The Temple Will Be Destroyed
(Matthew 24.1, 2; Luke 21.5, 6)

Mark 13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Teacher, look at these beautiful stones and wonderful buildings!"
²Jesus replied, "Do you see these huge buildings? They will certainly be torn down! Not one stone will be left in place."

Warning about Trouble
(Matthew 24.3-14; Luke 21.7-19)

³Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him in private. ⁴They asked, "When will these things happen? What will be the sign that they are about to take place?"
⁵Jesus answered:

Watch out and don't let anyone fool you! ⁶Many will come and claim to be me. They will use my name and fool many people.

⁷When you hear about wars and threats of wars, don't be afraid. These things will have to happen first, but that isn't the end. ⁸Nations and kingdoms will go to war against each other. There will be earthquakes in many places, and people will starve to death. But this is just the beginning of troubles.

⁹Be on your guard! You will be taken to courts and beaten with whips in their meeting places. And because of me, you will have to stand before rulers and kings to tell about your faith. ¹⁰But before the end comes, the good news must be preached to all nations.

¹¹When you are arrested, don't worry about what you will say. You will be given the right words when the time comes. But you will not really be the ones speaking. Your words will come from the Holy Spirit.

¹²Brothers and sisters will betray each other and have each other put to death. Parents will betray their own children, and children will turn against their parents and have them killed. ¹³Everyone will hate you because of me. But if you keep on being faithful right to the end, you will be saved.

The Outside of the Temple Is Completed

1 Kings 6 Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv, the second month of the year. It had been four years since Solomon became king of Israel, and four hundred eighty years since the people of Israel left Egypt.
²The inside of the LORD's temple was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high. ³A fifteen-foot porch went all the way across the front of the temple. ⁴The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.
^5-6Along the sides and back of the temple, there were three levels of storage rooms. The rooms on the bottom level were seven and a half feet wide, the rooms on the middle level were nine feet wide, and those on the top level were ten and a half feet wide. There were ledges on the outside of the temple that supported the beams of the storage rooms, so that nothing was built into the temple walls.
⁷Solomon did not want the noise of hammers and axes to be heard at the place where the temple was being built. So he had the workers shape the blocks of stone at the quarry.
⁸The entrance to the bottom storage rooms was on the south side of the building, and stairs to the other rooms were also there. ⁹The roof of the temple was made out of beams and cedar boards.
The workers finished building the outside of the temple. ¹⁰ Storage rooms seven and a half feet high were all around the temple, and they were attached to the temple by cedar beams.
¹¹The LORD told Solomon:

^12-13If you obey my commands and do what I say, I will keep the promise I made to your father David. I will live among my people Israel in this temple you are building, and I will not desert them.

¹⁴So Solomon's workers finished building the temple.

The Inside of the Temple Is Furnished
(2 Chronicles 3.8-14)

¹⁵The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.
¹⁶The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and it was thirty feet square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceiling separated it from the rest of the temple. ¹⁷The temple's main room was sixty feet long, and it was in front of the most holy place.
¹⁸The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.
¹⁹The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place. ^20-22This room was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high, and it was lined with pure gold. There were also gold chains across the front of the most holy place. The inside of the temple, as well as the cedar altar in the most holy place, was covered with gold.
²³Solomon had two statues of winged creatures made from olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was fifteen feet tall ^24-26and fifteen feet across. They had two wings, and the wings were seven and a half feet long. ²⁷Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place. Their wings were spread out and reached across the room. ²⁸The creatures were also covered with gold.
²⁹The walls of the two rooms were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. ³⁰Even the floor was covered with gold.
^31-32The two doors to the most holy place were made out of olive wood and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. The doors and the carvings were covered with gold. The door frame came to a point at the top.
^33-34The two doors to the main room of the temple were made out of pine, and each one had two sections so they could fold open. The door frame was shaped like a rectangle and was made out of olive wood. ³⁵The doors were covered with gold and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.
³⁶The inner courtyard of the temple had walls made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams.
³⁷Work began on the temple during Ziv, the second month of the year, four years after Solomon became king of Israel. ³⁸Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul, the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.

Israel Rejects the LORD

The LORD said:
Hosea 8 Sound a warning!
Israel, you broke our agreement and ignored my teaching.
Now an eagle is swooping down to attack my land.
²Israel, you say, "We claim you, the LORD, as our God."
³But your enemies will chase you
for rejecting our good agreement.

⁴You chose kings and leaders without consulting me;
you made silver and gold idols that led to your downfall.
⁵City of Samaria, I'm angry because of your idol
in the shape of a calf.
When will you ever be innocent again?
⁶Someone from Israel built that idol for you,
but only I am God.
And so it will be smashed to pieces.

⁷If you scatter wind instead of wheat,
you will harvest a whirlwind and have no wheat.
Even if you harvest grain, enemies will steal it all.

⁸Israel, you are ruined,
and now the nations consider you worthless.
⁹You are like a wild donkey that goes its own way.
You've run off to Assyria and hired them as allies.
¹⁰You can bargain with nations, but I'll catch you anyway.
Soon you will suffer abuse by kings and rulers.

¹¹Israel, you have built many altars
where you offer sacrifices for sin.
But these altars have become places for sin.
¹²My instructions for sacrifices were written in detail,
but you ignored them.
¹³You sacrifice your best animals
and eat the sacrificial meals,
but I, the LORD, refuse your offerings.
I will remember your sins and punish you.
Then you will return to Egypt.

¹⁴Israel, I created you, but you forgot me.
You and Judah built palaces and many strong cities.
Now I will send fire to destroy your towns and fortresses.