The Temples of God (Part One)
How many temples have there been so far? And will there be more to come? Let's explore the subject together!
Over on Reddit, in a thread for my last article here,1 I had a discussion with someone, that replied to one of my comments with a question. He asked “Why would there be a 3rd temple when we have Yeshua?” And this really is a great question. So I have started to dive into the subject.
Quick note: This article has taken a lot of research to put together and it is taking a good bit of time. In order to get something out, I have split it into more than one piece. I don’t know yet how many pieces there will be, but this is just Part One.
First, I wanted to make sure that I understood what came before. The temples were the center place of worship for the Hebrews and so far, there has been two temples built in Israel over the centuries. Within these temples was the Ark of the Covenant, which housed the Ten Commandments.
These two temples can be found in the Bible, in fact. The First Temple is the temple that was planned by King David but eventually built by his son, King Solomon. King David made the statement once where he realized he lived better than the Ark of the Covenant was being treated.
1 Now it came about when the king lived in his palace and ADONAI had granted him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 that the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, yet the ark of God remains within curtains.” (2 Samuel 7:1–2, TLV)
The reference to curtains was a reference to the time the Israelites were lost in the desert and the Ark of the Covenant was housed in a tent, behind curtains. After the Israelites made Israel their home, the Ark was continued to be stored this way. King David expressed his distaste that he was being treated better (in his own eyes, at least) than the Ark of the Covenant was being treated.
However, God replied to him.
Are you to build Me a house for Me to dwell in? (2 Samuel 7:5, TLV)
But God told him that this would never happen, not for him at least. Adonai went on to say more.
12 When your days are done and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed, who will come forth from you after you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. (2 Samuel 7:12–13, TLV)
King David wouldn’t be the one who built the Temple, but his seed. But this didn’t mean that he couldn’t be involved. He began the process of planning out the temple and building up the supplies needed to build the Temple.
1 Then King David said to the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced and the task is great, for the palace is not for man but for ADONAI Elohim. 2 Now I have made every effort to prepare for the House of my God gold for the golden objects, silver for silver, copper for copper, iron for iron, and wood for wood; onyx stones and inlay stones, stones of antimony and variegated colors—every kind of precious stones and marble in abundance. 3 Moreover, in my devotion to the House of my God, I have given over my private treasure of gold and silver to the House of my God, in addition to all that I have already supplied for the holy House: 4 3,000 gold talents of gold from Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses— 5 gold for golden objects and silver for silver for all the work—into the hands of craftsmen. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself this day to ADONAI?” (1 Chronicles 29:1–5, TLV)
When Solomon became king of Israel, he began to prepare to build the Temple.
18 Then Solomon vowed to build a House for the Name of ADONAI, as well as a royal palace for himself. (2 Chronicles 1:18, TLV)
The Bible doesn’t say how long that it took, but before too long, the Temple had been built. It would become known as Solomon’s Temple.
1 When all the work that Solomon undertook for the House of ADONAI was finished, Solomon brought in the things David his father consecrated—the silver, gold and all the furnishings—and put them in the treasuries of the House of God. (2 Chronicles Ch 5:1, TLV)
Afterwards, the Temple became the worship center for all of Israel. The Hebrew tribes would make pilgrimages to the Temple multiple times a year. That is, until Babylon came to town and destroyed the Temple along with every other place in Jerusalem.
8 Now on the seventh day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the imperial guard, officer of the Babylonian king, came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the House of ADONAI, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem—every notable building he burned with fire. 10 Then the whole Chaldean army that was with the captain of the guard demolished the walls of Jerusalem on every side. (2 Kings 25:8–10, TLV)
And thus, the first temple was gone. The Israelites were taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Some say that this lasted 48 years, others 70 years.2 However, the Spirit of God went to work.
1 Now in the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to accomplish the word of ADONAI from the mouth of Jeremiah, ADONAI stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict, saying:
2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: ADONAI, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build a House for Him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you from all His people—may his God be with him—may go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the House of ADONAI, the God of Israel—He is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4As for anyone who remains, wherever they may be living, let the people of those places supply him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the House of God in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:1–4, TLV)
This return to Israel is chronicled in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, in which the rebuilding of the Temple begins. This rebuilding would become the Second Temple. However, Israel faced many challenges while the building of this Temple took place. Many others didn’t want to see the Temple rebuilt.
1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for ADONAI the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the leading patriarchs and said to them, “Let us build with you, for like you we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.” (Ezra 4:1–2, TLV)
4 Then the people of the land began discouraging the people of Judah and making them afraid to build. 5 They bribed advisors in order to thwart their plans all the days of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of Darius king of Persia. (Ezra 4:4–5, TLV)
But Israel persevered and the Temple was rebuilt. Eventually, Herod would add onto the Temple and this temple would be called Herod’s Temple as a result. This would be Temple that stood when Yeshua the Messiah was here.
In fact, Yeshua scared his parents once by going to the Temple instead of traveling with them as he was suppose to be doing.
41 Now His parents were going every year to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. 42 When He became twelve years old, they were going up according to festival custom. 43 As they headed home after completing the days, the boy Yeshua remained in Jerusalem, but His parents didn’t know. 44 Supposing He was in the caravan, they went a day’s journey, then began looking for Him among relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him.
46 After three days they found Him in the Temple, sitting in the center of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all those hearing Him were astonished at His understanding and His answers. 48 When His parents saw Yeshua, they were overwhelmed. And His mother said to Him, “Child, why did you do this to us? Look! Your father and I were searching for You frantically!”
49 He said to them, “Why were you searching for Me? Didn’t you know that I must be about the things of My Father?” 50 But they did not grasp the message He was telling them. (Luke 2:41–50, TLV)
Later, as an adult, he’d even cause a stir there. An example of this can be found in Luke 19: 45-46
45 Then Yeshua entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants, 46saying to them, “It is written,
‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’
but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Luke 19: 45–46, TLV)
But he would teach in the Temple often too, much to the dismay of others.
47 And He was teaching every day in the Temple. The ruling kohanim and the Torah scholars, even the leaders of the people, were trying to destroy Him; 48 but they could not find any way to do it, because all the people were hanging on His words. (Luke 19: 47–48, TLV)
There’s more that I could (and probably should) put here about Yeshua and the Temple, but I want to bring this article to an end eventually!
In 70 CE, this temple was destroyed by the Romans when they (re)invaded Jerusalem, following a revolt by some Jewish people.
Unfortunately, this was the final Temple so far. The Hebrew people never controlled the land of Israel since then, at least, not until May 14, 1948 when the Israel we know today came into being!
This is the end of the Part One article of this topic. Hopefully, I’ll get part two written up a bit quicker, but it’ll be a few weeks at the very least. In the meantime, I am hoping to get my first Book review posted! Watch for it!
The third temple which is still yet to be built is apart of the end time prophecy of not just Yeshua's return for His Bride, being the church, but in turn the third temple will first be taken over by the Antichrist as he portrays himself to be our Messiah when in truth, he's the Antichrist and sadly my own people will even be deceived by him, until our Messiah finally comes to reign for 1,000 years. After that I'm not sure what happens, I need to get back to studying more closely myself.