In Matthew 23:16+17 Jesus is giving the leaders of the Jews a lesson on gold and the temple. He is at the end of His forty months of ministry and will be on the cross in a few days. Early in His ministry was The Sermon on the Mount, now He is delivering a sermon on the Temple Mount and will give one on the Mount of Olives. In preparing for this part of the first sermon He has turned over tables of gold coins and answered about paying money to Ceaser. As this teaching unfolds, He gives the Pharisees “seven woes”; in this woe He ask them which is greater the gold in the temple or the temple that makes it holy?

The original thought for this post came as I read through the Books of Kings and Chronicles. David, Solomon, and the people gave tons of gold for building the Temple of God. Like Moses, David had gotten the plans from God. David gave his to Solomon. I believe this Temple, like the Tabernacle are representations of the Temple/Throne Room of God in Heaven. Everything was gold, or covered in gold, even the wall coverings; except the curtain that shielded the Ark. That golden apple proved tempting for many enemies. Several kings of Judah conveniently used the temple’s treasures to buy off those enemies. Maybe that gold was not as important as the Pharisees and Sadducees made it out to be.

The Initial Deposit

 The deposit slips and the final delivers are spread through several chapters in Kings and Chronicles. Between the temple and Solomon’s house the quantities are impressive. Please read 1 Kings 6, 7, and 10; 1 Chronicles 9, 22, 28, and 29; 2 Chronicles 2, 3, and 4 have a glimpse of the final products; that much gold and silver had to get every greedy king’s attention.                                                                                                                                                    The First Withdraw

Rehoboam’s pride and foolishness provided the door for judgment on Solomon’s sin the matters of his wives and their gods. Solomon’s first wife was an Egyptian royal, which he should not have married, he also had business dealings with the country. So, Egypt had a good knowledge of the treasures in Jerusalem.

Shishak king of Egypt, 2 Chronicles 12:9 and 1 Kings 14:26, made a significant withdrawal. I read or heard that an archeologist commented on the amount of gold work done in Egypt around his time of rule.

Asa a Revolving Door

Asa was a “good” king, who developed an attitude, it happens. He ruled for forty-one years, the last years of his rule his son, Jehoshaphat ran things. In 1 Kings 15:15 and 2 Chronicles 15:18, Asa is bringing gold and silver into the temple. Baasha, king of Israel, starts to bother Judah; so, Asa takes the gold and silver and sends it to Ben-Hadad of Aram – Kings 15:18 and 2 Chronicles 16:2. God rebukes him for his lack of faith in the power of God. By extension, the gold is what bought Asa relief.

Jehoram

2 Chronicles 21:16 and 17 tell of the Philistines attacking Jerusalem and looting the palace but not the temple. I think they learned their lesson back in the time of Samuel. The other interesting point in the story is Jehoram received a letter from Elijah.

Joash

Joash was another “good” king, who also developed an attitude. He repaired the temple by collecting money from the people – 2 Chronicles 24:14 and 2 Kings 12. Either the priests were just “sitting” on the money or possible misusing it is unclear, but they were not repairing the temple. The accounts of the withdrawal are slightly different but Hazael of Aram attacked and Joash sent the sacred objects to Hazael to leave. 2 Kings 12:18 says a stockpile of objects from Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah, was part of what was sent.

The Northern Kingdom Takes a Share

Jehoash, King of Israel, attacked Judah (Amaziah) broke down the city wall and took treasures from the temple and hostages – 2 Kings 14:14 and 2 Chronicles 25:24. Chronicles mention what was entrusted to Obed-Edom; this is a thought from the time of David and Solomon.

Ahaz and Assyria

Assyria, the enemy we forget about, is coming to power. Ahaz, a bad king, is being attacked by Aram and Israel, so he bribes Pul of Assyria to attack his attackers – 2 Kings 16:8 and 2 Chronicles 28:21. 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28 tell the story of Ahaz but share very different facts. Ahaz goes to see Pul and does things in the temple to please the foreign king.

Hezekiah and Sennacherib

Hezekiah tries to buy peace from Assyria, 2 Kings 18:15 + 16. Sennacherib takes the money and keeps coming, it does not really work out well for him. Hezekiah must have recovered the doors with gold because it mentions he stripped them to get the gold. Sennacherib blasphemed God so, what gold could not do God did with rats. Israel (north) was deported at this time. I am still studying, but the Nineveh that is described by Jonah is the one Sennacherib created. A prophecy comes after Hezekiah’s illness because he has shown envoys from Babylon everything in his treasury.

Babylon Cleans the Bank

Well, before Nebuchadnezzar takes all Neco king of Egypt fines Judah because Josiah fought with him – 2 Kings 23:35. Nebuchadnezzar actually has several times when he takes goods and people from Judah – 2 Kings 24 and 25; Jeremiah 52; and 2 Chronicles 36 tell the story.

Nebuchadnezzar first took Jehoiachin and treasures and people. Later because Zedekiah had not learned he came back to clean house and tore down the temple. Both of these times temple articles were cut up and carried away. He did leave the poor in the land to take care of things.

The Ark with the Mercy Seat

According to John in Revelations the real Ark is in heaven, remember Moses made a copy of what he saw. What happened to the one Moses made? Who knows. The favorite theory is Jeremiah, who was a priest, got some Levities together and hid it. Many things are not mentioned by name, but you think that would have been; it was not returned with the first wave of people who returned to Jerusalem.

In all of those withdrawals it never mentions the Ark. It makes you think that the Philistines experience was well known, and no one wanted any part of it.

Redeposit  

Nebuchadnezzar did something unusual with some of the gold and silver (treasures) they took from the temple. He put it in the temple of their god (Ezra 1:7). David also put some of the things he captured into his treasuries for the temple, but it would seem most nations just used what they took. Was this a way of taunting the Jews? I do not know.

Babylon lost control to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:30,31). After the seventy years predicted by Jeremiah, the Persians let Israel go back to the Land and sent the temple treasures back with them (Ezra 1:9-11). That was the first wave of people to return.

Ezra was the second wave of people to return; his king ordered a large amount of goods to be given to him for temple use. See Ezra 7:22. Then in 8:25 – 27, is another load of donated goods for the temple.

A Thought

Shiny things get peoples’ attention, they are nice to look at, and we put a high value on them. Solomon built a temple for the Name of the Lord and put the Ark in it. No expense was spared, and it must have been amazing to look at and worship in. But, when it is all said the treasures were taken, and the stonewalls knocked flat, and the wooden roof and the room panels were burned with fire, twice. That makes me think that the two things that were left was what was really important – the Land and the People.