61.1-768x587

Is the western wall remnant of the second temple of Jesus' time? The answer might surprise you but let me explain. Today many Jewish pray at the western wall because they believe that it is part of the second temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War, in which the Roman army captured the city of Jerusalem and destroyed both the city and its Temple. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been controlled by Judean rebel factions since 66 CE, following the Jerusalem riots of 66, when the Judean provisional government was formed in Jerusalem. (source: Wikipedia)The truth is that the western wall is not part of the second temple and is part of the Roman fortress called Antonia which housed about 5000 to 6000 legion of Roman soldiers. From the writing of Josephus on War of The Jews, Josephus said the following concerning the temple. "And now where is that great city Jerusalem, the metropolis of the Jewish nation, which was fortified by so many walls roundabout?...It is now demolished to the very foundation and hath nothing left but ... the camp of those (Romans) that destroyed it.Josephus was there and he is not mincing any words. The temple was utterly destroyed that nothing was left. There are many historians and archeologist that disregard Josephus's accurate depiction of what happened to the temple. Jesus told His disciples that there would be no stones left on top of another which Josephus wrote about. As a Christian to believe that the western wall was part of the second temple would mean that Jesus was lying about the total destruction of the temple and Jesus got it wrong. From scripture, we know that Jesus is truth and not a liar, and what Jesus said about the temple being destroyed is what he really meant.Is the western wall part of the second temple? Archeological evidence is revealing the true location of the temple and that the western wall is part of fort Antonia and not part of the second temple. Josephus in his monumental work, War of the Jews, the Temple Mount, and Fort Antonia had a separation of a Roman stade (600 feet), with two parallel 600 foot colonnades extending from the Temple to Fort Antonia. These two colonnades extended from the northwestern corner of the Temple to the southwestern corner of Fort Antonia.The picture below is from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. God bless you all!!!