Mark 13--Temple Info

Jewish Temple

Reconstruction of Jerusalem and the Temple of Heroid, James Tissot (1836-1902)

"The Jerusalem temple (not fully completed until ca. a.d. 64) was built by the Herodian dynasty to win Jewish favor and to create a lasting Herodian monument. It was considered an architectural wonder of the ancient world. It was built with large white stones, polished and generously decorated with gold (Josephus The Antiquities of the Jews 15. 11. 3-7). It covered about 1/6 of the land area of old Jerusalem. To the Jews nothing was as magnificent and formidable as their temple." -BKC

"The temple was constructed of white marble, and the blocks were of a prodigious size. Josephus says that these stones were, some of them, 50 feet long, 24 feet broad, and 16 feet in thickness."  -Barnes

"The spring-stones of the arches of the bridge which spanned the valley of Tyropoeon (the cheese-makers), and connected the ancient city of David with the royal porch of the temple, measured twenty-four feet in length by six in thickness. Yet these were by no means the largest in the masonry of the temple. Both at the southeastern and southwestern angles stones have been found measuring from twenty to forty feet long, and weighing above one hundred tons" (Edersheim, “Temple”).-vws

"How little Christ values external pomp, where there is not real purity; “Seest thou these great buildings” (saith Christ), “and admirest thou them? I tell thee, the time is at hand when there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,” Mar_13:2.  -Henry

Remains of Robinson's Arch

"Historically, the first fulfillment of Daniel’s prophetic use of the expression (Dan_11:31-32) was the desecration of the temple in 167 b.c. by the Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes. He erected an altar to the pagan Greek god Zeus over the altar of burnt offering and sacrificed a pig on it (cf. apocryphal 1 Maccabees 1:41-64; 6:7; and Josephus The Antiquities of the Jews 12. 5. 4)." -BKC

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End Times 

Ark of the Covenant

*Note---no ark of the covenant, In Jerusalem, in the millennial temple, God's throne will be.

"The ark of the covenant, which was lost after Babylon destroyed Judah in 586 b.c., would not be missed, and another ark would not be made. In place of the ark will be The Throne of the Lord, a title by which the city of Jerusalem will be known."-BKC

"It is significant that Ezekiel (cf. Eze_43:7) also pictured the millennial temple as a place where God’s throne will be. Evidently Christ will rule from the temple during the millennial period. God’s rule from Jerusalem will extend over all nations who will go to Jerusalem to worship Him (cf. Zec_14:16-19)." -BKC

Proposed Reconstruction of Robinson's Arch in Jerusalem

Israel & Judah Unified

*Note--Israel & Judah will be reunited. 

"In addition to spiritual renewal Judah and Israel will also experience physical restoration. The house of Judah and the house of Israel will reunite as a nation (cf. Jer_31:31-33; Eze_37:15-28). They will return from their captivity to the land God had promised to their forefathers as an inheritance. Israel and Judah divided as a nation in 931 b.c., and have never reunited as a nation under God. The fulfillment of this promise awaits the return of Christ." -BKC