Hundreds of Orthodox Jews Gathered under Wilson’s Arch at the Western Wall
Among all the features of ancient Jerusalem, the temple especially draws our attention for its beauty and spiritual significance. The temple has a complex history. In the covenant with David, the Lord authorized the replacement of the tabernacle-tent with the temple constructed by David’s son Solomon (2 Sam. 7), who began construction in 966 BC (1 Kings 6:1). After Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the Holy Place, and it functioned as a center for the people’s prayers and seeking God’s grace in repentance over their sins (1 Kings 8).
Praying at the Western or Wailing Wall
Solomon’s temple stood until the Lord judged His people for their sins and the Babylonians burned it in 586 BC (2 Kings 25:9). Following the return from exile, Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, led the people to rebuild the temple, completing it in 516 BC. After centuries of use, the new temple was defiled by the idolatrous pagan King Antiochus Epiphanes (167 BC), but was restored after the Maccabean revolt. King Herod the Great began construction of a new, more impressive temple in 20 BC, and construction continued for many decades. Herod’s temple was the location where Christ and His apostles ministered, until it too was destroyed by the Roman legions in AD 70.
Ever since the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews have gathered in pilgrimage and in prayer at the Western Wall, which became known as the Wailing Wall. Its cracks are filled with hastily written prayers for the speedy recovery of the sick, for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the coming of the Messiah. Pray that the scales would fall from their eyes and that they would embrace the Messiah who has come.
We find a fascinating reference to Herod’s temple in John 2. After Christ had driven out the moneychangers and those selling sacrificial animals, His fellow Jews demanded a miracle to prove He had the authority to do this. We read,
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:19–22)
Here is the good news: we no longer need a physical temple, because we have the risen Lord Jesus Christ. He is our temple, in whom the glory of God dwells (John 1:14). By faith in Christ we can draw near to God, for His sacrificial death on the cross makes believers holy in God’s eyes once and for all (Heb. 10:10, 19–22). The New Jerusalem contains no temple, for “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Rev. 21:22). Jesus Christ is our new temple. As much as we may admire architecture, we need no building to enter God’s holy presence, just Christ and the people in whom His Spirit dwells (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19).
