Monday, July 20, 2015

Jerusalem - The future of a city with history - Jerusalem is holy to Jews for over 3,000 years - First Jewish Temple


Jerusalem: The future of a city with history
By DON MORRIS and NATALIE WATSON of the Times Staff
Jerusalem is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians and has been under each of their control at points in its long history. Settling the "Jerusalem question" is at the core of any possible peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. 
Here is a look at the city at the center of it all.

A high and holy place

This 35-acre plateau that towered over ancient Jerusalem is important to Jews as Temple Mount, site of the first and second temples, to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, and to Christians.

First Jewish Temple

Jewish tradition holds that 3,000 years ago Solomon, son of King David, built the first Temple on the site of a threshing floor, the place where David originally erected the Tabernacle, a huge tent that housed the Ten Commandments. The Babylonians destroyed it 400 years later.

Second Jewish Temple

A few generations after the First Temple's destruction, Jews returned from exile and built the Second Temple on Temple Mount, which became the site of holy places for all three religions. The Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D.

Dome of the Rock

Muslims call the site Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). They believe Mohammed was transported from Mecca to Jerusalem, where he was lifted to heaven and received instructions on how to pray. The Dome of the Rock was built over the spot. With Al-Aqsa Mosque, the site is Islam's third holiest after Mecca and Medina.


TIMELINE: Jerusalem

3000 B.C. A settlement dates from this era, near Gihon Spring.
2000 - 1500 B.C. Abraham settles in Canaan. Christians and Jews believe Jerusalem is where God orders Abraham to sacrifice Abraham's son Isaac to him.
Around 1000 B.C.: David, founder of the joint kingdom of Israel and Judah, captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it his capital. David's son, Solomon, builds the First Temple.
586 B.C. The Babylonians conquer Jerusalem, destroy the Temple and exile the Jews.
64 B.C. Pompey conquers Jerusalem for Rome. Herod, made king in 40 B.C., begins a building program, including refurbishing the Second Temple.
Around 28 A.D. Jesus of Nazareth arrives in Jerusalem, where he will be crucified. He foretells the destruction of the Temple.
70 A.D. Romans destroy the Temple following a Jewish revolt. In 135, they put down another revolt and rename the city Aelia Capitolina.
313 The city comes under the control of Constantine I, who restores its name and with his mother, Helena, builds the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
638 Muslim Arabs capture Jerusalem; the Dome of the Rock is built by 691.
1099 European Christians capture Jerusalem during the First Crusade.
1187 Muslim leader Saladin recaptures Jerusalem. Jews return and the layout of the Old City into quarters is fixed.
1517 The Muslim Ottoman Turks capture the city.
1917 The British conquer Jerusalem during World War I and make it the administrative seat of Palestine.
1947 The British turn over Palestine's future to the new United Nations, which partitions it into Arab and Jewish states. Jerusalem would be an international city.
1948 Rejecting the U.N. plan, Arab forces attack the newly proclaimed state of Israel. By war's end, Israel controls West Jerusalem, which it makes its capital. Jordan controls East Jerusalem and the Old City.
1949 - 1967 Jews are barred from from praying at the Western Wall and some Jewish areas vandalized.
1967 During a second Arab-Israeli war, Israel captures East Jerusalem, reclaiming Temple Mount and the Western Wall. It annexes East Jerusalem and some 17,500 acres.
TODAY The future of East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel but regarded by Palestinians as the eventual capital of their own state, remains one of the most sensitive hurdles in peace talks.
Sources: World Book, Encyclopedia Britannica, BBC News, USA Today, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peace Now, B’Tselem, InfoPlease Almanac, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs


Jerusalem in the year 66 CE: Four years later, on Tisha B'Av, the Roman Emperor Titus destroyed the city during the period of the Great Revolt against Rome.
Herod's palace: Herod was responsible for building ambitious structures such as Herodion, Massada, and the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Both sides of the palace were symmetrical. In between are pools and fountains. Many of the rich in Jerusalem lived a comfortable life with their own pools.
The Upper City, or Western District: This area was reserved for the rich (the Sadducees, Jewish aristocracy of that period) who lived in multi-storey mansions with wooden roofs. This area was situated on a hill across from the Temple mount, which can be seen in the backround.
The Holy Temple and its large courtyard, and rear view of the Temple Mount: Herod began rebuilding the Temple in the year 19 BCE. The construction took seven years. Some say that it did not rain during the day throughout those seven years so as not to disturb the construction. Notice the Antonia fortress (named after Herod's Roman ally Mark Antony) overlooking the Temple.
The Antonia fortress: The structure was built originally during the period of Ezra and was strengthened by the Hasmoneans. Herod rebuilt it completely on top of a rock 82 feet high.
A close up look at the Temple: The Temple was built on Mount Moriah and Herod built the Temple floor 100 feet above street level. The Temple complex was very large with Herod building new walls on the outside, supported by rooms , buildings and tunnels on three levels. Isaiah said the Temple Mount is built like a lion, narrow in front, broad behind. For him, Jerusalem was the Lion of G-d, or "Ariel."
The Phasael Tower, Hippicus Tower and Miriamne Tower: These three towers are situated close to where Jaffa gate is today. These towers protected the main entrance to the city. Phasael tower was named after Herod's brother, Hippicus was named after Herod's friend who fell in battle, while Mariamne tower was named after Herod's wife. The only remains of these towers today is the base of Phasael's, found in the Tower of David.
During Herodion times: There were social tensions during Herod's time with the upper class Sadducees living in luxurious accomodation while the lower class Pharisees lived at the bottom of the city having to climb up to reach the Temple.
A Saducee bathroom in the year 66 CE, Jerusalem.
A Saducee living room in the year 66 CE, Jerusalem.


The  Temple  of  God  

In earliest times there were no permanent buildings such as temples where people could worship the One True God.  The heavenly Father just needed a sanctuary, which is a dedicated place where He could dwell with His children. “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”  (Ex. 25:8)  When the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness they could not build a permanent place of worship.  God would reveal Himself to them and let them know where they could erect a sacrificial altar (Deut. 112:11-14).  The Tabernacle In The Wilderness was a Tent of Meeting for the people.  The Tabernacle became the pattern for the first Temple of God to be built in Jerusalem.  King David had the desire to build the temple but God chose his son King Solomon who completed it in about 960 B.C. (2 Sam. 7:1-17; 1 Kn, 6:1-38).  It was a magnificent temple.


The Old Testament Temple


The Temple of God was used primarily for worship on the Sabbath day.  God had warned Israel that if it violated the Sabbath commandment He would destroy the gates and palaces of Jerusalem (Jer. 17:27).  Israel did not heed God’s warning so He allowed the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar to burn “the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions.” (2 Chron. 36:18-19).  Those that survived became slaves in Babylon “until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths.  As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.” (2 Chron. 36:20-21). 
At God’s appointed time the Persians permitted the Jews’ return from the Babylonian captivity about 538 B.C., they began to rebuild the Temple, which was completed about 15 years later. While almost certainly not as grand as the original Temple of Solomon, it survived over 450 years. It was this Temple that the Syrian king Antiochus IV desecrated in 168 B.C., triggering the revolt byThe Maccabees. This Temple was largely destroyed by the conquering Romans under Pompey in 63 B.C. (see Ancient Empires - Rome)
The Herodian Temple, a rebuilding of the earlier Temple by Herod The Great, was the magnificent structure that existed at the time of Jesus Christ. It was there that The Lord drove out the money changers and had numerous confrontations with the Pharisees and Sadducees. This Temple was completely destroyed by the Roman Legions in 70 A.D., exactly as Jesus Christ prophesied, nearly 40 years earlier, that it would be (Matthew 24:1-2) (see Fall of Jerusalem In 70 A.D.). Since then, there has been no Temple in Jerusalem.

Will the Physical Temple in Jerusalem be Rebuilt?

There are a number of Jewish groups working toward the rebuilding of a physical Temple in Jerusalem. Their preparations are genuine, professional, and well financed. They would begin building today if the political situation permitted it. But will it happen? Many Christians reject the thought of any such possibility, because their Christian perspective of "Temple" is now purely spiritual, and so they disregard the minds and actions of the Jewish people. But Jews aren't Christians. Jews have a religious perspective of their own, and since 1948, the Jewish state of Israel has been a reality.  
Whether or not the physical temple will be rebuilt depends on factors that relate to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  Consider the incident on September 28, 2000 when the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif in Arabic) regarded as Islam’s third holiest place.  He made this statement which is considered highly provocative to the Arabs::'The Temple Mount is in our hands and will remain in our hands. It is the holiest site in Judaism and it is the right of every Jew to visit the Temple Mount.'.  Since that time, Palestinians have engaged in a violent insurrection that has been dubbed the "al-Aksa intifada” which continues to this day.  Read “The Struggle for the Temple Mount” 
It is beyond the time limitation and scope of this sermon to deal with this issue of whether or not the physical temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt.  I have made a special study on this subject in the ARK Forum.   If you are interested in this study please 
Link to another web site on this issue please 

3 comments:

  1. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is Jewish territory and has been since prior to the building of the two Jewish temples. It is a historical fact that King David of Israel paid the Jebusites money to purchase that property, in order to avoid conflict. Israel, after liberating Jerusalem and Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism in 1967, Israel graciously permitted the Arabs to continue to pray at Temple Mount.

    The time has come to terminate said arrangement. Jewish worshippers have suffered years of abuse by Muslim Arabs committing unwarranted acts of violence on a consistent basis. Israel has the right, duty and obligation to revoke the unappreciated privilege formally granted. It is the Arab Muslims who are defiling The Jewish "Holy of Holies".

    It is time for Israel to take back Jewish its sacred ground, which is the holiest site in Judaism, once and for all.

    I am sure Arab-Muslims would not permit anyone in the world to build and control the holy Muslim Site in Mecca. Let the Arab-Muslims have Mecca, and the Judeo-Christian people have Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
    YJ Draiman

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is Jewish territory for over two millennium and has been since prior to the building of the two Jewish temples. It is a historical fact that King David of Israel paid the Jebusites money to purchase that property, in order to avoid conflict. Israel, after liberating Jerusalem and Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism in 1967, Israel graciously permitted the Arabs to continue to pray at Temple Mount.

    The time has come to terminate said arrangement. Jewish worshippers have suffered years of abuse by Arabs committing unwarranted acts of violence on a consistent basis. Israel has the right, duty and obligation to revoke the unappreciated privilege formally granted. It is the Arabs who are defiling The Jewish "Holy of Holies".

    It is time for Israel to take back Jewish its sacred ground, which is the holiest site in Judaism, once and for all.

    I am sure Arabs would not permit anyone in the world to build and control the holy Site in Mecca. Let the Arabs have Mecca, and the Judeo-Christian people have Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Israel must use its resources to stop this terror and violence in its tracks immediately. Israel does not have the time and the liberty to sacrifice more Jewish lives. It is the soft hand approach and the delusion of concessions and appeasement to the Arabs, while they continue to attack and terrorize Jews in their own homeland that has brought Israel to this crucial crossroads.

    Enough is enough. This cat and mouse treatment has been going on since 1948. Call in the reserves and start implementing Marshall Law or Military law on the Arabs. Zero tolerance and any violence must be reacted with full force. No hesitation on the use of live ammunition and the expulsion of the violator and his family and all their assets confiscated to pay for the damages. Stop equivocating and give excuses. No excuse will be accepted except the total vanquishing Arab terror and violence in Greater Israel.
    YJ Draiman

    Arabs must be expelled from Greater Israel if they cannot control their people from killing, terror and violence.

    ReplyDelete