SOMETIMES, dear reader, you may have noticed that events give importance to the place; and contrariwise, sometimes place gives importance to the events. Who ever heard of Waterloo until the mighty battle was fought upon its plains? And how many persons little known previously, have been rendered famous by being connected with some renowned act, place, or building. It is so with the beautiful gate of the temple. It has rendered its builder or decorator, Herod the Great, famous for all time; as also the impotent man who was healed by Peter and John beneath its exquisite shade.
This beautiful erection has two names. It is called “Solomon’s Porch” in John 10:23,23And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. (John 10:23) and also “the beautiful gate of the temple,” in Acts 3:1111And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering. (Acts 3:11). My readers are aware that the temple built by Solomon was destroyed, and remained unbuilt until the time of Ezra and Nehemiah at the partial return of the Jews from the captivity. Then this second temple was built in troublous times; and consequently, not with the lavish expenditure of wealth and art as the first. This caused the old men who had seen the former glory, to weep at its foundation; while the young men who had not before beheld a temple at all, rejoiced with great joy. Hence the discordant sounds — weeping and rejoicing. “So that the people could not discern the noise of shouts of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a great shout, and the noise was heard afar off.” Ezra 3:1313So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. (Ezra 3:13).
This temple remained in its unpretending condition until the time of Herod the Great immediately preceding the birth of our Lord, who wished above all things to please and conciliate the Jews over whom he ruled. He consequently undertook its thorough repair, extension, and beautifying, which occupied no less than forty-six years, and many thousand hands, in its completion. The outer walls formed a square of one thousand feet, with double or treble rows of aisles between ranks of marble pillars. Not that Herod was a devout worshipper of Jehovah. His was merely a political motive. What he was as a man was seen in his merciless destruction of the dear little ones of Bethlehem. However, for many years he employed immense numbers of men in his self-imposed labor, in the vain hope of winning popularity among his people. But it is not with the building, as a whole, that we have now to do; but of that portion of it which is called the “Beautiful Gate.” And well did it deserve its name. The Porch, in elegance, was proportionate to the rest of the building; the upper part of it being adorned with a variety of rich tapestry and delicate purple flowers, with pillars interwoven, and a golden vine creeping and entwining around them, the branches of it laden with clusters of grapes, pending from the cornices. Several of the gates, we are told, were plated all over with gold and silver, post, front, and all; but this porch and gate, far surpassed the rest in glory, being built with such art and sumptuousness as well became the principal entrance of the building where Jehovah was pleased to place His name.
But it may puzzle some of my readers, as to why it was called the Porch of Solomon. Well, let me tell them. Some are of opinion that this Porch, being one of those which Solomon built, had the fortune to escape destruction, or at least some part of it, when the Babylonians set fire to the temple; and that though Herod pulled it down and rebuilt it in a more magnificent way, it still retained its ancient name. It is certain, from Josephus, that the vast foundations of the east side of the court of the Gentiles, which Solomon built, was still subsisting in the time of the second temple; and as Herod, when he repaired that, made no alterations in this part of the work, the portico, which upon the old foundation was built round the court, might, in memory of so great a prince, and first founder of the temple, still be called by Solomon’s name. Hence it was commonly called “Solomon’s Porch,” with the addition of its more modern name, the “Beautiful Gate.” Upon its radiant beauty the shadow of our Lord often fell, as He passed into His Father’s House; and beneath its glorious architecture, the power of His name was still known long after He had taken His seat on high. But all its beauty has faded, and its glory vanished. No High Priest there ministers now. All is in heaven now, the tabernacle which God pitched, and not man. Christ is its minister.
“No temple made with hands,
His place of service is;
In heaven itself He stands
A heavenly priesthood His.
But God has a temple on earth, His Church. And more than this, the Apostle says, “Know ye not that your body is the temple, of the Holy Ghost which is in you.” All who are Christ’s are thus made living temples, made beautiful by the display of the fruits of the Spirit here, to be made eternally beautiful in the Father’s House above; yea, and be made like Him who is the glory of heaven itself, like Jesus, and bear the image of the Heavenly One. All will be beautiful there — not a beautiful entrance only, but beautiful in all its parts. But O remember!
“Those holy gates forever bar
Pollution, sin and shame,
None can obtain admission there,
But followers of the Lamb.”
A. M.