61 Remember Somewhere out of sight in storage is a prefabricated Temple Israel came into existence in 1948. Jerusalem came to them in war in 1967. The Temple Mount instead of being valued by the Israeli government was sacrificed for what they valued more highly; peace with their neighbors. I suggest they should have seen it as an opportunity for the nation to turn to their God. Instead Moshe Dyan turned control of the Temple Mount over to the the Islamic religious authorities. The Jews were relegated to the Western Wall. Most people do not have their freedoms taken from them they simple do not use them. The whole nation should have risen up and demanded access to the Temple Mount. Granted some authorities in the Jewish religious world did not allow worship on the Temple Mount for fear of treading on the Holy of Holies. There has been for many years a Temple Mount Faithful Organization and Temple Institute which have been lobbying for a rebuilt Temple. They have made nearly all of the instruments needed for temple worship. In 2004 the Sanhedrin called for the prefabricated construction of the Temple. That was six years ago and there is every reason to believe it is ready and in storage. When it is built it will occur without the sound of hammer. It will be constructed on the Temple Mount in quietness. It could be built in months. The menorah seen in the slide weighs 94 pounds of solid gold. Selection and training is under way for priests to serve in the temple. In March 2010 it was announced that a red heifer exists. The ashes from a red heifer are used in the purification of the temple. We might be assuming they no longer have a red heifer but the ashes of the red heifer. In 2007 the Sanhedrin requested permission to sacrifice a lamb on the temple mount for Passover. They were denied permission then and again in 2010. In 2010 they advertised on the internet for people worldwide to take part. March 16, 2010 was to be a Temple Mount Awareness day to bring attention to the Jewish desire and rights on the Temple Mount. One tradition believes that initiating the passover sacrifice on the Temple Mount accelerates the arrival of the Messiah. The Temple mount is quite a puzzle because Islam currently is adamant that none but Muslims pray and worship on the Temple Mount. In the meantime Israel is determined that they not split Jerusalem. Nations and Universities and think tanks have all weighed in on how to solve this “cup of trembling”.
62 Location,Location,Location When a Temple is built where on the Temple Mount should it be built? The Dome of the Rock contains a enclosed portion of the top of Mount Moriah where it is claimed that Mohamed with his horse ascended to Paradise. Mount Moriah was the scene of the Abraham’s offer of Isaac. It was the threshing floor for King David. It was also the site of the first and second Temples both of which were destroyed on the 9th of Av. A second favored site is the Dome of the Spirits on the other end of the quadrangle that is the temple Mount. Others think the Holy of Holies is located at the Well of the Spirits which is seen in the slide as the Cupola structure. Some place it somewhere in front of the Dome of the Rock. If the current Sanhedrin has decided on a location outside of the Dome of the Rock I doubt they would announce to the world its location. They might then expect present day Muslims then to build a new structure over that site. History The First Temple In the 10th century BC, after King David captured the city of Jerusalem and made it the capital of the Israelites, he chose this high place as the site of a great temple to house the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 24:18-25). Prior to this, the Ark had moved among several sanctuaries, especially those of Shechem and Shiloh. The construction project was undertaken by David’s son, King Solomon, and completed in 957 BC . The Holy of Holies housed the Ark of the Covenant, which was accompanied by two cherubim carved of olive wood. It was also considered the dwelling place of the Divine Presence ( Shekhinah ). So sacred was this innermost sanctuary that it could be entered only by the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The Temple of Jerusalem was an important center of religious and national identity from the beginning, but it became even more important when Josiah (r.640–609 BC) abolished all other
sanctuaries and established Solomon’s Temple as the only acceptable place for sacrifice in the Kingdom of Judah. The First Temple was looted of its treasures – including the Ark of the Covenant -between 604 BC and 597 BC and totally destroyed in 587-86 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. (Incidentally, Nebuchadnezzar’s palace gates can be seen at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.) The Jews were deported to Babylonia between 586 and 582 in what is known as the Babylonian Exile . The Second Temple In 538 BC, the Persian king Cyrus II (who had conquered Babylonia) allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. This was completed around 515 BC as a modest version of the original, without the Ark or any other ritual objects. But the Temple resumed its role as the religious center of Judaism, with elaborate rituals conducted by priests and Levites. The next few centuries saw Jerusalem subjugated to a number of foreign rulers. The Temple was respected by these (Persian and Hellenistic) rulers until Antiochus IV Epiphanes , who plundered it in 169 BC and desecrated it in 167 BC, by commanding that sacrifices be made to Zeus inside. This sparked the Hasmonean revolt , after which Judas Maccabaeus rededicated the Temple. This event is still celebrated in the annual festival of Hanukkah. During the Roman era, Pompey entered (and thereby desecrated) the Holy of Holies in 63 BC, but left the Temple intact. In 54 BC, Crassus looted the Temple treasury. The Temple’s fortunes rose again, however, with King Herod the Great of Judea, who began to rebuild it in 20 BC. The project was completed in 26 AD, after the birth of Jesus. Herod doubled the size of Temple Mount, surrounding it with retaining walls and gates. The Temple itself was enlarged and faced with large white stones. A series of “courts” allowed access to successively smaller groups of people: Jews and Gentiles; Jews only; Jewish men only; and priests only. Although it still lacked the Ark, the Temple now housed the Scriptures and other Jewish writings. It also became the headquarters of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court of law during the Roman period. Destruction of the Temple In 66 AD, a Jewish rebellion against Rome began and culminated in the near-complete destruction of the Temple (and the entire city) by Titus on August 10, 70 AD . This event is commemorated (complete with a relief showing the looting of a menorah by Roman soldiers) on the Arch of titusin Rome. This hope seemed to be realized after Simon Bar Kochba led a major rebellion against the Romans (132 AD). Jerusalem was liberated for three years, during which reconstruction on the Temple probably began. But in 135, Roman armies retook Jerusalem and forbade Jews to enter the city. Emperor Hadrian continued his construction of the new Roman city (called Aeila Capitolina ) and built a Temple to Jupiter Capitolinus on the site of the Temple. Byzantine Period Two centuries later, in 324, Emperor Constantine destroyed Hadrian’s pagan temple and built a church in its place. Excavations at Al-Asqua Mosque have uncovered an elaborate mosaic floor and fragments of an elaborate marble chancel screen, indicating that the Byzantine church was an elaborate and important one. Jewish hopes for rebuilding rose again briefly in 363, from a quite unexpected source – the Roman emperor Julian “the Apostate.” Julian rejected the Christianity in which he had been raised,
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