Ark of the Covenant

There are people today who believe they will find the ark of the covenant somewhere on this earth. Members of the Temple Mount claim to know where it is.   If these people were to read Scriptures and believe in God they would learn the Ark of the Covenant was seen in God's Temple in the heavenlies.  Therefore, it is not on this earth.

Hebrews 9:1-4 describes the physical House of God - 

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

Revelation 11:19 refers to the spiritual House of God - 

Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.

When was the last time it was written of?

1 Chronicles 15:28

.... all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres.

King David prepared a place for the ark in Jerusalem as the House of God had not been built yet. When Solomon became king, he had his palace and the temple built. When it was finished:

1 Kings 8

Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of God to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles. 9-There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where Yahweh had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

The jar of manna and Aaron's staff were no longer present inside the ark. This temple was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II of the Babylonian Empire in 587 BC. What I have learned so far is that no remains of the destroyed temple have ever been found.

2 Kings 24:10 -

At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon.

So, in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive. As Yahweh had declared, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off all the treasures from the house of God and the royal palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple .... He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.

Somewhere from the time there is no longer any mention of the ark in Scriptures to this verse in Revelation Yahweh must have removed the ark of the covenant from this earth. A lot of gold treasures are mentioned as being taken to Babylon (Iraq) but there is no specific mention of the ark. No matter who took it or tried to hide it, the Ark of Covenant was seen in His heavenly temple.

Form or Function?

Physical or Spiritual?

Why do the modern day Jews and supporters of the state of Israel think they need to build another temple in Jerusalem? They certainly have overlooked First Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you are the temple of Elohim and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you?" 

The Temple Institute's ultimate goal is to "see Israel rebuild the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem". They have already chosen the priests and have bred red heifers, and have made many of the utensils required for temple service.  If they succeed, don't they realize Satan will stand in it and call himself 'god'? These people believe they are commanded to build this temple according to the vision given to Ezekiel. How can you choose to act on one vision then ignore prophecy?

That may be the key... they are fulfilling prophecy. 

In the second chapter of Revelation we read about Jews who call themselves Jews but are not, they lie, they are of the synagogue of Satan, thus doing the work of Satan, preparing the stage for the final seven years of life as we know it.

The act of building this 'third temple' isn't so much according to the vision Ezekiel had (which the Institute claims is their command to build), but is very much in line with the end times events, especially the final seven years.

Y'shua is aware of this future temple. He tells us in Matthew 24 that the "sign of uncleanness" (abomination) and desolation will eventually stand in the Set Apart place (commonly known as the holy of holies). He also refers us to Daniel 9:27: 

During one week he will make a firm covenant with many. For half a week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and meal offering. At the corner of the altar will be an appalling abomination until the decreed destruction will be poured down upon the appalling thing. Also in Daniel 11:31- Forces will be levied by him, they will desecrate the temple, the fortress, they will abolish the regular offering and set up the appalling abomination. And noted in Daniel 12:11: From the time the regular offering is abolished and an appalling abomination is set up will be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

The sacrifices mentioned are the regular offering and the meal offering.  The regular offering is made along with the meal offering which includes drink. Exodus 29:38 and Numbers 28:3 tell us what these offerings consist of: 2 yearling lambs as burnt offerings, one to be offered in the morning and one at twilight; choice flour mixed with pure olive oil as the meal offering and the drink offering of wine. This should put to rest the argument that Y'shua was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices; his blood was shed as Atonement for Sins, not as a regular every day sacrifice.

Hebrews 10 (lightly paraphrased- Dusty) 

We choose to accept Y'shua as our High Priest who offered a one time sacrifice for sins, who sits forever at the right hand of Elohim where he waits until his foes are placed as a footstool under his feet. For, by one offering (himself), he has perfected forever them who are sanctified (set apart) by him. And the Ruach haKodesh also testifies to us by saying: This is the covenant which I will give them after those days, says Master YHWH: I will put my Torah into their minds and inscribe it on their hearts and their iniquity and their sins I will not remember against them. Now, where there is a forgiveness of sins there is no offering for sin demanded. We have therefore my Brothers assurance of entering into the sanctuary by the blood of Y'shua and by a path of life.

Getting back to that abomination, Y'shua tells us, as it is written in Mark 13:14 - So when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

and Matthew 24:15 - So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand)

Daniel describes this 'abomination' as one who will make a firm covenant with many, who will eventually put a stop to the sacrifice and meal offering. At the corner of the altar will be an appalling abomination until the decreed destruction will be poured down upon the appalling thing.

This can read as the final world leader who brings peace to the world, gets many to sign an agreement and allows Jews to reinstate their tradition as a gesture of good will. He shall (after 3-1/2 years) bring an end to these rituals, having an image of himself placed in the temple and entering the 'holy of holies' claiming that he is 'god'.  All this being said, it becomes obvious that a temple will exist in the end times scenario, but is not the temple of Ezekiel's vision.

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Ezekiel was shown extraordinary visions.  He was called  by Yahweh to be a watchman for His people, the House of Israel. Could it be he was shown a representation of another reality - the 'what could be' if those who claim to be Yah's People would actually repent and return to Him - accept the covenant and terms of that covenant by actually obeying those Instructions. They had that very opportunity when the exile ended and they were free to return to Jerusalem.

The first House of Elohim was the Tabernacle. Yahweh moved from the mountain to the tent, to be in the midst of His people. Later, Yah approved His House to be built by Solomon. Yahweh moved from the tent into a permanent location, the last place where He attached His Name. Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the siege of Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon in 586 BC. Some seventy years later the exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, again by the will of Yahweh who used King Cyrus to make it so. Although modest in comparison to the First Temple, the Second Temple was later enlarged and expanded by Herod the Great. This latter temple was the one which existed during the time of Y'shua.

I came across this while reviewing my other studies which gave me one of those 'ah-ha!' moments. The writings of Paul recorded in Ephesians seem to shed some light and possibly confirm this vision Ezekiel was shown as being something so glorious and wonderful - something mere man cannot grasp or imagine in size or magnitude. Let us remember Ezekiel's other visions were also very detailed and powerful although difficult to imagine. It is possible that Ezekiel was being 'shown' the results of Man's Hope in The Good News of the Kingdom to Come and the awesome power and Love of the Father when He restores all things.

Ephesians 1:6 - That the glory of His grace might be glorified which He poured upon us through His Beloved One; by whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins by his blood, according to the riches of his grace which abounds in us, in all wisdom and all spiritual understanding. 12- That we should be the first who hoped in the Mashiyach, to the honor of his glory - in whom you have also heard the Word of Truth which is the Good News of your life 18- And that the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Set Apart believers; and which is the excellence of the majesty of his power in us who believe; according to the efficiency of the strength of his power which He put forth in His Son and raised him from the dead and seated him at His right hand in heaven.  Ephesians 2:7- That He might show to the coming ages the magnitude of the riches of His grace and His goodness towards us in Y'shua the Mashiyach. 18- Because by him there is access for us both, by one Spirit, to the Father. Wherefore you are not strangers nor sojourners but are fellow-citizens with the Set Apart believers and of the household of Elohim. And you are built upon the foundations of the Apostles and the prophets; and Y'shua the Mashiyach has become the head of the corner in the edifice. and in him all the edifice is framed together and grows into a Set Apart temple in Master Yahweh; while you also are built in him for a habitation of Elohim through the Spirit.  Ephesians 3- To me, Paul, who am the least of all the Set Apart believers, has this grace been given that I should announce among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of the Mashiyach, and should show to all men what is the architecture of the mystery which for ages was hid in Elohim the Creator of all things, so that by means of the assembly (of Set Apart believers) the manifold wisdom of Elohim might become known - which He arranged ages before and worked it through Y'shua our Master. Therefore I pray - and I bow my knees to the Father of our Master Y'shua from whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit; that in your inner man the Mashiyach may dwell by faith, an in your hearts by love while your root and foundation increases  greatly in strength; and that you may be able to explore, with all the Set Apart believers, what is the height and depth and length and breadth, and may know the greatness of the Mashiyach's love and that you may be filled with all the fullness of Elohim.

That we may be able to explore with our fellow believers, learning together as one from our study of Scriptures, the greatness of His Love, that we shall know the expanse: the height and depth and length and breadth of that Kingdom to Come and the mystery of the New Heavens, New Earth and the New Jerusalem. We can only be part of it if we become set apart from this world's system and false religions.

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In Revelation 21 we read about the restoration of all things: new heaven, new earth and new Jerusalem = the bride of Y'shua.  There was no temple to be seen in it for Master YHWH Amighty is its temple, and the Lamb.

I saw new heavens and a new earth for the former heaven and earth had passed away; the sea was no more. And I saw the Set Apart city, the New Jerusalem, descending from Elohim out of heaven, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from heaven, which said: Behold, the tabernacle of Elohim is with me; and He dwells with them; they will be His people; and Elohim will be with them - their Elohim. And every tear will be wiped for their eyes; and there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor wailing or pain because the former things are passed away.

He who sat on the throne said: Behold, I make all things new. I am Alef and Tav, the Beginning and the Completion: to him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of living water, freely. He that overcomes will inherit these things; and I will be his Elohim. But to the timid and unbelieving, and to the sinful and polluted, and to manslayers and whoremonger, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and to all false persons, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

There are several similarities when one compares Ezekiel's temple vision with the restoration descriptions recorded in Revelation. This time frame is after the Kingdom of Y'shua, after Satan's last attempt to war against Yahweh; after Satan has been tossed into Fire Lake forever and ever- When our Creator restores all things.

Ezekiel’s Temple compared with John’s Revelation

Both Ezekiel and John views are from a high mountain:

Ezekiel 40:1 - He brought me, in visions of Yahweh, to the Land of Israel and He set me down on a very high mountain

Revelation 21:10 - And he bore me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high and showed me the Set Apart city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from Elohim

They both record the measurements that were taken:

Ezekiel 40:3 - A 'man' who shown like copper had a linen cord and measuring rod.  Revelation 21:15 - A Messenger/angel had a golden reed with which to measure the city, gates and walls 

Ezekiel 40:5 - Along the 'outside' of the temple area ran a wall on every side (one rod deep and one rod high) Square in shape. (Many other measurements are recorded) Ezekiel 48:30 - The city is square, each side measures 4,500 cubits.  

Revelation 21:16 -The city is measured and stood up four square

Ezekiel 43:13 - diminsions of the altar, trench and rim are given and is used for burnt offerings.

Revelation 22:26 - The nations shall bring their glory and honor into it (as offerings?)

Ezekiel 44:4-14 - Instructions for all the laws of the temple are given and Yahweh points out to the House of Israel all the abominations they have committed and allowed in His Sanctuary.

Revelation 21:27 - Nothing shall enter the city that is polluted, impure and false, but only they who are registered in the Lamb's Book of Life

Ezekiel 48 - Twelve exits from the city; gates named after the sons of Israel

Revelation 21:12-13 - And it had a wall great and lofty, which had twelve gates and names inscribed on them - the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Ezekiel 47:1 - water was issuing from below the platform of the temple - eastward - but flowing out at the south side of the altar, gushing out from under the south wall. 9 It will be wholesome and everything will live wherever this stream goes.

Revelation 22 - A river of living water, clear as a crystal, ran from the throne of Elohim and the Lamb and in the middle of main street (broad avenue) on both sides was the tree of life.

Ezekiel 47:12 - All kinds of trees for food will grow on both banks of the stream - they will yield new fruit every month - their fruit will serve as food and their leaves for healing.

Revelation 21:2 - In the middle of the broad avenue, near the river, spanning both sides, was the tree of life which bore twelve sorts of fruits yielding one of its fruits each month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Ezekiel 48:35 - The name of the city from that day on shall be "Yahweh is There. Revelation 21:22 - And I saw no temple in it for Master Yahweh Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb.  And the city has no need of the sun or the moon for the glory of Elohim enlightens it, and the Lamb is the lamp of it

I conclude at this time that Yahweh gave this vision to Ezekiel to illustrate the awesome power and glory of the heavenly realm. Ezekiel was shown the Hope we have in the Good News of the Kingdom to come! He was told to share this 'vision' to those who had grown hopeless. This sharing of the Good News is echoed throughout the Renewed Covenant writings (ie: New Testament). Ezekiel, the Watchman for the House of Israel, shared this Good News with those people. Ezekiel is the type and shadow for Set Apart believers in this day and age, sharing the Good News of the Kingdom to come- a joyous time we can only try to imagine and hope for. How on earth could we describe it?

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Yah's timing once again was very appropriate because this was during the Babylonian exile while the rest of the Israelites had scattered northward and beyond. 

Around 605 B.C. Nineveh and Assyria had fallen. It was just Egypt and Babylon who were seeking world supremacy. The young new king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, went out and defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish. He marched on to Judah, during Jehoiakim's reign, and took thousands of Hebrews back to Babylon (including Daniel, who became one of the greatest prophets). Nebuchadnezzar made two more attacks when he heard of rebellion in Judah. Each time he took captives (including Ezekiel the prophet). Only a remnant of the weakest, poorest, and least threatening Hebrews in Judea remained. King Nebuchadnezzar set up a puppet king (Zedekiah) of David's line to sit on the throne of Judah and made him swear an oath of allegiance (2 Chr 36:10-12). Zedekiah was as faithless as the rest of the evil kings of Judah. He then rebelled and allied with other enemies. When Nebuchadnezzar heard he came back for the last time (586 B.C.) to reduce Jerusalem to rubble and send the Temple up in flames. Zedekiah was forced to witness the slaughter of his sons, then his eyes were put out, and he himself was carried off to Babylon. The Babylonian Captivity lasted exactly 70 years as predicted, from the burning of the Temple to its reconstruction, 586 BC - 
516 BC.

Here is a link to historical background of these events

***The following I gleaned from a study by Steve Gregg:
When Ezekiel was given this vision (573 BC), there was no temple standing in Jerusalem. Solomon’s temple, which had previously stood there, had been destroyed earlier by Nebuchadnezzar, when he conquered Jerusalem and deported the citizens to Babylon. This means that Ezekiel was not seeing Solomon’s temple. Nor was he seeing the rebuilt temple during Zerubbabel's time. That temple ended up being much smaller, and less elaborate, than the one Ezekiel describes. 

In chapter 40 of the book of Ezekiel, "in the 25th year of our exile, the 14th year after Jerusalem had fallen, at the beginning of the year, on the 10th day of that month - on that very day " the prophet is transported in vision by the Hand of Elohim from his home among the exiles in Babylon to the Land of Israel, and Yahweh sat him down on a very high mountain. He saw what seemed to be the outline of a city on the south side. Yah brought Ezekiel over to it and standing at the gate was a a man who shone like copper, holding a cord of linen and a measuring rod. This 'man' tells Ezekiel to pay close attention to everything he was going to be shown so as to report everything to the House of Israel. 

My note: You see, there is no "command" that this temple is to be built, but everything was to be reported to the people of the House of Israel. Was Yah telling them this is what you could have, if only you would obey Me?

The response of the Jews to their opportunity to return and to rebuild their temple was notoriously tepid. Only a small remnant opted even to return to Jerusalem, while the rest were content to remain in Babylon. As a result, the temple they built proved to be inferior to the one that Ezekiel described. 

Though the Jews did not meet the conditions to have such a temple as Ezekiel’s, the pattern preserved in these chapters stands as a description of an intended order, which, had it materialized, would have testified, as the tabernacle once did, as a type and shadow of “heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5). This, we may assume, was the long-term purpose served by the vision.

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Ezekiel 44:6 - to the rebellious House of Israel, says Yahweh, Too long have you committed all your abominations, admitting aliens, uncircumcised of spirit and flesh, to be in My Sanctuary and profane My very Temple, when you offer up My food - the fat and the blood. You have broken My covenant with all your abominations. You have not discharged the duties concerning My sacred offerings, but have appointed them (uncircumcised strangers of spirit and flesh) to discharge the duties of My Sanctuary for you. The Levites who forsook Me when Israel went astray from Me to follow their fetishes, shall suffer their punishment for making them stumble into guilt (the priesthood lineage now shifts to the descendants of Zadok. II Samuel 8:17 tells us Zadok was one of the priests who maintained the service of Yah's Sanctuary, the temple, when the people of Israel has gone astray.) 

Yahweh specifically mentions the priest descended from Zadok - Take a look at this chart (from bible maps) to follow the order of the priesthood over the years:

We learned from reading the first five books of Scriptures that the plan, the pattern of the Temple is to train His people on how to approach Him.  Ezekiel's vision drives this point home!

Yahweh has always desired to be in the midst of His people

From the Heavenly Realm to The Mountain, then to the

The Tent, where they traveled together 40 years

Then His House was built by Solomon

and that is the last place Yah attached His Name

His Son, Yahshua taught us

The Body is now the Temple

wherein dwells the Ruach haKodesh

Then comes

The Earthly Kingdom

where we shall be perfected until

The Restoration of All Things

Yah Approved House of Prayer

Abraham was a Hebrew:

Genesis 14:13 Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew (about Lot being taken captive).

His descendants are Hebrews.  Even when YHWH changed Jacob's name to Israel, they were still descendants of Abraham, still Hebrews, becoming the House of Israel. Paul says as much in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

Yah is the God of our fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with whom He has kept His everlasting covenant:

Genesis 17:7 "I will establish My covenant between Me and you (Abraham) and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be Elohim to you and to your descendants after you.

Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' (He is going to the sons of Jacob/Israel [descendants of Abraham], who were the heads of each of their clans = the 12 tribes of Israel. Each tribe was named after each of the 12 sons.)

YHWH is God/Elohim of the Hebrews:

Exodus 5:3 Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us.

Exodus 7:16 "You shall say to him, 'The God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness.

Exodus 10:3 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 

God is YHWH the Elohim of the Hebrews and their descendants, and all who may turn from those pagan ways and serve Him.   Not by any of  man's traditions, but by obedience to His commands.

From the Mountain to the Tent

The first 'temple' was the Tabernacle constructed from the pattern YHWH showed Moses and it is patterned after the one in heaven. This is where God attached His Name after He moved from the mountain. It was the House of Elohim.  This pattern also served as a foreshadow of the temple Solomon would build.

Exodus 25:8 "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. 9 "According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture..."

Hebrews 8:5 They serve at a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary. That is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle, "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

YHWH establishes the priesthood and selects those of the tribe of Levi to tend to the sacred duties of  the Tabernacle:

Numbers 8:19 "I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the sons of Israel by their coming near to the sanctuary."
Numbers 18:23 "Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting... it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24 " For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to Me, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, 'They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.'" 

Collectively, the descendants of Abraham the Hebrew are now being called the sons of Israel. Only those from the tribe of Levi were chosen to serve in the tent/temple and perform all related duties.

From the Tent to the House

1 Kings 6:1 ... Solomon began to build the House of YHWH... you can read further all the lavish details of this project, but notice it is called the House of Elohim, YHWH.  1 Kings 8 tells us when the House was done Solomon called the elders of Israel, who are all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the Israelites, and they arrange to have the Ark of the Covenant, the Tent of Meeting, and all the set apart vessels brought to the House of God.  The presence of Elohim filled the House - He approved it. He fulfilled the promise He made to David:

1 Kings 8:16 "Ever since I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city among all the tribes of Israel for building a House where My name might abide; but I have chosen David to rule My people Israel... :19 however, you shall not build the House yourself; instead, your son... shall build the House for My Name.

There is only one House of Elohim albeit rebuilt a couple of times, but only one place where He attached His Name.  It not a Jewish institution. It was a House of Prayer, a place where He could be in the midst of His people = the Israelites and those who attached themselves to the House of Israel (Spirit of Adoption).  Y'shua refers to them as 'the sheep' and the 'other sheep' he came to gather together as one flock.  That one flock is God's chosen people. 

Here is a link to some History of the Temple although it was never a Jewish Temple.  This is a good historical time line from Solomon to Titus and the Roman legions who looted and leveled this temple in 70 AD. They state after the temple was destroyed in 70AD, synagogues replaced that temple and prayer replace animal sacrifice. Please note when you are following up with your own research, remember to remove the Jewish mind-set from some of the sites you visit.

YHWH warns once again what happens if we turn away from Him, as He tells Solomon:

1 Kings 9:6 " If you and your descendants turn away from Me and do not keep the commandments and the laws which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods... then I will sweep Israel off the land which I gave them; I will reject the House which I have consecrated to My name; and Israel shall become a byword among all peoples. 

And we know what happened... As smart and wise and just and fair as Solomon was, women turned out to be his downfall... he loved many foreign women who turned his heart away from Elohim and towards other gods - those false idols worshiped by his many women.  He turned away from YHWH and eventually the Israelites were 'swept off the land'.  After Solomon's death, the ten northern tribes refused to accept his son Rehoboam as their king. The country was divided into two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah (containing Jerusalem) in the south. 

After some time, the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, marched on Judah. He pillaged Jerusalem and deported tens of thousands to his capital in Babylon.  The poor and sick people were allowed to stay in Judah.  Several months later Nebuchadnezzar's army began the destruction of Jerusalem and the House of Elohim:

Ezra 5:12 But because our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.

Ezra picks up after the 70 year exile in Babylon when King Cyrus is chosen by YHWH to declare the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem in Judah.  So the chiefs of the clans of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, all whose spirit had been roused by Elohim went to Jerusalem.  In Ezra 2 is the list of the men of Israel who came up from among the exiled, including Levites and the temple servants. They searched genealogical records in order to select the priesthood.  When the 7th month arrived they were ready to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles.  All the Israelites assembled in Jerusalem as one.  The temple is for all Set Apart believers - not just the Jews or not just for the Levites.

The problem with Judaism is its mixture of rituals and religious observances, combined with rabbinic laws and traditions. These bad habits were most likely picked up during that 70 year exile in Babylon. This mind-set is what Y'shua was revealing in his teaching from the Father. He called the Pharisees 'hypocrites' many times.  He was reminding everyone by teaching what Torah is about and how it was intended as opposed to Jewish Traditions.  It is not a bad thing to do good, but when you overrule God and teach others to do the same, that is not good. Y'shua Messiah definitely was not participating in Judaism nor its traditions. He was sent by the Father and spoke Yah's message, the same message from the beginning.

John 5:30 Y'shua is speaking, "I am not able to do anything of my own desire, but as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just, for I don't seek my will, rather the will of Him who sent me.  :36 ... For the works that my Father has given to me to complete, those works that I do, testify that the Father sent me.  :39  Search the Scriptures, because in them you think you have that life that is eternal, and they testify of me. Yet you do not desire to come to me, that you may have that life that is eternal.  :43 I have come in the name of my  Father, and you have not received me... :46  IF only you had  believed in Moses, you would also be believers in me, for Moses wrote concerning me.  And if you do not believe the writing of that man, how will you believe my words?"

The writings of Moses are contained in the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy.  These writings, in the Hebrew language, are called Torah, which translates to Instructions.  These are not to be confused with Jewish laws or holidays or traditions, which men added at a later time.  This is an example of just how subtle Satan is.  He causes 'doubt' just as he did with Eve in the garden.  He spins his own doctrine from bits and pieces of what YHWH actually spoke.  This is how we have ended up with hundreds of denominations and belief systems throughout the world.  This is why when you attempt to 'google' Torah you get hundreds of sites that refer to it as 'religious Judaic tradition'.  If you spend time reading Scriptures, the Word of Elohim,  you will find this is not so.

There is only One God and His Name is YHWH (Yah-weh). 

He sent His Son in His Name, Yashua (Yah-shua).

His Instructions are not a set of religious beliefs;

but a perfect governing system intended for 

our well being while on this earth.

YHWH gave us a choice and many examples 

of the results of those choices. 

Do as Y'shua suggests: Read Scriptures

Let the Spirit of Truth reveal to you 

the Way of the Creator.