what was in the holy of holies in herod's temple

One person, the high priest, would enter the room once a year on . (See TABERNACLE .) Fifty days later at the Festival of Weeks, or Pentecost (compare Acts 2), which celebrated the first harvest, individuals brought firstfruit offerings to the temple to be offered on the altar. These poles reached the curtain and protruded slightly outwards from the curtain in the Kodesh. ib. 'Second House of the Sanctum' ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between c. 516 BCE and 70 CE. A ramp led to the top of the altar that had horns at the four corners. After the "Great Disappointment", preacher O. R. L. Crosier, Hiram Edson, and F. B. Hahn published new insights into Christ's sanctuary ministry that Jesus began to minister in the heavenly sanctuary after His ascension (Heb 9:24). 404 BC) was one of the great builders of antiquity; his goal in rebuilding the temple was to create one of the most magnificent buildings in his day and in the process to try to please his subjects, the Jews. Incense was expensive and was thus seen as a sacrifice, and the sweet odor helped to counteract the smells of sacrifice at the temple. The Mishnaic tractate Middot relates that in the upper story of the Holy of Holies were openings through which they could let down workmen in boxes to assist in the maintenance of this space (Middot 4.5). of Olives in the footsteps of Jesus take the Palm Sunday Walk. [8] While there is no archaeological evidence of the temple proper, there are many architectural and archaeological evidences of the Temple Mount, including several important inscriptions.[9]. On the Day of Atonement in Old Testament times, the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat of the ark in order to make atonement. 3; II Chron. Once a year, on the day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies and sprinkled sacrificial blood over the mercy seat as expiation for Israel's sins. It was twice as large as Trajans Forum in Rome and three-and-a-half times more extensive than the combined temples of Jupiter and Astarte-Venus at Baalbek. In Hebrews this atonement occurred not in the temple on earth but in the heavenly temple made without hands: For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24). 20 BCAD 50) described the significance of these annual pilgrimages: Countless multitudes from countless cities come, some over land, others over sea, from east and west and north and south at every feast. xliii. Herods temple precinct was demarcated by fences and gates into concentric rings of successive holiness. The painting on the bottom right portrays the journey of the Ark of the Covenant from the home of Avinadav to Jerusalem. The Talmud tells us that it was not known whether the veil in Solomon's temple was hung on the inside or the outside of the entrance to the Holy of Holies. In the 1st . [citation needed], While under normal circumstances, access to the Holy of Holies was restricted to the High Priest and only on Yom Kippur, the Talmud suggests that repair crews were allowed inside as needed but were lowered from the upper portion of the room via enclosures so that they only saw the area they were to work on.[15][16]. Following the death of Jesus, the book of Acts records that the apostles and followers of Jesus continued to teach and worship at the temple. In the Second Temple the Holy of Holies was empty since the ark of the covenant and the cherubim had disappeared in the course of the destruction of Solomons temple in 586 BC. Only the High Priest was permitted to enter here, and only on Yom Kippur. It was in the form of a perfect cube of 20 cubits. Paul and the other apostles prayed and worshipped at the temple, performing the required purification rituals and offering sacrifice there (Acts 21:26). vi. The Western Wall or the Wailing Wall the only thing that remained from the Temple King Herod the Great built in the 1st . A latter-day Holy of Holies has been dedicated in the great temple in Salt Lake City. Bar Kokhba was heralded as the Messiah by numerous prominent Jewish rabbis, including Akiba, and thus many Jews gathered to his rebellion. To this day Samaritans continue to live near Mount Gerizim and offer the yearly Passover sacrifice in the vicinity of their temple site. [20] The lamp was the only source of light in the temple. For a discussion and possible solutions to these discrepancies see Ritmeyer, The Quest, 13945. [12] Josephus records that Pompey profaned the Temple by insisting on entering the Holy of Holies in 63 BCE. This would have been 45 feet tall. (Source: Rambam, Klei Hamikdash 1, 1-12), A jar of Manna was placed in the Holy of Holies as a memorial and testimony to the Almighty's Divine protection over the Children of Israel. The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies together comprised one large rectangular room completely covered with plates of gold separated only by the veil of the temple. The main ritual of the Saint Thomas Christians is the Qurbana.[24]. The Holy of Holies was located at the west end of the Temple, and in Solomon's Temple it enshrined the Ark of the Covenant, a symbol of Israel's special relationship with God. (credit giantamericanflag.com) In this prophecy Jesus also quoted the prophecy of Daniel of the abomination of desolation connected with the destruction of Jerusalem and the desecration of the temple, and he advised those who wished to be preserved to stand in the holy place and flee into the mountains (Joseph SmithMatthew 1:1213; compare Matthew 24:1516). . (Source: Kings I 7,23-28). On this day the high priest led Israel in a series of sacrifices that would atone for sin and ritual impurity through the ritual of the two goats. This form is also used more broadly in Catholic tradition with reference to sanctuaries other than the Temple in Jerusalem. and further divided according to a social hierarchy for gentiles, women, Israelites, Levites and Priests. Under the law of Moses there were five major sacrifices (Leviticus 17). According to Maimonides ("Yad," Bet ha-Beirah, iv. Uncleanness ows from and is related to contact with death. The location of the Temple, however, had become uncertain already less than 150 years after the Second Temple's destruction, as detailed in the Talmud. xiv. [6] Josephus was from a priestly family and therefore claimed to have intimate knowledge of Herods temple. The Porch Examples of similar constructions are "servant of servants" (Gen 9:25), "Sabbath of sabbaths" (Ex 31:15), "God of gods" (Deut 10:17), "Vanity of vanities" (Eccl 1:2), "Song of songs" (Song of Songs 1:1), "king of kings" (Ezra 7:12), etc. A passage at the beginning of John describes Jesus as the tabernacle when it says, and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Ross, Israel J. The rabbi asked Vespasian to give him Yavneh, a city where he founded a rabbinical academy that preserved the Sanhedrin and the ongoing process of oral tradition that would result in the publication of the Mishnah (Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 56). The temple proper was situated near the middle of the inner courtyard, facing east, and surrounded by a wall. 3 mentions dimensions), the Holy of Holies was curtained off (I. Macc. 6 Mechael Kanovsky proud practicing Orthodox Jew and perpetual student Author has 2.5K answers and 3.1M answer views 1 y Tony Pearce In this vision the ultimate fulfillment of the temple was realized by the continuing presence of the Father and the Son in the heavenly city. Throughout his ministry Jesus came to Jerusalem each year to celebrate Passover. Called the Royal Stoa, it is probably Solomons porch of the New Testament (John 10:23). Download Now According to the Hebrew Bible, in order that God may dwell among the Israelites, God gave Moses instructions for erecting a sanctuary. On the stairs leading up to the doors of the temple the priests would daily gather to recite the priestly benediction on the people (Numbers 6:2327). [11] The dimensions of Herods temple are given in cubits and/or stadia in the ancient sources; while the length of a cubit probably varied through time, most believe that the cubit used in the building of the temple was the long cubit. It is used by Roman Catholics to refer to holy objects beyond the Holy of Holies, and is specifically often used as an alternative name for a tabernacle, due to the object being a storage chamber for consecrated host and thus where the presence of God is most represented. The seriousness of the offense of Gentiles crossing the barrier is dramatized by the story in Acts where Paul was falsely accused of bringing non-Jews past this enclosure and the mob attempted to kill him (Acts 21:2732). A convenient collection can be found in Hayward, Jewish Temple, 10841. 5). In 54 bce, however, Crassus plundered the Temple treasury. Each of the priests ritually washed their hands and feet before and after officiating at the temple (Exodus 30:2021). When completed, Herods temple mount was a trapezoid-shaped walled platform 1,550 feet [472 meters] long north to south, and about 1,000 feet [304 meters] wide east to west. Various implements from the temple, including the menorah and the shewbread table, were preserved for many years in Rome in Vespasians Temple of Peace.[31]. An excellent description of the history of the Temple Mount is Oleg Grabar and Benjamin Z. Kedar, eds., Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalems Sacred Esplanade (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2010). As Jesus had prophesied, the temple was burned and destroyed, leaving a pile of rubble. ), which was 60 cubits in length, 20 cubits in breadth, 30 cubits in height, and built of stone (Josephus, "Ant." viii. i. In distinction from all tithes which are holy those belonging to the priests are further designated as "midash" (Num. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Solomonic Debir according to the Hebrew Text of I Kings 6 J. Ouellette -, The Damaged "blueprints" of the Temple of Solomon. Of major importance was the rebuilding of the Second Temple begun by Herod the Great, king (37 bce -4 ce) of Judaea. The Ark was borne atop a new wagon, with King David and all of Israel dancing before it. . EN RU CN DE ES. A trap-door was above the Holy of Holies, and through this the workmen were lowered in boxes, to guard against profanation (lit. There is a Talmudic discussion regarding the contents of the Ark, One opinion states that both the first Tablets (that were broken by Moses) as well as the second Tablets, and the Torah scroll written by Moses, were all housed in the Ark. The Gospel of Luke opens in the temple with the appearance of the angel Gabriel to the priest Zacharias as he was officiating at the incense altar in the Holy Place (Luke 1:524), and the Gospel of Luke ends with a note that the disciples of Jesus, after his ascension were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God (Luke 24:53). When John the Baptist first saw Jesus he announced him as the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), an allusion to the sacrifice of the lambs at the temple. 3, 10; vi. Some Christian churches, particularly the Catholic Church, consider the Church tabernacle, or its location (often at the rear of the sanctuary), as the symbolic equivalent of the Holy of Holies, due to the storage of consecrated hosts in that vessel. xvi. 25:10-16 ). Next, he wore an apron encircling the body called an ephod held in place by two shoulder straps, each bearing an onyx stone inscribed with the names of six tribes of Israel (Exodus 28:610). 10; x. Likewise, Josephus ascribed cosmic significance to the veil at the entrance of the temple: The scarlet seemed emblematical of fire, the fine linen of the earth, the blue of the air, and the purple of the sea; the comparison in two cases being suggested by their color, and in that of the fine linen and purple by their origin, as the one is produced by the earth and the other by the sea. He issued coins depicting the faade of the temple, suggesting that the rebuilding of the sacred building was an integral part of Bar Kokhbas rebellion. [17] For an overview of the temple and temple worship at the time of Jesus, see Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services as They Were at the Time of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1997) and Randall Price, Rose Guide to the Temple (Torrance, CA: Rose Publishing, 2012); and Leen and Kathleen Ritmeyer, The Ritual of the Temple in the Time of Jesus (Jerusalem: Carta, 2002). From the Mt of Olives the soldier standing near Jesus could see the veil covering the Holy of Holies and see it disappear when the veil was rent in two when the lintel cracked. A golden box containing the tablets with the Ten Commandments, the ark stood in the Holy of Holies, the Temple 's innermost sanctum. The Kaporet was made entirely of one piece of pure gold - including the Cherubim on the top. 515 to 198 BC under the Persians and the Ptolemies based in Egypt. [21] The last mention of the ark is from the time of Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:1). 12a; Ker. xli. Holy of holies [EBD] the second or interior portion of the tabernacle. [8] A reputable English translation of the Mishnah can be found in Herbert Danby, The Mishnah (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933). . Though the ark has disappeared, this ritual was continued in the temples of Zerubbabel and Herod. Josephus, a first-century AD Jewish writer, recounted that Pompey, the conquering general, made it a point to enter into the Holy of Holies of the temple and was amazed to see that the rumors of there being no image to the god of Israel were true. And Isaiah prophesied, And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains, . He thus doubled the size of Solomons temple mount. vi. Various commentaries describe the appearance of the Cherubim. Jewish men and women could pass from the east through the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:2) to enter a square courtyard in front of the temple called the Court of the Women, where, Josephus records, [we] who were ritually clean used to pass with our wives (Antiquities 15.418). In the Herodian Temple the Holy of Holies was not divided off from the rest of the hekal by a wall, but two curtains, a cubit apart, partitioned the inner chamber from the outer room. The Ark rested in the center of the Holy of Holies, and on both sides of the Ark were poles used for carrying. One of the significant finds in the Dead Sea Scrolls is the Temple Scroll, believed by the Qumran sect to be scripture that describes the plans and the legal requirements for a future eschatological temple. Eventually the sect of the Pharisees transitioned into rabbinic Judaism, which became mainstream Judaism to the present day. Additionally, the temple was the focal point of the Jewish festivals, including the three pilgrimage festivals that all Jews throughout the world were required to celebrate at the temple in Jerusalem. 3, 2: "white marble"), and was divided into two sections by a partition of cedar-wood with a door covered by a costly curtain (Josephus, l.c. All the vessels of the Mishkan had these carrying poles for traveling in the dessert, and when Israel camped they were removed. Christians would have to decide what their proper relationship was to the templewhether they needed an actual earthly building or if Jesus had in some way done away with the need for a physical temple. (Source: Numbers 16, 16-26), In the First Temple, King Solomon built large Cherubim made of Shemen wood and overlaid them with gold. Josephus, who was an eyewitness of the temple, reported, The exterior of the building lacked nothing that could astound either mind or eye. Entry to the Holy of Holies was only permitted to the High Priest while officiating during the service on Yom Kippur, when he was dressed in white garments. The Latin Vulgate Bible translates Qe HaqQm as Sanctum sanctorum (Ex 26:34). For a scholarly review of these theories, see John Day, Whatever Happened to the Ark of the Covenant?, in Temple and Worship in Biblical Israel, ed. Simon Bar Kokhba (son of the star) was a Jewish claimant to the title of messiah who led an unsuccessful revolt against the Romans in AD 132135. In the center of the Holy of Holies stood the foundation stone upon which the Ark rested. New Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004). Chapter 54 of the Tractate Berakhot states that the Holy of Holies was directly aligned with the Golden Gate, which would have placed the Holy of Holies slightly to the north of the Dome of the Rock, as Kaufman postulated. For the Jews the temple of Herod was a tangible symbol of their religion that made it possible to fulfill the laws of sacrifice in the law of Moses. In God's cosmic temple there is no uncleanness. The section farthest from the entrance, designated also as the "debir" (the "oracle" "the most holy place," I Kings vi. [3] For a review of the history and theology of the Israelite temples, see Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978); Margaret Barker, The Gate of Heaven: The History and Symbolism of the Temple in Jerusalem (London: SPCK, 1991); William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely, Solomons Temple in Myth and History (London: Thames & Hudson, 2007); and John M. Lundquist, The Temple of Jerusalem: Past, Present, and Future (Westport, CN: Praeger, 2008). Hor. This notion pervades the Priestly Code and is determinative of the later Jewish conception, which ascribes to the land of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, the different courts and buildings of the Temple, in a fixed but ascending scale, different degrees of sanctity (Sanh. Posted around this barrier were signs warning Gentiles not to pass on pain of death. On the High Priest's fourth entry into the Holy of Holies he removed the incense vessel and coal shovel. Paul insists that he never offended against the temple, implying he accepted its sanctity (Acts 25:8). According to Josephus the Samaritans built their temple there sometime in the period of Alexander the Great (Antiquities 11.31011), and it remained a center of their religious community and a competing temple to the Jerusalem temple until the Samaritan temple was destroyed by the Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus in 129 BC (Antiquities 13.25456). Some scholars argue that they saw themselves as a community representing the temple. 4, 19); the things reserved for the priests ("minah"; Lev. . [18] A few Orthodox Jewish authorities, following the opinion of the medieval scholar Maimonides, permit Jews to visit parts of the Temple Mount known not to be anywhere near any of the sanctified areas. The meal offering was offered for thanksgiving. The anointing oil was used to anoint the Mishkan and its vessels. During the ritual, the High Priest would pronounce the Tetragrammaton, the only point according to traditional Judaism that it was pronounced out loud. These curtains were richly wrought. It was covered with gold, and a golden vine was spread upon it. The Holy Place Inside the Holy Place there was the Porch, the Hall and the Holy of Holies, just as in Solomon's Temple. The name in Greek for the sanctuary of a church is (Hieron Vema, see Bema#Christianity), in Russian it is called (Svyatoy Altar literally: "Holy Altar"), and in Romanian it is called Sfntul Altar. iv. [24] In Nasrani tradition the Holy of Holies is kept veiled for much of the time. A well-known story in the Midrash tells of Rabbi ben Zakkai, who, when walking by the ruins of the temple, said to his disciple, My son, do not be grieved, for we have another atonement that is just like it. The book of Ezra records that at the dedication of Zerubbabels temple, those who had seen the First Temple wept (Ezra 3:12). There he made a whip and drove out those that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves (Matthew 21:12; Luke 19:4547). His envisioned rebuilding project was a delicate operation since it would involve the complete demolition of Zerubbabels temple and the expeditious building of the new temple. Ancient sources pertaining to Herods temple include the writings of Josephus (ca. The length of the Holy of Holies was 20 cubits. Only the high priest could enter this area, and then only one time per year, to make atonement for the sins of Israel ( Exodus 30:10 ). The phrase Second Temple is a designation used for both Zerubbabels and Herods temples.[4]. A large veil of several colors hung in front of the doors at the entrance to the Holy Place. This symbolized a sacred meal shared by the offerer, the Lord, and the priest. "[23], The Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Nasrani or Syrian Christians) from Kerala, South India still follow much Jewish Christian tradition. His idea of the ascending scale of holiness is apparent in his designation of the Temple territory as "Holy of Holies" in comparison with the surrounding Levitical land (Ezek. A related term is the debir () transliterated in the Septuagint (the Greek translation as dabir (),[5] which either means the back (i.e. The people returning from exile sought to restore temple worship by erecting a replica of Solomons temple on the Temple Mount. Finally, in the centre of the Temple was the holy of holies, the innermost chamber of the Temple where the ark of the Law was kept xxix. Jesus may have been comparing himself to these symbols of water and light when in the context of this festival (John 7:2) he taught: He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38), and also I am the light of the world (John 8:12). (She. Yaakov continued, "If G-d will be with me, and He will guard me on this way, upon which I am going, and He will give me bread to eat and a garment to wear; And if I return in peace to my father's house, and HaShem will be my G-d; Then this stone, which I have placed as a monument, shall be a house of G-d, and everything that You give me, I will surely tithe to You." The temple is a central feature in the Gospel narratives of the life and ministry of Jesus. In the center of the facade (face) was the main entrance, over the top was hung a golden bunch of grapes. Lincoln H. Blumell (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019), 53-70. When King David began to prepare the building of the Temple, he arranged to bring the Ark from Kiryat Yearim in a grand procession: David and all the house of Israel played before G-d on all types of instruments They arrived at Nachons threshing-floor, and Uzzah cast out [his hand] to the Ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen stumbled (Samuel II 6:56). In this vision John looked for the temple in this heavenly city and then said, And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it (Revelation 21:22). It housed the Ark of the Covenant and the Two Tablets of the law. Based on passages of scripture in the writings of Paul like Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (1 Corinthians 3:16), and For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Corinthians 5:1). 1920s: In the courtyard of Her. Scholars have noted that this was one of the largest sacred precincts in the ancient world. The Court of the Gentiles was separated by a wall from the court where only Israelite men and women were permitted to go. Holy of Holies [NAVE] Then the high priest, as the climax of this ritual, was able to enter into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the floor, thus effecting the forgiveness of sin and ritual impurity and resulting in reconciliation or at-one-ment between God and humans. Picture on left shows the Kohen Gadol standing with the king of Israel before the Ark of the Covenant, and receiving an answer to the king's inquiry via the Urim and Tumim on the Kohen Gadol's breatsplate. xxiv. Traditional Judaism regards the Holy of Holies as the place where the presence of God dwells. The sacrifices, offerings, and furnishing of the Israelite temples such as altars, basins, veils, candlesticks, incense altars, tables for shewbread offerings, and the priestly clothing were familiar to the gentile cultures surrounding Israel. The Tabernacle of Ancient Israel - Brief Overview of the Tabernacle of Moses in the Wilderness and the Ark of the Covenant. Hence the name "the Ark of the Covenant" or "the Ark of the Testimony." The Holy of Holies is the most sanctified place in the Mikdash. The Vulgate also refers to the Holy of Holies with the plural form Sancta sanctorum (2 Chr 5:7), arguably a synecdoche referring to the holy objects hosted there. 12, xlviii. First Kings 6:2 records that Solomon's temple was 30 cubits high. The first covenant had regulations of divine worship and an earthly sanctuary. [24] As a symbol of this balance of power under Roman rule, a daily sacrifice was offered for the welfare of the Roman emperor at the temple consisting of two lambs and an ox. [3], The Christian Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls, a small cave that lies underneath the Foundation Stone in the Dome of the Rock. It contained the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. The temple proper was approached from the east by passing through the Court of Womenwhere men and women could go to observe the sacrifices through the gate. At these festivals the Jews celebrated and renewed their covenantal relationship with the Lord and expressed thanksgiving by prayer, feasting, sacrifices, and offerings. Led by Zerubbabel, the Jews eventually rebuilt the temple (called Zerubbabels temple) and rededicated it in ca. and many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob (Isaiah 2:23). Traditional Judaism regards the location where the inner sanctuary was originally located, on the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah), as retaining some or all of its original sanctity for use in a future Third Temple. [7] Philos references to the temple are found scattered throughout his writings. Ezekiel (ib. [22] Philo, On the Special Laws 1.69. The tabernacle was divided into two rooms, the holy place and the most holy place (or holy of holies). Herod's Temple, Jesus honored, and whose destruction he prophesied! [31] Steven Fine, The Menorah from the Bible to Modern Israel (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016), 4. The Jews were eventually driven from Jerusalem and were left without a temple. Then down the Mt. Herod (reigned from ca. L. Waterman -. Because no mention is made of the ark of the covenant in the list of furnishings taken by the Babylonians to Babylon following the destruction in 586 BC (2 Kings 25:1317; Jeremiah 52:1723), most scholars presume the ark was destroyed by the Babylonians when they destroyed the temple. The book of Revelation contains John the Revelators vision of the new Jerusalem. In the Holy Place stood the altar of incense, near the entrance to the Holy of Holies the seven-branched golden Candlestick to the south, and the table of showbread to the north. [26] Because in Hebrews, God commands Moses to make sure that all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the Mount Sinai (Heb 8:2,5). Philo of Alexandria (ca. 3 Cognate of the "most holy place" 4 In church scriptures. Pompey arranged for the cleansing of the temple and the resumption of temple service under Roman rule (Antiquities 14.7073; see also Tacitus, Histories 5.1112).[5]. From the quote above, I believe that there was probably some kind of altar in the holy of holies, but I am not sure. xxvi. An account of the Temple Destruction is covered . Roman Empire Map - Large Map of the Roman Empire in the Early First Century - Click around on the Places. Surrounding the Kaporet (the cover of the Ark) was a golden wreath representing the Crown of the Torah. J." These things were hidden together with the Ark towards the end of the First Temple period. Eusebius recounted that the saints in Jerusalem were spared from the destruction of Jerusalem by fleeing across the Jordan River to Pella (Church History 3, 5, 3). 29; comp. See Ritmeyer, Quest, 77400, for a complete description of the temple according to the Mishnah. According to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Jesus cleansed the temple at the end of his ministry. Scholars and others have suggested many speculative theories about the ark being lost, hidden, or taken away before its destruction. [29], Christians initially continued worshipping at the Jerusalem temple and living the law of Moses, but eventually it became clear, following the Council of Jerusalem, that one did not have to become a Jew to become a Christian (Acts 15; compare Galatians 2); therefore most Christians began to distance themselves from the temple. H. B. Huffmon, F. A. Spina, and A. R. W. Green (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1983), 20519. In order to enlarge the sacred platform, Herod expanded the area of the Temple Mount to the south and west by fill and erecting a series of arched vaults. Here Jewish men and women could participate in temple worship through prayer, fasting, and hymns. 14); the offering of the leper (because it belongs to the priests; Lev. Only one object was housed there: the ark of the covenant . In the final week of his ministry, speaking to the apostles on the Mount of Olives, Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple: Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here, upon this temple, one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down (Joseph SmithMatthew 1:3; compare Matthew 24:12). A Jewish legend records how Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, who found himself trapped in Jerusalem during the Roman siege, realized the temple was going to be destroyed.