Jerusalem's temple began as an idea by King David: "Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, 'See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.' Then Nathan said to the king, 'Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.' " (2Samuel 7:1-3, NKJV throughout)
Although God allowed David to gather building materials for his temple, he did not want him to build it. That task would be left to David's son Solomon: "And David said to Solomon: 'My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the Lord my God; but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, BECAUSE YOU HAVE SHED MUCH BLOOD ON THE EARTH IN MY SIGHT. "Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name . . . " ' " (1Chronicles 22:7-10)
The first temple in Jerusalem was built by King Solomon, son of King David. Before his death David had "with all his might" provided materials in great abundance for the building of the temple on the summit of Mount Moriah (1Chronicles 22:14, 29:4; 2Chronicles 3:1), on the east of the city, on the spot where Abraham had offered up Isaac (Genesis 22:1-14). The first temple was burned, pillaged and destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (2Kings 24:13; 2Chronicles 36:7), who carried all the temple's treasures with him to Babylon. What is known as the second temple was built in the same location as the first temple. The foundations of the second temple were laid about 535 B.C. by Jewish exiles returning from captivity in Babylon. When Herod the Great became king of Judea the second temple had stood for about five hundred years. The building had suffered considerably from natural decay over the years as well as from the assaults of hostile armies, and Herod, desirous of gaining the favor of the Jews, proposed to rebuild it. This offer was accepted, and the work was begun (20 B.C.), and carried out at great labor and expense, and on a scale of surpassing splendor. The main part of the building was completed in ten years, but the erection of the outer courts and the embellishment of the whole were carried on during the entire period of Jesus' life on earth (John 2:16, John 2:19-21). The temple was completed in A.D. 65. The temple, however, was not long permitted to exist. The Roman legions took the city of Jerusalem by storm, and notwithstanding the strenuous efforts Titus made to preserve the temple, his soldiers set fire to it in several places. The destruction of the temple began on the 9th of Ab (Hebrew month), the very same day the destruction of Jerusalem's first temple began in 585 B.C. The temple's demise was completed on Ab 10 in Hebrew year (civil) 3831, which corresponds to Sunday, August 5th in 70 A.D. | 