https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=NJTmNQkLUoM&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9Rmk6_bIDMM%26feature%3DshareTHIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THE MINISTRY THAT PRODUCED THE VIDEO, IT IS AN ENDORSEMENT OF THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN THE VIDEO.
Thank you Raphaela Ephramite, this is a great cliff note version:
He has the location correct. Where I differ from Bob Cornuke is I truly believe that Simeon the Hasmonean built a completed temple that Herod the Great added onto during his short reign.
I believe that the Essenes left Jerusalem over the act of cleansing the true temple mount area from the desecration of the invading armies of the Greeks, Egyptians, etc. as Simeon and the powers that were used the pattern from 2 Kings 23:4-17. Remember Antiochus set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple. However, I believe that Simeon wnet further than King Josiah because the City of David is now no longer a hill, nor a ridge. I believe Simeon tore down the earth, debris from previous civilization (the Jebusite, Egyptians, etc) to the very bedrock in an attempt to cleanse the area completely and make a pure fresh start. Probably if Simeon had only cleansed the area the way that Josiah did, the Essenes would not have left Jerusalem for the Qumran caves at the Dead Sea. Once everything was torn down Simeon built another temple which Herod the Great added to. The torn down City of David (Mt Zion and the Ophel Ridge) were I believe thrown into the valleys to the east and west of the City of David and is why the area is now level.
While Bob Cornuke shows a bedrock area (cleared of all debris from previous civilization) and thinks it to be King Solomon’s Temple, that does not fit what the bible tells us. The Egyptians, Jebusites, and others inhabited this location before King David bought it from Ornan the Jebusite. And since the archeologist reject that Simeon torn down the City of David, then to them the bedrock is older than Solomon’s reign when actually it only goes to Simeon reign. Solomon could not have built on bedrock, the bible says that David inhabited the Jebusite City. Nothing was torn down. Simeon tore down the tel of Mount Zion’s other civilizations in an attempt to cleanse the area of all defilements, throughout all of its histories….as many, many scriptures elude in the bible…..even the tour guides in the City of David will tell you that the City of David is a tel. Tels are all over Israel.
1 Kings 23:4-17Then Josiah ordered the High Priest Hilkiah, his assistant priests, and the guards on duty at the entrance to the Temple to bring out of the Temple all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars. The king burned all these objects outside the city near Kidron Valley and then had the ashes taken to Bethel. 5 He removed from office the priests that the kings of Judah had ordained to offer sacrifices[a] on the pagan altars in the cities of Judah and in places near Jerusalemâall the priests who offered sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. 6 He removed from the Temple the symbol of the goddess Asherah, took it out of the city to Kidron Valley, burned it, pounded its ashes to dust, and scattered it over the public burying ground. 7 He destroyed the living quarters in the Temple occupied by the temple prostitutes.[b] (It was there that women wove robes used in the worship of Asherah.) 8 He brought to Jerusalem the priests who were in the cities of Judah, and throughout the whole country he desecrated the altars where they had offered sacrifices. He also tore down the altars dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the city governor, which was to the left of the main gate as one enters the city. 9 Those priests were not allowed to serve in the Temple, but they could eat the unleavened bread provided for their fellow priests.
10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech. 11 He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.) 12 The altars which the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above King Ahaz’ quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple; he smashed the altars to bits[c] and threw them into Kidron Valley. 13 Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives,[d] for the worship of disgusting idolsâAstarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of Ammon. 14 King Josiah broke the stone pillars to pieces, cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and the ground where they had stood he covered with human bones.
15 Josiah also tore down the place of worship in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down the altar, broke its stones into pieces,[e] and pounded them to dust; he also burned the image of Asherah.Updated Jan 1, 2018, 8:49 PM