Page 16: THE TEMPLE LOCATION

 PROPER LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE

One thing that has puzzled those who study bible prophecy for decades is where the true location for Israel's Temple of God was truly located.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently I opened the bible up to Ezekiel 44. I haven't looked at this chapter for a couple years. I didn't realize what is in it. 

  

Ezekiel 44:1-4 proves that the temple is in Jerusalem. Ezekiel is shown the east gate and told it will be shut so only the prince will be allowed to enter by this gate. In verse 4 the hand of the Lord took Ezekiel by way of the North gate before the house and he looked and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

So from the North Gate Ezekiel could see the glory of the Lord filling the house of the Lord.

 

Now according to the book of Revelation chapter 11 God may have made provision for the Dome during the final 3 1/2 years. It says measure the temple and those who worship in it, but leave out the courtyard because it is left to the gentiles and they will trample it underfoot for 42 months. 

So only the temple has to be built and the court yard stays in the hands of the gentiles.

Notice the east gate is directly in line with the Holy of Holies.

So they can build the temple and the inner court but not build the outer wall and gates for now. It is left to the Muslims or gentiles for their Dome on the Rock.

  Here I will try to prove my understanding concerning this. I would appreciate any help offered on this subject. To begin with please take a close look at the photos offered.

These are pictures of Abraham's rock of sacrifice under the Dome on the Rock 

 Notice how rough they are.

This is a threshing floor. Notice how flat and large the area has to be for this job. It seems about 50 to 100 feet from side to side.

Here is a picture of the approximate terrain of the temple mount around the time of the original temple. One thing to consider is the East Gate that scripture tells us Jesus will enter when he returns. The picture below shows the temple in direct line with the eastern gate and the Holy of Holies. 

This next picture shows that there is lots of room beside the Dome in line with the Eastern Gate for the temple.

 Notice here that the Dome on the Rock is not in line with the eastern gate. This picture is taken from the east side. You can see the east gate on the lower right, on the east wall. There is room north of the Dome to place the temple inside the East Gate. It would seem that the temple has to be near the East Gate of the court for Jesus to enter from there. 

This prophecy is found in Ezekiel 43-44

43:1) Then the man brought me to the gate facing the east, 2) and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with His glory. 3) The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the vision I had seen by the Kedar River, and I fell facedown. 4)The Glory of the Lord "entered the Temple through the gate facing east".

Again, 44:1) Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing the east; and it was shut. 2) Then the Lord said, "This gate shall be shut. It shall not be opened and no man shall enter in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3) It is for the prince; the prince shall sit in it to eat before the Lord. He shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate and shall go out by the way of the same."

Remember, judging by the pictures above how could the threshing floor be at the location of the Dome? It has to be a flat area. 

Virtually every picture of a threshing floor is flat and at least 50 feet across side to side. The rock is a very rough terrain that would not support the location of a threshing floor.Some say that the threshing floor was in the City of David. David was told by the Lord to buy the threshing floor. David told Solomon to build the temple on the threshing floor.  However, 2 Chronicles tells us Solomon built the temple and then brought the ark “UP FROM” from a tent David had it stored in, in the city of David, which is Zion, to put it in the temple. If he brought it "up from" then this scripture places the threshing floor at a higher elevation than the City of David. The word from here indicates the removal from the City of David. Besides, we just read from Ezekiel that the Lord entered the temple through the East Gate.

Conclusion, the temple was not at the rock but was in the temple mount area somewhere.

Most likely place for the temple.

Below is a possible picture of the original City of David south of the temple mount.

2^nd Chronicles 1:² Then Solomon spoke to all Israel—to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families— ³ and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness. ⁴ Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵ But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the Lord; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there.

The Ark was not here but the tent tabernacle was here. The Ark was in a tent David had erected in the City of David, which is Zion.

2^nd Chronicles 2:1 Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

Solomon Builds the Temple

2^nd Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. ² He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. 

2^nd Chronicles 5:1 When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated—the silver and gold and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

The Ark Brought to the Temple

2^nd Chronicles 5:2 Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 3 And all the Israelites came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month. Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, 4 Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. 

The key to where the Temple belongs is where the threshing floor was.

 David Builds an Altar 

2 Samuel 24:18 On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” (It does not say where David was but it is likely he was in his palace in the City of David.) ¹⁹ And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as YAHUAH commanded. ²⁰ And Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming toward him: and Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. ²¹ And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” “To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”

So again the threshing floor was in a location up from where David was. Why would David have to build an altar if the location was on the rock altar where Abraham offered the ram in place of Isaac? That makes no sense.

1 Chronicles 21:15 (telling the same story) And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 

1 Chronicles 21:18 Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

  If David was coming up and Araunah had to leave the threshing floor then where they met would be between where David came from and where Araunah was. So the threshing floor would not be in the location David had been. 

1 Chronicles 22:22 Then David said, “The house of the Lord God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

So the temple must be on the threshing floor and the threshing floor is not in the city of David but up toward the Dome on the Rock. But not exactly where the Dome is because there is no way that the threshing floor could be on that rough rock because it requires a flat area about 50 feet from side to side. 

It must be close to the eastern Gate because Jesus has to enter through that gate which in turn is nowhere near the City of David.

Observation: If the City of David, Zion, is the shadow of the body of Christ and we are the Temple of God then the Spirit is in both, body and temple. The fact that the Spirit of The Lord dwells in Zion does not mean that the City of David is the only place He dwells. He also dwells in His temple. The believers are the true Jerusalem. He is not a Jew outwardly but inwardly with the circumcision of the heart. 

I conclude that there is sufficient scripture to prove the temple was not in the City of David but was inside the East Gate and built beside where the Dome on the Rock is today. But that the temple Jesus will finally build may be in Nazareth, 100 Km north of Jerusalem. 

Note in Ezekiel that the city portion is called profane and this could be why Jesus builds a new temple 100 km north, in Nazareth, the city of his birth.

Your thoughts in the comments are appreciated.