One way to get a perspective on what God has done, is doing, and will do, is to become familiar with the various temples of Scripture. To this end, my next three articles will explore what the Bible teaches on this important subject. To begin with, it is helpful to understand the four Jewish temples. Two of these temples existed in past Jewish history. Two of these temples will exist in Israel’s future.

Temple #1

The first temple is called Solomon’s temple because it was built by King Solomon (1 Kings 5-8) around 950 B.C. Recall that God did not let King David build this first temple since he was a man of war (1 Chron 28:3). Although David embarked on numerous projects in preparation for the nation’s first temple (2 Sam 24:18-25; 1 Chron 21:18-26), the honor of actually building the temple went to his son Solomon, who was Israel’s third king. When this temple was built, it was indwelt by God’s shekinah glory (2 Chron 5:14). This temple was plundered (2 Chronicles 36:7) and eventually destroyed by the Babylonians when the Jews were taken into captivity in 586 B.C. (2 Kgs 25:9).

King Solomon dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902)