Solomon and the Temple - Beyond the Craft

Masonic tradition informs us of the Temple of Solomon which was opened on Mount Moriah in the year of the world 2992 yet we never learn what became of Solomon or the Temple.

In the Second Book of the Chronicles, we discover that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years and was buried in the city of David. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, followed his father to the throne.

The Temple retained its original splendor for only thirty-three years. In the year of the world 3033, Shishak, King of Egypt, having made war upon Rehoboam, took Jerusalem, and carried away the choicest treasures. From that time to the period of its final destruction, the history of the Temple is but a history of damage, repairs, idolatry and subsequent restorations to the purity of worship. One hundred and thirteen years after the conquest by Shishak, Joash, King of Judah, collected silver for the repairs of the Temple, and restored it to its former condition in the year of the world 3148. In the year 3264, Ahaz, King of Judah, robbed the Temple of its riches, and gave them to Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria, who had united with him in a war against the Kings of Israel and Damascus. Ahaz also profaned the Temple by the worship of idols. In 3276, Hezekiah, the son and successor of Ahaz, repaired portions of the Temple which his father had destroyed, and restored pure worship. But fifteen years later he was compelled to give the treasures of the Temple as a ransom to the King of Assyria who had invaded Judah. Hezekiah is supposed to have restored the Temple after his enemy had retired.

Manasseh, the son and successor of Hezekiah, fell away to Sabianism which is the worship of the sun, moon, and the stars; and desecrated the Temple in 3306 by setting up altars to the host of heaven. Manasseh was then conquered by the King of Babylon, who in 3328 carried him beyond the Euphrates. Subsequently repenting of his sins he was released from captivity, and upon returning to Jerusalem he destroyed the idols and restored the Altar of Burnt Offerings. In 3380, Josiah, who was then King of Judah, devoted his efforts to the repairs of the Temple and replaced the Ark of the Covenant in the Sanctuary. In 3398, in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar, then King of Chaldea, carried some of the sacred vessels to Babylon. Seven years afterward he took away another lot; and finally, in 3416, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, he took the city of Jerusalem, entirely destroyed the Temple, and carried many of the inhabitants captive to Babylon.

For the fifty-two years that succeeded the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar that city saw nothing but the ruins of its ancient Temple. In the year of the world 3468 or 536 B.C. Cyrus gave permission to the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and there to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. As soon as the Decree of the Persian monarch had been formally announced to his Jewish subjects, the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the Priests and Levites, assembled at Babylon under the command of Zerubbabel and prepared to return to Jerusalem, for the purpose of rebuilding the Temple. (Zerubbabel, who in the Book of Ezra, iscalled Sheshbazzar, the Prince of Judah, was the son of Shealtiel and the grandson of King Jehoiakim, or Jeconiah, who had been deposed by Nebuchadnezar and carried as a captive to Babylon.) Some few other Tribes also accompanied him to Jerusalem but the greater number remained in Babylon; even of the Priests, who were divided into twenty-four courses, only four courses returned. Cyrus also restored to the Jews the greater part of the sacred vessels of the Temple which had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, and five thousand and four hundred were received by Zerubbabel, the remainder being brought back by Ezra many years later.

Only forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty Israelites, exclusive of servants and slaves, accompanied Zerubbabel, out of whom he selected seven thousand of the most courageous to act as advanced guards at the head of the people. Their progress homeward was not without danger for we are informed that at the Euphrates river they were opposed by the Assyrians. Zerubbabel, however, repulsed the enemy and most of the Assyrians were slain in battle or drowned in their retreat across the river. The rest of the journey was uninterrupted, and after a march of four months, Zerubbabel arrived at Jerusalem.

Scarcely had the workmen commenced their labours, when they were interrupted by the Samaritans, who asked to unite with them in the construction of the Temple. The Jews, who looked upon the Samaritans as idolaters, refused to accept their services. The Samaritans as a consequence became their bitter enemies and caused the ministers of Cyrus to put such obstructions in the way of the construction as to seriously impede its progress for several years. With such difficulty and danger were the works conducted during this period, that the workmen were compelled to labour with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the other.

As in the building of the Temple of Solomon, the Iyrians and Sidonians were engaged to furnish the timber from the forests of Lebanon, and to conduct it in the same manner on floats by sea to Joppa. The general plan of the Temple of Zerubbabel was similar to that of Solomon but it exceeded it in almost every dimension by one-third.

The manner of the death of Zerubbabel is not recorded in Scripture. We have, however, reason to believe that he lived to a good old age, since we find no successor of him mentioned until Artaxerxes appointed Ezra as the Governor of Judea, fifty-seven years after the completion of the Temple.

The Temple was not effaced again until after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under the emperor Titus in 70 A.D. So began the Jewish exodus from Palestine which would not see them return to Palestine until the end of the 19th century.

Other Pictures of King Solomon's Temple

• King Solomon's Temple
• King Solomon's Temple 

Sources of Information: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. King James Bible. Merit Students Encyclopedia.

Submitted by Bro. Brian Wilker, Tecumseh Lodge No. 144, G.R.C., Stratford, Ont.

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