Jerusalem Temple Destroyed in 70 AD

 

The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in CE 70 is commemorated in Rome on the Arch of Titus. Destruction of the Temple helped to end the Jewish rebellion against Rome that began in CE 66 and, according to some scholars, may have been prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24. The siege of Jerusalem was begun by Vespasian and completed by his son Titus. It represented the culmination of the rebellion in Judea, begun for a variety of reasons but attributed in large measure to Zealots and internal power struggles between competing social, religious, and political parties.

 

The Temple in Jewish History

 

The first Temple in Jerusalem was constructed during the fourth year of King Solomon’s reign and is chronicled in the Old Testament book 1 Kings. The Old Testament detailed precise measurements for the structure that housed the Ark. In BCE 586 the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple; the Ark disappeared from history at this point. At least one modern rumor comments that the Ark has been secretly kept in Rome at St John Lateran basilica, displayed only once by Pope Pius XII for a Roman rabbi.

 

The Temple was rebuilt during the Roman era by King Herod the Great. The structure figures prominently in the life of Jesus. It was here where Jesus, as a boy, amazed the teachers with his questions and answers (Luke 2: 46ff). In John, the final gospel to be written (2: 13ff) Jesus drove the money changers out of the Temple calling the building his “father’s house.”

 

This story is repeated in Matthew 21: 12ff. In this version of the story, Jesus quotes scripture, referring to the Temple as a “house of prayer.” The Temple also housed the treasury; hence it attracted money changers and other financiers. This was the Temple Jesus prophesied about in Matthew 24: not one stone would remain atop another. In CE 70, Titus fulfilled this prophecy.

 

Roman Response to the Rebellion in Judea

 

Rebellion in the province broke out during the latter part of Emperor Nero’s reign. Similar rebellions in Briton and North Africa plagued Nero as did the on-going confrontations with the Parthians in the East. Additionally, high ranking Romans had become disenchanted with their artist-emperor, resulting in the eventual suicide of Nero.

 

By this time Vespasian was in Judea, reinforced with three legions and marching on Jerusalem after pacifying the countryside. Nero’s death and his successors’ inabilities led to Vespasian being proclaimed emperor. This proclamation was verified while he was in Egypt by the oracle at the temple of Serapis and the attribution of miraculous cures.

 

Vespasian’s son Titus completed the task, building a wall around Jerusalem. According to one story, the water in Jerusalem stopped flowing. Through a dream, the Jerusalem Jewish-Christian church fled to Pella and after the destruction of the Temple, notable leaders like John and Mary, the mother of Jesus, migrated to Ephesus. The “House of Mary,” located on a hill adjacent to Ephesus, represents one Christian tradition as to the final years of Mary.

 

The Future Temple Rebuilt in Jerusalem

 

The Arch of Titus between the Coliseum and Forum in Rome bears a panel showing the Romans carrying off the Temple’s seven-branch candlesticks. Jews living throughout the empire, however, did not financially support the Judea revolt and were not punished. Rome itself had a sizeable Jewish community. The Christian church, long identified with Jerusalem, became further estranged from its original Jewish roots.

 

In modern Church History, ardent evangelical Christians, most notably those that follow the Dispensationalist view of “end times” chronology, expect the Temple to be rebuilt as a pivotal sign of the return of Jesus. Thus they support an expanded Israel, the moving of Israel’s capital to Jerusalem, and the destruction of the mosque that currently occupies the Temple site. Other Christians, however, reject a literal Temple, preferring to equate the Temple with the Holy Spirit’s work in people’s lives.

 

Herod’s Temple was considered a marvel and a fitting tribute for worship. Yet even as Jesus noted several times in the gospels, it had become a place of dissention and control for power among the various factions competing for power in Judea. The destruction of the Temple might not have occurred had political control within the Jerusalem community avoided the House of God.

 

Sources:

 

Barbara Levick, Vespasian (Routledge, 1999)

New American Standard Bible (Moody Press, 1973)

Michael Walsh, The Triumph of the Meek: Why Early Christianity Succeeded (Harper & Row, 1986)

Thomas Whitelaw, D.D., “Temple,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volume V (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1939)

Margaret Williams, “Jews and Jewish communities in the Roman empire,” Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire, Janet Huskinson, editor (Routledge, 2000)

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