As I am studying Matthew 24-25 for a teaching session next month, I am in awe of the Temple Mount and what it must have been like for Jesus and his disciples to be sitting on the Mount of Olives and viewing the massive structure. Modern Christians really cannot appreciated the size and grandeur of Herod's temple.
The whole construction spanned over 35 acres and had 8 gates leading to the Temple area. It took 10,000 men 10 years just to build the retaining walls around the Temple Mount. Only one of those retaining walls (The Western Wall was not part of the Temple itself) is all that remains of this incredible structure. Jesus predicted that it would be demolished to the point that "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
By 66 AD, the Jews in Judea rebelled against the Roman occupation and Nero dispatched an army to restore order. After quelling the uprising, the army turned its attention to Jerusalem in 68 AD, the same year Nero died. On 14 April 70, during Passover, Titus, Nero's son and new Roman Emperor, marched into Jerusalem and fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus. When the Temple was set on fire. It became so hot that the gold lining the building began to melt and flow. The Roman soldiers tore apart every stone, just as Jesus said, to get the melted gold. The Menorah and vessels were carried to Rome and the treasury was robbed. While a mosque now sits on the site, a Third Temple will be built when Antichrist strikes a peace accord with Israel near the beginning of the Tribulation.
