The Life of Jesus in Harmony
Harmony of the Gospels Outline of the Life of Jesus Glossary of Definitions

An Outline of the Life of Jesus
T he Temple of Herod

The Temple of Herod was in actuality a renovation of the Second Temple, which was built by Zerubbabel. it was built upon the location where Abraham built the altar to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah (one of the mountains in the region of Moriah). Herod did a wonderful job making a beautiful temple for the Jews to worship their god. When entering by the Eastern gate you would enter the court of the Gentiles (only a Jew could continue on). Next would be the court of the women, and then would be the court of the men of Israel. Only the priests could continue further into the court of the priests where the altar and the laver of bronze stood. Entering further would be entering into the holy place where the Table of the Showbread, tthe seven branched menorah, and the golden altar of incense stood. After that was the veil separating man from God. The high priest could only go further on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement to sprinkle the blood in the holy of holies. In the time of Jesus there was no Ark of the Covenant. The historian Josephus wrote about the magnificence of the Temple of Herod. Today the Dome of the rock mosque is situated on this site.

Historical Notes

- It was nearly 500 years since the Temple of Zerubbabel (the Second Temple) was built after the return from exile.

- When King Herod looked at the Temple he despised it thinking that it should match the grandeur of the architecture was he was capable of building.

- Herod also desire to show the Jews that he also respected their God, and although they are very insecure about his motives, he allowed the original building to stand while he worked in creating a much larger temple mount and eventually an amazing renovation of the Second Temple.

- Herod made the Temple truly magnificent, the white stone glistened in the bright Judean sun and could be seen from all directions in the distance, Especially from the place that Jesus loved dearly and dwelt often, the Mount of Olives.

- When the construction of the Temple began the religious services were not interrupted. Herod hired thousands of workers, and many of them were priests in ceremonial dress to build the holier places. After that they built the court of the Israelites with the men of Israel would gather to serve the Lord. After that the court of the women and then the court of the Gentiles. The temple platform had been greatly enlarged and there were many large colonnades made of marble tremendously beautiful. The whole area was surrounded by a great wall, and under the platform was a great retaining wall which today one can see the Wailing Wall which was part of that retaining wall on the west side.

- The work of the Temple began in 19 BC and was not finished until long after Herod's death.

- The Jews grew in favor of the renovation of the Second Temple, that is until Herod placed a huge Roman eagle over the beautiful entrance gate of the new Temple. The Jews were outraged but they could do nothing until Herod became sick and dying. A group of young Jews came to the gate and began to pull down the Eagle. They were arrested by Roman soldiers, about 40 were caught. Herod consider this so insubordinate and insulting to Rome that he had the "rebels" burned alive.

Related Topics: Solomon's Porticoe, Herod the Great, The Beautiful Gate, Donkey. The Widow's Mite.

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