Zechariah in the Temple

The Temple of the first century is a fascinating place! The Temple itself was the center of activity, serving thousands of people each day. The plaza around the Temple was a meeting place of pilgrims who came from long distances to bring an offering and merchants who were selling the offering to the pilgrims. It was a place of contention for Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Herodians, Zealots, and others who came to argue politics and religion. It was also a place for locals, who came to watch the commotion.

The Robinson Arch entrance to the Temple

The Temple itself was a modern building, having been totally reconstructed by King Herod the Great. The magnificent Sanctuary was a hundred cubits square and a hundred cubits in height. The Temple Mount measured five hundred cubits by five hundred cubits. Its largest open space was to the south, the next largest to the east, the third largest to the north, and its smallest was to the west. The King had erected the monstrous edifice in order to claim bragging rights (it was a third larger than Solomon’s Temple) and hopefully to appease the Jews who could be a rebellious and obstinate people.

Jerusalem at the time of Jesus

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist and the subject of this week’s readings in Advent Journeys, was of the generation of priests who had served in both the old Temple and the new facility. The priests enjoyed the spaciousness and modernalities of the new superstructure. The priests enjoyed the tables of marble upon which the sacrifices were prepared. They talked about parading down the colonnades on the east and west of the Temple itself early in the morning. They bragged about the wooden device which Ben Katin had made for the laver. They knew that no expense had been spared in the construction of the new Temple.

Underground tour shows large stones of Temple Mount

The magnificence and wonder of the construction can still be seen on the underground tour of the Western Walls. If you would like to see and touch the stone structure, please accept this as an invitation to join our family on a June 2018 tour of the Holy Land. More information can be found on our website.

Marker for location closest to Holy of Holies

Around the Temple were service buildings constructed to facilitate every portion of the work. There were six chambers in the Temple Court, three to the north and three to the south. Those to the north were the Salt Chamber, the Parwah Chamber, and the Rinsing Chamber. To the south were the Wood Chamber, the Golah Chamber, and the Chamber of Hewn Stone. There were seven gates to the Temple Court: three to the north, three to the south, and one to the east. Those to the south were the Kindling Gate, next to it the Gate of the Firstlings, and the third was the Water Gate. The one to the east was the Nicanor Gate, beside which were two Chambers, one to the right and one to the left; the one was the Chamber of Phineas, the keeper of the vestments, and the other the chamber of them that made the Baken Cakes.

Archaeological finds south of original Temple Mount

The new Temple was in every way a stark contrast to the Temple built under the leadership of Ezra, Joshua, Zerubbabel and Nehemiah. Zechariah approached the Temple with a sense of awe each week of his service.

Courses of Priests & Retirement age

I find as I talk to people many do not understand the organization or the purpose of the Temple in Jerusalem.  We want to relate the Temple to something familiar in our world, to the church.  But the Temple was not the church. The Temple was the place of prayer and sacrifice.

In our world there are many churches and many denominations.  In the world of Jesus’ time there was one … and only one Temple.  The Temple was located in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.  The Temple was the most important institution in Jewish life, instituted by God in the days of Moses, and built first by Solomon, and rebuilt by Zarubabel and then by King Herod.  While there were many synagogues, there was one … and only one Temple.

In our world we go to church on Sunday, or as the Jews refer to Sunday, the first day of the week.  We attend church on Sunday to worship God and to remember that Jesus arose from the grave on the first day of the week.  The Jews go to Synagogue on the seventh day (Sabbath).  They go to the Temple when needed.  The scripture specifically instructs, “Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed:” (Dt 16:16)  The Jews also go to the Temple to make a desired or required sacrifice (See Leviticus 1-7).  Some would go regularly for prayer.

In our world we sing hymns and worship, and the same could be done in the Temple.  There was not a real song leader or time of singing, however, some of the priests who were musicians would stand between the Court of Israel and the Court of the Women to sins Psalms to the people.  There were prescribed Psalms people sang as they ascended to the Temple, prescribed daily psalms sung by the priests, and other psalms people would sing in worship.

In our world we hear a pastor or a priest give a sermon.  In the Temple there was no sermon, that is not what the Temple was about.  The Temple was a place of sacrifice.  People would come, and give their offerings to the priest.  They could not enter the Holy Place, only the priests could enter.  The people stayed outside.  The people prayed.  They heard music if the priests were singing.  Occasionally there were men, such as Peter, who came to the Temple courtyard and preached.  But it was a sideline activity.  The main purpose of the Temple was to give offerings to God and to pray.

In our world the pastor is called by the church or sent through the denomination.  In the days of Jesus there were no denominations.  We read of the Saducees, they served the Temple.  We read of the Pharisees, they were lawyers, and worshipped in the Synagogues.  The Essenes were a monastic group who lived in their own communities.  And there were the Jewish people who connected with the Temple (because the law of Moses ordered this), and the Synagogue, which was a community of faith near their home.

In our world pastors can and do move.  In the times of Jesus the Priesthood was by birth.  Men were not called to go to a church, they were born into their place of service.  Father passed on to son the traditions of the faith and the practice of the priesthood.  Men served between the ages of 25 and 50.  After 50, men retired and would mentor younger priests.

Through Advent Journeys you will visit a world which is very different that our world.  The world of Jesus is worth reading about and studying, for in so doing you understand Jesus, the people around him and the New Testament in a much fuller way.