Before the first Israeli Temple was built, God’s dwelling place on earth was a tent. This tent was erected in the desert following the Israeli Exodus from slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt. This tabernacle of the Testimony can be traced to Moses. (Exo 38:21) The arc of the covenant was kept inside the Most Holy Place; this arc was the dwelling place of God on earth. The arc was first kept inside the tent; it was later placed inside the newly constructed Temple building. Outside the tent was an altar where lambs were sacrificed to God as a payment for the sin. These lambs foreshadowed the blood sacrifice of Jesus, as an innocent lamb. (Exo 25:8-9) The First Temple building was the idea of King David. (2 Sam 7:2) David purchased the Temple Mount for building the first Temple; it was the threshing floor of Araunah (alternative spelling: “Ornan”) and there he built an altar and offered a sacrifice. (2 Sam 24:18-24) King David’s son, King Solomon, actually built the Temple. (1 Kin 6:1) Construction took seven years; the labor force was 30,000 men. (1 Kin 5:13; 2 Chron 2:2) After Solomon’s death in 931 BC, Israel was divided into two countries. The northern country was called Israel, and the southern Judah. Jerusalem, with its Temple Mount, was located inside Judah. Assyrian King Shalmaneser V destroyed the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC. Judah fell to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 BC. (Jer 39:1) The destruction of Jerusalem included the destruction of this First Temple building. Babylon had become the world headquarters for false religion. Babylon, located in modern day Iraq, took the defeated Israelis captive. However, in 539 BC Darius the Mede overthrew the Babylonians, and established the Medo-Persia Empire. (Dan 5:30-31) The following year God caused Israelis to be released from captivity through a decree by Cyrus, King of Persia. Cyrus instructed those returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. (Ezra 1:1-3) In 515 BC, God’s Temple on Mount Moriah was rebuilt—this building was called the Second Temple. (Ezra 6:15) By the time of Jesus, the Second Temple was called Herod’s Temple—because King Herod had done much to make this building so spectacular. (John 2:14) The Jewish historian Josephus recorded that Herod’s Temple was not completed until 63 AD. Herod’s enlarged Temple was magnificent; upon completion, a workforce of 18,000 men was dismissed. Joseph and Mary dedicated Jesus at this Second Temple (Luke 2:27); this is also the Temple where Jesus’ searching parents found him teaching elders as a young man. (Luke 2:41-50) This is the Temple Jesus forcefully cleared of religious moneychangers. (John 2:13-16) Jesus and the Apostles preached at this Temple. (John 2:13-16; Acts 3:1-10; 6:42) When Jesus died on the cross—the curtain (veil) inside the Temple that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was torn from top to bottom. (Exo 26:33; Mat 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45) This tearing apart signified that man now had direct access to God. No longer would there be a curtain, or any other barrier, between God and man. Before the sin-atonement sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, only the High Priest of Israel had access to God. Only the High Priest was allowed to go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place. But now everyone who will come by faith—has direct access to God. Through belief in Christ—believers can communicate directly with the Father. Accordingly, Jesus is the High Priest of the New Testament. Because Israel rejected the Messiah, Jesus predicted that this Temple would be destroyed. (Mat 24:1-2) This destruction occurred as foretold—with Israel falling to the Roman Army in 70 AD. With the subsequent Islamic capture of Jerusalem—the Dome of the Rock shrine and the Al Aqsa Mosque were built on the Temple Mount. The most visible building on the Temple Mount today is the Dome of the Rock, which is built over a “sacred rock.” Islam understands that on God’s holy mountain, this Temple Mount, a rock should be honored. Unfortunately Islam missed the real Rock—Jesus Himself. (Psalm 19:14; Isa 26:4; Mat 16:18)

Inside the Dome of the Rock On the Temple Mount Islam honors the wrong Rock.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

Above: a picture of the wrong rock.

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