Solomon's temple

[jezic]

Solomon built a temple. Call it God's house if you will.

Why was God so mad when someone knocked it over?? There are hundreds of lines of how God is going to burn them and yeah ..... why would it be like that?

Can anyone help me understand?

[Socrates]

The House of God is sacred.
Notice what Jesus thought about the money changers in the Temple.

[crusader1234]

Inside the Temple was the Holy of Holies. The Temple was the most sacred place in the OT culture (and up until it was destroyed). The Temple was the onyl place where one could sacrifice to God. People made pilgrimages from all over the area to sacrifice lambs, pidgeons, etc."

When it was destroyed, it was understandably offensive to God. Not only that, but it also totally changed Jewish culture. Thats why, to this day, we have Synagogues. Some suggest rebuilding the Temple, but most are in aggrement that thats the Messiah's job.

[jezic]

I understand that. I mean why didn't God get as mad when it was destroyed the first time. Solomon built the second temple.

Does the church have something authoritative on the subject?

[God Conquers]

The first time it was destroyed it was an act of man, offensive to God and in violation of His will.

The second time... well, the REAL Temple had already BEEN destroyed, and raised up again in three days! Jesus the Messiah had come, and the veil was torn.

It's been speculated that the book of revelation is prophetic of the destruction in 70 AD of the temple as God's punishment for the persecution of Christians by the jewish people and their rejection of the Son of God.

It was only later that the ROmans started killing us.

[james]

[quote name='jezic' date='Jan 22 2005, 11:48 PM'] Solomon built a temple. Call it God's house if you will.

Why was God so mad when someone knocked it over??
Can anyone help me understand? [/quote]
The Temple fell because Israel had fallen into apostasy. The Pharisaic leadership was horribly corrupt and their religious worship was subverted by the errors of the Egyptian mystery religions. The Temple was being used for corrupt purposes.

This all provides the backdrop for our Lord's many confrontations with the Pharisees throughout the Gospel. Our Lord had come at the time He had because Israel was in a terrible state of apostasy. He came to bring salvation and to teach the correct meaning of scripture: to correct the false, corrupt interpretations of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees, being blinded in their apostate state, did not accept our Lord's teaching and saw Him as a threat to their power, so they conspired to have Him executed. At the time of our Lord's death the temple veil was torn in two exposing the Holy of Holies to Gentile eyes. For Gentiles to see the Holy of Holies previously to Christ's sacrifice was a crime punishable by death, but the tearing of the veil symbolized the bringing of salvation to the Gentiles through Christ's sacrifice. Before Christ's ascension He instructed the Apostles to go teach "all the nations," that is, the Gentile nations.

After Christ's resurrection, some Jews recognized their Savior and became Christians, but most did not. The Pharisees remained committed to their corrupt, occult interpretation of scripture and continued to defile the Temple. They had rejected their Messiah and their hearts were hardened to His teachings. They became even more corrupt, and they sought to crush Christ's church as it began to form.

In 70 AD God allowed the temple to be destroyed as Jesus had prophesied would happen 40 years earlier, and the Diaspora of the Jews, which was also foretold in scripture as punishment for Israel's apostasy, was the result.

Edited January 26, 2005 by james

[jezic]

i mean the temple from solomon's time. That was long before Christ, though those are interesting points you make.

and there as well parts of it were corrupt but God still promised curses uncounted on thsoe who destroyed it. Somehow it just doesn't quite fit. Maybe i am missing some piece of the puzzle.

any scholar's comment on this?

[crusader1234]

Whenever the Israelites fell away from God, which they did frequently, God didn't protect them.

[Guest Aluigi]

the piece of the puzzle you are missing is the fact that desecration of that which is consecrated to the Lord is mortally sinful and abominable. The Just God was justly angered . Now, to the modern world, it seems not that bad. No one got hurt, blah blah blah. But something that seems so insignificant to the world like, for instance, taking God's name in vain, can be deadly to the soul.

We have a mighty jealous wrathful just loving merciful God And I wouldn't have it any other way

[james]

"To his oppressive exactions, in furtherance of his schemes of luxury and magnificence, was due the discontent which in the reign of his son broke his kingdom in two, and ultimately led to the destruction in detail of the Hebrew nation by the power of Assyria and Babylon. It is clear likewise that, besides being fond of display, he was voluptuous and sensual, and that he was led by his wives and concubines to worship strange gods."

[url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14135b.htm"]http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14135b.htm[/url]