House of Intercessory Prayer Ministries

History of the Temple:
FIRST temple
   The first temple was built by King Solomon at about 950 BC, and was located on the highest point above the Kidron valley – on mount Moriah.
In 2 Chronicles 3:1: “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite”.
The temple was destroyed after the intrusion of Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar II (Jeremiah 34: 7: “When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem”), which destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BC (2 Kings 24: 10,13: “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged… And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said”).
SECOND temple
   The population was transferred to Babylon, but returned after 50 years. After their return, on 536 BC, Zerubbabel built the first phase of the second temple. (Ezra 3: 8: “Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel …  to set forward the work of the house of the LORD”). Over 500 years the temple was repaired and new walls were constructed, but the major overhaul was performed by Herod – the great builder.
Herod the Great, King of Israel under the Romans (37BC – 4BC), enlarged and rebuilt the second temple, and made it a magnificent temple.
8 Blessings of God’s Temple
I Kings 8: 22-63; 2 Chronicles 6: 12-42
Dedication of the temple built by Solomon.
(1) Temple is a place of COVENANT – v 31,32
 “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.
(2) Temple is a place of VICTORY – v 33,34
“When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.
(3) Temple is a place of ABUNDANCE – v 35,36
 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
(4) Temple is a place of PROTECTION and HEALING– v 37 – 40
“When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
(5) Temple is a place of REFUGE  and  SHELTER – v 41 – 43
“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name—  for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple,  then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
(6) Temple is a place of JUSTICE – v 44-45
“When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.
(7) Temple is a place of COMPASSION and MERCY – v 50
And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy
(8) Temple is a place of FULFILLMENT – v 51 – 53
They are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace. “May your eyes be open to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you.  For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign LORD, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
As delivered by Pastor. Balan on 09/04/11