Jan 26 2022 11 mins
PODCAST SATELLITE
THE VOICE OF ISRAEL
Shevat 8, 5782
Prince Handley
President / Regent
University of Excellence
LOCATION OF THE JEWISH TEMPLE ~ PART 2
OPHEL MOUND VS TEMPLE MOUNT
מיקום היסטורי ואמיתי
Prince Handley 24/7 Commentary (FREE) > BLOG
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DESCRIPTION
In this session we will discuss several items that reveal difference between the currently referred to area of the Temple Mount … AND … where the First and Second Temples (including the Roman rebuild of the Jewish Temple on those locations) were actually located.
We will discuss the following:
■ Size of the Temple compared to Dome of the Rock Complex = Roman Fortress Antonia.
■ Eye witness certifications of both the location of the Jewish Temple AND destruction of the Jewish Temple.
■ Location of the Temple as certified by the Holy Scriptures.
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LOCATION OF THE JEWISH TEMPLE ~ PART 2
OPHEL MOUND VS TEMPLE MOUNT
The construction of the Third Jewish Temple could begin immediately IF the Jewish leaders ... and the Temple Institute ... understood that the First and Second Jewish Temples were NEVER located on the Dome of the Rock Complex or Haram al-Sharif.
This is Part Two in a Series to develop a construct proving that the Jewish Temple was NOT on the traditional location (referred to as the Temple Mount), but was in the City of David. In this message we develop the construct that the First and Second Jewish Temples were located on the Ophel mound just to the north of the original Mount Zion on the southeast ridge.
WHO WAS JOSEPHUS
Titus Flavius Josephus, born Yosef ben Matityahu, was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for The Jewish War, who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.
Born AD 37/38, Jerusalem—died AD 100, Rome—was a Jewish priest, scholar, and historian who wrote valuable works on the Jewish revolt of 66–70 and on earlier Jewish history. His major books are History of the Jewish War (75–79), The Antiquities of the Jews (93), and Against Apion.
Josephus' works are the most thorough histories of the period that we have. So long as we retain some skepticism, his writings provide the greatest insight into what happened to the Jewish people during a five hundred year period.
IMPORTANT
Josephus lived in Jerusalem BEFORE the destruction, DURING the destruction, and AFTER the destruction of the Second Temple.
According to the historian Josephus Flavius, hundreds of thousands of Jews perished in the siege of Jerusalem and elsewhere in the country, and many thousands more were sold into slavery.
Texts by Josephus mentioned that Herod stated dogmatically that his Temple (though enlarged to be double in size of the former Temple) was still located in the same general area as that of the former Temples.
The eyewitness account of Eleazar―who led the final contingent of Jewish resistance to the Romans at Masada―stated that the Roman fortress which had long been in Jerusalem was the ONLY structure left by 73 C.E.
In other words, Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) was right:
As Yeshua left the Temple and was going away, his talmidim came and called his attention to its buildings. But he answered them, “You see all these? Yes! I tell you, they will be totally destroyed—not a single stone will be left standing!” [Mattiyahu (Matthew) 24:1-2]
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NOTICE
The stones of the Roman Fortress (Fort Antonia) were left standing where the Dome of the Rock Complex (Haram al-Sharif) is NOW located … referred to commonly as the Temple Mount area.
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The Dome of the Rock is built on top of the Foundation Stone, which is sacred to both Jews and Muslims. According to Jewish tradition, the stone is the “navel of the Earth”—the place where creation began, and the site where Abraham was poised to sacrifice Isaac.
The Temple which existed in Jesus' day (and where the First Temple was previously located) was NOT located on the area referred to NOW as the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock Complex or Haram al-Sharif).
Both the First and Second Temples were located on Ophel mound over the area of the Gihon Spring.
The Jewish people knew—up to the period that Islam emerged, even to the time of the Crusades—that the southeast ridge was the location of their "Mount Zion" and the site of all the Temples built in Jerusalem. Indeed, modern scholars realize that this is true for the real location of "Mount Zion," however, these same scholars and religious leaders fail to place the "Temple Mount" at that "Mount Zion" on the southeast ridge where it obviously belongs.
The Holy Scriptures clearly place the 1st and 2nd Jewish Temples over and around the Gihon Spring on the southeast ridge (on top of the original "Mount Ophel") in Mt. Zion, City of David. But scholars and religious leaders continue insisting (and even dogmatically demanding) that the Temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel and Herod were centered within the parameters of the Haram esh-Sharif.
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IMPORTANT QUESTION
GUESS WHO WANTS TO BELIEVE THAT THE FIRST AND SECOND JEWISH TEMPLES WERE LOCATED ON THE CURRENT “DOME OF THE ROCK COMPLEX” … OR WHAT IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE “TEMPLE MOUNT”
■ TEMPLE INSTITUTE: TRADITION SINCE 1099 C.E.
■ ISLAM: BELIEF THAT THE DOME OF THE ROCK IS OVER MOUNT MORIAH
■ SATAN: IF ISRAEL AND THE JEWS CAN NOW BUILD THE THIRD TEMPLE IN ANOTHER AREA─NOT THE COMMONLY CALLED TEMPLE MOUNT AREA─AN AREA WHERE THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLES ACTUALLY STOOD … IT WOULD SPEED UP THE RETURN OF MESSIAH AND THE JUDGMENT OF SATAN.
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SOME OTHER POINTS TO CONSIDER
The dimensions of the Temple (with its unique shape and characteristics) could NOT be the same as Fort Antonia―Haram al-Sharif = Dome of the Rock Complex—where the “current” Temple Mount is located.
The Haram al-Sharif (current Dome of the Rock Complex referred to as the Temple Mount) also fits within the average size of a Roman camp (50 acres), while the temple complex described by Josephus was only nine acres--typical of other Roman-Greco temple complexes of the period.
The size of the Fortress Antonia―based on Josephus and other evidence―show that around 6,000 soldiers were housed there … PLUS 4,000 support personnel. It was like a small city with roads, bakeries, brothels, court rooms and barracks.
Herod built the fortress to protect the Jewish Temple. He named it for his patron Mark Antony (83–30 BCE). The fortress housed the Roman garrison of Jerusalem.
Also, IF—as some “Temple Mount proponents argue”—Fort Antonia was at some other location than the present Haram al-Sharif (Dome of the Rock Complex), then WHY were NOT the Herodian stones from Fortress Antonia found together at another location AND WHY do BOTH Josephus AND Eleazar―who led the final contingent of Jewish resistance to the Romans at Masada―certify as eye-witnesses that the Roman fortress which had long been in Jerusalem was the ONLY structure left after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and his forces.
Josephus mentioned the utter ruin of the Temple and all the City of Jerusalem, but he gave no reference that the Haram al-Sharif was ordered to be retained or that Titus and his general staff commanded those walls should continue to remain intact. But they have survived unto our modern times. Through the centuries those 10,000 stones have remained in their original positions making up the four walls of the Haram [confines of the Roman Fortress Antonia] as a prominent and dominant architectural facility in the City of Jerusalem.
SUMMARY
Tradition holds strong that the current Temple Mount is the original location of the Temples; however, the testimony of eye-witnesses who were at Jerusalem before, during and after the diestruction of Jerusalem certify otherwise. In addition—and certainly more importantly—is the prophecy of Yeshua that “You see all these? Yes! I tell you, they will be totally destroyed—not a single stone will be left standing!”
The First and Second Temples {of Solomon and Zerubbabel) were located on the Ophel mound just to the north of the original Mount Zion on the southeast ridge. We will investigate more concerning this in our following sessions.
I trust this teaching will add insight into the REAL location of the First and Second Jewish Temples … AND … where the Third Temple may be built.
Baruch haba b'Shem ADONAI.
Your friend,
Prince Handley
University of Excellence
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