The History of
Israel and The Temple Mount
Accordingly, God validated the authenticity of scriptures by predicting epic world events hundreds, even thousands of years —ahead of time.
1900 BC – Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, had twelve sons. These twelve men fathered the twelve tribes of Israel. However, eleven of the sons sold one of their brothers, Joseph, into Egyptian slavery. (Genesis 37:26-28)
1876 BC – Famine drove Israel’s remaining eleven sons into Egypt. Israel eventually became enslaved by the Egyptians. (Genesis 47:5-6; Exodus 1:8-13)
1446 BC – Israel sacrificed the initial Passover lambs, as God’s judgment passed-over Israel and punished the enslaving Egyptians. God’s intervention allowed Israel to depart Egypt. (Exodus 12:1-13, 12:51)
1406 BC – Moses received the Ten Commandments. These laws set God’s standards, which everyone has violated at one point. Because we have all offended God, we need a restored (new covenant) relationship with God. (Exodus 20:1-17; Romans 3:23)
1000 BC – Soon after King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, Israel’s unfaithfulness to God increased. Their son, Solomon, built the First Temple on the Temple Mount where blood atonement, in the form of animal sacrifice, continued. Solomon was the last king of a unified Israel. (2 Samuel 11:2-5; 2 Chronicles 7:11-12; 1 Kings 12:6-20)
935 BC – Israel was divided into two nations: the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Over time Israelis increasingly accepted pagan religion. There was a growing threat of invasion, a judgment for Israel’s acceptance of pagan religion. (Jeremiah 3:6-8; 28:14)
721 BC – The Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians and was taken into captivity. (2 Kings 17:5-6)
606 BC – Babylon invaded the Southern Kingdom, and placed Jerusalem under siege. King Nebuchadnezzar brought Israeli youth leaders to Babylon for instruction, to include the prophet Daniel. (Daniel 1:1-6)
586 BC – The Babylonians completely destroyed Jerusalem, to include the Temple on the Temple Mount. Just prior to this devastation, God promised a new and improved covenant relationship with man. (2 Chronicles 36:19; Jeremiah 31:31-34)
539 BC – The Babylonian Empire fell to Darius the Mede, and the Medo-Persia Empire ascended to power. Cyrus, King of Persia released Israelis from captivity. Cyrus directed those returning to Israel to rebuild the Temple. Israelis completed the Second Temple in 515 BC. (Daniel 5:30-31; Ezra 1:1-3, 6:15)
445 BC – Persian King Artaxerxes issued a command to rebuild Jerusalem. (Ezra 7:12-26)
Daniel foretold that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem 483 years after this decree was written, and be executed. (Daniel 9:24-26) This prophecy foretold the date of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the time of his crucifixion. Historians calculated these dates as being from March 14, 445 BC to April 6, 32 AD.
Model of the Second Temple — where Jesus taught.
332 BC – The benevolent Medo-Persian rule over Jerusalem ended with the Greek conquests of Alexander the Great.
170 BC – Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes ruled Jerusalem, and attempted to eradicate the Jewish faith. He imposed the Greek religion by erecting a statue of Zeus and by sacrificing a pig on the Temple Mount.
63 BC – After a brief period of Israeli independence, Pompey conquered Jerusalem and the Roman conquest began. In 40 BC, the Parthians took control of Jerusalem, but with backing from Caesar, King Herod the Great retook Jerusalem in 37 BC. King Herod’s brutality was widely condemned.
6 BC – Yeshua Ha Machiah (Jesus the Messiah) was born. Because his only father was God, Jesus was born of a virgin. Being the bread of life, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which translates as “the house of bread.” King Herod sent soldiers to kill Jesus, so Joseph fled with his family to Egypt. Later they moved to Nazareth in northern Israel where Jesus grew into a man. (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 2:13-14, 19-23)
26 AD – John the Baptist proclaimed an uncompromising message of repentance to prepare Israel for its Messiah. John’s baptism was a purification rite for repentant sinners in accordance with Jewish custom. John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself. (Matthew 3:1-12)
28 AD – Jesus moved to Capernaum on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee, where he gathered disciples and proclaimed the manifesto for the kingdom of God. (Matthew 4:13, 5:2-12)
32 AD – Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Israelis proclaimed that he was the promised Messiah. However, Jesus came to provide spiritual deliverance from sin, not political deliverance from Rome. Envious of his popularity, religious leaders plot to kill Jesus. They succeed when the crowd, disappointed that Jesus did not provide deliverance from Rome, turned against him. (Matthew 21:8-11, 26:3-4, 27:22-23)
70 AD – In response to an Israeli uprising, Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple. Jews were scattered to all nations and mistreated for hundreds of years. Moses foretold this centuries-long exile from Israel in Deuteronomy 28:64-66. Jesus foretold details concerning this tragedy: “The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19:43-44)
95 AD – John recorded Revelation, the final book of the New Testament. John foretold end-time events, and the return of the Messiah. This story includes a reestablished Israel, a restored Roman Empire, and an unfaithful church. The identifying characteristic of this church is that it accepted religious traditions that originated in ancient Babylon.
1948 AD – God restored Israel as a nation. Ezekiel foretold Israel’s restoration, “And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them. Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now bring Jacob* back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name.” (Ezekiel 39:23- 25) *Note: Jacob is the early name for Israel per Genesis 32:28.
1957 AD – Much of the territory of the original Roman Empire was restored under the Treaty of Rome. Later the majority of European countries joined the European Union. This union will eventually allow the Antichrist to rule over a united Europe, a contemporary Roman Empire, as foretold by Daniel.
1967 AD – Israel captured Jerusalem during the Six Day War. However, Islam was permitted to maintain control of the Temple Mount.
World events will one day cause all nations to come against Jerusalem. Jesus will then return to earth and destroy Israel’s enemies. (Zechariah 12:3, 8-9)
Today Jesus serves as High Priest and Messiah, offering a covenant of forgiveness and peace to everyone who will accept him. (Hebrews 7:24-26, 8:8-12)
This most recognizable Dead Sea Scroll cave is also the most significant in terms of finds.
