The major biblical prophecies relevant to the Tribulation indicate that there will be a
Temple in Jerusalem, at least by the middle of the seven year covenant or treaty between the
false peace-maker and Israel. In this chapter we will discuss the history of the Temple and
consider what would be necessary to rebuild the structure in the near future.
Background: Jerusalem
When the sons of Noah spread out, Shem, the father of all the Semitic people, may well
have gone to the area we now call Jerusalem. The earliest mention of the area was when
Abraham was returning from a battle with Sodom (Genesis chapter 14). He met Melchizedek,
King of Salem. Salem is the oldest name for the city. The root word means “peace.” Melchizedek
means “king of righteousness.” So this is probably a title rather than a proper name. Melchizedek
is important also because the dual offices of King and Priest of El Elyon (“God Most High”)
were resident in this one man.
The priesthood that Jesus Christ would later grant to his Church is modeled after
Melchizedek as the book of Hebrews tells us. During Israel’s history the office of king and priest
were always separate. But Zechariah the prophet looked forward to a future day when these
offices will be combined in Messiah (Zechariah 6).
It may be demonstrated from the life-spans and genealogies in Genesis that Shem should
still have been living at that time. Some scholars believe that Melchizedek was actually Shem.
All of Noah’s sons and their wives were believers in the one true God (or they would not have
been saved on the Ark). In one or two generations most of their offspring had already “forgotten”
about God and gone their own way, following a rebellion led by Nimrod against the rule of God
(Genesis 10:8-12).
Remaining a godly, wise follower of Yahweh, Shem lived to the age of 600 years and
surely would have been the most revered of the ancient fathers at that time.
Jewish legends claim that God stood on the Foundation Stone of what later would be the
Holy of Holies of Jerusalem’s Temple. Eden, these rabbis remind us, was to the East, so Adam
was probably formed of the clay of the ground in what is now the land of Israel. In any case,
Jerusalem was already a center for the worship of the Lord under the leadership of Melchizedek.
Jerusalem seems to have been chosen by God long before the Jewish people came into
existence. It is mentioned by name nearly 800 times in the Bible! The city is also called ―Zion‖
(―fortification‖) or Mt. Zion, one of the hills of the city. In the Psalms God is said to dwell
(present tense) in that city. A number of Psalms highlight the central importance of the “City of
Peace” in God’s eternal plans for mankind.
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people
both now and forevermore. – Psalm 125:1-2
The city, also called Jebus (Judges 19:10; 1Chronicles 11:4), had become a pagan city by
the time of the occupation of the land by the Hebrews when they returned from Egypt.
There is reason to suspect that source documents existed from before the Flood of Noah–
perhaps “Adam’s Diary” and the records of his sons in the line of Seth down to Noah. It is
possible that these records were preserved on the Ark by Noah and handed down to Noah’s son
Shem for safekeeping. Perhaps Shem left these ancient documents in the care of Melchizedek?
We simply do not know, but the speculation is interesting, because when we first meet Abram in
Genesis he is 70 years old and living in Ur of the Chaldees. His father and his family had
evidently lapsed into the idolatry of the region and God had to call him back so that he was
restored into the godly line of Shem, the promised line of descent, which would lead to Messiah.
Did Melchizedek transmit to Abraham ancient written documents or carefully preserved
oral legends that eventually were handed by Abraham’s descendants on down to Moses? Did
Moses write the Pentateuch with the help of some source documents of which we are now
unaware? No one knows. We will have to ask Moses when we meet him!
The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle was the precursor of the Temple. Detailed information about the
Tabernacle is found in Exodus chapters 25 through 27.
Instruction for the Tabernacle was given to Moses at the same time as the giving of the
Ten Commandments. It was a portable place of worship that would serve as the point where God
met with his people. It was small but very lavish, with gold and silver work, and elaborate
hangings and curtains, some of which were woven with beautiful patterns. It was completely
portable, so that it could be broken down on short notice and moved with the nation as they
followed the Lord.
All of the articles of the Tabernacle are types or pre-figures of Christ.
The Outer Court
The Brazen Altar is a picture of Christ’s sacrifice as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of
the world.
The Laver is symbolic of confession and regular spiritual cleansing.
The Holy Place
The Golden Lampstand pictures Jesus as the Light of the World.
The Table of Showbread is symbolic of Jesus as the Bread of Life.
The Altar of Incense (drawing attention to the importance of prayer), reminds us that
Jesus is our intercessor and Great High Priest.
The Holy of Holies
The Ark of the Covenant is a type of Jesus as the presence of God with us.
Solomon’s Temple
This first temple was built in the 10th century BC, right after Solomon became king.
David had wanted to build it, but was not allowed by God because of the bloodshed in his past.
Nevertheless, he collected all the materials for the Temple, so that, as soon as his son Solomon
became king, he could construct it. It was erected on the property bought by David from Araunah
(2 Samuel 24). The site had been a threshing floor, a place where grain was winnowed by tossing
it up into the air. The wind would carry the chaff away while the heavier grain would fall back
down. Eventually there would be a pile of grain in the center and a large section of chaff further
away. The chaff could be raked up and burned, and the grain could be put into baskets. This
threshing floor was probably on a higher part of Mount Moriah where the winds were strongest.
Here, a thousand years earlier, Abraham had demonstrated his faith by being willing to offer
Isaac, though he was not required to carry it out (Genesis 22). This is a beautiful preview of the
willingness of our Heavenly Father to sacrifice his own son, Jesus, for the sins of the world.
An especially remarkable fact is the connection between Mount Moriah (the Temple
Mount) with the hill of Calvary where Jesus was crucified. When Solomon built the Temple,
stones were quarried from the northern and western slope of the same mountain, and from
underneath the mountain. Stones quarried to build the temple cut a large gorge, leaving the
westernmost portion of the mountain standing alone. In Jesus’ day this portion was called
Golgotha, “the place of the skull”! Even today if you visit Jerusalem, the visitor can see the high
steep cliff where the bedrock of the mountain was cut away. There is a man-made valley
between that cliff and Golgotha, about two blocks away. Damascus Street, the old Damascus
Road, passes through this cut just outside the Western Wall of the Old City.
Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
The Second Temple
This modest structure was built by Zerubbabel with encouragement of the prophets
Haggai and Zechariah in the 6th century BC. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah recount the
drama of the return of a Jewish remnant from Persia and the rebuilding of the Temple as well as
the city of Jerusalem. These are great stories of courage and dedication, but the Temple was
smaller and much less beautiful than the original. It is said that some who remembered the
original temple wept when they saw it (Ezra 3:12). This Second Temple was desecrated by
Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), the Seleucid ruler who had a pig slaughtered on the altar, and set up
an image of a pagan god in the Holy of Holies. This is the event that triggered the rise of the
Hasmonean family of the Maccabees. They eventually took Jerusalem and the Temple back and
ruled there independently for a few years. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah comes from this
time of restoration and renewal in their national history.
“Herod’s Temple”
The reconstruction of the Second Temple was begun by Herod the Great about 20 BC. It
was an enhancement of Zerubbabel‘s Temple. Herod was an ungodly foreigner, an Edomite
(Idumean), who had been given the kingship by the Romans. He was the greatest builder in the
world during that period of time. Herod built seven palaces and forts, and the work on the
Temple was truly magnificent. The stones (ashlars) used were huge, and every one had a border
(embossing) carved around it. The work on the temple and courts continued long after his death
until it was finished in AD 63. It was about twice the size of the Second Temple. Some call it the
Third Temple, but Jews do not think of it as other than their Second Temple. It had already been
46 years in the rebuilding process when Jesus ministered there (John 2:19). Neither Herod nor
most of the Jewish leaders were at all godly during this period. The Temple was built for show
and for political reasons, but a faithful remnant of priests and Jews worshiped Yahweh there
nevertheless, in accordance with the teachings of the Torah.
The Gospels tell us of a few godly priests and citizens at the Temple during the childhood
of Jesus and give us brief glimpses of temple life in that day. The account of Jesus‘ circumcision
is one of these stories (Luke 2:21-38).
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was
twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over,
while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were
unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began
looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to
Jerusalem to look for him. They found him talking with the teachers in the Temple (Luke 2:43-
51).
Herod’s Temple evidently did not have God’s blessing. Expressing his grave displeasure
at the desecrating of the Temple, Jesus cast out the money changers on two occasions–at the
beginning of his ministry and again at the start of his final week in the city before his death. On
that second occasion Mark tells us he would not allow anything to be carried in or out of the
Temple. Thus he also stopped the continual temple sacrifices, in effect declaring them null and
void. Within a few days, at Passover, the true Lamb of God would die–one death for all, offering
himself as the foreordained perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. All the temple sacrifices
were but shadows. Indeed, when Jesus died, the veil of the Temple was torn from the top to the
bottom (Matthew 27:51), thus signifying that Jesus had made a way for all men to come into the
holiest place of intimate presence with God because of his perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 9).
Destruction of the Temple
The destruction of the Temple was prophesied by Jesus.
Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones
and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6
“As for what you see here, the time will come
when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” – Luke 21:5-
6
Herod’s Temple was destroyed in AD 70. It was torn down by four Roman legions under
the command of Titus. The Jewish people have not been able to practice animal sacrifices since
that time, although the Muslims do so every year in Mecca! The Temple was burned, so the gold
melted and ran into the cracks in the stones. That is why the destruction was so great. The
conquerors literally removed every possible stone in order to find all the gold.
From that time until the present, the Temple Mount and all of Jerusalem has been under
the control of various people. The Romans built a temple to a pagan god there. Later a Christian
church was built. When the Muslims took control they built a mosque and a shrine.
The Temple Mount Today
The 35 acre site is under the control of The Supreme Muslim Council–the Waqf
(religious endowment). Even though Israel took all of Jerusalem in 1967, this concession was
made by then Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Dyan to keep peace.
Jews are not allowed on the Temple Mount by the laws of their own Rabbinical Council
because of concern that visitors might tread on the Ark of the Covenant if it is buried somewhere
on the grounds. The Muslim authorities do not allow Jews or Christians to pray, worship, or even
read the Bible there.
Two Muslim Holy Places
– The Dome of the Rock
This ornate building is sometimes called The Mosque of Omar. It isn’t really a mosque,
but a shrine, built over the rock venerated by the Muslims. The rock under the dome is where
Mohammed is said to have ascended to heaven on his “Night Journey”. Actually Mohammed
was never there, but in the Qur‘an, in the seventeenth Sura a dream or vision is recorded in
which he was carried from the temple in Mecca to the one in Jerusalem.
This rock is thought by many to be either the place of the Holy of Holies or of the Altar
of Sacrifice. As shown below, there are other theories about the location of this most sacred
portion of the Temple, which held the Ark of the Covenant.
More detail about the Dome of the Rock is given in Chapter 7 – Historical Developments.
– Al-Aqsa Mosque
The name means “the distant place.” It is Islam’s third most holy place, after Mecca and
Medina. This is the building where the Muslims actually gather to worship.
The Western Wall
The Western Wall, also called “The Wailing Wall,” is the one part of the old Temple area
that is still standing, and that is only because it is a retaining wall. This wall was not part of the
Temple itself, so it is not a violation of the prophecy that these stones still stand. This is
considered the holiest place on the earth to Jewish People today. They are allowed to worship
there, but are prohibited by their own rabbinical rulings and by the Muslims to go onto the
Temple Mount itself.
The Rabbinical Tunnel opened recently to tourism allows one to walk under the city
Northward from the Western Wall prayer area (Ha Kotel). In this tunnel, at the walled-off
entrance to Cistern 30, devout Jews who believe the Temple occupied the spot where the Dome
of the Rock now stands, can get somewhat closer to their favorite Temple site. Therefore a small
synagogue area has been placed there.
The Dome of the Tablets / Dome of the Spirit
This neglected portion of the Temple Mount is covered by a simple cupola, without a sign or
anything that would indicate its importance, but, as can be seen by the discussion below about
the future location of the Temple, it may well be the location of the Holy of Holies! The Arabic
name does suggest both the Tablets of Moses, which were placed within the Ark, or the
Shekinah, or Spirit of God.
Necessity for a Temple
There are at least two reasons why we expect the Temple to be built again: because the
Jewish people want it rebuilt, and because Bible prophecy says it will be constructed again,
perhaps twice.
Because of Israel’s Desires
Jewish law requires the Temple be rebuilt where it once was. One third of the Torah’s 613
commandments involve rituals that require the Temple be rebuilt. A poll of Israelis during
preparation for observance of Tisha B‘Av, the national day of mourning over the loss of their
ancient temples, revealed that 49 percent of the population said they do. Only 23 percent said
they do not want a Third Temple. Many of them fear the hostile reaction of Muslims that would
be caused by trying to build the Temple now.92
