The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries Ancient and Modern. James E. Talmage

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СКАЧАТЬ shew-bread instead of the ten tables overlaid with gold which stood in the first Temple. We read also of a golden altar of incense, and of some minor appurtenances. The Most Holy Place was empty, for the Ark of the Covenant had not been known after the people had gone into captivity.

      In many respects the Temple of Zerubbabel appeared poor in comparison with its splendid predecessor and in certain particulars, indeed, it ranked lower than the ancient Tabernacle of the Congregation—the sanctuary of the nomadic tribes. Critical scholars specify the following features characteristic of the Temple of Solomon and lacking in the Temple of Zerubbabel: (1) the Ark of the Covenant; (2) the sacred fire; (3) the Shekinah, or glory of the Lord, manifested of old as the Divine Presence; (4) the Urim and Thummim, by which Jehovah made plain His will to the priests of the Aaronic order; (5) the genius or spirit of prophecy, indicative of the closest communion between mortals and their God. Notwithstanding these differences the Temple of Zerubbabel was recognized of God and was undoubtedly the site or seat of Divine revelation to duly constituted prophets.

      The inferiority of the second Temple as compared with the first is generally conceded; the difference, however, was rather in matter of splendor than in point of size.^[82] But even such glory as it did possess was not to be long maintained. Again the people became recreant to their God, and the voice of the prophet was unheeded. Again did Jehovah permit the heathen to oppress Judah. Of the later history of this Temple the Biblical record gives but few details; but from other sources we learn of its vicissitudes. In connection with the Maccabean persecution the House of the Lord was profaned. A Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, captured Jerusalem (168 to 165 BC) and perpetrated blasphemous outrage against the religion of the people. He plundered the Temple and carried away its golden candlestick, its golden altar of incense, its table of shewbread, and even tore down the sacred veils, which were of fine linen and scarlet. His malignity was carried so far that he purposely desecrated the altar of sacrifice by offering swine thereon, and erected a heathen altar within the sacred enclosure. Not content with the violation of the Temple, this wicked monarch had altars erected in the towns and ordered the offering of unclean beasts upon them. The rite of circumcision was forbidden on pain of death, and the worship of Jehovah was declared a crime.^[83] As a result of this persecution many of the Jews apostatized, and declared that they belonged to the Medes and Persians—the nations from whose dominion they had been delivered by the power of God.

      Among those who remained true to the religion of their fathers was Mattathias, who was a priest, and a man of prominence. He was besought to offer heathen sacrifice; not only did he refuse but in righteous indignation he slew those who did attempt the sacrilege. This act led to further strife and for three years the struggle continued. Judas, son of Mattathias, came into prominence and is known as Judas Maccabeus—the first of the Maccabees. Under his leadership the people returned to Jerusalem and found the Temple deserted, as it had been left by the army of Antiochus. Its gates had been broken down and burned; and within the walls weeds were growing. Judas tried to cleanse and rehabilitate the House; he brought in new vessels, and replaced the candlestick, the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, and the veils, and built a new altar for burnt offerings. Then in the year 163 BC the House was rededicated; and the occasion was remembered in annual festival thereafter under the name of the Feast of Dedication.^[84]

      In the interest of self-preservation the Jews entered into an alliance with the Romans, who eventually became their masters. During the reign of the Maccabees the Temple fell into decay, and when the last of that dynasty had been succeeded by Herod the Great, the House was little more than a ruin. Nevertheless the priestly orders had been maintained; and some semblance of ritualistic worship had continued. The history of the Temple of Zerubbabel is merged with that of the Temple of Herod.

THE TEMPLE OF HEROD

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      In the year 37 BC Herod I, known in history as Herod the Great, was established on the throne as King of Judea. He had already served successively as procurator and tetrarch, and, indeed, had been king in name for some time prior to his enthronement, during which period he had been in hostile conflict with the people over whom the decree of the Roman Senate had made him ruler. He came to the throne noted for arrogance and cruelty; and his reign was one of tyranny, in which even family relationship and the closest ties of blood proved unavailing to protect the victims of his displeasure. In the early part of his reign he put to death nearly all the members of the Sanhedrin, the great Jewish Council, and throughout he ruled with increasing severity. Nevertheless he was successful in maintaining peace with other governments, and by his Roman masters was accounted an able ruler. Among his acts of cruelty was the slaughter of the babes of Bethlehem, a murder planned and executed in the hope of including among the victims the Child Jesus.^[85]

      Such is the character of the man who proposed to replace the time-worn Temple of Zerubbabel by a new and more splendid structure. Can it be thought that a proffered gift from such a donor could be acceptable to the Lord? David had aforetime offered to build a House to the Lord, but had been restrained, for he was a man of blood. Herod's purpose in the great undertaking was that of aggrandizing himself and the nation, rather than the rendering of homage to Jehovah. His proposition to rebuild or restore the Temple on a scale of increased magnificence was regarded with suspicion and received with disfavor by the Jews, who feared that were the ancient edifice demolished, the arbitrary monarch might abandon his plan and the people would be left without a Temple. To allay these fears the king proceeded to reconstruct and restore the old edifice, part by part, directing the work so that at no time was the Temple service seriously interrupted. So little of the ancient structure was allowed to stand, however, that the Temple of Herod must be regarded as a new creation. The work was begun about sixteen years before the birth of Christ; and while the Holy House itself was practically completed within a year and a half, this part of the labor having been performed by a body of one thousand priests specially trained for the purpose, the temple area was a scene of uninterrupted building operations down to the year 63 AD We read that in the time of Christ's ministry the Temple had been forty-six years in building;^[86] and at that time it was unfinished.

      The Biblical record gives us little information regarding this the last and the greatest of ancient temples; for what we know concerning it we are indebted mainly to Josephus, with some corroborative testimony found in the Talmud. In all essentials the Holy House or Temple proper was similar to the two earlier houses of sanctuary, though externally far more elaborate and imposing than either; but in the matter of surrounding courts and associated buildings, the Temple of Herod preeminently excelled. In proceeding from the outer wall to the innermost enclosure occupied by the Holy House one would traverse successive courts, each at a higher level than the last, to which arrangement the slopes of Mount Moriah were favorable. The courts extended as enormous platform-terraces, supported by foundations of massive masonry, which rose vertically in some places seven hundred feet from the foot of the hill.

      The outer wall enclosing the entire temple area, which approximated the form of a square, measured four hundred cubits, or one stadium, (about six hundred feet) along each side. The east wall, constituting the principal defense of the city on that side, was unbroken by gates; on each of the other three sides one or more large and beautiful portals afforded passage through the fortress-like wall. The four sides of the great enclosure, immediately within the outer wall, were occupied by a series of magnificent porticoes, of Grecian design, forming a covered colonnade in which every pillar was a massive monolith of white marble. This colonnade was interrupted at the north-west corner, where the continuity of the wall was broken by the Tower of Antonia, in reality a fortified castle, from which a subterranean passage led into the inner enclosure where stood the Holy House. The colonnade or line of porticoes along the south side was particularly elaborate, and was known as the Royal Porch. Here were four rows of huge columns, and consequently three corridors, of which the inner was forty-five feet wide and one hundred feet high, while each of the side corridors measured thirty feet in width and sixty feet in height. СКАЧАТЬ