nations to link arms in support of this people and
the State of Israel to help her complete this process of redemption. We are not allowed to
forget that the redemption of the people of Israel is a condition for the redemption of the
earth. Also, we remember what God said over 4000 years ago to Abraham, the father of the
Israelites: "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you."

POLICY STATEMENT
The following are some statements of fundamental policy of the Temple Mount and Land of
Israel Faithful:
1. Israel is the elect nation of God, sovereignly chosen for His purpose as a vessel through
which redemption will be accomplished.
2. The Land of Israel (Biblical borders) was given specifically to the people of Israel and to
no other nation. Israel is not permitted to give any of this land to any group for any purpose
since the land is a grant to Israel from God Himself. Any division of the Land and the giving
of it to another people represents a breach of the Covenant with God.
3. It is the distinct privilege and responsibility of every Jewish person to return to the Land of
Israel and to directly participate in the redemption process. Anyone not exercising this
privilege will lose it.
4. The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement is dedicated to the fulfillment of
every detail of God's commandments as recorded in the TANACH.

CHALLENGE TO BELIEVERS FROM THE NATIONS

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1. The work of God in His redemption process does not affect Israel alone but, indeed, all
nations will directly benefit from His blessing. Therefore, all who have placed hope in the
Scriptures and have faith in the One true God are invited to participate in the activities of the
Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement.
2. You are challenged also to contribute financially to the work of the Temple Mount and
Land of Israel Faithful Movement. All work done for the organization is done by volunteers.
There are no salaried employees. Annual financial statements are available upon request by
contributors.
The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement
P.O. Box 18325; 35 Osishkin Street
Jerusalem 94386, Israel
Phone: (02) 660611, (02) 612395 (fax)

A STATEMENT BY THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE IN JERUSALEM:

The Prophecy of the Messianic Era
"Jerusalem is the light of the world...and who is the light of Jerusalem? The Holy One,
Blessed be He." (Bereshit Rabbah 59.8)
Jerusalem. No other city is known by so many names to so many people: Eternal City, City of
Peace, City of Gold - and no other city is referred to as the "City of God"... a place of unique
sanctity. Jerusalem is the focus of the spiritual energies of a large segment of mankind, and at
its heart lies its greatest secret - the enigma of the Holy Temple.
Perhaps the first step towards understanding the significance of the Temple and all that it
represents is the realization that it was not merely a magnificent building rooted in Jerusalem's
ancient Biblical past, but rather, the physical manifestation of a vast idea which existed even
before the creation of the world.
The origin of the idea of the Holy Temple can be traced to the beginning of time, the very
dawn of creation. To the days of Adam, the first man, and his descendants. We can follow its
winding thread through the time of Noah, builder of the ark and renewer of life after the
flood. And, it was in the days of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, that the holy site
was initially selected. Later, in the time of King David and King Solomon---the builders of
the First Temple - it was this very spot which was transformed into the center of global
spirituality.
Since the last destruction and the flames that engulfed the Second Temple, the world has
awaited the establishment of the Third Temple and with it the fulfillment of the words of the
Prophet Isaiah:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days. that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established at the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all of the
nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come. and let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. and he will teach us of his ways, and

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we shall walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of God from
Jerusalem " (Isaiah 2:2, 3).
To witness the fulfillment of this ancient vision is a lifelong desire shared by all peoples - not
only the Jews, who have longed through all their wanderings to return and rebuild Jerusalem
from its ruins and to re-establish the Sanctuary of God in its midst.
The education of countless generations has been steeped in these verses. Isaiah's words
formed the inspiration and driving force behind many diverse movements throughout world
history, all of which centered around one purpose and objective: Jerusalem, the Holy City;
Jerusalem, where the promised ultimate good shall be fulfilled; Jerusalem, which will once
again be transformed into the spiritual center of all mankind.
It is in this future Jerusalem that the Shechinah, the Divine Glory of God, will again reside,
and where the spirit of prophecy will once again be restored. And it is here that the Kingdom
of God, Creator of all that exists, will be revealed to the world, and all of humanity will come
to serve Him. Here every individual may be purified of sin and can rectify his very essence. In
the future Holy Temple, each will pour out his heart in prayer before the Creator, and will hear
the melodies of the Levites as they sing before God and His altar; and there each man may
bring an offering to acknowledge God's ever-present, constant kindness.
The Prophet Isaiah continues:
"And I shall bring them to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer:
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be
called a house of prayer for all people." (56:7)
The Concept of The Temple:
One of Seven Secrets Hidden in the Blueprints of Creation
The sages teach that the notion of the Temple is concealed in the plans for the very foundation
of the world, and was a factor in the Divine plan of creation. As the Talmud explains, God's
anticipation of its eventual establishment even preceded creation:
"Seven things were contemplated (By the Holy One, Blessed be He) before creation:
Torah.
Repentance,
the Garden of Eden and
Gehinnom,
the Throne of Glory,
the Holy Temple and
the Messiah's identity." (BT Pesachim 51:A)
The sages wish to tell us that by probing the nature of these seven elements, we can come to
understand the purpose of creation.

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Understanding These Seven Elements

1-2) Torah and Repentance:
This illustrates that the idea of the Torah existed before time, and was one of the central
objectives behind the creation.
Before man was created God knew that "the impulse of man's heart is evil from his youth,"
(Gen. 7:21) and that he was destined to sin and stumble. This is an integral part of human
nature.
Accordingly, before anything existed the Torah was prepared to guide him along his path
through life. In similar fashion, the Torah's counterpart, the concept of repentance, was also
prepared in advance of man, so that one who transgresses the will of his Creator has a path to
return to Him. This too was forged into the very foundation of the world to provide man with
a remedy for sin.
3-4) The Garden of Eden and Gehinnom:
The concepts of the Garden of Eden and Gehinnom also reflect a key factor in the purpose of
creation: reward and punishment. The reward, represented by the Garden of Eden, for those
who fulfill the commandment of God; the punishment for transgressing His will Gehinnom.
5) The Holy Temple:
The next element in the Divine blueprint for creation is the Holy Temple. At this stage all of
the factors in the plan mentioned previously are actually united:
Torah: For the seat of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of Israel and highest body of
wisdom, was in the Temple. From the Sanhedrin the knowledge of Torah was transmitted to
all of Israel, as mentioned in the verse above, "For out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the
word of God from Jerusalem." It is for this reason that the two Tablets of the Law which
contained the original commandments of God as revealed at Sinai were housed in the
Temple's Holy of Holies: signifying that the Temple was literally the source of Torah
knowledge.
And Repentance: For at the same time, the Temple is the unique place of repentance. When
one stumbles and sins, he brings his offering to the Temple and places his hands on the
sacrifice, while confessing the error of his thoughts and deeds. After it is offered on the altar,
the individual leaves, cleansed and purified as a newborn infant. This enables him to continue
his worldly endeavors in the pursuit of righteousness. The sacrifice has no effect unless it is
accompanied by thoughts of repentance.
The Holy Temple appears in this Divine cosmic plan precisely because it represents the apex
of human longing: The ability for man to engage in a direct relationship with God. The world
awaits the day when the Temple in Jerusalem will once again be the global center of spiritual
values. At this one spot on Earth, unlike any other, it will be revealed to all that "God is One
and His Name is One." (Zechariah 14:9)
All will converge upon Jerusalem to receive the truth of Torah and to return to the way of God

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in sincere repentance---to atone in the Holy Temple and to merit the higher consciousness
which will be revealed at that time: the spirit of Divine Inspiration.
6) The Throne of Glory: The Heavenly Jerusalem
"The Jerusalem below corresponds to the heavenly Jerusalem directly above... (BT Ta'anit
5:A; Zohar 183:B)
The rabbis make many references throughout the Talmud and Midrashim, which indicate the
existence of a heavenly Jerusalem. The meaning is clear---the holiness of the earthly
Jerusalem of this world has its source in another Jerusalem, a spiritual entity aloft of its
physical counterpart. The one below is a direct parallel of the one above: The Godly
Jerusalem. In the heavenly Jerusalem, a sublime spiritual Holy Temple exists where the
Shechinah is revealed. This is the place of the Almighty's Throne of Glory.
This celestial structure is another of the primordial Divine thoughts which preceded the world.
God arranged it so that the physical Holy Temple, to which will flow all the earth's
multitudes, should be nourished and sustained by the Throne of Glory above.
The Temple: Gateway to Heaven
In his dream, the patriarch Jacob sees "... a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached
to heaven..." (Genesis 28:12)
In the morning he opens his eyes and cries aloud: "How awesome is this place! This is none
other than the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (ibid. 17) In his prophetic dream
Jacob saw the earthly Holy Temple set opposite the Throne of Glory. Jacob then erects a stone
monument and anoints it with oil, effectively dedicating the site of the future Temple: First,
Second and Third.
The Holy Temple is the gateway to heaven for every human being, where he is summoned to
approach God. As the world advances with more sophisticated techniques in travel and
communications, the moment approaches when the denizen of the most far-flung location, as
far away from Jerusalem as can be imagined, can come from that great distance and appear
before his Creator to purify himself and come in contact with the holy spark within.
Every human being is created in God's image - "In the image of God He created man."
(Genesis 9:7) Therefore the Divine spark of holiness is alive in each of us. How much easier
will it be to unmask this spark in the dwelling place of God's Glory...each one will come up to
Jerusalem to recharge his spiritual energy, to reveal his own unique essence, and then to return
home with the spiritual nourishment needed to continue serving his own special purpose in
the world.
7) The Messiah's Identity
The seventh level of the Divine plan the Talmud refers to is the identity of the messiah. This is
the summit of the seven elements and the culmination of God's pre-creation thought. The
messiah seals this entire design by bringing each preceding step to fruition. He is the master
teacher of the Torah and commandments who will bequeath these ethical values to the human
race. It is he who will succeed in establishing the earthly Kingdom of God and who will aid in

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bringing about the collective repentance of man. In the Messianic Era, justice will prevail on
earth:
"... And with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked... and righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins. and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." (Isaiah 11:4-5)
It is in this period that reward and punishment shall be meted out: "The Garden of Eden" for
the righteous, and "Gehinnom" for the wicked. And under the messiah's leadership, Jerusalem
shall be reinstated as the spiritual capital of the world with the Temple at its heart.
This is the general pattern of God's plan, but it contains many ups and downs. Twice, the
Temple did stand in Jerusalem - only to be destroyed; it is the Third Temple which is
anticipated to bring the process to its conclusion...with the appearance of the messiah. The
great expectation is for the Temple which will never be destroyed.
This yearning can be appreciated as a sincerely heartfelt desire... but it should not be mistaken
for a precondition. For the Temple is not only a lofty idea which beckons to us...it is also a
mitzvah, a precept of the Torah which is applicable at all times, regardless of when the
messiah appears.
As Maimonides writes in his classic Letter on Religious Persecution, "Not one of any of the
commandments of the Torah is dependent upon the messiah's arrival."
Based upon this understanding it stands to reason that a situation could arise wherein a third
Temple could be built in Jerusalem and the messiah has still not yet arrived. This concurs with
the opinion expressed in the Jerusalem Talmud: "The [third] Holy Temple will in the future be
re-established before the establishment of the Kingdom of David." (JT Ma'aser Sheni 29)
From:The Odyssey of the Third Temple, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, translated by Chaim Richman, G.
Israel Publications and Productions, Ltd., The Temple Institute, 1992)
Contacts:
The Temple Institute
POB 31876
Misgav Ladach 24,
Jewish Quarter, 91317, Jerusalem, Israel
Phone: 011 9722 894119, 894336
FAX 011 9722 274 529
Light to the Nations
Rabbi Haim Richman
PO Box 31714
Jerusalem, Israel
tel/fax 9722 860 453
Mr. L. Goldsmith
1483 E. 34Th St
Brooklyn, NY 11234
The Restoration, $25/yr.

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FINAL SUMMARY
Today the fragile peace that prevails on the Temple Mount grows more and more tenuous to
this hour. Certain groups are clearly preparing to build a Third Temple. The Government of
Israel is determined to keep things as they are. Christians who take their New Testaments
seriously believe the Third Temple will indeed soon be rebuild and the status quo is bound to
change. The power and influence of a billion Muslim are committed not only to maintaining
control of the Temple Mount, but moving out to conquer of all of Israel and then the world in
the name of Allah. Bible believers know how the story will end, but the unfolding of the story
is exciting indeed - almost on a daily basis.
The above information was mostly taken from news releases, brochures and reports of events
in Jerusalem from 1967 to about 1990. Some of this material is not up to date. Web sites for
some of the groups described above are listed on the Temple Mount home page. For current
events and news items regarding the Temple Mount see Recent Events, (Fall 1996).

End Notes
Primary reference source: The Coming Temple. By Don Stewart and Chuck Missler (1991)
available from Koinonia House. 1. Ed Grossman, Symbol and Madness, The Jerusalem Post,
Local Supplement, September 30, 1983.
2. Jerusalem Post, International Edition, July 22-28, 1984, p. 8
3. Koteret Rashit, Ha'aretz, Hadashot, middle eastern periodicals.
4. Al Awdah Weekly
5. Newsweek, October 22, 1990.
6. Mortimer Zuckerman, US News and World Report, November 12, 1990, pp. 95-96.
7. "Should the Temple be Rebuilt," Time Magazine, June 30, 1967.
8. John Wesley White, The Coming World Dictator, Minneapolis, Bethany Fellowship, 1981,
p. 90).
9. Pinchas H. Pell, The Significance of Sacrifice, Jerusalem Post International Edition, Week
ending March 30, 1985, p. 10.
10. Pinchas H. Pell, "A Place for the Lord," Jerusalem Post, February 11, 1989.
11. "Time for a New Temple?", Time, October 16, 1989.
12. "The Mississippi-Red Heifer Update," The Restoration, May/June 1995, PO Box 31714,
Jerusalem, Israel. US contact, Mr. L. Goldsmith, 1438 East 34th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11234.
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Phone/Fax: (718) 338-3158.

13. Barbara and Michael Ledeen, "The Temple Mount Plot," The New Republic, June 18,
1984.
14. Haim Shapiro, "The Christian Connection," Jerusalem Post Local Supplement September
30, 1983.
15. O. Kelly Ingram, The Link, November 1983, p. 9 . Published by the U.S. National Council
of Churches.
Revised June 21, 1995, December 18, 1996, July 9, 1997.

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ISRAEL'S FUTURE THIRD AND FOURTH TEMPLES

by Lambert Dolphin

The Old Testament devotes considerable attention to describing the portable tent, or
tabernacle, of the Jewish people built under the leadership of Moses. After the conquest of
Canaan the tabernacle and its contents remained at Shiloh throughout the time of Judges.
After Shiloh was destroyed (about 1050 BC), the Ark traveled through various Philistine cities
and finally was brought to David's palace south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and then
into the holy of holies of the First Temple dedicated by Solomon about 952 BC.
The First Temple geometrically resembled the tabernacle though it was twice as large and
built of immense quantities of stone, cedar wood and lined with gold. [See Exodus 25-31; 3540, Numbers 3:25 ff, 4: ff, also Philo (II Mos. 91) and Josephus (Ant. 3:122 ff). Moses built
everything according to a pattern revealed to him on Mt. Sinai, Hebrews 8:5.]
After the First Temple was completed (I Kings 5-8), the Tabernacle of Moses was dismantled.
It may have been stored in a room under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is some
evidence that it may still lie there to this day.
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple on the 9th of Av 586 BC, the Jews
were then taken captive to Babylon and the city had no center of worship until Zerubbabel
and the returning exiles built the Second Temple, completing it in 516 BC.
The Second Temple, modest in comparison with its predecessor, was rebuilt and enlarged by
Herod the Great beginning in 20 BC. Herod recruited 10,000 workman and set them to the
task commencing in the 17th year of his reign. Josephus gives vivid descriptions of the

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Second Temple and its environs, and also records the terrible destruction by the Roman
general Titus in 70 AD
I Kings 6 ff, I Chronicles 22 ff. 3, Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai describe the rebuilding of the
temple after the Babylonian captivity. This is the so-called "Second Temple" which Herod the
Great later greatly enlarged. Jesus was dedicated in the Second Temple, He cast out money
chambers there on two occasions, and He taught frequently in the temple courts.
During the 70 year captivity of the Jews in Babylon and again in the diaspora, just ending in
the last century, the Jewish people have centered their worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob in synagogues around the world. Since the terrible destruction of the Second
Temple by the Romans in AD 70, temple sacrifices, offerings, instruction, and worship have
ceased in accordance with an Old Testament prophecy of Hosea (about 746 BC):
"For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or
pillar, without ephod or terephim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the
LORD their God, and David their king; and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his
goodness in the latter days." (Hosea 3:4,5)
The regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland in our time (as predicted for example
in Ezekiel 37) is being accompanied by a rapidly accelerating religious consciousness in
Israel, the awakening of ancient longings and aspirations and the rediscovery of many
immutable promises God has made to the chosen seed of Abraham. The fact that a Third
Temple is to be built can be shown from the Tanach. But three passages in the New Testament
also refer to such a building not now in existence as of this writing in 1996 AD. Many
Christians have thus speculated in recent years about when the Third Temple would be built.
This is considered by many to be an important milestone pointing to the end of the age.
The entire Temple Mount contains cisterns and passages most of which have been
inaccessible since 70 AD. The Temple Mount proper was liberated from Jordanian control in
the Six-Day War of 1967, but then returned by Israel to the custody of the Muslim Waqf
(Jordan). The site is some 34 acres in extent with the prominent "Dome of the Rock" near the
center and Al Aqsa mosque at the South end. Jews pray night and day at the Western Wall,
which is below the Temple Mount, along a section of the great retaining wall of the Mount, in
the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The Western Wall as close as Jews can get these days to
the site of their ancient temples.
Dr. Asher Kaufman, formerly of the Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University,
Jerusalem, has for many years made careful studies on Mount Moriah leading him to believe
the Temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were both located just north of the Dome of the
Rock on the paved platform area. The Holy of Holies is believed to have been approximately
on the bedrock covered by a small shrine, the Dome of the Spirits. The Muslim stewards of
the site have systematically destroyed or covered over all evidence that the site was once
important to the Jews or to Christians.
Others, including Dan Bahat the Dean of Jerusalem archaeologists today, have argued
persuasively that the First and Second Temples were most certainly located where the present
Dome of the Rock shrine now stands.
A third view is that of Architect Tuvia Sagiv who presents striking evidence that the Temple

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location was South of the Dome of the Rock, but North of Al Aqsa Mosque, under the present
Muslim El Kas fountain.
The Temple Mount area is also the location of the birth of the Christian church at the feast of
Pentecost which followed seven sabbaths plus one day after the death of Messiah. Neither
Christians nor Jews are presently allowed to pray or worship on the site in spite of its historic
importance to all of Abraham's children.
To go back even further in time the Temple Mount has great historical importance to the Jews.
Abraham met a priest of the true God named Melchidezek at Mount Moriah about 4000 years
ago (Genesis 14, Hebrews 5-7). A few years later, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice there
(Genesis 22), and King David purchased the site from a local resident named Ornan (I
Chronicles 21), about 1015 BC.
Muslim claims to the Temple Mount date only from 638 AD. The Crusaders turned the
Muslim buildings on the Mount into churches in 1099 until Saladin restored Arab rule of
Jerusalem in 1187.
The New Testament makes only brief references to temples, in fact the Apostle Paul speaking
to a crowd in Athens from Mars Hill said
"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not
live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed
anything, since he himself gives to all men life, and breadth, and everything..." (Acts 17:2425).
Instead, the emphasis of the New Covenant is the personal presence of Jesus as Messiah,
Immanuel (which means "God with us") dwelling within and in the midst of his people
whenever and wherever they gather in his name.
The New Testament opens with the four-gospel revelation of God's Son, Jesus. John in His
gospel says that God in Christ "tabernacled" among men. Later in the First Century, both Paul
and Peter call the true church "a living temple." Individual believers are "living stones" and
Christ is Himself the foundation stone or the "chief cornerstone." For two thousand years of
Biblical history the emphasis has been on assemblies or congregations of Christians or Jews,
not on sacred buildings.
Yet there are at least three references in the New Testament to a temple building existing in
Jerusalem in the future as noted above. From the context these references appear to refer to a
new, or "Third Temple" yet to be built in the city. There has been growing interest since the
rebirth of Israel in 1948 among the Jews for a central place of worship in their capital city.
Although synagogues have served admirably as centers of worship and community for the
Jews in their dispersion, a temple in Jerusalem on the exact site of the Second Temple is
required by the Jews as a central house of prayer and focal point of the faith until Messiah
comes.
Because of our sins we were exiled from our country and banished from our land. We cannot
go up as pilgrims to worship Thee, to perform our duties in Thy chosen house, the great and
Holy Temple which was called by Thy name, on account of the hand that was let loose on Thy

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sanctuary. May it be Thy will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, merciful King, in Thy
abundant love again to have mercy on us and on Thy sanctuary; rebuild it speedily and
magnify its glory. (The Jewish Prayer Book)
According to Maimonedes it is incumbent on the Jews to maintain the temple in Jerusalem if
it is in existence and to rebuild it speedily if it does not. Many Jews acknowledge from the
Tanach that shedding of blood is associated with the remission of sins. Thus the restoration of
animal sacrifices in a properly consecrated temple is seen as very important to them.
The Third Temple must be placed on the same spot of ground as the First and Second Temples
because of the Jewish concept of zones of holiness on Yahweh's sacred mountain.
Jesus spoke of the Third Temple building in Jerusalem when discussing with his disciples the
chain of events that would bring the close of the present age and his return. He spoke of an
event yet future predicted by Daniel the prophet when the temple in Jerusalem would suffer
ultimate defilement by a false Messiah who claimed to be God:
"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the
holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in
the field not turn back to take his mantle. And alas for those who are with child and for those
who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For
then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until
now, no, and never will be." (Matthew 24:15-21)
Since only a properly consecrated temple can be defiled, this passage implies a functioning,
dedicated Third Temple and priesthood in existence in the end time at the time Jesus said he
would return.
The apostle Paul, writing a few years later, describes this same event:
"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we
beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or
by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one
deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the
man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against
every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
proclaiming himself to be God," (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).
The coming false Jewish messiah, resembling his predecessor Antiochus Epiphanes (~175
BC), is the "worthless shepherd" spoken of by the prophet Zechariah - and the man Jesus
spoke of when he said to the Jews, "I have come in my Father's name and you would not
receive me. Another will come in his own name, him you will receive." (John 5:43) (See also
Daniel 9:27, Revelation 13:18)
Finally, the existence of the Third Temple in Jerusalem at the close of the age is confirmed by
the aged apostle John when he recorded the Book of the Revelation:
"Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told 'Rise and measure the temple of
God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the

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temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy
city for forty-two months."' (Revelation 11:1-2)
In contrast to the earthly city the Book of the Revelation, the last book of the New Testament,
describes the heavenly city New Jerusalem, descending from space, as a city which contains
no temple at all:
"And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and
its lamp is the Lamb." (Revelation 21:22,23)
Evidently the Third Temple has a limited life time and use towards the close of the present
age. Probably it will be destroyed in the "great earthquake" which is described by Ezekiel and
in the Revelation as shaking Jerusalem just prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact,
at the time (all) "the cities of the nations will fall."
Most Bible scholars agree that the end time tribulation period, Daniel's "Seventieth Week,'
encompasses just seven years. So it seems safe to say that the Third Temple may be built and
destroyed within a decade or two, perhaps less. It will probably remain consecrated and
undefiled for at least 3-1/2 years. [Concerning the violent events and the great earthquake
during the tribulation period see Isaiah 29:1-8, Revelation 6:12, 8:5, 11:13, 16:18-21, Ezekiel
38:19, Daniel 9:24-27, Zechariah 12-14.]
No one knows whether the Third Temple will be built before of after what Christians call "the
rapture of the true church." Possibly the Third Temple will be built when the western political
leader known as the Antichrist makes a peace treaty between Arabs and Jews as predicted by
Daniel the prophet. A rabbinical school (or yeshiva) for the training of the priests for this
temple is presently in existence in the Old City. Sacred vessels and priestly garments have
been prepared. Cedar from Lebanon captured in the north during the war there in 1982 has
been placed in storage for the next temple, and so on. Thus there has been considerable
preparation for the Third Temple by the religious Jews of modern Jerusalem. Both the
Askenazi and Sephardic Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem agree that such a temple will be built as
soon as circumstances permit.
There may yet be a fourth Temple built in Israel-the prophet Zechariah (ca. 500 BC) says that
Messiah, whom he calls the "Branch" will yet build a temple in Israel:
"Take from them (the exiles) silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it upon the head of
Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts,
"Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall grow up in his place, and he shall
build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall bear
royal honor, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. And there shall be a priest by his throne,
and peaceful understanding shall be between them both."' (Zechariah 6:13.)
Since orthodox Christians hold to a literal, physical return of Jesus, the construction of the
Fourth Temple, they believe, would thus be the responsibility of their Lord, whom they
believe to be Yeshua HaMaschiah. This temple may well be that seen by Ezekiel (ca. 570 BC)
in a vision. A temple that matches his description has never yet been built. Moreover, the
Fourth Temple will evidently not be built at Jerusalem but possibly at Shiloh, some 31 km to
the North:

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"When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land
as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits broad; it shall
be holy throughout its whole extent. Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred
cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. And in the holy
district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand
broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be the holy portion of the
land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to
minister to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.
Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits broad, shall be for
the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in."
"Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the possession of the
city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long it shall belong to
the whole house of Israel."
"And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of
the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and
extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in
Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel
have the land according to their tribes." (Ezekiel 45:1-8.)
And also,
"Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which
you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the
tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. The portion
which you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and
twenty thousand in breadth." (Ezekiel 48.)
According to many Bible scholars, the fourth or "millennial temple" (Ezekiel 40-45), will be
memorial, a teaching center to instruct men about the holiness of God and proper worship. As
sinful men and women continue to be born into the world in the Millennium the temple is
supposed to remind everyone of the substitionary death of Jesus on the cross, as the "Lamb of
God," some two thousand years earlier.
Though the Biblical emphasis is never on temple buildings but on men and their character,
scripture does not negate the use of shadows and symbols. Literal physical realities are said to
be given in order to teach about the enduring, permanent spiritual realities they point to.
"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house
which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest. All these things my hand has
made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I look, he
that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."' (Isaiah 66:1, 2)

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The Temple Of Ezekiel

by Lambert Dolphin

In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land
shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains
in Jerusalem will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when
the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the
bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.
Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a
cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there
will be a canopy and a pavilion. It will be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge
and a shelter from the storm and rain. (Isaiah 4:2-6)

Background
This paper speculates on the Temple of Ezekiel described by that prophet, as understood from
a Christian point of view. That building has never yet been built.
Two temples of Yahweh have been located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in times past.
Solomon's Temple called by the Jews, "The First Temple," was destroyed by the siege of
Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon on the 9th of Av in 586 BC. Some seventy years
later, approximately, Jewish exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem to build an altar, the
"Second" Jewish temple and finally the walls of the city. Although modest in comparison to
the First Temple, the Second Temple was greatly enlarged and expanded by Herod the Great.
This latter temple was the Temple in which Jesus was dedicated, and where He taught and
cast out the money changers on two occasions.
The Day of Pentecost following the resurrection of Jesus found Jewish believers assembled
for prayer in the temple courts when the Holy Spirit came from heaven to begin the calling
out of a new group of believers (both Jews and Gentiles) - known as the church. Preaching by
the Apostles and public miracles recorded in the book of Acts took place outside this Second
Temple, however it was destroyed by General Titus and besieging Roman armies on the 9th of
Av in AD 70. This destruction had been predicted by Jesus nearly forty years earlier (Matthew
24, Luke 21). Since AD 70 no Jewish temple has been built on the Temple Mount.
The New Testament contains three references to a Third Jewish Temple standing on the site at
the end of the present age. Likewise there are Scriptural reasons (Christians believe) that a the
coming Third Temple will be followed by a Fourth. The location of the First and Second
Temples is a matter of keen interest among devout Jews in Israel today as the Third Temple
must be built on the consecrated ground where the First and Second Temples stood. This site
is currently under the control of the Muslim WAQF. This article concerns primarily the Fourth
Temple, usually called "Ezekiel's Temple.

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The Third and Fourth Jewish Temples

Only a small number of Orthodox Jewish believers in Israel today believe that the coming
Third Temple will be built by the Jewish Messiah when he appears. Groups such as The
Temple Institute believe it is incumbent upon them to make all possible preparations in
advance - and to build the Third Temple when the freedom to do so is gained on the Temple
Mount - whether or not the Messiah arrives before or after the Temple is erected.
The post-exilic prophet Zechariah (who wrote about 500 BC) says that Messiah, whom he
calls the "Branch" would Himself one day build a temple in Israel. The Branch will be an
individual in whom the offices of both King and High Priest are combined:
"Take from them (the returning exiles from Babylon) silver and gold, and make a crown, and
set it upon the head of (Yeshua) Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and say to him,
'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall grow
up in his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the
temple of the Lord, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule upon his throne.
And there shall be a priest by his throne, and peaceful understanding shall be between them
both."' (Zechariah 6:13.)
Christians, of course, claim that the promised Messiah, also named Yeshua, has already come
to earth once and will come a second time to establish his millennial kingdom on the earth,
ruling thereafter from Jerusalem. Although the New Testament speaks three times of the
existence of a Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem at the end of the present age, as we have
already discussed, the fate of that Third Temple is not given in the New Testament.
A great and devastating earthquake is associated with the second coming of Jesus to the
Mount of Olives which apparently will destroy most of the city of Jerusalem at that time.
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Major topographic changes will occur throughout the land of Israel as well.
These changes in the entire land when Messiah comes are spoken of in numerous passages of
the Bible:

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to
her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from
the LORD's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the
way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley
shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground
shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
(Isaiah 40:1-5, quoted in Luke 3:5)

But on that day...says the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused. For in my jealousy and
in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great shaking in the
land of Israel; the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field,
and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the men that are upon the face
of the earth, shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down,
and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. (Ezekiel 38:1822)
The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the
temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" And there were flashes of lightning,
voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men
were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city [Jerusalem] was
split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great
Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled
away, and no mountains were to be found; and great hailstones, heavy as a hundredweight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail,
so fearful was that plague. (Revelation 16:17-21)
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken
and the houses plundered and the women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile,
but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go
forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day
his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east;
and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide
valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other
half southward. And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, for the valley of
the mountains shall touch the side of it; and you shall flee as you fled from the
earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD your God will come,
and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be neither cold nor frost. And
there shall be continuous day (it is known to the LORD), not day and not night, for at
evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from
Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it
shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will become king over all the
earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one. The whole land shall be
turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall
remain aloft upon its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to
the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. (Zechariah
14:2-10)

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Thus it is reasonable to suppose that the Third Temple will be destroyed by the final
earthquake at Messiah's appearing in glory, or by the final military invasion of Jerusalem
during World War III spoken of also by Zechariah in the above passage.
The prophet Ezekiel describes in great detail a temple in Israel that is too large to fit on the
present Temple Mount site. The Temple of Ezekiel proper measures about 875 feet square,
and it sits in the middle of a consecrated area nearly one mile on each side. Ezekiel's temple is
also very different in many details from any previous temples that have existed in Israel (or
elsewhere). Therefore most Bible scholars believe there will one day exist in the Holy Land a
Fourth or "Millennial" Temple.
Ezekiel also describes the reapportionment of the land in specific lots during the millennial
kingdom. The temple and the temple district are not part of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem
according to the details of this reapportionment:
"When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land
as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits broad; it shall
be holy throughout its whole extent. Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred
cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. And in the holy
district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand
broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be the holy portion of the
land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to
minister to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.
Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits broad, shall be for
the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in."
"Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the possession of the
city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long it shall belong to
the whole house of Israel."
"And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of
the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and
extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in
Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel
have the land according to their tribes." (Ezekiel 45:1-8.)
"Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which
you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the
tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. The portion
which you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and
twenty thousand in breadth." (Ezekiel 48)
According to many Christian Bible scholars, the Fourth Temple (Ezekiel 40-45) will be
"memorial" - a teaching center apparently to instruct men about the holiness of God and
proper worship during the coming kingdom of Jesus on the earth. As sinful men and women
continue to be born into the world in the millennium the temple is supposed to remind
everyone of the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross, as the "Lamb of God," some two
thousand years earlier.
Although Ezekiel is a much-neglected book, several good commentaries (Ref. 1, 2) complete

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with detailed analysis of the chapters on the Millennial temple are in print. In addition Mr.
John W. Schmitt of Portland, Oregon (Ref. 3) has devoted many years to a study of Ezekiel's
Temple, and to the construction of several fine scale models used for educational purposes.
Ezekiel had planned to enter the priestly service in the First Temple when he reached thirty
years of age. His plans were cut short in 597 when King Nebuchadnezzar raided and captured
Jerusalem after a brief siege, taking with him young king Jehoichin and "all the princes, and
all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths." (2 Kings
24:14). (By way of reference, Daniel and his three friends of the tribe of Judah plus others
from Jerusalem had previously been taken to Babylon in a raid by General - soon to be King Nebuchadnezzar after the battle of Carchemish in 605. That famous battle ended the rule of
Egypt in the ancient world).
In the fifth year of his own exile from Jerusalem, that is in 593 BC, Ezekiel was called by
God to exercise a prophetic ministry to the house of Israel which he continued until about the
year 570. Ezekiel was married, in fact his wife died as a sign from God on the day Jerusalem
fell, (24:18).
Ezekiel's temple and the millennium occupies the last eight long chapters of his book. He
gives 318 precise measurements of the temple using some 37 unique words that are
architectural terms, such as "door-posts," "windows," etc. Ezekiel received this great wealth
of information on the millennial temple in the year 572 BC in the form of a vision and a
personally conducted tour of the temple by "a man whose appearance was like the appearance
of bronze." (Evidently the Angel of the Lord). "He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in
his hand and he stood in the gateway." (40:3) The tour began at the Eastern Gate - which was
closed:
"Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut.
And he said to me, "This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter
by it; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. Only
the prince {messiah?] may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the
vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way." (44:1-3)
The present Golden Gate in the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is walled
shut. Jewish and Arab tradition teaches - probably because of a misinterpretation of this
passage in Ezekiel - that the Jewish Messiah is to enter the Golden Gate. For that reason the
gate was walled up by the Arabs in the 11th Century after the Crusades, (if not earlier) or
perhaps by Suleiman the Magnificent in AD 1539-1542 - to prevent the Jewish Messiah from
entering. The much older gate beneath the present Golden Gate, or else another (as yet
undiscovered) gate in the Eastern wall could have been the one used by Jesus when He rode
into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday riding on the foal of a donkey.
In addition to being a very large and complex structure Ezekiel's temple differs in several very
important ways from any previously existing Jewish temple. These have been catalogued by
researcher John Schmitt, a Portland, Oregon Bible scholar, as follows:
Features Unique to Ezekiel's Temple

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1. No wall of partition to exclude Gentiles (compare Ephesians 2:14)

(Gentiles were previously welcome in the Outer Courts,
but excluded from the inner courts on pain of death).
2. No Court of Women (compare Galatians 3:28 (Outer Court and Inner Court only)
No Laver (see Ezekiel 36:24-27, John 15:3)
No Table of Shewbread (see Micah 5:4, John 6:35)
No Lampstand or Menorah (see Isaiah 49:6, John 8:12)
No Golden Altar of Incense (Zechariah 8:20-23, John 14:6)
No Veil (Isaiah 25:6-8, Matthew 27:51)
No Ark of the Covenant (Jeremiah 3:16, John 10:30-33)
Major Changes to the Altar:
(Altar approached by a ramp from the East. Previous altars all approached from the
South. Stairs to the altar, not a ramp as previously. The top of the ark now described
by the Hebrew word "ariel" [Isaiah 29:1] meaning "hearth of God" or "lion of God."
[Rev. 5:5]). (Ref. 3)
If the previous temples as well as the Tabernacle of Moses are pictures for us of man as the
dwelling place of God, then Ezekiel's temple may be intended to teach us about the
marvelously new resurrection bodies waiting for every believer when he leaves this present
life (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).
Believing saints from the Old Testament epoch, saints from the Christian era, and all those
raised from the dead at the rapture and at the second coming of Christ in glory receive new
resurrection bodies, like that of Jesus, as detailed in 1 Corinthians 15. Yet, after the Battle of
Armageddon, Jesus will gather all the survivors of the nations outside Jerusalem and
determine which individual sons and daughters of Adam are worthy to enter the Millennial
Kingdom on earth. This is the famous judgment of the sheep and the goats described by our
Lord in Matthew 25:31-46, and also given by the prophet Joel:

"For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and
Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of
Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people
and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations, and have
divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a
harlot, and have sold a girl for wine, and have drunk it. "What are you to me, O Tyre
and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If
you are paying me back, I will requite your deed upon your own head swiftly and
speedily. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich
treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the
Greeks, removing them far from their own border. But now I will stir them up from
the place to which you have sold them, and I will requite your deed upon your own
head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and

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they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off; for the LORD has spoken."
Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war, stir up the mighty men. Let all the men
of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your
pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior."

Hasten and come, all you nations round about, gather yourselves there. Bring down
thy warriors, O LORD. Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of
Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the nations round about. Put in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for
their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day
of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and
the stars withdraw their shining. And the LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice
from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the LORD is a refuge to his
people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. "So you shall know that I am the LORD
your God, who dwell in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy and
strangers shall never again pass through it. "And in that day the mountains shall drip
sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall
flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and
water the valley of Shittim. "Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate
wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed
innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all
generations. I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty, for the LORD
dwells in Zion." (Joel 3)

The criterion for judgment at this time will be how individuals Gentiles have treated the Jews,
especially believing Jews who constitute "true Israel." The "Sheep" category clearly
represents those righteous gentiles whose hearts are right before the Lord, that is they are all
regenerated men and women, but individuals who have not previously received their
resurrection bodies. They will repopulate the earth, according to Christian belief, during the
thousand year reign of Messiah under greatly improved living conditions:
"But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a
rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; no more
shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the child
shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall
build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not
build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall
the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall
not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of
the LORD, and their children with them. Before they call I will answer, while they are yet
speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the
ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy
mountain, says the LORD." (Isaiah 65:18-25)
During this thousand year reign of Yeshua over a restored earth, with Satan locked away in
the abyss (Rev. 20:2), sinners will be born on the earth and will need to be instructed in
matters of God's grace and mercy. For this reason most commentators on Ezekiel believe that
the Fourth Temple will be Memorial in nature, looking back in time to the cross of Jesus
Christ, just as the Tabernacle and First and Second Temples pointed ahead in time to the cross.

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The prescribed worship services of Ezekiel's temple are also described for us in great detail by
the prophet. The priests presiding over the temple services will be of the line of Zadok (44:15)
who proved faithful after the failure of the Levitical priests in the line of Eli (1 Samuel 2:35, 1
Kings 2:26-27, 35).

Approximate Distribution of Land to the Twelve Tribes during Messiah's Coming Reign
In addition to the physical differences in Ezekiel's Temple a number of changes are made in
the annual cycle of Jewish feasts. It is very clearly that the Millennial Temple sacrifices are
definitely not a re-instatement of the Mosaic system, (see Ref. 4).
Another feature of the Millennial Temple is the presence of a great stream of fresh water
which issues from beneath the Southern wall of the Temple. Ezekiel describes this river,
which divides into two branches and flows Westward into the Mediterranean Sea and also
Eastward into the Northern end of the Dead Sea, freshening all the land South of Jericho,
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below
the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was
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flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.
Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer
gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. Going on
eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me
through the water; and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through
the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the
water; and it was up to the loins. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could
not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not
be passed through.
And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back along the bank of
the river. As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and
on the other. And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down
into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become
fresh. And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there
will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh;
so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from Engedi
to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many kinds,
like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to
be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees
for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every
month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and
their leaves for healing." (47:1-12)
This same stream of water seems to be identical to that described in Zechariah 14:8 and Joel
3:18. If so then the site of the Fourth Temple would seem to be on or near the present Temple
Mount in Jerusalem. If this is so, then the city of Jerusalem will evidently be rebuilt to the
South since the temple holy district is specified in Ezekiel 48 as North of the rebuilt city of
Jerusalem. Some commentators have suggested that the Millennial Temple will be located at
Shiloh, 31 kilometers to the North of present day Jerusalem.
A second reason for believing that the site of Ezekiel's Temple may be near the present
Temple Mount is found in Ezekiel's description of the return of the Lord to dwell forever with
His people Israel. The Lord says the people will no longer defile the temple site with the dead
bodies of their kings. Since there are so many cemeteries on and around the Temple Mount
this would require a special ritual cleansing of the entire area (described by Ezekiel), and of
course the relocation of the rebuilt City to the South of the Temple district as we have already
noted:
Afterward he (the angel of the Lord brought me (Ezekiel) to the gate, the gate facing east. And
behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was
like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision I saw was
like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision which I
had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. As the glory of the LORD entered the
temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court;
and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I
heard one speaking to me out of the temple; and he said to me, "Son of man, this is the place
of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the
people of Israel for ever.

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And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by
their harlotry, and by the dead bodies of their kings, by setting their threshold by my threshold
and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have
defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed, so I have consumed
them in my anger. Now let them put away their idolatry and the dead bodies of their kings far
from me, and I will dwell in their midst for ever. "And you, son of man, describe to the house
of Israel the temple and its appearance and plan, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities.
And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, portray the temple, its arrangement, its
exits and its entrances, and its whole form; and make known to them all its ordinances and all
its laws; and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe and perform all its laws and
all its ordinances. This is the law of the temple: the whole territory round about upon the top
of the mountain shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. (Ezekiel 43:1-12)
Jerusalem, the rebuilt city on earth during the New Jerusalem should not be confused with the
heavenly city known as "New Jerusalem," referred to in the New Testament, (Hebrews 11:16,
12: 18-29, Revelation 21-22) which seems to take the form of a great orbiting or stationary
satellite above the earth. This vast city whose dimensions are of the order of 1500 miles on a
side, may be connected to the millennial temple by a space-time gate way. The New
Jerusalem does not include a temple (Revelation 21:22, 23) - "The Lord God, the Almighty
and the Lamb, are its temple."
During the millennial kingdom sin will continue to exist on the earth, but all forms of
defilement and sin are clearly excluded from the New Jerusalem, and guarded against by the
complex rituals proscribed for the Temple of Ezekiel on the earth.
Although we are given much information in the Bible on Tabernacle and Temples, the
principal Biblical emphasis is not on buildings but on men and their character, scripture does
not negate the use of shadows and symbols.
"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house
which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest. All these things my hand has
made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I look, he
that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."' (Isaiah 66:1, 2)

Diagrams of Ezekiel's Temple from Reference 1

Other Relevant Diagrams

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152

153

References
1. Ezekiel, by Ralph Alexander, Moody Press, Chicago, 1976.
2. Ezekiel, by John B. Taylor, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Intervarsity Press,
Downers Grove, Illinois, 60515, 1969.
3. John W. Schmitt, Messianic Temple Ministries, 5812 NE Alton, Portland, OR 97213.John
Schmitt was a speaker at one of our conferences on the Temple Mount several years ago in
Jerusalem. He spoke at that session on Ezekiel's Temple. He is from Portland and had built
several models of Ezekiel temple and for some years was presenting his model at churches in
his area. I (LTD) have known John many years and encouraged him, when we first got
acquainted, to travel to Israel and I urged him to write a book. He is the only one I know who
writes these days on Ezekiel's yet-to-be-built temple, so his research is much needed. At last
John's book is out and is one you will want in your library: Messiah's Coming Temple:
Ezekiel's Prophetic Vision of the Future Temple by John W. Schmitt and J. Carl Laney Kregel
Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 1997. 188 pages, paperback, about $11.00. See also The
Millennial Temple, by Paul Jablonowski
4. Israelology: The Missing Link in Systemic Theology, by Arnold G. Fruchenbaum, Ariel
Ministries Press, Box 3723, Tustin, CA 92681, 1992.
4. A correspondent has noted that Ezekiel's cubit was not the normal 18 inch cubit, but a long
cubit, 20.679 (or 21) inches. The reed in Ezekiel was 6 long cubits in length.

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THE TREASURES OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD

by Lambert Dolphin

Many people in the world today are unaware of the splendor and wealth of ancient Israel. In
fact, since the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, Israel has been scattered among the
nations in lowliness and obscurity. Only in our own generation (since 1948) has this ancient
people been re-established as a modest nation occupying her ancestral lands. Renewed and
expanded archaeological studies in the holy land are, however, calling attention to the
dramatic history of these, Abraham's descendants through his son Isaac, today as never before.
The purpose of this essay is to describe briefly the wealth of ancient Israel associated with the
mystery of the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the temples built in Jerusalem. Because the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem contains many subterranean chambers now filled with debris,
archaeologists and Bible students have asked if it is possible that temple treasures may have
been hidden beneath the rock prior to the times of invasion and destruction of Jerusalem by
foreign invaders. The principle reference on this subject is the Bible since few other historical
records or trustworthy traditional accounts remain.
Although the exact date of the Jewish exodus from Egypt is still in dispute, the books of
Exodus and Numbers indicate that approximately 600,000 able-bodied men over age 20 (plus
women and children) made the 40-year journey from the Nile Delta, then finally up the East
side of the Jordan. During their wilderness wanderings the people of Israel received the Ten
Commandments and detailed laws, regulations and instructions delivered to Moses on Mount
Sinai. Moses was also instructed to construct a large portable tabernacle, or tent, entrusted to
the care of the priests of Aaron. A detailed description of this tabernacle is given in Exodus
25-30. The Tabernacle was built by free-will offerings donated by the people in such generous
amounts that more than enough materials were available.
The materials assembled for the tabernacle are described in detail in Exodus 35-38 and
summarized in Exodus 38:21-30. The total quantity of gold collected was approximately one
ton; of silver, 3-3/4 tons; and of bronze, 2-1/2 tons. At today's prices gold is approximately
$500 per troy ounce, or $6000 per pound, or $12,000,000 per ton. Silver currently is priced
around $12 per troy ounce, or $144 per pound, which is $288,000 per ton. Hence, the gold
and silver used in the Tabernacle of Moses would be worth over $13 million today. Exodus
12:35 states that the Jews were given gold, silver, and ornaments by the Egyptians at the time
of the departure from Egypt. The golden lampstand in the tabernacle weighed a talent and
would today be worth a half million dollars for its gold alone. A replica of this menorah is
now being crafted at the Temple Institute in Jerusalem.
The Old Testament gives some details about the movement of the tabernacle, Ark, and holy
vessels after the conquest (Ref 1). The Ark of Covenant was located at Shiloh for many years
presumably in a house, tent, or temple constructed for it there (Judges 18:31, I Samuel 1:39,
3:3; Judges 21:19). At some later period the Ark was moved to Bethel on the Benjamite
border during the war with Gibeah (Judges 20:26-27). The Ark was then held by the
Philistines for seven months. After being recaptured it was located for 20 years at Kiriath155

jearim. King Saul generally neglected the Ark (I Chronicles 13:3) but David brought it to
Jerusalem about 1003 BC (II Samuel 6; I Chronicles 13:15). The Ark was given temporary
shelter in Jerusalem before being installed in the first temple built by King David's son, the
illustrious Solomon. Despite a temporary removal by apostate king Manasseh, (II Chronicles
33:7; 35:3), the Ark is thought by many to have remained in the holy of holies of the first
temple until the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B. C. by Nebuchadnezzar. The post-exilic
temple apparently contained no Ark, according to Josephus (The Wars of the Jews, Book
Five).
The apocryphal book of II Maccabees (2:1-8) says that the prophet Jeremiah hid the Ark and
the golden altar of incense in a cave on Mt. Nebo before the Babylonian exile. Jeremiah was
taken to Tahpanhes in Egypt by a remnant of the Jews after the fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah
42:1-43:7) , so it is conceivable that he secured the Ark in a cave on the way. Others say it is
more likely that the Ark would be hidden under the Temple Mount or elsewhere in Jerusalem
than on Mt. Nebo, which is about 40 miles East of Jerusalem. Perhaps the Ark perished in the
flames when the temple was sacked and burned. Controversy over the fate of the Ark has been
renewed in our time (Ref. 2).
It is known that most or all of the holy vessels of gold and silver from the tabernacle were
with the Ark when it was brought from the city of David to the first temple by Solomon (I
Kings 8:4). Although David desired to build a permanent house of God in Jerusalem, his son
Solomon built the first temple. The plans were those of David, and David amassed the
materials (I Chronicles 28:1-19; II Chronicles 2-4; I Kings 6-7). These materials included
100,000 talents (Ref. 3) of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver, (I Chron. 29). From his own
private fortune David also gave 3,000 talents of gold and 7,000 talents of high grade silver.
This is an enormous quantity of gold and silver by any standard: 100,000 talents of gold =
3750 tons, value today = $45 billion; 1,000,000 talents of silver = 37,500 tons, value today =
$10.8 billion. In round numbers, the wealth of the first temple was about $56 billion.
In addition to all the gold and silver, great quantities of bronze, cedar, iron, and precious
stones were contributed. The most holy place of Solomon's temple was lined with cedar from
Lebanon and covered with 600 talents of gold. This gold plating alone, about 540,000 troy
ounces, would be worth about $270 million today. The doors of the temple were also covered
with gold plates. During this period of Israel's history, Solomon's income was 666 talents of
gold per annum or about 600,000 troy ounces, worth $300 million today. During the reign of
Solomon "silver was as common as stone" in Jerusalem, (I Kings 10:27). Solomon made 200
massive shields each 300 shekels in weight to hang on the walls of his palace. His ivory
throne was overlaid with gold. "So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches
and wisdom" (II Kings 10:23). The splendor of Solomon's kingdom brought him recognition
and fame that attracted much foreign attention. For example, during her visit "to test Solomon
with hard questions" the Queen of Sheba brought Solomon 120 talents of gold, ($54,000,000),
"and a very great store of spices and precious stones," (I Kings 10; II Chronicles 9).
In their commentary on the Old Testament Keil and Delitzsch call attention to the large
quantities of gold and silver taken in Asia by Alexander the Great: 2,600 talents of gold and
600 talents of silver from Damascus, 50,000 talents of gold and 40,000 talents of uncoined
gold and silver from Susa and from Persepolis 120,000 talents of gold. (The ruins of
Persepolis are located just north of Shiraz in Iran). Thus, though the quantities are very high
they are not unreasonable compared to the wealth of other surrounding ancient kingdoms.

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A cube of gold weighing 3750 tons would measure about 6 meters (19.68 ft) on a side, and
37,500 tons of silver in a single cube would be about 16 meters (52.48 ft) on a side. The total
amount of gold mined and stockpiled in the entire world up to the present time totals about
88,000 tons (Ref. 4). If this gold were collected together its volume would be that of a cube
16.5 m (54 feet) on a side. It is estimated that only about 40,000 tons of gold remains in the
earth yet to be mined. South Africa's gold production today is about 950 tons per annum. The
Soviet Union produces about 550 tons, Canada 70 tons, and the United States about 40 tons.
The total world production of gold is about 1,850 tons annually.
The temple of Solomon required 7-1/2 years to construct and the efforts of about 180,000
laborers, (I Kings 7:13, 5:6, 13, 14; II Chronicles 2:17-18). Great quantities of local stone and
imported cedar wood were used. The wealth of the first temple was immediately plundered
after the death of Solomon. During the reign of Solomon's son Rehoboam, Shishak
(Sheshonk), King of Egypt, raided Jerusalem about 925 BC and "took away treasures of the
house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house; he took away everything. He also took
away the shields of gold (500 in number, worth about $36 million) which Solomon had
made..." (II Chronicles 12:1-12). According to Second Chronicles 12, Shishak's army
numbered 60,000 horsemen and 1200 chariots. If each man carried back 100 pounds of booty,
this is only 3000 tons total of gold and silver. However, the people that were with him were
"without number," the "Lubim, the Sukkim, and the Ethiopians." These people may also have
carried off much gold and silver. It seems reasonable that some gold and silver remained in
the temple after Shishak's raids. Probably gold would have been taken in preference to silver.
After Solomon's death the kingdom of Israel continued to deteriorate in strength except for
occasional revivals, until the time of the Babylonian captivity in 586 BC During the revivals
of Joash, (II Chronicles 24), and Josiah, (II Kings 22), generous contributions were made by
the citizenry for repairs and refurbishing of the temple. Except for these revivals much of the
wealth of the temple appears to have been confiscated to pay national expenses and tributes to
threatening foreign powers. Asa depleted the temple treasures by sending "all" that was left of
the silver and gold to Ben-hadad, king of Syria, to buy his help against Baasha, king of Israel
(I Kings 15:18, 19).
A new plundering took place during the reign of Ahaziah when Jehoash, king of Israel carried
off to Samaria "all" the gold and silver in the temple and the palace, (II Kings 14:14). Ahaz
went even further than any of his predecessors in sacrilege, for, besides robbing the temple
and palace of their treasures to secure the aid of the king of Assyria, he removed the brazen
altar from its time-honored site, and also the bases and ornaments of the lavers, and the oxen
from under the bronze sea (II Kings 16:10-17).
Hezekiah paid tribute to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of
gold, "and Hezekiah gave him 'all' the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in
the treasures of the king's house. At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the
temple of the Lord and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and
gave it to the king of Assyria," (II Kings 18:13-16). Later Hezekiah foolishly received the
emissaries of the king of Babylon and showed them his remaining state treasures:
"Hezekiah...showed them all the house of the precious things, the silver and the gold and the
spices, and the precious ointment and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his
treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his domain that Hezekiah did not show
them," (II Kings 20:12-13). The wealth of the temple at the time of Hezekiah was evidently
more than enough to incite the covetousness of the king of Babylon so that he hastened to

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capture Jerusalem after his emissaries brought him the news of the great wealth there.
The fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC was accompanied by terrible destruction and much loss of
life. "And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house
of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his friends, all these he (Nebuchadnezzar)
brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of
Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels," (II
Chronicles 36:18,19). A parallel account in II Kings 25 describes the seized vessels of the
house of the Lord as including pots, snuffers, dishes for incense, firepans, bowls, etc. It is
possible that some of the wealth of the temple and some of the treasures of the king's house
was hidden under the temple mount though this is mostly speculation. If anything was hidden
it would most likely have been the Ark of the Covenant which was of great sacred
importance. The Scripture suggests that everything of value was carried off to Babylon.
During the captivity some of the stolen sacred gold and silver vessels from Jerusalem's temple
were used by Belshazzar on the night of his infamous feast when handwriting appeared on the
wall of his palace indicating that judgment from God had fallen upon him, (Daniel 5). At the
end of the 70-year captivity in Babylon the returning Jews were allowed to carry back at least
some of these gold and silver sacred objects to Jerusalem, (Ezra 1:5-10). The list of returned
items included 1000 basins of gold, 1000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 2410
bowls of silver, and other vessels of gold and silver totaling 5,469 in number.
The total number of Jews returning from this captivity was 42,360, plus 7,337 servants and
200 singers. There were 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6720 asses in their convoy,
(Ezra 2:64-67). The returning exiles set about rebuilding the temple and the walls. The second
temple was modest compared to that of Solomon and was completed in 515 BC Details are
given in the Books of Nehemiah and Ezra. Nevertheless, the second temple contained
significant quantities of gold and silver which appears to have generally increased during the
life of the temple.
Historically, the next records come to us from the time of the Maccabees. An account of the
plundering of the temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 170 BC, is given in 1 Maccabees
1:20ff and also was described by Josephus. At that time the temple contained at least an altar
of incense made of gold, the table of shewbread, the lampstands, many cups, bowls, and
incense holders, crowns and gold plating at the wall where the cherubim had been in days of
old. Antiochus also took the "hidden treasures" of the temple site. In three days' time he
murdered 40,000 Jews and led an equal number as captives. He then desecrated the temple by
sacrificing a pig on the altar.
The total wealth of the Second Temple was always small compared to the greatness of the
First Temple though there were many changes made during the 400 years following the
closing of the canon of the Old Testament. The Roman ruler Herod decided to completely
rebuild and enlarge the Second Temple beginning in his 18th year of reign (c20 BC). Herod
employed 10,000 workmen and 1,000 wagons. The size of the temple area was increased from
17 to 34 acres by excavations in the north and by the building of great retaining walls rising
450 ft from the Kidron Valley in the southeast. Within this area, now measuring 351 yards on
the north side, 512 on the east, 536 on the west, and 309 on the south, rose the temple with its
Corinthian columns of bronze, its different courts and gates and gleaming, spacious cloisters.
The buildings and walls we built were extensive and massive. It was in this enlarged Second
Temple built by Herod that Jesus was dedicated, and where he later taught and cast out the
money-changers on two separate occasions.

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The second temple treasury did benefit from a great influx of gold and silver from all lands
contributed by worshippers. Cicero wrote of great influxes of gold to Jerusalem during his
lifetime. Gifts other than gold or silver coins were sold and their value given to the treasury.
Another large source of revenue was profit made from the sale of the meat offerings which
were prepared by the Levites and sold every day to the offerers. By far the largest sum was
probably derived from the half-shekel of temple tribute which was required of every male
Israelite of age, including proselytes and slaves. The total sum of gold and silver contributed
annually at the time of Jesus has been estimated to have been of the order of $500,000 per
year. A large fraction of this wealth no doubt accumulated year after year over the lifetime of
the second temple, (515 B. C. to 70 A. D.). There were numerous temple expenses but the
evidence suggests that the bulk of the income was stored up year after year.
Thus, the Roman plunder could well have been worth tens of millions of dollars. The
pillaging of the temple, its total destruction and the burning of Jerusalem with terrible
suffering and loss of life occurred in 70 AD under the Roman General Titus (Josephus, Wars
of the Jews). Tradition has it that the intense flames of the temple fire melted the gold and
silver of the temple so that it ran between the cracks of the rocks. Roman soldiers then totally
dismantled the temple stone by stone to extract the gold, (see Matthew 24:1-2). No one seems
to know with certainty if any of the vessels or sacred objects from Herod's temple were
hidden in subterranean passageways during the long siege of Titus. Most everything of value
was most likely carried off to Rome.
The overall impression from all the biblical accounts and from tradition is that the various
plunderings of Jerusalem's temples were always thorough and total. While no gold or silver
may be buried underneath the temple mount, objects of priceless archaeological, historical,
and religious significance may lie there. Jeremiah the prophet may have suggested that the
Ark, however, has been permanently lost, (Jeremiah 3:16), or at least that it will cease to be of
great significance when Messiah comes.
The Old Testament tells of the yet future restoration of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem when
Messiah comes, and a still greater future glory for Israel than that attained during the times of
David and Solomon, (Micah 4:1-4; Zechariah 8; Zephaniah 3:14-20). The tombs of some of
the major kings of Israel may yet be found in the City of David adjacent to the temple mount
now being excavated by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. An interesting reference to these
royal tombs is found in Ezekiel, Chapter 43. Of course, the historical, cultural, and religious
significance of any new archaeological finds in and around Jerusalem cannot be measured in
terms of gold or silver.
NOTES:
1. A map of the movements of the Ark during this time period is given in the Encyclopedia
Judaica, 1972 Edition.
2. Other traditions concerning the fate of the Ark are listed in the Encyclopedia Judaica, 1972
Edition. One interesting legend claims that the Ark was taken by the Queen of Sheba to
Ethiopia where it is supposed to have remained to this day in a church in Aksum. This legend
has recently been researched and reported in great detail by Graham Hancock in his intriguing

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book The Sign and the Seal, Crown Books, New York 1992.
3. The talent varied between 28.8 and 30.27 kg, which is 66 to 75 lbs. The shekel was 11.23
gms or 0.403 ounces. In this paper I have taken one talent to be 75 pounds and 12 troy ounces
equal to one pound. The ton I have used is the ordinary English ton, 2000 lbs.
4. Worth $1.056 trillion.
REFERENCES:
1. Mazar, Benjamin, The Mountain of the Lord, Doubleday Publishing, New York (1975).
2. Yadin, Yigael, Jerusalem Revealed, Yale University Press, London (1976).
3. Kenyon, Kathleen M., Digging Up Jerusalem, London (1974).
3. Landay, Jerry M., Silent Cities, Sacred Stones, McCall Books, New York (1971).
4. Keil, C. F., and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. III, Eerdmans
Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, reprinted October 1978.
6. Ironside, H. A., The Four Hundred Silent Years, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey,
(1914).
7. Herzog, Chaim and Gichon, Mordechai, Battles of the Bible, Random House, New York,
(1978).
8. Gulston, Charles, Jerusalem, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, Michigan, (1978).
8. Edersheim, Alfred, The Temple, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, (
1979).
9. Landay, Jerry M., Dome of the Rock, Newsweek Publishing, New York (1972).

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Visiting The Temple Mount

by Lambert Dolphin
Walk about Zion,
go round about her,
number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels;
that you may tell the next generation that this is God,
our God for ever and ever.
He will be our guide for ever.
(Psalm 48:12-14)

The Old City and the Temple Mount

Today a visitor can enter the Old City of Jerusalem by one of seven gates. Some gates were
named by location. The Jaffa Gate faces West towards Tel Aviv and Joppa. The Damascus
Gate is in the North wall where a traveler would enter if he had come from Galilee, the Golan
Heights and Damascus. The Zion Gate is, logically, on Mt. Zion near the traditional Tomb of
David and site of the Upper Room of the Last Supper. The Dung Gate faces South towards the
Hinnom Valley where refuse from the city was dumped in former times into the Hinnom
Valley. The Sheep Gate (or, St. Stephen's Gate, or Lion's Gate) is next to the sheep market,
and so on.
The present walls around the Old City were built from 1537 to 1541 by Sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent after the Ottoman conquest of Israel. At that time most of the ancient walls were
reduced to rubble. Suleiman ordered that Jerusalem be fortified to protect its people against
marauding Bedouins.
The walls were rebuilt upon the foundations of the walls constructed during the time of the
Second Temple and the later Roman expansion. For the most part, the modern gates of the city
are not closely related to the walls and gates that existence in Roman times or earlier. There is
some debate about the correct location of some of the ancient gates and walls. However
visitors to the recently restored Jewish Quarter in the Old City can see an uncovered section
of the wall built by Nehemiah at the time of the return from the Babylonian exile.
The Old City retains its charm and fascination to this days. Narrow crowded shops and the
Oriental bazaar with its many markets offer endless adventure for visitors and pilgrims. It is
hard to escape the feeling that one has stepped in the timeless, changeless past. Each quarter
of the Old City brings an immediate shift in architecture and shops, in passers-by and
inhabitants alike.
The Temple Mount is conspicuous whether viewed from the Mount of Olives, or from the

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Lutheran church tower across from the Holy Sepulchre, or from the Citadel Museum roof.
Normally tranquil and peaceful with its park like setting, one would hardly guess that this
small parcel of land - less than 50 acres - is the center of the world and the hottest piece of
real estate anywhere on earth. Biblically speaking, it's most exciting history lies yet ahead.
The Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is the most important and most impressive gate in Jerusalem, and the only
visible entrance to the city of Jerusalem from the East. This oldest of all the gates to the city
was the only one not rebuilt by Suleiman the Magnificent in AD 1539-42. Monolithic stones
in the wall just above ground have been identified as 6th Century BC masonry from the time
of Nehemiah, (Biblical Archaeological Review [BAR], Mar/Apr 1992, p40).
The Golden Gate was walled up by the Arabs in the year 810. It has remained closed now for
nearly 12 centuries.

The Muslim name of the gate is Bab al-Dhahabi. It is a now-closed double gate. The North
portal is known as Bab al-Tawba, the Gate of Repentance, and the Southern Portal, Bab alRahma, the Gate of Mercy.
The ancient Eastern gate to Jerusalem could be the one mentioned as the "Beautiful Gate" in
Acts 3:2,10. The term Golden Gate may have been derived from the Latin Vulgate version of
the Bible:

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"In the earliest Greek New Testament, the word for 'beautiful' is oraia. When Jerome
translated the New Testament into Latin in the 4th Century he changed the Greek oraia into
the similar sounding Latin aurea, rather than to the Latin word for 'beautiful.' So the Latin
Vulgate text read 'Golden Gate' instead of 'Beautiful Gate.'" (BAR, Jan/Feb 1983, p.27).
The Golden Gate has long interested many Muslims, most Jews and Christians as the place of
the Last Judgment. Historically, judgments were rendered in the gates of the city (Gen. 19:1,
23:10, for instance). Since the Messiah was to come from the East (Matthew 24:27), it was
concluded that his judgment would be at the eastern gate. This is one reason for the many
Muslim, Christian, and Jewish graves on the Eastern slopes of the Temple Mount, in the
Kidron Valley, and on the Western slopes of the Mount of Olives
Some Muslims place Allah's final judgment at this location also. Jews link the Messiah's
arrival with this gate and Christians have for centuries associated the Golden Gate with Palm
Sunday and also with the Second Advent (Luke 19:35-38).
Jews expect the Messiah to come through the Golden Gate, Muslims also expect Jesus to
return to our world at the end of the age to participate in the final judgment. Christians believe
it will be Jesus Christ who will conduct that final judgment. Zechariah 14:4-5 clearly states
that the Messiah of Israel will return to Jerusalem from the summit of the Mount of Olives
and then surely proceed into Jerusalem from the East, in the direction of the Golden Gate.
Muslims compare the final judgment of mankind to the crossing of a narrow knife blade
which stretches from a mountain (the Mount of Olives is often mentioned in Arab legend) to
the "gate of heaven." This knife-edged bridge evidently spans the Kidron Valley - as did an
ancient stone bridge in Roman times.
Because of the Messianic association with the Golden Gate - which clearly symbolizes both
judgment and mercy because of the Arabic names attached to the gate - adherents to all three
faiths have wanted to be buried as close as possible to the Golden Gate. The assumption was
that the dead in the immediate vicinity would be the first to be raised. In the Middle Ages the
Jews were forbidden to bury on Mount Moriah. Instead they buried their dead opposite the
gate and to the South on the Mount of Olives. This Jewish cemetery is the oldest in
continuous use anywhere in the world. A burial plot, it is said, if it were available there, could
cost $50,000 or more. The Christian cemetery lies in the bottom of the Kidron Valley (in sad
condition) while the Muslim burial area covers the eastern Temple Mount hillside up to and
surrounding the Golden Gate.
At the end of the First Temple period the eastern gate was closed (see Ezekiel XLIV, I. "Then
he brought me back the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which looketh toward the east;
and it was shut.")During the Second Temple period this was the site of the Shushan Gate,
mentioned in the Mishnah (Middot 1, 3), or the Eastern Gate (Nehemiah III, 29). A causeway
supported by arches ran from the gate across the Kidron Valley, and was known as the
Causeway of the Heifer, since the High Priest used this way to reach the Mount of Olives
where the ritual burning of the Red Heifer took place, to purify the pilgrims with its ashes
(Parah 111, 6; Shekalim IV, 2).
The Mercy Gate, 257 m north of the south-eastern corner of the Temple Mount, is the most
beautiful of all the gates of Jerusalem. It is approached from within the Temple Mount by
twenty-two stairs, which lead into a magnificent entrance, decorated with unusually intricate

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carvings of acanthus leaves, which appear to be moving. The gateroom is a hall with six
domes supported by huge marble pillars. On the east side of the hall are two gateways, now
blocked up, beautifully decorated on the outside.
The New Testament (Acts IlI 2) calls this the Beautiful Gate; it may therefore be assumed to
have existed during the period of Aelia Capitolina. However, its present beauty was not
attained until the reign of Justinian, in honour of the Christian tradition which fixes this as the
site of Jesus' entry to the Temple courtyard. The gate was probably open during the Byzantine
period, and the Emperor Heraclius entered through it after taking Jerusalem in 629. After the
Muslim Conquest, when the Dome of the Rock and the EI-Aksa Mosque were built, it was
blocked to prevent unsupervised access to the mosque area.
AI-Muqaddasi (985) mentions two arches to this gate, the southern one called Bab e-Rahma
(Gate of Mercy) and the northern one Bab e-Tauba (Gate of Repentance); both were closed.
The double gate is also mentioned by Nasir i-Khosrau (1047) and Mujir e-Din (1496). Shams
e-Din e-Suyuti, who visited Jerusalem in 1470, ascribes a reference in the Koran (LVII, v3) to
this gate: "Then there will separate them a wall wherein is a gate, the inner side whereof
containeth mercy, while the outer side thereof is toward the doom." According to this verse
the inner gate, containing mercy, is Bab e-Rahma, while the outer one is Bab e-Tauba,
indicating the punishment in Gehenna. The Kidron Valley is known in Arabic, among other
names, as Wadi Jehennum (Valley of Gehenna) implying punishment and torture. The gate is
also known in Arabic as Bab el-Dahariyeh (Gate of Eternity), recalling the visions of Joel (IV,
2 and 12), or the Twin Gate, because of its shape, which can be seen quite clearly from the
Mount of Olives. In the time of the Crusaders it was opened twice a year on Christian
festivals: once in the spring, on Palm Sunday, recalling Jesus' triumphal entry to the city
through this gate (St. Matthew XXI, 1-8); and once in the autumn, to commemorate the entry
of the Emperor Heraclius. The gate was finally closed under Turkish rule.
Charles Warren examined the gate in 1867-69 and found a wall descending 13 m below the
level of the gate, the wall of the Temple Mount at this point is thus 20 m high. 80 m further
north Warren found the base of the wall at a depth of 40 m. Schick cleaned the gate in 1891. It
is to be hoped that this magnificent gate will again served its original purpose, making
possible pilgrimages to the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives. (Menashe Har-El, This
is Jerusalem, Canaan Publishing House, PO Box 7645, Jerusalem 1977)
The pillars of the Golden Gate are said to be a gift of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon
according to one ancient legend, but these would not be part of the present gate above the
surface of the ground which is too recent.
Some scholars have noted that the double gates of repentance and mercy contrast not only
Law and Grace but are reminders of the two bronze pillars, Jachin, "in his counsel" and Boaz,
"by his strength" which stood in the front of the First Temple. James 2:13 notes that God is
just, but that his mercy "triumphs" over judgment. According to James, although God is just
and must judge the world with equity and impartiality, the mercy of God is a greater and
higher attribute of the God of the Bible. He is ready to forgive all who seek him, and his
mercy abounds.
Penitents to the Temple entering the courts through the Northern Gate of Repentance in
Temple Times could seek the forgiveness of the living God by sacrifice and petition in the
Temple, and leave by the Southern Gate having obtained mercy and grace. The Golden Gate

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is thus a wonderful reminder of the unchanging character of God.

The interior corridors of the Golden Gate are exceptionally beautiful and well-built according
to published reports. Sadly, visitors to the Temple Mount today are not allowed to inspect the
interior of the Golden Gate. Nor can tourists walk through the Muslim cemetery along the
Eastern Wall to inspect the exterior of the gate. One can only hope that this gate can be
reopened in the near future and fully restored for access to the Temple site by all nations.
Thus says the LORD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who
holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any
evil." Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely
separate me from his people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus
says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please
me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a
name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be
cut off. "And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the
name of the LORD, and to be his servants, every one who keeps the sabbath, and does not
profane it, and holds fast my covenant - these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make
them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted
on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. (Isaiah 56:1-7)
In the year 1969 Jerusalem archaeologist James Fleming was investigating the Eastern wall of
the Temple where a Muslim cemetery has long been located. It had rained heavily the night
before and the ground remained soggy the next day. As he investigated the area immedaiately
in front of the Golden Gate, the ground beneath his feet gave way and he dropped into a hole
about eight feet deep. Fleming found himself "knee-deep in bones" and became suddenly
aware he had fallen into a mass burial site. To him, the most amazing aspect of this incident
was his clear view of five large wedge-shaped stones set into a massive arch. It appeared he
had discovered an ancient gate under the present Golden Gate:
"Then I noticed with astonishment that on the eastern face of the turret wall, directly beneath
the Golden Gate itself, were five wedge-shaped stones neatly set in a massive arch spanning
the turret wall. Here were the remains of an earlier gate to Jerusalem, below the Golden Gate,
one that apparently had never been fully documented." (BAR, Jan./Feb. 1983, p30)
Very soon after this discovery the Muslims covered the chamber, cemented over the top, and
surrounded the mass grave with a protective iron fence. Sadly, this means it is unlikely that
Israeli archaeologists will be able to excavate the gate under the Golden Gate in the near
future. In contrast visitors to the Damascus Gate are now able to visit an ancient, restored old
Roman gate beneath the present Damascus Gate (the present upper Damascus Gate was
reconstructed in 1537-38).
Josephus states (Wars V, 184-189) that the Eastern temple enclosure wall was the only one not
rebuilt by Herod the Great. The ancient gate beneath the Golden Gate may therefore date from
Solomonic times or at least from the time of Nehemiah. Such a view of consistent with Asher
Kaufman's view that the First and Second Temples were located 110 meters North of the
Dome of the Rock in the immediate vicinity of the small Dome of the Tablets shrine on the
main temple platform.

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"Moreover, it now seems clear that before the Golden Gate was constructed, the entrance to
the Temple Mount from outside the city was in exactly the same location. Recently, part of an
arch was discovered directly beneath the Golden Gate. This partial arch definitely belongs to
an older gate, a gate that many date even to Solomonic times." (Asher Kaufman, BAR,
March/April 1983, p. 45).
The mid-point of the Golden Gate is 348 feet North of the East-West centerline of the Dome
of the Rock allowing a straight-line access into the temple courts from the East assuming
Kaufman's theory is correct. Kaufman's model for the location of the First and Second
Temples lines up the Temples, the Golden Gate and the Red Heifer Altar on the Mount of
Olives. Kaufman's location for the site of the Red Heifer offering is a small walled garden
owned by the Armenian Church. It is located just across the summit road from the Muslim
Mosque of the Ascension which is a traditional location for the place of the Ascension of
Jesus Christ into heaven. Kaufman believes the Red Heifer altar site would have been
sanctified ground made holy by a system of underground arches beneath the garden designed
to prevent any defilement from dead bodies from seeping upwards to the sanctified ground.
There are locked cisterns in the garden which could be explored to test Kaufman's hypothesis.
Our scientific team sought to obtain the necessary permission to explore the garden cisterns
from the Armenian Patriarch in our science and archaeology work in Israel in 1983, however
it was not granted to us at that time.
Rubble and earth, and the Muslim cemetery, extend high up on the Eastern Wall of the Temple
Mount. Thus very little is known about the lower portions of this wall below the present
ground level.
Ezekiel 43:1-9 supports the Jewish tradition that the entire Temple Mount as well as the
Temple itself is set aside in a special way for the service of the Holy One of Israel. God has
evidently been, over many centuries, offended by the many defilements of this area.
Cemeteries, tombs and burial places as well as idolatrous shrines are clearly inappropriate in
the vicinity of the Temple Mount. Apparently these graves must all be removed before a
temple acceptable to Yahweh can be built there:
Afterward he [the Angel of the LORD] brought me [Ezekiel] to the gate, the gate [of the
temple] facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel [the Shekinah] came from the
east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with
his glory. And the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy
the city, and like the vision which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. As
the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up, and
brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple; and he
said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet,
where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall
no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their harlotry, and by the dead
bodies of their kings, by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my
doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their
abominations which they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. Now let
them put away their idolatry and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell
in their midst for ever.

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The Western Wall of the Temple Mount

The Western Wall is a one quarter mile long retaining wall that today forms the eastern
boundary of the Temple Mount. A 185 foot section that is exposed is an open air prayer area,
Ha Kotel - known in earlier times as the Wailing Wall. The Western Wall was not part of
either Temple. Rather it was one of the four retaining walls that surrounded the Temple Mount
supporting the platform on which the Temple formerly stood. It was built by Herod the Great
in order to enlarge the Temple Mount so that he could enlarge the worship area, beautify it
and add more buildings to the Temple complex. When the Romans destroyed the Temple in
AD 70 they left standing most of the retaining walls to commemorate the magnitude of their
victory. It is the only remaining portion of the Second Temple.
About fifty percent of the Western Wall is below ground at the present plaza level. The
Tryopean (or Cheesemaker's) Valley in the vicinity of Robinson's arch has been filled to great
depth over the years, (that is, not far from the Southwest corner of the Temple Mount wall).
To the left as one faces the wall only the tops of huge gigantic arches are exposed above
ground. See Cross Sectional Maps of the Temple Mount area).
The now-famous "Rabbinical Tunnel" runs underground at the plaza level through the North
end of the room formed by the arch closest to the Western Wall. (See The Rabbinal Tunnel).
The Southern Wall of the Temple Mount
The late Benjamin Mazar and Meir Ben Dov cleared the Southern Wall and surrounding area
in recent decades exposing late Islamic palaces, and the bedrock and original steps leading
onto the Temple Mount from the City of David which is to the South (and much lower in
elevation). Three groups of gates (closed) may be seen in the southern wall. The Single Gate,
100 feet from the south-east corner, probably dates from the Crusaders and was repaired by
the Mamelukes. The Triple Gate, about 275 feet from the SE corner, is at the site of one of the
two pairs of Huldah Gates of the Second Temple. The Double Gate, south of El-Aksa mosque
is the second pair of the Huldah Gates (Mishnah Middot 1:3). During the Second Temple
period these two gates divided the Temple Mount into three almost equal sections. The
interior of these gates and their openings onto the Temple Mount have long been closed to
visitors by the Muslims. (See Solomon's Stables and the Southern Gates).
The Temple Esplanade
The Haram esh-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, as the Muslims call the Temple Mount, is a garden
plaza containing many varied structures such as paved platforms, domes (qubbeh), prayer
niches (mihribs), fountains and arcades (mawwazin). In the course of time the Temple Mount
has acquired a large number of fountains (sabil) and small shrines, minarets from the
Mamaluk period (manara or maazneh), prayer platforms (mutasalla) Many of these Islamic
features were installed as gifts from important visitors caliphs and potentates. Religious
schools (madraseh) and various offices may be found around the perimeter. In the compound
today there are about one hundred structures, both large and small.
Entering the Mount from the Mograbi Gate the visitor will find an Islamic Museum
immediately to the right. The Islamic Museum contains a good collection of Byzantine and
Islamic antiquities.

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Slightly east of the Museum is the cavernous El-Aksa Mosque, a huge rectangular, largely
unadorned, structure featuring a small gray dome. This present building dates from the 10th
Century when it accepted that Jerusalem was masjid el-aksa, "the furthermost sanctuary." The
glacial marble columns, a gift from Mussolini, date from the most recent major restoration of
1938-1942. The first mosque on the site, that of the Caliph Abd el Malek ibn Mirwan, (or his
son El-Walid), was built between 709 and 715 AD, but was twice destroyed by earthquakes in
the first 60 years of its existence. After the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, the mosque became
the first royal residence and then the headquarters of the Knights Templars. Saladin tore down
many of the Crusader additions and later Mamluk sultans made additions and changes. An
ascending passage from the walled-up double gates in the Southern Wall of the temple
compound rises to the surface of the present platform just North of the mosque.
While the Dome of the Rock rests on the bedrock of Mt. Moriah, El-Aksa mosque is
supported on pillars, fill, and vaults from below. This makes the building more susceptible to
earthquakes of course. Severe earthquake damage occurred in 774, 777, and 1033 according
to historic records. The building was built on the foundations of a Byzantine church built
during the reign of Justinian and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Byzantine historian Procopius
wrote that the church was built in 560 AD and burned down by the Persians in 614.
The dome of the El-Aksa mosque is approximately 50 feet high, constructed of wood
sheathed in lead. The dome is supported by four arches and eight pillars and was last restored
in 1927.
The mosque today capable of housing 5000 worshippers, is divided by a central nave and two
transepts. The North-South nave is supported by seven arches. The building contains 114
columns and 135 windows and is vast in size: 240 feet long (N-S) and 165 feet wide. El-Aksa
has been much modified during its history, after the Ummayyad period especially. The
Crusader occupation of Jerusalem brought numerous changes after 1099 and of course these
were reversed and additional changes made after Saladin restored Jerusalem to Muslim
control.
Solomon's Stables are underground vaulted chambers at the southeast corner of the Temple
Esplanade, built by Herod to support the Temple platform. The name suggests one of the
many stables for horses built by Solomon, but these rooms were not in existence in the time of
Solomon. These rooms were stables during the time the Crusaders occupied Jerusalem. As we
have noted, the bedrock of Mount Moriah is more or less level from the Dome of the Rock
northwards, but to the south the elevation drops very rapidly. The entire southern end of the
Temple Mount compound was built up by Herod the Great. The south-eastern corner, for
instance, has a retaining wall almost 150 feet high with at least 100 feet of rubble fill on the
inside. In places the walls of the temple mount are 15 feet thick with individual ashlars
weighing 150 tons or more. The two halls comprising Solomon's Stables have an area of
nearly 5000 square feet. Eighty-eight rows of pillars and arches as much as 30 feet wide were
used to raise the ceiling some 36 feet to the level on the present paved area East of El-Aksa
mosque.
The Pinnacle of the Temple where Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11) has been
traditionally associated with the south-eastern corner of the Temple Mount because of the
great height above the Kidron Valley below. The recent discovery on an inscribed stone at the
south-west corner indicated that corner was "the place of trumpeting" (blowing of the Shofar)

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has raised the possibility that the second temptation of Jesus took place there.
Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History, 2:23) tells us that James the Just, brother of Jesus and pastor
of the early Christian church in Jerusalem was martyred by being thrown down from the
pinnacle of the temple mount. He survived the fall and was then stoned, praying for
forgiveness for his persecutors as he died. Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church
(Acts 6:8-7:60) was also martyred near the temple mount ("outside the city"). The gate that
bears his name commemorates the traditional area where he finally died.

North of the Mosque is the Al Kas Fountain, first built in 709. It is used by the Muslims for
ritual washing before prayer. Older guide books say the fountain is fed from the ancient
aqueduct that brought water to the Temple Mount from Solomon's Pools and the hills of
Bethlehem. Mameluk Emir Tankaz es-Nasr enlarged the fountain in 1327-28. Although
originally supplied with water from Solomon's pools, today it is connected by pipes to the city
water supply.
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The Sabil Quait Bay is an ornate fountain which was a gift from Sultan Quait Bey in 1487. It
lies below the platform area West of the Dome of the Rock.
At the top of eight stairways are the Graceful Arcades (qanatir) which lead to the raised
platform of the Mount. According to Muslim tradition, scales (mawazin) to weight the souls
of humanity will be hung from these Arcades at the end of time. Near the north-west qanatir is
the Dome of the Spirits or Dome of the Tablets, a small cupola with floor of bedrock. The
reference is said to be either to the Spirit of God, or to the tablets of the Law of Moses housed
originally in the Ark of the Covenant. Asher Kaufman places the location of the Holy of
Holies at this Dome in his studies of the location of the First and Second Temples.
The Dome of the Chain (Qubbet es-Silsileh), constructed in the 8th Century and ascribed to
Abd el-Malek, was probably used as a treasury by Arabs to store silver. When the Crusaders
conquered the Mount they dedicated it as a chapel to St. James the Less. The structure has six
inner and eleven outer supporting pillars. They can all be seen simultaneously when viewed
from any angle.
The Summer Pulpit (Minbar es-Saif) , of marble, was probably built by Saladin in 1190 and
later restored in 1456 by Burhan ed Din (his name is inscribed thereon). It was later restored
again by the Turkish emir Mohammed Rashid in 1483. It is sometimes referred to as Minbar
Omar and is used for Muslim open-air prayers to this day, during summer months.
The Dome of the Ascension (Qubbet el-Mi'Araj), built around 1200, commemorates
Mohammed's leap into the heavens, or at least the place he has supposed to have prayed
before his ascension. It is a copy of a Byzantine Dome on the Mount of Olives that marks the
spot of Jesus' Ascension according to Islamic tradition. The existence of this structure, built
from Crusader materials, suggests that the Dome of the Rock may not have been the exact
spot of Mohammed's alleged ascent into paradise.
A small dome, the Dome of the Prophet (E-Nabi), stands east of the Dome of the Rock and
was built by the Turkish governor of Jerusalem, Muhammed Bey in 1538. It houses a wellbuilt mihrab, or prayer niche facing Mecca.
Grammar Dome (Qubbet es-Nahawwiyah) stands at the southwest corner of the platform. It
was built during the reign of Sultan Mu'atham 'Issa in 1217 of marble slabs probably taken
from a Crusader building. As the name suggests it was originally a place for studying Arab
literature and grammar.
The Dome of the Prophet Elijah (Qubbet el-Khadr) is an open dome at the northwest corner of
the platform supported by six marble columns with an interior place for prayer.
Popular guidebooks of Jerusalem will allow visitors to the Temple Mount to identify other
interesting features on the Mount. Sadly, the Muslim guides may not allow those interested to
approach or inspect many of these historically and archaeologically interesting structures. The
Temple Mount is often open only a few days per week, and for at most a few hours. These
days it is difficult to see anything more than the main features of the Temple Mount area.
The Dome of the Rock is not true mosque but a shrine. Begun about 688 and finished about
691 (other writers say 692 to 697) - it is the first and oldest Islamic shrine in the world. This

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octagonal structure is one of the most beautiful edifices in the Middle East. The interior
contain two concentric rows of pillars - the inner circle supports the dome, and the outer circle
the best of the building. The inner circle of pillars, about 60 feet in diameter - encloses
exposed bed rock which rises several feet above the floor. This is traditionally the famous
Foundation Stone. The dome-supporting pillars are sixteen in number, twelve of marble and
four of granite. Sixteen windows in the cupola are made of colored glass against a background
of gold. Some of these windows go back to the 15th Century, but most date from the 18th and
19th. The octagonal walls of the building itself contain 56 windows, 7 in each wall. The outer
circle of pillars supporting the building consists of eight of marble and sixteen of colored
granite - 24 in all. These pillars are topped by capitals which may have come from Herod's
temple, or possibly from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre destroyed by the Persians in 614
AD At the beginning of the tenth century the cupola was sheathed in brass and then covered
with gold. This was later changed to lead.
Two earthquakes in the 11th Century shook the Dome at which time the upper mosaic was
replaced. Fires and earthquakes over the centuries have necessitated further repairs and
changes. Most recently, persistent leaks in the roof have led to major renovations and a
million-dollar gift of gold leaf from the government of Saudi Arabia has made possible the
recovering of the Dome with real gold leaf replacing the previous gold-colored anodized
aluminum.
The underground areas of the Temple Mount are the most interesting features in the whole
area from the standpoint of history and archaeology. Largely inaccessible for centuries, many
of the cisterns and a few of the tunnels and rooms were explored more than a hundred years
ago by the Palestine Exploration Society. Nevertheless a fair understanding of what lies
beneath the surface has been pieced together by diligent and careful researchers, some
motivated by archaeology, and others by a desire to locate the foundation of the First and
Second Temples and associated storage rooms.

End Notes
1. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, The Holy Land, Oxford University Press, New York, 1992
2. Menashe Har-El, This is Jerusalem, Canaan Publishing House, Jerusalem 1977.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT TO CHRISTIANS

by Lambert Dolphin

The Scroll of Independence of the State of Israel guarantees freedom of worship and access to
all the holy places in Israel whether they be Jewish, Christian or Muslim. Hand in hand with
this commendable and tolerant standard has been the government policy of maintaining the
status quo at these sites in the interest of preserving the fragile peace in a highly pluralistic
society. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem, location of the First and Second Temples, the Dome
of the Rock and El-Aqsa Mosque is a site also of great importance for Christians historically
and prophetically. For this reason a discussion of the meaning of "holy places" for Christians,
using the Temple Mount as an example, is appropriate. Recent clashes there have been
between extreme Jewish groups (or individuals) and the Muslim tenants of the site, but this
does not imply Christians are neutral on the subject.
The Muslims took control of the Temple Mount in 635 C.E. finding it in a neglected state.
Omar ordered the area cleared of rubbish and Abd el-Malik built the shrine known as the
Dome of the Rock between 684 and 691 C.E. to protect the "holy rock" (See Miriam RosenAyalon Jerusalem Revealed p93; and Guy le Strange, Jerusalem Under the Muslims, 1890).
Omar apparently was led to the proper spot by Jews living in Jerusalem at the time.
Incidentally, Arabic inscriptions in the interior of the shrine constitute an attack on Christian
belief that Jesus is the Son of God, not especially upon Jewish thought. Muslim tradition later
added the claim that Mohammed ascended to heaven from the Temple Mount and it is today
consecrated as the "third most holy place in Islam," after Mecca and Medina.
Although the Crusaders converted both the Dome of the Rock and El-Aqsa to churches for a
brief time, Muslim stewardship returned in less than a hundred years, and continues to the
present. A number of people have commented that the "Muslim sanctity" of the site has
greatly decreased in recent years and that important archaeological features there have been
destroyed or covered over. Visiting hours are sharply limited, Muslim tour guides control
what is said there and visitors are limited to a very restricted inspection of the area. Armed
guards are now needed because of fears of violence there. To the Muslims El-Aqsa is the
building of the mosque and they treat the entire Temple Mount as a mosque (though they pray
with their backs towards the Dome of the Rock).
Muslim theology claims that land once owned by Islam is forever holy to Islam and must be
repossessed if lost. This applies to lands other than Israel of course, but their claim that Islam
has replaced both Judaism and Christianity as a later and better revelation from God makes
the Temple Mount an extraordinarily important plot of ground to Muslims.
Jewish return to Eretz Yisrael from the diaspora, especially since the "first aliyah" in 1891,
has raised their numbers to well over 4 million bringing into sharp focus the fact the Temple
Mount was of enormous importance in the national life of ancient Israel and is the proper
focal point for religious worship and prayer by the Jews in the future. However until now the
only accessible place for Jewish prayer has been the Western Wall. Efforts by small numbers
of devout Jews to pray on the Temple Mount have been frustrated by the police, the Muslim
WAQF, and the government in spite of the legal (constitutional) guarantees. The dominant
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national spirit in Israel is secular and the present government is a basically secular body. Thus
Jewish pressures for prayer on the Mount or the building of a Third Temple represent a
minority point of view. For centuries observant Jews around the world have considered the
eventual building of a third temple an obligation, or at least something that would be
accomplished when the Messiah comes.
In spite of the secular zeitgeist in Israel today it should be noted that on the Day of Atonement
the majority of the people fast the whole day and go to a synagogue. Other religious holidays
are observed to an increasing degree. Interest in the Bible and its claims is increasing. Thus
national Jewish consciousness and media attention concerning the Temple Mount is rising.
Resulting fear in the minds of the Muslims has led in recent years to poor treatment of both
Jewish and Christian visitors to the Temple Mount and to arbitrary restrictions of access as
well as many incidents of harassment by Arab guards. This situation has been made more
difficult by extremist attempts to shoot up or blow up the Dome of the Rock and El-Aqsa. On
the other hand the Jordanian claim of sovereignty over the Temple Mount is hardly helpful
either in the midst of an otherwise undivided city.
Another factor in the Temple Mount equation is that fact that archaeology is the well-known
"national pastime" of the Israeli people. New Jewish settlements tend to be built at locations
discovered from the Bible and numerous tells are excavated zealously year after year by
thousands of eager students led by some of the world's most competent and renowned
archaeologists. Archaeological discoveries are big items on the evening news in Israel. There
can be little doubt that many Jews in the nation are motivated not only by a love of the land of
the Bible but take a keen interest in the search for Jewish roots. Those sites that are visited by
tourists are invariably restored and put in pristine condition by the Israelis (in contrast to the
Arab neglect of earlier years) even though archaeological excavation may be impossible or
inappropriate under a church, a mosque or a residential district. Israel's preoccupation with
archaeology has paid handsome dividends in only a few decades and there is every reason to
believe phenomenally great finds will be made in the years to come. Yet the most important
archaeological site of all, the Temple Mount, was last "looked into" by a few foreign explorers
such as Sir Charles Warren in the last century!
The Temple Mount is known to contain several dozen cisterns, underground passages and
store-rooms associated with the First and Second Temples as well as beautiful, now-blocked
access gates. All of these sub-surface features can be and should be thoroughly explored
archaeologically and scientifically. None of these research activities need disturb the park-like
upper surface of the Mount and existing buildings. Why should not the Golden Gate and the
gates in the southern wall be opened and restored as the Damascus gate has been? Tunnels
and rooms accessible from the sides could be cleared, explored and opened to tourists without
any disturbance to the top of the Mount. Even opening Solomon's stables to the public would
add an exciting new tourist attraction to the city. Of course the location of the First and
Second Temples should be made known for historic reasons, completely apart from any
religious considerations. It is characteristic of western civilization to resist the suppression of
truth or legitimate scientific study. Likewise freedom of worship, prayer and peaceful access
to a site is highly prized by both Christians and Jews as part of their Judeo-Christian heritage.
While Muslims in Israel may lack interest in archaeological exploration and the study of holy
places their rights have been overemphasized in my opinion, perhaps from Jewish fears of a
"holy war with Islam". As a sovereign state, Israel should encourage, not repress the scientific
and archaeological exploration of the Temple Mount now denied by the current policy of
preserving the status quo at all costs.

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For Christians the holiness of God is an important concept if not the supreme attribute of the
God of Israel. Christians think of holiness as primarily a term referring to God and to people
rather than to places and objects. Though Eretz Israel, "the holy land", and Jerusalem, "the
holy city", attract reverence and devotion from Christian pilgrims, there is no emphasis in the
New Testament on sacred territory. The idea that Eretz Israel is a plot of land set-aside by the
God of Israel for His exclusive purposes is a tenet of orthodox Jewish belief derived from the
Old Testament. Christians do not deny this value system but neither do they tend to affirm it
as part of their own heritage and calling.
The Bible's actual overall claim is that God is building one new Adam out of an old fallen
race drawn from Jew and Gentile alike. This new race of men like the first Adam, has body,
soul and spirit. Israel's emphasis on the physical, outward expression of divine activity in the
world (corresponding to the body) complements that of the true church whose calling is to
reflect the emotional life and the realm of thoughts, ideas and of beauty, (that is, the soul). In
this view, the God of Israel Himself corresponds to the spirit of the new man. One reason for
the centuries' old difficulties in dialogue between Christians and Jews surely has to do with
misunderstandings about the different calling of the church and the nation Israel. Faulty
theology by some who suppose the church has replaced Israel has compounded the difficulty.
In Israel one must also take into account that the land is tenanted by a number of "ancient"
Christian churches such as the Armenians, Ethiopian Copts, Eastern Orthodox, Greek
Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Roman Catholics. These groups constitute bodies that are
highly oriented to religious tradition that is not necessarily refreshed by current reference to
the actual content of scripture. Unfortunately for many who grown up in such congregations it
can no longer be said that they are true Christians in the New Testament sense, but only in a
cultural or traditional sense. For many peoples in the Middle East the word "Christian" means
"not Muslim" or "not Jewish." There may be little if any reference to the Lordship of Jesus, to
spiritual regeneration and to a working knowledge of the Bible by great numbers of nominal
Christians in Israel. Thus traditional ancient churches may not be very willing to adapt to
changing times. They can be expected to side with those favoring preservation of the status
quo, and may perhaps be found somewhat indifferent to changes being wrought by God in the
land of Israel today. Since there are many "true" Christians within the ancient churches it is of
course impossible to exclude their values and beliefs from discussion, or to stereotype their
views. Perhaps it is enough to say that the New Testament speaks both of a true church and a
counterfeit, apostate one. The ancient Christian bodies in Israel enjoy God's grace with
everyone else, and can be expected to show their true colors as the time of Messiah's
appearing draws near. In contrast the views of visiting foreign evangelical Christians may
differ sharply from the values of the traditional eastern churches in the Middle East. Added to
this weakness of expression by the true Christian church in Israel, great numbers of Christians
are moving out of the area greatly diminishing even the influence of cultural Christianity.
If a survey were taken of American evangelical Christians touring Israel, few would say they
consider either the church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Temple Mount to be "holy places,"
though most would consider them of great historic importance. Christian life among the
gentile nations centers around the local assembly and community affairs. Evangelical
Christian hope has tended to center on the next life and the age to come. Most of the New
Testament promises to Christians are for peace of mind, provisions for guidance and daily
needs, wholeness of persons, and eventual justice in the world. The fact that Christians are
called by the Apostle Peter "strangers and pilgrims in this present age" contrasts with Jewish

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rootedness in the promised land. Observant Jews, on the other hand, still wait for a King to
occupy the throne of his father David, and for the Third Temple, and for safe and secure
boundaries of the land God gave to Abraham 4000 years ago. In the New Testament the
church building is never called "the house of God" as the Jewish Temples were, instead the
Apostle Paul speaks of the body of every believer as a temple of God and the corporate
assembly of Christians as the dwelling place of the Spirit. These Christians beliefs do not
deny the validity of the Jewish priorities nor negate their future restoration and
consummation. Fortunately centuries of conflict between Christians and Jews have been eased
in recent decades as both groups have come to see their common roots in the faith of Abraham
and God's multi-faceted promises passed down to both groups through Abraham's son, Isaac.
Christians have a special interest in the life of Jesus (Yeshua) in light of their belief that he
was and is the true Messiah. For this reason Christians venerate Bethlehem where he was born
and Nazareth where he grew up. Galilee is especially appealing to many. In Jerusalem the
possible site of his death, his tomb and the Mount of Olives where he ascended into heaven
(40 days after the resurrection) are awe inspiring to most Christians. Were more Christians
aware of the location of the First and Second Temples no doubt the majority of Christian
visitors to Israel would spend more time on the Temple Mount and indeed hold services there
if permitted, especially on Sundays. Jesus was tempted by the devil at the pinnacle of the
temple and James his brother was martyred there yet Christians may not visit the area today
(the southeast corner) because of harassment by the guards!
The Gospels which open the New Testament, record that Jesus was dedicated in the Second
Temple in accordance with the Law of Moses with accompanying sacrifice (see Luke 2:2228). His boyhood visit to the Temple where he talked with the teachers there is also recorded,
(Luke 2:41-52). He was raised a devout, religious Jew and became thoroughly versed in the
Scriptures from an early age. At the beginning of his three-year ministry about the age of 30,
Jesus cleansed the temple (John 2:14) at Passover, and again during the last week of his life,
(Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48). He also taught there. The fact that Jesus
referred to the Temple as "his Father's house" means that no Christian can take lightly the
intended sanctity or holiness of that site. The problem is that every trace of historic
occupation of the Temple Mount by either Jews or Christians has been eradicated by the
Muslims-consistent with their theology that Islam has replaced both Judaism and Christianity
as a later and more perfect revelation from God.
Sitting with his disciples on the Mount of Olives also during the last week of his life, Jesus
spoke of the coming destruction of the Second Temple and the days to follow, stretching down
the centuries beyond our present time. He also made reference in this "Olivet Discourse" to a
Third Temple on the site which would be desecrated by a future Jewish false Messiah, "the
man of sin". The fact that a Third Temple will be built can also be established from the
writings of the Apostle Paul (2 Thessalonians 2) and the Apostle John (Revelation 11:1, 2).
These three New Testament passages about a "Third Temple" cause many Christian Bible
scholars to watch the Temple Mount keenly for the latest developments looking for clues and
signs of the times. Though Christians have no reason to support the building of a Third
Temple (since it is part of the religious "economy" of Israel rather than the church), many
Christians can be expected to vigorously support greater freedom of access for the Jews on the
site, and for an environment on the Temple Mount more favorable to Christian worship,
prayer, meditation and study. Christian charity and respect for the Muslim peoples is certainly
hindered by the present situation on the Temple Mount.

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Since Christians consider Abraham their spiritual father, the fact that Mount Moriah was the
place of offering Isaac as a sacrifice is historically important to us. The life of David and his
purchase of the threshing floor there 1000 years later as well as the history of the kings and
the two temples is of keen importance to Christians who consider the whole Bible to be
inspired by God.
Following the departure of Jesus from the summit of the Mount of Olives, the early Christians
(all Jews) gathered together in Jerusalem for prayer. Ten days later (at Shavuot, or Pentecost)
the Spirit of God came upon them forming a new body or company of believers, "the church"
(The Greek word ecclesia means the "called out ones", or the assembly, see Acts 1,2). This
event and Peter's great outdoor sermon following took place (almost without a doubt) in the
courts of the temple, in front of the eastern gate. A number of other highly significant events
in the early history of the Christian church also occurred in the courts of the temple, as
recorded in the book of Acts. Thus the Temple Mount is the birth-place of the church---a
highly significant site for Christian pilgrims from around the world. Many are eager to visit
the very spot where God's new work began---the calling out of the goyim (gentiles) a people
for Himself. Denial of freedom of prayer or worship there to the Christian community is
inconsistent with both the Jewish Scroll of Independence and the actual historic significance
of the place.
The last book in the New Testament, the Revelation, or the Apocalypse, speaks mostly of
events yet to come on earth. At stage center in the Book of the Revelation is Jerusalem, and of
course at the center of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount. It is there that vigorous outdoor
preaching and teaching by Jewish prophets of God will once again occur for a brief few years
before the return of Jesus.
Evangelical Christians also hold to a doctrine known as the "rapture of the church," described
in I Thessalonians 4. This removal of the true Christians from the earth for a seven-year time
interval will herald, it is believed, the passing of the torch back to Israel, as well as the
renewing and final fulfillment of God's ancient promises to Israel as a nation. During this
"time of Jacob's trouble" spoken of by the prophet Jeremiah, Israel will experience her
greatest trials but find deliverance with the coming of Messiah. Not all Christians agree with
the exact scenario of Bible prophecy (eschatology) to be sure, but there can be little doubt to
most of us that the most important piece of real estate in the world today is the Temple Mount.
Christians may not find it necessary to call that piece of land "holy" but that does not mean
that they approve of its desecration or misuse. Thus many evangelical Christians can be
expected to support the view that the Temple Mount belongs to the Jews and to their God, the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. From the prophet Zechariah evangelicals note that the
Bible clearly says that the nations of the world will one day come to Jerusalem to pay homage
to the Holy One of Israel. Israel will then be called upon to once again faithfully represent the
true character of their God to all the Gentiles, so that they may come to worship God in the
midst of his chosen people.
For all these reasons, sovereign control and management of the Temple Mount by the
government of Israel should be resumed. Recent suggestions that the Pope assume a central
role over Jerusalem as an international city should be rejected as this would be clearly in
violation of God's promises concerning both the future of Israel and of Jerusalem.

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The Contemporary Jewish Point of View

The following article represents one major Jewish point of view on the current situation:
The Temple Mount
SNS News Service
July 17, 1996, ..... 1 Av 5756, ..... Special Report - 010sr
This being the special "three-week" period, which culminates on Tisha B'av, commemorating
the destruction of the two Temples, SNS brings its readers a review and analysis of the legal
parameters, as well as the public policy concerning the Temple Mount, as regards entry and
prayer.
By Yisrael Medad.
Despite the Law for the Protection of the Holy Places, 1967, and its clauses assuring freedom
of access to and worship within each religion's holy sites, despite their reconfirmation in the
Basic Law: Jerusalem, 1980, and despite the recognition of those rights, in principle, by
Israel's High Court of Justice, in practice the Israeli police consistently refuse to permit any
form of Jewish prayer in the confines of the Temple Mount compound. In addition, any
outward appearance of religiosity such as Tallit (Prayer Shawl) fringes hanging out, a Prayer
Book or other religious tome or any ritual object such as Tefillin (Phylacteries), Lulav (palm
branch) or the like are banned. In essence, a Jew may enter his Most Sacred Site but may not
do so in a way that would be Jewish.
Some two dozen petitions have been heard by the High Court of Justice in the past 28 years.
Throughout them all, the main thread is less a formalistic argument than an agreement by the
justices, that in the matter of the Temple Mount, there is an overriding principle of
"sensitivity". The "principle of sensitivity" dictates that because Muslims view the Temple
Mount Courtyard as their exclusive domain and will engage in violent acts to counter any
display of Jewishness, then it is in the interests of public order to prevent a Jew from
exercising his legal rights. The presence of a Jew, as a Jew and not as a "tourist" or "visitor",
is a provocation. As Professor Itzhak Englard has written: "In substance, the prohibition of
public prayer is a violation of the principles of collective freedom of religion" (Amer. Journal
of Comparative Law, 35:1987, p. 198).
Jurists and legal experts from the West and especially the United States will readily realize,
that based on such a principle, the Civil Rights movement would never had made any gains,
not to speak of gay rights and a plethora of social, religious and ethnic issues.
In one instance, in 1994, the Justices ordered the police to insure the entry of Jews (H.C.J.
3995/94) but nevertheless gave the police a free hand to cancel their order if public order
needed to be preserved. Needless to say, with 300 angry Muslims led by the Deputy Mufti
gathered inside the main entrance of the compound, the Jews assembled outside were denied
entry.
The point should be stressed that it is not the wish of Jews to pray inside any Muslim
building. In this regard, though, it is worth drawing attention to the fact, that such an
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arrangement already does exist in Hevron, where Jews and Muslims pray under the same roof.
The Israeli Police and Border Guard Units, utilizing electronic instruments, assure the peace
at that holy site.
It is undeniable that, legal and security arguments aside, it is a political consideration which
denies Jews their civil rights and liberties. For example, although the High Court of Justice
has confirmed, inter alia, that the Temple Mount surely is a Jewish holy place, the Department
for Holy Places of the Ministry for Religious Affairs does not list the Temple Mount as such,
budgets no money for it and in no other way administers the site. Most crucial, the Judges
refuse to obligate the relevant Minister to formulate and adopt administrative regulations that
would allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount by defining, for example, the location and
times for prayer.
The day-to-day administration, actually, is in the hands of the Jordanian Wakf. The religious
officials tending to the Temple Mount are not Israeli government employees. They are
uniformed and carry sophisticated communications equipment. The Temple Mount is a
testing-ground for the undercurrent of tensions between supporters of Arafat, King Hussein
and Islamic fundamentalists among those in charge and who run the institutions that exist
there: educational, cultural and political.
Many people presume that Jewish Halachic (Jewish law) restrictions would deny entry into
the Compound because of a Rabbinic Ban on stepping into sacred precincts. However, that
prohibition extends only to a 500 cubit-square area, which is considerably smaller than the
current esplanade. Former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren and others have pronounced in favor of
a limited access.
Archeological and scientific engineering research, which could contribute to the location of
the 500 cubit-square are is disallowed. In fact, Jewish archeological remains are
systematically destroyed or covered over. The underground passageways of astounding
historical importance are off-limits.
What we are witness to is the exploitation of the juridical system to the political demands of
policy. Israel's Courts must be convinced that their duty is to uphold the law and the norms of
justice. They themselves, lend a legitimacy to the flouting of legal principles. It should be
noted that as recently as this month, Israel's High Court of Justice ordered the police to
prepare for the protection of the right of Meretz supporters to demonstrate, even in a
provocative fashion, along the Bar-Ilan Boulevard. Will they apply the same outlook to allow
Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.
SHOMRON NEWS SERVICE is an independent news service, and is not affiliated with any
political party or governmental agency.

Supreme Court Rules on Temple Mount

IN THIS landmark decision (HG 4185/90) Israel's Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of
Justice was asked to consider the religious and legal status of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The Court's unanimous decision issued Sept. 23 1993, was written by Justice Menachem
Elon. The English translation was commissioned by The Israel Colloquium for its symposium
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on "Jerusalem and the Peace Process: Muslim, Christian and Jewish Perspectives," held on
Sept. 13, 1995 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. This year it was published
together with the proceedings of another symposium on Jerusalem - in The Catholic
University Law Review, Vol. 45, No. 3.
The following are excerpts from the Supreme Court Ruling:
Solomon's Temple: Unique Role as Focus for Prayer
"The uniqueness and the destiny of the Holy Temple found expression in the prayer of King
Solomon upon completion of that building's erection (I Kings, Ch. 8):
...when a prayer or a plea is made by any person, by any of your people Israel - each one
aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands towards this Temple then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to
all his deeds, for you know his heart - you alone know the hearts of all men...
2nd Temple: Courtesy of Compassionate Foreign Ruler
"In the year 538 BCE, Cyrus, King of Persia, issued a proclamation to the Jews of the
Babylonian exile in which he announced his wish to raise up the Holy Temple in Jerusalem
from its ruins, and urged the exiles to go up to their land and to participate in the rebuilding of
the Temple..."
'Foundation of the State and Its Religious life'
"King Herod wrought a great change in the annals of the Temple Mount and in its contours:
The shape of the Mount as we see it today is his work...The Temple Mount and the Holy
Temple itself were the heart of the nation and the focus of its faith, whence emanated law and
instruction to the people of Israel, and around them gathered all its sons and daughters, from
near and far...In the year 70 CE, Titus, the son of the Emperor Vespasian, activated the Roman
legions in Jerusalem, which overcame the fierce resistance of the Jewish defenders of the
Temple Mount...The historian Gedaliah ...thus sums up the place of the Temple in that era and
the reason for its demolition at Titus' hands:
The status and significance of the Temple as the foundation of the state and its religious life,
and as the stronghold and the symbol of this people's national spirit and faith - this, more than
all else, brought on Titus' order to burn it down..."
Continuing Sanctity of the Temple Mount
"...the Temple Mount has been the holiest place for the past 3,000 years, ever since King
Solomon erected the First Temple on Mt. Moriah (II Chron. 3:1); and Mt. Moriah itself had
been held sacred because of [an event that took place there some 1 ,000 years earlier], the
binding of Isaac by Abraham, the father of the Hebrew nation, 'in the land of Moriah' (Gen.
22:2)...Thus primeval sanctity of the Temple Mount continues unabated to this day - even
after the destruction of the First and Second Temples...and the Western Wall of the Temple
Mount, which stands to this very day, is the holiest site in Jewish tradition.

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"For adherents to the Muslim faith, the Temple Mount has been held sacred for the past 1,300
years - since the conquest of Jerusalem by the Muslims in 638 - and on it they erected the
Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The sanctity of the Mount, for Muslims, comes
after the sanctity of Medina, which in turn comes after the. sanctity of Mecca.. The Christians,
too, ascribe religious importance to the Temple Mount.
The law: Recognition of History, Mutual Respect
"Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel (adopted July 30, 1980) states:
'1. Undivided and united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
'2. Jerusalem is the seat of the President of the State, the Knesset, the Government and the
Supreme Court.
'3. The Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and from any other violation, as well
as from anything that might hinder the freedom of access of the members of the various
religions to the places sacred to them or that might give offense to their feelings toward these
places.'
Conclusion
"The sanctity of the Temple Mount for the Jewish people, with all that this implies, is not
open to discussion. Its sanctity is eternal and does not depend on the powers that be...The area
of the Temple Mount is part of the territory of the State of Israel, and the law, jurisdiction and
administration of the State apply to it. These include, among other things...the right of every
person to freedom of worship, freedom of access to the Holy Places and protection against
their desecration..."

Footnote
'Islam Does Not Prohibit Jewish Prayer'
"There is nothing in Islam or in the Koran that prohibits the prayer of Jews on the Temple
Mount." This was stated, at a recent international conference in Jerusalem, by Prof. Abd elHadi Fallacci, the head of the Islamic Institute in Rome, as reported by Israel's daily Ha'aretz
of July 18.
"From the theological point of view," he explained, "there is no reason to prevent Jews land,
presumably, members of other faiths] from praying in places that are not mosques. Professor
Fallacci noted that, while the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located on the
Temple Mount, they do not take up its entire area.
It is the responsibility of the political leadership, he averred, to make the kind of arrangements
that will make such prayer possible. "What we, the religious leadership, can do is to arouse
people's awareness and conscience to this possibility."

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