Temple in Jerusalem

Definition and Meaning

The Temple in Jerusalem was Israel's central sanctuary, built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is often called simply the Temple. A permanent structure that carried forward the significance of the Tabernacle, the portable tent sanctuary of the wilderness period, it was the place that signified God's presence among His people. Its interior was divided into the Holy Place, which the priests entered, and the Most Holy Place (the Holy of Holies), where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Only the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, once a year on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16).

Biblical and Historical Background

• First Temple: David sought to build the Temple, but it was his son Solomon who built it (1 Kings 6). This is generally dated to the tenth century BC. It was destroyed by the Babylonian army in 587 or 586 BC.
• Second Temple: The people who returned from exile rebuilt it under the leadership of Zerubbabel. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the work, and it is reported to have been completed around 515 BC (Ezra 6:15).
• Herod's Expansion and the Destruction: Beginning around 20 BC, Herod the Great greatly enlarged the Temple. This Temple was destroyed by the Roman army in AD 70, and part of the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount survives today as the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ cleansed the Temple and spoke of His own body as a temple (John 2:19–21). Paul called believers and the church the temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Ephesians 2:21). The Epistle to the Hebrews explains that the Temple sacrifices were fulfilled in Christ.

Practice in the Korean Church

• Term for worship buildings: In the Korean church, a house of worship (yebaedang) or main sanctuary (bondang) is commonly called a "temple" (seongjeon), and constructing a new building is referred to as "temple building." The account of Solomon's construction of the Temple is frequently cited when encouraging church construction and building-fund offerings. Some pastors and theologians, however, hold that since the New Testament the temple refers not to a building but to believers and the church community. They argue that "house of worship" (yebaedang) is the more appropriate term for a building.
• Eschatological interpretation: From the perspective of dispensationalism, some hold that a temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem at the end of the age (based on interpretations of passages such as 2 Thessalonians 2:4). Various other interpretive traditions read these passages as symbols referring to the church or to Christ.
• Pilgrimage: On Holy Land pilgrimages to Israel, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall are among the sites most commonly visited by Korean Christians.