✍️💒 The 📖 of 1 Kings

What happened to the temple that Solomon built?
A decade later, Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem and after 30 months finally breached the city walls in 587 BCE, subsequently burning the Temple, along with most of the city (2 Kings 25). According to Jewish tradition, the Temple was destroyed .

Who destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem?
Romans
Much as the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple, the Romans destroyed the Second Temple and Jerusalem in 70 CE ( Comman era) as retaliation for an ongoing Jewish revolt. The second temple lasted for a total of 585 years (516 BCE to 70 CE).

The Destruction and Reconstruction of the Temple
The Jerusalem temple said to have been built by Solomon was destroyed in 587/586 B.C.E., when the Babylonians captured the city, torched it, and exiled the Judean leadership to Babylon. Second Kings describes the final days:

“In the fifth month … Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.” (2Kings 25:8-9)

This event marked a turning point in Israelite history because it spelled the end of an autonomous or even semiautonomous Judean state. It initiated a period, usually called the exilic period, that came to an end in the biblical record when King Cyrus of Persia conquered the Babylonian empire in 539 B.C.E., subsumed that empire under his own rule, and permitted Judeans to return to the land and rebuild the temple (Ezra 1).

The prophetic books of Haggai and Zechariah portray these prophets as urging the leaders and the people to rebuild the temple. Ezra 1-6 depicts their successful efforts to do so, despite opposition from some “peoples of the land” whose identity is not always clear. Most scholars date the actual completion of the restored temple to 516/515 B.C.E.( Before common era)

Ezra 3 depicts the beginning of the restoration, with the building of the altar and setting the temple foundations. According to Ezra 4, however, enemies interfered by reporting to the Persian king that the builders were a rebellious people. After these and other delays, the temple was completed in 516/515 B.C.E, during the time of the Persian king Darius (525-486 B.C.E.).

The Hebrew Bible does not describe the rebuilt temple, although Ezra 6:3 says that “its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits.” The emphasis falls on its placement, that is, that it should be installed precisely at the place of the first temple. Ezra 3 contrasts this new edifice with its predecessor: “many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy”
(Ezra 3:12; see also Hag 2:3, which notes that the restored temple is less grand than the former one).

Whether or not it compared favorably to the first temple, the restored temple marked a new epoch; it signified the renewal of Jewish life after the devastation of exile. Moreover, it signaled a new role for the people themselves. Whereas the first temple was credited to Solomon and was built with forced labor, the second temple was the work of the people themselves.

Although it came into being under Persian royal auspices ( Ezra 1:1-4), the actual builders were the Judeans (Ezra 1:5-6:14), who also unilaterally vowed to maintain it (Neh 10:32-39).

In the absence of a monarchy, the second temple came to occupy a greater place in Judean life than did Solomon’s temple.

Who built the second temple?
Of major importance was the rebuilding of the Second Temple begun by Herod the Great, king (37 bce–4 ce) of Judaea. Construction began in 20 bce and lasted for 46 years. The area of the Temple Mount was doubled and surrounded by a retaining wall with gates.

Who destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD?
The Romans
Siege of Jerusalem, (70 ce), Roman military blockade of Jerusalem during the First Jewish Revolt. The fall of the city marked the effective conclusion of a four-year campaign against the Jewish insurgency in Judaea. The Romans destroyed much of the city, including the Second Temple.

Who destroyed Solomon Temple?
King Nebuchadnezzar
King Solomon, according to the Bible, built the First Temple of the Jews on this mountaintop circa 1000 B.C., only to have it torn down 400 years later by troops commanded by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who sent many Jews into exile.

Questions and Answers

Q. Did people raise their hands toward heaven when praying?
A. 1 Kings 8:22 = Yes. Solomon did too.

Q. What was his prayer?
A. 1 Kings 8:29 =
1). That God would watch over the Temple day and night
2). That God would always hear their prayers when they prayed toward the Temple, no matter how close or far away they were from it.
3). That God would always forgive those who prayed to Him
4). That the people would recognize that the Temple represented a God that filled the universe and beyond, but that they would pray toward His Temple to Him and He would answer them.
5). Solomon asked for divine intervention when 2 people fought – punishment and acquittal.
6). If Israel lost wars because of their sin and then repented toward this Temple, that God would restore them.
7). If there was drought because of their sin and the people repented, praying toward the Temple, that God would forgive them and teach them to do right and send rain.
8). If God brought famine, bugs, enemies, if people raised their hands toward the Temple, God would hear and forgive them from heaven.
9). God would give people whatever hey deserved because He alone knows the human heart and the discipline would teach them to walk with Him.
10). Foreigners who came to pray toward the Temple would have their prayers answered and word would reach the whole world that God was real
11). In war, going out as God commanded, if they prayed toward the Temple, God would help and uphold their cause.
12). If their sin caused captivity and they repent and pray toward their land, that God would forgive them and make their captives merciful because Israel is God’s Chosen Ones.
13). That God would hear all requests.

Q. Did Solomon also bless Israel?
A. 1 Kings 8:55 = Yes.

Q. What was in the blessing?
A. 1 Kings 8:57 =
1). May God always be with us
2). May God give us the desire to do His will in everything
3). May these words be before God constantly
4). May all peoples know that the Lord is God
5). May Israel always be faithful and obey like they were doing this day.

Q. Did Solomon use forced labor?
A. 1 Kings 9:20-21 = Yes. Those peoples Israel did not completely destroy were forced laborers (the descendants of Ham). Never an Israelite.

Q. Did Solomon build a fleet of ships?
A. 1 Kings 9:26 = Yes. King Hiram supplied the sailors. They were trading ships that sailed alongside Hiram’s fleet.

Q. What cargo did Israeli sailors bring home?
A. 1 Kings 10:22 = Every 3 years, they docked, loaded down with gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.

Q. Did Solomon’s wisdom grow?
A. 1 Kings 10:23 = Yes. Along with his wealth.

✍️⚓Mrs. Kalaiselvi Balakrishnan in Jesus Christ ⚓✍️