Page 97 - Biblical Backgrounds

Yet the temple had important political and economic roles to play in society as well. It was the
institution that held all of Judean society together, past as well as present and future. It gave political
identity to the people. Access to its courts identified who was properly a citizen and who was excluded.

Economically, rooms in the temple functioned as a treasury – the society’s bank. Because of the
temple’s demands for tithes and offerings, a large portion of the Judean economy passed through the
temple personnel and storehouses. Without the temple, the Judean people had little chance of pulling
together as a coherent society to face the challenges of the future.

The laying of the foundation for this new temple, therefore, represented the rebirth of the kingdom of
Judah. Judeans could well appreciate that such an event was worthy of great joy, given their past. 141

There is a great movement to rebuild the Third Temple in Jerusalem today for similar reasons. The
nd
problem is that the Jews believe that the 2 temple was located in the center of the Temple Mount, a
36-acre walled and elevated plot that has a Muslim holy site built squarely in the middle. The Dome of
nd
the Rock, built in 691 A.D., is the 2 most holy Muslim place in the world. It supposedly was where their
greatest prophet, Mohammad, ascended to Heaven. Israel knows that there is NO WAY that a Jewish
temple could be built upon this same location.

In 333 AD, there was an
anonymous pilgrim called
the Pilgrim of Bordeaux
who traveled to Jerusalem.
He wrote that he looked
EAST from the location of
the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher (built three years
later), and all he could see
was the old Roman fort.
This was 350 years BEFORE
the Dome of the Rock was
built. He identified what is
called the Temple Mount
today as Fort Antonia. If
you go to Jerusalem today,
you will see Jews worshipping Jehovah at the Western Wall, located by the blue arrow in the picture on
the next page. Jews believe that this is what remains of the western wall of Herod’s temple. In
actuality, it is probably the western wall of the Roman fort, Antonia. According to the Scriptures, the
temple was located in the city of David, south of the Temple Mount today.

141 So That’s Why Bible, Thomas Nelson Publications, p. 1106

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