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By: Chabad.org
The First Holy Temple
Two Temples stood in succession on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The First Temple was constructed by King Solomon, based on detailed plans that G‑d had given to his father, King David through the prophet Nathan. King David had wanted to build it himself, but was told that his son would be the one to do it.
In the fourth year of his reign, 833 BCE, King Solomon found himself at peace with his neighbors and began the construction of the Temple. The site chosen by King David was the top of Mount Moriah, where Abraham had once proved his readiness to offer up his dearly beloved son in obedience to G‑d’s command.
Tens of thousands of men were needed to perform the many tasks required for the gigantic undertaking. Men were sent to Lebanon to cut down cedar trees. Stones were hewn near the quarries, and then brought up to Moriah, there to be fitted together. In the valley of the Jordan the bronze was cast. Craftsmen were brought in from Tyre to help perfect the work. Ships set sail eastward and westward to bring the choicest materials for the adornment of the House of G‑d.
It took seven years to complete the Temple. In the twelfth year of his reign, in 827 BCE, King Solomon dedicated the Temple and all its contents. The Ark of the Covenant was brought into the Temple amidst inaugural celebrations that lasted for seven days.
For the next 410 years, the Jewish people would bring daily offerings in this magnificent edifice, and here the nation would gather three times a year to “see and to be seen by the face of G‑d.” Here the Divine Presence was manifest. Ten daily miracles – such as the wind never extinguishing the fire on the altar – attested to G‑d’s presence in the Temple. This was the archetype of the “dwelling for G‑d in the physical world” that is the purpose of creation.
Solomon’s reign was a golden era. His capital became the center of wisdom, riches, and splendor. Monarchs as well as ordinary people came to gaze on all the marvels to be seen there, and left wide-eyed with amazement and awe. The Land of Israel developed into a great center of commerce. The Jews lived in peace and happiness, “every man under his vine and under his fig tree.”
The Beginning of the End
At the end of King Solomon’s life, he was guilty of indiscretions unbefitting his great stature. G‑d told him he would be punished. After his death, the kingdom would be torn in two.
Indeed, after Solomon’s death, the ten northern tribes refused to accept his son Rehoboam as their king. In 796 BCE, the country was divided into two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah (containing Jerusalem) in the south.
The kings of the Kingdom of Israel practiced idolatry, but so did many of the kings of the Kingdom of Judah. G‑d sent prophets repeatedly to admonish the Jews, but they refused to change their ways, choosing instead to deride these prophets as false messengers coming to discourage them with predictions of destruction.
In one egregious example, in 661 BCE, the prophet Zechariah ben Jehoiada chastised the nation for their sins, warning them of the grave punishments that would befall them if they would not change their ways.
(Chabad.org)
