Not One Stone Upon Another

Southwestern corner of the Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount

In 1998 it was my first time to see it. A massive wall made of limestone towered above me with the remains of a wide ancient street at its base. I was standing at the southwestern corner of Jerusalem's famed Temple Mount not knowing then of its significance and place in Bible prophecy. Today, however, I am amazed and enthralled with not only the importance of this ancient wall and street, but also by the many fascinating artifacts and structures found in the vicinity.

Towering into the sky some 69 feet from the street below stands an imposing wall made over two millennia ago. Made without the use of mortar, the wall was constructed with large limestone ashlars, each crafted with a unique beveled edge frame. Along this southwestward side, one of the largest stones weighs approximately 80 tons and measures 39 feet long and 43 inches high. At its base lay hand-cut limestone pavers forming a beautifully engineered street from the first century, a street where Jesus most certainly would have walked. Until modern excavations uncovered it secrets, it had not been walked upon since the year A.D. 70.

As archaeologists painstakingly removed hundreds of years of soil and debris from the inhabitants of previous civilizations, they discovered something quite significant and important to Bible prophecy. Jumbled up into what looks like a mound of children's colossal building blocks are stones that had once existed on top of the Temple Mount. The stones had been pushed over the side of the wall down to the street below, piercing the thick limestone pavers. They became permanently embedded in the street and can easily be observed today. The stones had come from buildings and support walls connected to the temple described in the New Testament, a temple unlike anything most of the world had ever seen; a temple commissioned by King Herod the Great.

Stones from Temple Mount lying at the extreme southwestern corner of the Kotel (Western Wall)

Two decades before the birth of Christ, Herod had purposed a renovation and expansion of the existing temple of the Jews. However, his grandiose plans required a much larger architectural footprint and foundation than what the existing mountain could accommodate. To rectify the problem his builders expanded the base of the Temple mount towards the north, west, and south. To achieve this monumental feat, he built huge retaining walls made of large limestone rocks weighing two to ten tons each, with the largest near the center weighing approximately 600 tons.

Although buildings from the temple itself do not exist today, there are nevertheless many vestiges of its once proud existence, and the retaining walls ungirding its platform are a prime example. Near today's Western Wall Plaza (where the wall is known as the Kotel) the wall contains some its largest stones. In some places it is an estimated 15 feet thick and is nearly 1,600 feet in length. Standing on the Western Wall Plaza near its base one can easily observe 28 rock hewn courses (a total of approx. 91 feet) that have stood the test of time. However, while visitors marvel at its size and importance, it must be remembered that another 17 rows (approx. 55 feet) exist beneath totaling a 146 feet in height.

The Western Wall and Western Wall Plaza at Night

During the life of Christ, the entire foundational structure would have been visible to the open air. Visitors could have walked beside this gargantuan wall gazing up at an incredible height, standing then even higher at an estimated 196 feet (the once existing upper courses where toppled by the Romans in A.D. 70). However, an even greater sight stood on top of this enormous wall. What on my first visit to the wall in 1998 I did not understand then was that I was simply gazing upon the foundation of the once glorious temple.

On top of the huge retaining wall stands the ground floor of the once enormous and beautifully designed temple sanctuary. Seeing the foundation by itself, even as it is today, is impressive. But, the grand, large buildings which once stood on top of the platform, along with the temple sanctuary, its service buildings, colonnade porches, and the royal stoa must have left first-century visitors in awe.

Model of First Century Jerusalem with Herod's Temple in the Background (Notice the Southwestern corner on the right hand side of the Photo)

By measuring the perimeter and height of these existing retaining walls we can ascertain the size and enormity of this sacred precinct. Some 26 NFL Size football fields could be placed on its surface, and by comparison, would have covered more than 4 times the area found on the acropolis in Athens. Through this great engineering feat it is estimated that Herod doubled the size of the temple platform so that it reached its present size of approximately 40 acres.

Model of the Herodian Temple Complex - Looking West

The entire temple complex was remarkable and had been under construction for 46 years (John 2:20). So profoundly magnificent was this place, it seemingly created awe and wonder in the apostles who had assembled there just days before the Passover. For many of the Lord's close associates, each visit must have been startling and bewildering as surely they considered how mere mortals could build something so large and so elaborate. Many of the Lord's closest disciples had grown up in small villages and communities where the buildings never reached more than two stories. I can only imagine their shock at seeing something so huge and elaborate; their shock, however, must have quickly turned into confusion when Jesus offered his gloom and doom statement about the future of this sacred place.

After their apparent eagerness to discuss with Jesus the beauty and size of the temple and its buildings, the disciple were confronted with a bold prophetic utterance about its demise. Jesus confidently asserted, "Not one stone would be left upon another" (Matthew 24:2). But, what did this mean, and what on earth could bring about its fall? Could it be that Jesus was making reference to the end of the world?

As they reassembled on the Mount of Olives where the best view of the temple could be experienced, they queried him about his prediction. Based on their line of questioning we can assume that they were thinking that something so enormous as the temple, and so important would certainly stand the test of time. Surely, it would stand as long as human history. So, any complete destruction of something so grand and so important as God's temple must be connected to "the end of the age" (Matthew 24:3).

From the Mount of Olives overlooking the Kidron Valley toward the Temple Mount

However, history, the context of Matthew 24, and the rubble at the base of the temple mount platform reveal that the disciples had misunderstood. When Jesus spoke about stones being thrown down from the Temple he foresaw the coming destruction of Jerusalem and its temple at the hands of Roman military machine. Some 40 years removed from the event he could see its stones being toppled to the valley beneath, and the utter "abomination of desolation" occurring during its siege (Matthew 24:15).

In The Wars of the Jews (book VI), Josephus gave a firsthand account of Jerusalem's annihilation and describes the aftermath of a long protracted siege engineered by the Romans. His first-hand account testified to the fulfillment of what Jesus had predicted about the destruction of the Temple, but archaeology corroborates it as well.

Explorers and archaeologists like Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, John Iliffe, Benjamin Mazar, Eilat Mazar, along with volunteers from the Temple Mount sifting project have in their combined efforts discovered numerous artifacts from the debris of the Temple's destruction.

Inscriptions, seal impressions, cornices, lintels, capitols, opus sectile floor tiles, column bases, mikva'ot, and large Herodian stones found imbedded in first century streets all testify to a massive demolition of a once glorious place.

Cornice from the Royal Stoa - Inscription reads "the place of trumpeting"

Based on the existence of the huge retaining walls, artifacts found within the rubble along its walls, and the record of history, it is obvious that the temple Jesus knew was completely destroyed. The buildings on the temple mount were dismantled, much of it destroyed, and whatever else remained was cast down to the base of its foundational walls.

The only buildings on the temple mount platform today are connected to a much later period after the Roman destruction. Most notably, the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque built many centuries after the time of Christ are what visitors can observe today. The inner sanctuary of the Jewish temple and all of its service buildings from the time of Christ are no longer present. They are completely in ruin. The royal stoa, porticoes, court of the women, Nicanor Gate, the court of Israel, the holy of holies, and all the many ancillary service buildings are conspicuously absent. Only vestiges of its long ago past remain beneath and below its foundation.

The Dome of the Rock now Stands where the Holy of Holies once stood

The meaning of Jesus' prophecy is clear: "there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down" (Matthew 24:2), and that is exactly what occurred.

By John W. Moore

Sources:

The Talmud Bavli Noé (English Version) from The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz Source: korenpub.com 

The Temple Mount Sifting Project - https://tmsifting.org/en/

Josephus, Flavius. The Jewish War. Translated by William Whiston. Boston: Samuel Walker, 1849.

Ritmeyer, Leen. “Locating the Original Temple Mount,” Biblical Archaeology Review 18.2 (1992): 24, 26, 29, 32–37, 43–45, 65.

Bahat, Dan. The Illustrated Atlas of Jerusalem. (Festive Edition) Carta, Jerusalem, 1990.

Mazar, Eilat. The Complete Guide to the Temple Mount Excavations. Shoham Academic Research and Publication; Old City Press. Jerusalem, 2022.