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The Second Temple: |
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The Second Temple was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem, Israel. The Second Temple stood in Jerusalem between 516 BC and 70 AD. During this time, it was the center of Jewish worship, which focused on the sacrifices.
After the return from captivity in Babylon, first concerns of ancient Jews was to restore their ancient house of worship in Jerusalem by rebuilding their destroyed holy temple and reinstituting there sacrificial rituals.
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Israelites poured their gifts into the sacred treasury with great
enthusiasm (Ezra 2). First they erected and dedicated the altar of God on the exact spot where it had formerly stood. They then cleared the site that had been the place of the First Jerusalem temple. In the second month of the second year (535 BC), amid great public excitement and rejoicing, the foundations of the second temple were laid in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem temple, when completed, was consecrated and the sacrificial observances known as the korbanot were commenced once again, amid great rejoicings on the part of all the people (Ezra 6:16), although it was evident that the Jews were no longer an independent people, but were subject
to a foreign power. The Book of Haggai records a prediction (2:9) that the glory of the Second Jerusalem Temple would be greater than that of the first. Jerusalem temple, during the different periods of its existence, is often regarded by believers as but one house, the one only house of God.
The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and Jerusalem's Second Temple on August 4th of 70 AD. Since then, the only remaining part of it, the Western Wall, has been regarded by all the Jewish people as their spiritual and religious nexus.
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