Caption transcript for Bearded Bible Brothers and the Third Temple of Doom!: “Finding Solomon,” Part 1 (6/8)

• 00:01 Joshua Colson: Previously on “Bearded Bible Brothers.”
• 00:03 Caleb Colson: The question is why are Christians so excited
• 00:07 about the red heifer? Well, they see it as an opportunity for Jesus to come
• 00:10 back soon and they get their ticket out of here.
• 00:13 Hirchie Schaffner: So knowing that, there’s a lot riding on a
• 00:14 red heifer coming in because this is what they need if
• 00:19 Messiah is going to be bringing this red heifer in.
• 00:21 Caleb: We are here in this amazing cave.
• 00:23 This place is so popular, Josephus himself referenced it
• 00:27 as the Royal Caverns.
• 00:28 Passages, there’s tunnels everywhere.
• 00:30 They believe that only 50% of this cave has been discovered.
• 00:34 ♪♪♪
• 00:44 ♪♪♪
• 00:54 ♪♪♪
• 01:02 ♪♪♪
• 01:04 Joshua: Help! Somebody!
• 01:07 Stop!
• 01:11 Joshua: Oh, boy, we’re gonna need another temple.
• 01:17 Joshua: In this series so far we have brought you more adventure,
• 01:20 more excitement, more MacGuffins–MacGuffins?
• 01:23 Caleb: Yeah, MacGuffins.
• 01:24 Joshua: MacGuffins than any “Indiana Jones” movie could ever
• 01:27 hope for.
• 01:28 We searched for temple treasures.
• 01:29 We’ve uncovered the original resting place of
• 01:31 Solomon’s temple.
• 01:32 We searched for the ark of the covenant.
• 01:33 We brought you unprecedented access to the red heifer.
• 01:35 We’ve unlocked the mysteries of doom behind the coming Third
• 01:38 Temple, but the game is not over yet.
• 01:40 It is time to reveal not only the evidence of the existence of
• 01:42 King Solomon, but the truth behind the master poser,
• 01:45 King Herod.
• 01:46 Yeah, trigger warning.
• 01:48 This is gonna trigger everyone.
• 01:50 Yeah, everyone.
• 01:53 Caleb: 1 Chronicles 22:7-10, David said to Solomon, “My son,
• 01:58 I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord
• 02:01 my God.
• 02:02 But this word of the Lord came to me: You are not to build a
• 02:05 house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the
• 02:07 earth in my sight.
• 02:09 But you will have a son.
• 02:10 His name will be Solomon.
• 02:13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name.”
• 02:17 Joshua: Well, well, well, if it isn’t the old Bearded Bible
• 02:20 Brothers here at the Western Wall again.
• 02:22 Christian, fantastic to see you; Hirchie, my man, welcome.
• 02:27 This place is incredible.
• 02:28 We’ve been here before, but coming here together as a group,
• 02:32 I don’t know there’s something powerful about that.
• 02:35 There’s a lot of history here, and I’m excited to go over all
• 02:38 this stuff today.
• 02:40 Hirchie: Yeah, and today we are gonna destroy
• 02:42 people’s worldviews.
• 02:45 You know, Dr. Christian here is going to give us an entire
• 02:48 paradigm shift on his view of the temple and what actually
• 02:52 took place, and man, I’m excited to get up in there and hear what
• 02:56 he’s seen, what he’s discovered, and what the Lord’s actually
• 02:58 revealed to him.
• 02:59 It’s going to be a lot of fun.
• 03:01 Dr. Christian Widener: Thanks, Hirchie, and one of the things
• 03:02 that really just profoundly struck me as I started studying
• 03:05 the archaeology of the Bible is that, you know, there was almost
• 03:09 nothing that was being pointed out about Solomon.
• 03:12 Like, where is Solomon?
• 03:13 The Bible talks about him being the greatest builder of Israel,
• 03:16 their history, and yet when I was studying and people were
• 03:19 saying, “Well, here’s who built this and here’s who built that,”
• 03:22 where’s Solomon?
• 03:24 “Well, we can’t find him.”
• 03:25 I’m like, Wait, you have stone from the Canaanites.
• 03:26 You have stone from, you know, the Babylonians.
• 03:29 You’ve got stone from, you know, Egyptians when they came and
• 03:32 did something.
• 03:33 You’ve got, you know, you can tell their destructive layers.
• 03:35 You can tell the Umayyads, the Byzantines, you know, you can
• 03:39 find everybody, but you can’t find Solomon.
• 03:41 Caleb: It’s like it’s on purpose.
• 03:43 Christian: That doesn’t make sense, right?
• 03:44 But when I look at these massive stones, I see the stones that
• 03:48 the Bible talks about that were, you know, these massive costly
• 03:51 stones that Solomon used to build his temple, right, and a
• 03:55 great courtyard, and I think, you know, hm, there must be
• 03:58 something wrong.
• 04:00 So as I studied that, it just wouldn’t let go, right?
• 04:02 These stones kept calling me and saying, “Something’s
• 04:05 wrong,” right?
• 04:06 The Bible’s telling us that, you know, these stones in front of
• 04:10 us are something we should be paying attention to, and yet
• 04:12 it’s man that’s going, “No, no, no, no, that’s, you know, pay no
• 04:15 attention to the man behind the green curtain.
• 04:17 It’s not what you think it is.”
• 04:18 And I’m like, yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s what I think it is.
• 04:21 So we’re gonna go and really go up there and take a look at some
• 04:24 of these things, right, and really show you from his time
• 04:27 and the things that we need to look at.
• 04:29 Hirchie: So you’re saying that the rocks are crying out.
• 04:32 Is that what you’re saying?
• 04:33 Caleb: That sounds almost biblical, sir.
• 04:35 Hirchie: Every once in a while.
• 04:36 Caleb: Yay, I like it.
• 04:37 Let’s go check it out.
• 04:41 Caleb: This could be the greatest case of mistaken
• 04:43 identity in all history.
• 04:45 Forget the argument between whether Shakespeare really wrote
• 04:47 his own garbage stories or not.
• 04:49 King Herod, this wicked half-breed Edomite, has been
• 04:52 given credit by modern archaeologists for constructing
• 04:55 the current Temple Mount complex you see today, as well as the
• 04:58 tomb of the Patriarch’s monument, even Mamre.
• 05:01 Why is it that historians can’t comprehend that it was Solomon,
• 05:05 the wisest man ever to grace planet Earth, who constructed
• 05:08 the most advanced temple complex on planet Earth?
• 05:11 Before you all cry blasphemy, let Dr. Christian Widener
• 05:15 present his case.
• 05:16 Then we can decide after reviewing the evidence, because
• 05:19 it’s not like we can carbon date stones.
• 05:21 Seriously, we can’t carbon date stones.
• 05:24 Joshua: Carbon dating was invented for stones.
• 05:28 Caleb: 1 Kings 5:15-17: Solomon had seventy thousand carriers
• 05:33 and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, as well as
• 05:36 thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and
• 05:40 directed the workers.
• 05:41 At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large
• 05:44 blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed
• 05:48 stone for the temple.”
• 05:51 Joshua: I cannot believe that Caleb tricked me again into
• 05:55 going into a death tunnel.
• 05:56 Yeah, you know what a death tunnel is?
• 05:58 It’s the one that has the passage that’s like 5 foot tall
• 06:00 and like 2 feet wide, of which I am neither.
• 06:02 There’s gotta be an easier way to get to the foundation of
• 06:04 Mount Moriah.
• 06:06 We are literally going to the base of the Western Wall.
• 06:08 The part of the wall that’s visible from the Kotel we were
• 06:10 just at is 62 feet high.
• 06:12 Well, that’s the visible part.
• 06:13 It’s actually 105 feet tall, which means we’re going 43 feet
• 06:17 underground into a tiny ferret hole.
• 06:21 I hate ferrets.
• 06:25 Caleb: All right, this is incredible.
• 06:26 We are beneath the earth.
• 06:28 Here’s the Western Wall.
• 06:30 You know, Doctor, I heard from Josephus, since we’re good
• 06:34 friends, that Herod the Great expanded these walls, or at
• 06:37 least that’s what people credit him with saying.
• 06:39 What say you about the interesting situation of Herod
• 06:43 being credited for this building project?
• 06:45 Christian: Right, I think it’s a case of really misreading
• 06:47 Josephus, and Josephus is writing, you know, in an era
• 06:52 that understands mostly what’s going on and what the time is,
• 06:56 and he’s not really trying to be careful to be not misunderstood,
• 06:59 perhaps, but he clearly talks about all the stuff that Herod
• 07:02 built on the top of the Temple Mount, and then he switches over
• 07:06 to talking about this great courtyard that, you know, that
• 07:10 Solomon built and so yes, people read that Herod was the one who
• 07:13 was building all this stuff because he’s described, you
• 07:16 know, as building the buildings on the top surface, but then he
• 07:18 clearly transitions to King Solomon and he’s now talking
• 07:22 about King Solomon building this outer courtyard with these giant
• 07:26 stones and fastening them together with iron and placing
• 07:31 them in a sealed position that would be for all time immovable
• 07:34 as we mentioned before.
• 07:35 And so when you see that he’s, yes, he started talking about
• 07:39 Herod, but he’s now talking about what Herod was building on
• 07:42 and that that was by King Solomon, then I think that
• 07:45 totally changes the testimony and you see that Josephus is
• 07:49 actually affirming Solomon as the builder of the Temple Mount
• 07:52 rather than Herod.
• 07:53 Caleb: That’s right.
• 07:55 Caleb: 1 Kings 6:37-38: “The foundation of the temple of the
• 08:00 Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.
• 08:03 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month,
• 08:07 the temple was finished in all its details according to
• 08:10 its specifications.
• 08:11 He had spent seven years building it.”
• 08:15 Christian: Right, and so the other thing about these stones
• 08:17 is here we are underground and you can see really how much
• 08:19 stonework that Herod would have had to have done if this was
• 08:23 his work.
• 08:25 And you know, the neat thing about Josephus is it tells us
• 08:28 how much labor he had.
• 08:29 He had 10,000 men working for 8 years.
• 08:32 It increased to 19,000 by the end of that.
• 08:34 So it’s like 150,000 man years of labor, and that’s a lot.
• 08:38 But is it enough to do the stonework that we see here and
• 08:42 I’m thinking, no, not, not nearly enough.
• 08:45 But when you’re looking at just the top layers, you can kind of
• 08:48 see, oh, well, maybe it’s not that much stonework, but the
• 08:50 more they’ve excavated and the more stonework they’ve
• 08:53 uncovered, the more ludicrous that that idea becomes.
• 08:57 Joshua: Meaning Solomon would be the only one who had a large
• 08:59 enough workforce.
• 09:00 Christian: He’s the only one who had enough manpower to do that.
• 09:02 And we see that in 1 Kings when it talks about his people.
• 09:06 Caleb: Hear that, King Herod?
• 09:08 You just got exposed by math.
• 09:11 Just wait, we got more math.
• 09:12 I promise you it’ll be fun.
• 09:17 Caleb: 1 Kings 7: “It took Solomon thirteen years, however,
• 09:21 to complete the construction of his palace.
• 09:24 He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice.
• 09:26 All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard
• 09:29 and from the foundation to the eaves, were made of blocks of
• 09:32 high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and
• 09:36 outer faces.
• 09:37 The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality,
• 09:41 some measuring ten cubits and some eight.
• 09:44 Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams.”
• 09:49 Christian: All right, so Josh, when we look at the stone and
• 09:51 we’re looking at thinking about how much manpower would it have
• 09:54 taken to do this, well, the Bible tells us that Solomon had
• 09:57 70,000 stone haulers, 80,000 stonecutters, 150,000 men
• 10:02 working for 20 years to build the temple, its great courtyard,
• 10:07 right, and its palaces.
• 10:10 And so when you look at this much stonework, you go, “How
• 10:12 much stone–how much labor is that?”
• 10:14 So Herod had about 150,000 man years of labor doing his work.
• 10:19 Solomon had 3 million man years of labor, 3 million man years.
• 10:26 It’s, you know–
• 10:28 Joshua: Herod didn’t have a drop in the bucket compared to what
• 10:29 Solomon had access to.
• 10:31 Christian: Yeah, 5% of the work that–so that the work that
• 10:33 Solomon, the Bible tells us Solomon did, it would have taken
• 10:36 Herod almost two centuries to do the same amount of work.
• 10:39 Joshua: So when you look at the logic behind why it doesn’t even
• 10:42 make sense, the only acceptable reason that somebody could want
• 10:45 Herod to have built it instead of Solomon is–
• 10:49 Joshua: I’ll tell you why they want Herod to be the “master”
• 10:51 builder, because he wasn’t from the Davidic line.
• 10:55 Historians are still trying to declare that David and thus his
• 10:57 son Solomon were fairy tales, and if there’s no Davidic line,
• 11:02 well, there’s no Jewish claim to the land.
• 11:04 But more importantly, there’s no Messianic claim to the land.
• 11:08 Mm-hm, we see what you’re trying to do here.
• 11:11 Not today, Satan.
• 11:13 Not today.
• 11:16 Christian: Really, it’s hard to see this level of sophistication
• 11:20 in the 10th century, because really they kind of think that,
• 11:24 you know, at least in the times of the late 1800s, it was more
• 11:29 thought that must have been like the Greeks, you know, it could
• 11:31 have been the Romans, it couldn’t have been Jewish level
• 11:34 of sophistication, you know, probably at that time, you know?
• 11:38 Who knows, right?
• 11:39 But what they looked–what they missed was that Herod didn’t
• 11:42 build anywhere else with this kind of quality.
• 11:46 But there is somebody that the Bible tells us did built with
• 11:50 this kind of stone and it was Solomon.
• 11:52 Joshua: And I think what’s so incredible about that is what
• 11:54 they don’t take into account as to that time period having the
• 11:57 sophistication or quality levels that they’re not talking about
• 12:01 the smartest man who ever lived.
• 12:03 God gave this man the most wisdom.
• 12:04 He’s the richest man that ever lived.
• 12:06 It 100% makes sense that he did this.
• 12:09 And of course, he was doing this to last for all time, like you
• 12:12 said that Josephus said because he was building it for God.
• 12:15 Christian: He’s building it for God.
• 12:17 Yeah, so this was made, yeah, with the wisdom of Solomon.
• 12:20 We still marvel at the work that’s here.
• 12:22 This should be one of the wonders of the world.
• 12:25 Joshua: I don’t even, I mean, I wouldn’t even know how today.
• 12:28 I’m not a civil engineer, but I’m a big man, and this rock, it
• 12:32 doesn’t move.
• 12:33 I need 3 million men to push this rock, and I still don’t
• 12:35 believe it’s gonna move.
• 12:37 This place is incredible.
• 12:38 The engineering, everything, it’s awe-inspiring.
• 12:41 Christian: Every time I see it, it just, yeah.
• 12:43 Joshua: Let’s go. Christian: All right.
• 12:44 Joshua: Tell me more.
• 12:47 ♪♪♪
• 12:53 Caleb: That was claustrophobic, but now we are out.
• 12:56 We made it out of that passage, and we are at the southwest
• 12:59 corner of the Temple Mount.
• 13:01 This is where the fallen stones were knocked down from
• 13:03 the Romans.
• 13:05 You have Robinson’s Arch back here.
• 13:06 Christian, this is amazing.
• 13:08 Many archaeological gems.
• 13:10 Christian: It really is.
• 13:12 And this is probably the best place to see the magnificence of
• 13:14 what was lost in 70 AD when the temple was destroyed because not
• 13:19 only can you see these giant cornerstones here that are just,
• 13:24 you know, mind-boggling when you think about how large they are,
• 13:27 how much they weigh, hundreds of tons, and you know, then you
• 13:31 think about this archway, Robinson’s Arch, coming from
• 13:34 over here all the way down to these, really, the remnants
• 13:38 of steps.
• 13:39 You can see even behind me where the pavement broke because they
• 13:43 fell down.
• 13:44 It’s just remarkable.
• 13:46 Caleb: That’s cool.
• 13:47 Christian: And so another thing that it shows you is just again
• 13:51 how large this thing really is.
• 13:54 And again, we weren’t, we were down below ground.
• 13:56 You see this goes all the way down to bedrock.
• 13:58 It’s even deeper as you proceed north over here, so it really
• 14:02 is something.
• 14:05 Caleb: Now it’s time to demystify another legendary
• 14:08 building project, the infamous Robinson’s Arch.
• 14:11 This was a monumental staircase at the southwestern corner of
• 14:15 the Temple Mount.
• 14:16 It led from the lower market area over the Tyropian Street by
• 14:20 way of a massive 16-foot wide arch to the Royal Stoa complex
• 14:25 on top of the Temple Mount.
• 14:27 Of course, the Romans destroyed it during the first Jewish-Roman
• 14:30 War, but based upon the construction technique, this
• 14:34 arch must have been built at the same time as the retaining wall
• 14:37 for the Temple Mount.
• 14:39 So whoever built the retaining wall is credited for building
• 14:42 the arch as well.
• 14:44 Christian: All right, so there’s the arch again, and really one
• 14:47 of the reasons why early archaeologists didn’t think that
• 14:51 this maybe could be Solomon is because the arch goes from here
• 14:54 all the way over to these steps, and that just seemed, you know,
• 14:58 too great and too large of a construction project for, you
• 15:02 know, Solomon’s day.
• 15:04 Like they just thought, no, that couldn’t–you couldn’t have
• 15:06 had archways that magnificent in the 10th century, and now we
• 15:10 know that’s not true, but somehow the argument for that
• 15:14 day still stands, and people have kind of gone, “Oh, well,
• 15:17 then it must not have been Solomon because it
• 15:19 wasn’t possible.”
• 15:20 But clearly he was really, again, the only one who had the
• 15:22 labor and the manpower to do a project like that.
• 15:25 Joshua: That’s crazy.
• 15:26 Caleb: Woo, you too, too.
• 15:32 Caleb: One of the benefits of filming in Israel, this
• 15:35 television program, is being in Israel.
• 15:38 You know, you see what we do on camera when we teach, but behind
• 15:41 the scenes, we get the opportunity every day, whether
• 15:44 at lunch or dinner, in between takes, to talk with Israelis.
• 15:48 Now, on this particular day, we were filming near the Dung Gate.
• 15:53 Josh and I were on camera.
• 15:55 And I’m looking beyond the camera and I see Hirchie, you
• 15:58 know, Rabbi Hirchie, off in the distance.
• 16:01 He’s surrounded by 50 IDF soldiers.
• 16:04 And so I’m excited.
• 16:06 I’m like, oh, I got to get going, got to get going, you
• 16:07 know, waiting for us to yell cut, and I see that Hirchie
• 16:11 starts praying with everybody.
• 16:12 He’s shaking everybody’s hand.
• 16:14 He’s surrounded by these soldiers, and the scene’s
• 16:18 finally over, and I get to rush over there.
• 16:20 I’m running over to meet him.
• 16:21 And these IDF soldiers, these kids, turn around, they see this
• 16:24 giant, you know, hairy Sasquatch coming toward them, and they’re
• 16:28 like, “Oh, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
• 16:31 Like, “No, no, no, no, no, but I do know Jesus.”
• 16:35 And afterwards, the commander came to us, he says, “We’re just
• 16:38 about to go back into Gaza.
• 16:40 And we came here to the Kotel, to the Western Wall, so we could
• 16:44 pray before we went to the thick of it.”
• 16:47 And it was just so touching, so amazing.
• 16:50 And the next day we saw on the news one IDF soldier was killed
• 16:54 when Hamas, they had a surprise attack against a group of IDF
• 16:57 troops in Gaza.
• 16:59 I don’t know if these were the same soldiers that we spoke
• 17:02 with, that we prayed with, but you never know who you’re going
• 17:05 to reach.
• 17:07 You never know how many lives you can touch, and that’s why we
• 17:10 do our best to listen to the Holy Spirit and not miss a
• 17:13 single opportunity when we’re in Israel.
• 17:18 Joshua: The Bearded Bible Brothers is an outreach of Zola
• 17:21 Levitt Ministries.
• 17:22 Visit levitt.com to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, the
• 17:25 “Levitt Letter,” or call 1-800-WONDERS.
• 17:27 Check out our resources we have available on our online store or
• 17:30 learn more about our tours to Israel, Greece, and Petra.
• 17:33 You can also visit beardedbiblebros.com to
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• 17:45 We thank you for your faithful support.
• 17:49 Caleb: This is fantastic.
• 17:50 I’m so excited and I’m so proud that I finally booked a trip to
• 17:54 Israel to walk where Jesus walked.
• 17:56 Joshua: It’s about time.
• 17:57 I told you, brother, it’s about time.
• 17:59 Oh wow, look at that, the figs taste like figs, the olives
• 18:05 taste, well, like olives.
• 18:07 Oh, it’s incredible.
• 18:09 male: No, look out!
• 18:10 Caleb: Oh, man.
• 18:12 Joshua: Mike, I told you to double zip tie.
• 18:15 Hey everybody, I’m Joshua.
• 18:16 Caleb: And I’m Caleb.
• 18:18 Joshua: And we’re the Bearded Bible Brothers.
• 18:19 Clearly we’re not in Israel now, but that’s okay because we do
• 18:22 film in Israel all the time.
• 18:23 And guess what?
• 18:25 We want to bring you along as well.
• 18:27 Caleb: That’s right.
• 18:28 I remember my first visit to Israel.
• 18:30 The terrain looks completely different than it does
• 18:32 on camera.
• 18:33 The depth, the height, the smells, Josh, even the
• 18:36 spiritual climate.
• 18:37 When you go to Jerusalem, you can visit the ruins of the
• 18:40 places where Yeshua and the apostles taught and learned
• 18:43 about the kingdom of heaven, you can sail the same Sea of Galilee
• 18:47 where Yeshua calmed the waves.
• 18:49 You can even visit the Valley of Armageddon at Megiddo to see
• 18:53 where the final battle of the ages is going to be fought.
• 18:56 Joshua: So turn off that Zoom background, click on the link
• 18:58 below and book your trip today.
• 19:00 Not just to Israel.
• 19:02 You can also add Petra in Jordan or go to Greece, where Paul went
• 19:05 all around and we go to those places as well.
• 19:07 Schedule your tour today.
• 19:12 Caleb: John 10:22-23, “Then came the Festival of Dedication
• 19:17 at Jerusalem.
• 19:18 It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in
• 19:22 Solomon’s Colonnade.”
• 19:25 Caleb: This is magnificent, gentlemen.
• 19:28 Look at all this space here.
• 19:30 It doesn’t look that big on camera sometimes or when you’re
• 19:32 walking by it on the street, but here is the entrance to the
• 19:37 temple complex, the former entrance, Southern Steps.
• 19:40 People would go up here to enter onto the Temple Mount, and on
• 19:44 this side is the Ophel, the administrative center for Judea.
• 19:49 They had found so many amazing finds there, going back to
• 19:53 Solomon and even to the time of King Hezekiah and Isaiah.
• 19:56 They found their bowl of clay seals with their inscription,
• 19:59 their names on them.
• 20:01 I mean, imagine that, verifying the prophet of the Bible and the
• 20:03 King of the Bible by finding all this amazing evidence around us.
• 20:07 This archaeology proves the Bible.
• 20:10 Christian: It sure does, yeah, and Dr. Eilat Mazar has dug a
• 20:14 lot of this front area out and found all kinds of things, yes,
• 20:18 going back exactly to his time.
• 20:19 And yet archaeologists still miss, like, the most obvious
• 20:23 thing for Solomon, which is, you know, not only these entrances
• 20:27 in the South, but again, these–the Solomon’s Stables
• 20:30 that connect through here.
• 20:32 You can see these windows back here that cut across, but you
• 20:34 can come in through this southern gate and you can
• 20:37 actually work through these halls and the porch of Solomon,
• 20:40 and we know that Solomon’s Portico, Solomon’s Porch, still
• 20:43 existed even in the first century because it’s mentioned
• 20:45 in the Bible, right?
• 20:47 That’s where Jesus went, to Solomon’s Portico.
• 20:50 John and Peter went in Acts 3 to Solomon’s Portico.
• 20:53 So, like if it was still there in the 1st century, right, then
• 20:57 it survived the destruction of Babylon.
• 21:01 And then it’s in the south, it’s underneath the ground.
• 21:04 It’s still called Solomon’s Stables.
• 21:06 The southern gates are still there.
• 21:08 They’re part of all that.
• 21:09 I mean, it’s just amazing that we go.
• 21:11 The best evidence for Solomon is in this Temple Mount.
• 21:14 Caleb: I think that’s an amazing point that most people don’t
• 21:17 think about.
• 21:18 It does say that Yeshua was walking in Solomon’s portico, so
• 21:22 that means that this structure would have had to have
• 21:24 been here.
• 21:25 This couldn’t have been Herod’s structure, Herod’s wall.
• 21:28 If they found Solomon’s portico, these passages that are hidden
• 21:31 behind there that only Muslims can get to, still evidence lying
• 21:35 right now.
• 21:38 Joshua: All right, let’s go in the tunnels.
• 21:39 You convinced me.
• 21:40 Caleb: I think they’re praying right now and maybe–
• 21:43 Hirchie: Funny when you mentioned this to go, it’s–
• 21:44 they just kind of show up immediately.
• 21:47 Caleb: Of course it’s prayer time.
• 21:49 Muslims have to remind you five times a day that they’re
• 21:51 occupying the Jewish Temple Mount.
• 21:53 In fact, they know better than the archaeologists that
• 21:55 Solomon’s Colonnade lies within the infamous Al-Aqsa Mosque.
• 21:59 Although the mosque was built atop the ancient site and uses
• 22:02 many of the ruins of Solomon’s portico, there are still
• 22:05 numerous tunnels that use the same stones from Solomon’s time.
• 22:09 Now, if you follow these passages, you eventually reach
• 22:12 the Al Marwani Mosque at the southeast corner of the
• 22:15 Temple Mount.
• 22:16 This area is also accessible from the top of the Temple Mount
• 22:19 through large green doors that lead underground, but it is
• 22:23 believed that this rebuilt area is the site of Solomon’s Palace,
• 22:26 known as the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
• 22:29 Unfortunately, archaeologists aren’t allowed to explore these
• 22:32 areas, and Muslims have spent decades trying to remove all
• 22:35 evidence of the Jewish presence on Mount Moriah.
• 22:38 ♪♪♪
• 22:47 ♪♪♪
• 22:49 Caleb: Well guys, there is a lot of scholarly debate about this
• 22:53 particular eastern gate here, because a lot of people say this
• 22:56 is not the same Eastern Gate of Yeshua’s time, the Second Temple
• 23:00 period, let alone the First Temple period.
• 23:03 You know, people claim to have dug a little bit under here, and
• 23:05 they say they found, you know, another set of arches that the
• 23:08 real Eastern Gate is below there, and some even claim that
• 23:11 they found further down south directly across would be the
• 23:15 entrance from the Dome of the Rock, the real gate that’s
• 23:18 hidden beneath the earth.
• 23:19 What do you say, Christian?
• 23:21 I know you have a very interesting theory about this.
• 23:23 Christian: Yeah, well, the first thing that you look at
• 23:24 this gate.
• 23:26 And it’s shut just like the prophecy says in Ezekiel 44.
• 23:29 You know, I looked at the gate that faces east, and here it’s
• 23:32 shut, and this has been shut for 500 years, you know, but–and
• 23:35 then in historic accounts before that it was shut really as far
• 23:39 as pilgrims visiting Jerusalem that we know about.
• 23:42 And really because we’re on such a steep hillside, there’s really
• 23:45 no good reason to use this gate unless it’s associated with the
• 23:49 temple, because right over there is the Lions’s Gate, which the
• 23:52 road, you know, coming from Jericho and over in Bethany,
• 23:55 that’s where it lines up to.
• 23:58 And so you’re going to go the road way to enter the city.
• 24:01 You’re not going to come over to this gate.
• 24:03 There’s just not a reason for it.
• 24:05 But that’s actually the most important thing that tells us
• 24:07 that this gate has been there for all this time is because
• 24:10 every time pilgrims came to this city, they talk about this gate
• 24:13 even back in 570 AD, the Piacenza Pilgrim mentions this
• 24:18 gate right next to the entrance from the east side, and it’s a
• 24:22 gate of the temple, you know, and talks about its entablature
• 24:25 is still there.
• 24:26 Well, we’re looking at it right here.
• 24:28 I mean, that’s the amazing thing, but also, you know, even
• 24:31 back to the time of Josephus, he mentions that the East Gate
• 24:35 wasn’t destroyed.
• 24:37 The East Gate and the South Gate were not destroyed in the
• 24:39 destruction of the temple.
• 24:40 So you’ve got that testimony.
• 24:42 And then in Nehemiah, if people have read that account of the
• 24:45 repairing of these walls and all the gates, it goes around the
• 24:48 wall and makes a full circuit, and it describes each gate and
• 24:52 who repaired it and which section of the wall, who, you
• 24:54 know, the people repaired.
• 24:56 Well, as it comes around to this side, it talks about the keeper
• 24:59 of the East Gate.
• 25:00 And it talks about the portion of the wall that he repaired.
• 25:03 Nothing about repairing the East Gate.
• 25:05 Caleb: Oh, snap.
• 25:06 Christian: And so you go, “Well, why didn’t it say anything?”
• 25:09 Because the East Gate wasn’t destroyed in the destruction of
• 25:11 Babylon the first time.
• 25:13 It wasn’t destroyed the second time in 70 AD, and it’s
• 25:18 still here.
• 25:19 And again, like we said, it’s been walled up to try to stop
• 25:21 the Messiah from coming in, you know, these graves placed in
• 25:25 front of it, but they’re not going to stop him.
• 25:28 And even the arches that–the archway that was seen below this
• 25:32 gate when someone fell into the tomb of James Fleming, I think
• 25:36 that was just the archway of the support structure that would
• 25:39 have made, you know, a walkway up to this gate.
• 25:42 But if you really tried to enter into a gate down below here,
• 25:46 you’d be into the bedrock.
• 25:47 Caleb: Okay, so that’s where the mountain goes.
• 25:49 Christian: Yes, so this really is the entrance.
• 25:52 Hirchie: Makes sense to me.
• 25:54 Caleb: So, this being the same gate from Solomon, from Yeshua,
• 25:58 the presence of God going out, that’s pretty significant that
• 26:02 it has to be the same from the beginning to the end.
• 26:04 It’s pretty cool.
• 26:06 Christian: So with the prophetic testimony, historic testimony,
• 26:09 archaeological testimony, I think it’s–
• 26:12 Hirchie: Safe bet.
• 26:17 Joshua: Now I know everyone is gonna hate me for this.
• 26:19 When has everyone not hated me for something on this show?
• 26:22 But it is time for one of those massive cliffhangers, like in
• 26:24 the movie “Cliffhanger.”
• 26:27 Yeah, that one.
• 26:28 Dr. Christian Widener is not done leading us throughout
• 26:30 Israel on his expedition to uncover the truth to find
• 26:32 evidence of Solomon’s master building sites.
• 26:35 But for those of you who can’t wait an entire week to see the
• 26:37 exciting conclusion, check out this preview of “Finding
• 26:40 Solomon, Part Dos.”
• 26:46 Joshua: Next week on the “Bearded Bible Brothers.”
• 26:48 Caleb: That’s a huge perimeter I see around here.
• 26:51 It’s like a fortress almost.
• 26:53 Christian: This is the birthplace of Israel right here.
• 26:56 Joshua: And because of who’s buried in that cave that you’re
• 26:58 talking about, it’s such a holy place for the Jews here.
• 27:02 Christian: And I would call the Temple Mount still one of the,
• 27:04 you know, the eighth wonder of the world, and this is another
• 27:06 one of the projects for Solomon’s 150,000 men and the
• 27:10 building projects that he made around Jerusalem.
• 27:12 Caleb: So we’re in Herod’s royal residence in the Western palace,
• 27:15 and this is true Herodian stonework.
• 27:18 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 27:25 Caleb: Nothing can stop the prophetic coming of the Third
• 27:28 Temple, but you can learn more about the intricacies
• 27:30 surrounding its biblical fate with our resources in the Third
• 27:34 Temple Package.
• 27:35 Included are Zola Levitt’s past teachings from his book, “Satan
• 27:38 in the Sanctuary,” the audio CD companion, “Tribulation Temple,”
• 27:42 and the DVD series, “The Temple.”
• 27:44 Use these tools as your guide to witness to the Jewish people
• 27:47 before it’s too late.
• 27:48 For your donation of $60 or more, you can receive all
• 27:51 three resources.
• 27:53 Or purchase them each individually.
• 27:55 Call now or visit levitt.com for the Third Temple Package.
• 28:00 Caleb: Did you know the “Bearded Bible Brothers” is an outreach
• 28:02 of Zola Levitt Ministries?
• 28:03 That means we are entirely donor funded.
• 28:06 Consider giving at Levitt.com.
• 28:07 You can also join the Bearded Bible Bonanza to access
• 28:10 additional content at Patreon.com/BeardedBibleBonanza.
• 28:15 Please support our mission to spread the gospel of Yeshua by
• 28:17 subscribing to our social media and sharing our online messages.
• 28:21 Join the Bearded Brothers in person on a study tour of
• 28:23 Israel, Greece, and Petra and see the Bible come alive.
• 28:27 And as always, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.