Why Soloman Built The Temple

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

 Solomon's royal court and house of Israel were built up with oriental magnificence, and sumptuous buildings housed the royal family and harem that consisted of 1,000 wives and concubines. To keep the peace with nations, he married their daughters.  It worked.

  

When King Solomon ruled Israel, the country was made up of the tribes of Judah   and Simeon and the northern tribes, which included Benjamin, Reuben,  Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, and half of Manasseh.  The tribes of Israel were named after the sons and grandsons of Jacob, who was renamed Israel after wrestling with an angel of the Lord. The tribes settled in different regions of the Land of Canaan on either side of the Jordan River. Jacob had to earn the name of Israel in this manner.  

When God changed Jacob's name to Israel, it meant "let God prevail" or "one who prevails with God". The name change was a sign that Jacob had changed and was now seeking God instead of relying on deception. Deuteronomy 18: Predicts that the Lord would raise up a prophet like Moses from among the people, and that people should listen to him. The prophet would speak for God, mediating between God and the people. Deuteronomy 18:20: Warns that false prophets would speak presumptuously in God's name, saying things that God had not commanded them to say.  You can widen this and take it that Israel is not a kingdom of deception, but relies on telling the truth.  

King Solomon (961-920 BCE) of tribe of Judah , son of King David and Bathsheba (1000-960 BCE of the tribe of Judah, with David, youngest son of Jesse, born in Bethlehem) , was also king of Israel, and Solomon built the Temple.  David at age 25 had the job of armor-bearer of King Saul (1st king of Israel, son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin.  

Therefore, Solomon was the 3rd in the line of kings, and took on the responsibility to do this.  Solomon did not have to fight off enemies like his father, David, did.  He lived a safer life, giving him the opportunity to fulfill God's promise to David, and to serve as a place of worship, prayer, and reconciliation for the people of Israel: 2 Samuel 7:  God promised David that his son would build a house for the Lord and that his kingdom would be established forever.1 Chronicles 28:  David gave his son Solomon plans for the temple, including how to divide the priests and Levites, how to use the objects in the temple, and how much gold and silver to use for each item. David also told Solomon to be strong and courageous, and that God would not fail him. 1 Chronicles 29:  David provided resources for the temple's construction, including gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and precious stones.

The Temple of Solomon was built around 990–931 BCE on the spot where God created Adam. It was destroyed 400 years later and replaced by the Second Temple. The site of the temple is considered a holy place by Jews, Muslims, and Christians.  

The Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia (605-562 BCE).  What had happened to cause them to do this was that the Judeanshad revolted in 597, so Neb. dispatched contingents which captured Jerusalem, andhad replaced young King Jehoiachin with his choice of Zedekiah, and exiled 8,,000of the head Judean aristocracy to Babylon. 

 8 years later, Zedekiah rebelled which ledto 586 BCE's takeover, and destroying the Temple.  laying waste to cities and exilingmasses of the population.  The king was taken to Riblah, where Neb. had Zedekiah killed.

All people of this day had Temples to their gods.  The Canaanites had tripartite temples discovered in digs in Lachish, Bet-Shean, etc. A tripartite temple is a temple with a tripartite plan, which means it has a long rectangular central hall with rooms on either side. The White Temple of Uruk in ancient Sumer is an example of a tripartite temple. A close replica is the one found in Syria near a royal palace of the 9th to 8th century BCE. 

Solomon's Temple was used as a shrine for the Ark of the Covenant.  the sacred vessels, and offerings, with a court for worshippers.  It consisted of a hall, shrine, and inner sanctum called the "holy of holies" which do not exist among oriental shrines.

The Temple was rebuilt from 538 to 515 BCE and called the 2nd Temple of Solomon.  According to the Bible, Zerubbabel led the Jews of Babylon back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, as authorized by the Persian King Cyrus the Great in 538  BCE; he was appointed as the governor of Judah and oversaw the construction of the Second Temple.  Zerubbabel was the grandson of King  Jehoiachin (reigned from 597-BCE at age 18, during Babylonian siege of Jerusalem)  one of the 1st Jews to return to Judah from Babylon. 

Ezra tells us that he was a bodyguard of King Darius I (522-486 BCE) who had inherited the Persian throne of Cyrus from whom he had permission to rebuild Jerusalem, which conflicts with other biblical accounts. Zerubbabel is associated with the political revivals in Judah in Darius' reign; was the  last satrap of Davidic descent in Jerusalem and after his time, the high priest had influence, a consequence of Persian apprehension concerning the  renewal of the Davidic dynasty.  Some think he was recalled to Persia.   Jews feel that Cyrus was son of Queen Esther and King Ahasueros, and Darius was their grandson.   

Non-Jewish history has this:  In the lands that were conquered by his empire, Darius followed the same Achaemenid tolerance that Cyrus had shown and later Achaemenid kings would show. He supported faiths and religions that were "alien" as long as the adherents were "submissive and peaceable", sometimes giving them grants from his treasury for their purposes. He had funded the restoration of the Israelite temple which had originally been decreed by Cyrus, was supportive towards Greek cults which can be seen in his letter to Gadatas, and supported Elamite priests. He had also observed Egyptian religious rites related to kingship and had built the temple for the Egyptian god, Amun.                                                              

Arch of Titus records the event in Rome of the Judean captives forced to carry the Temple loot for the Romans.  

During the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Temple was used as a center of military activity and was destroyed by the conquering Romans in 70 CE after brutalizing the Jewish population physically and by starving them to death, but even so, some managed to escape. A Roman Temple was later built on the site, and since the Moslem Period, a mosque has stood there in its place, the Mosque of Omar.    

                                    Dome of the Rock and foreground is the mosque

The Second Temple of Solomon is believed to be located on Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque are now located. The Second Temple was a Jewish place of worship from 520 BC to 70 AD, when it was destroyed by Roman soldiers.              

  On right side is the the main remaining structure from the Second Temple which is the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall or the Kotel. This is a remnant of the Second Temple courtyard and is considered the holiest site in Judaism. 

The exact location of Solomon's Temple is unknown, but it's believed to have been on the same hill as the Second Temple. According to the Bible, Solomon's Temple was built on Mount Moriah, where an angel of God appeared to David. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia