1-13 Ark Brought into the Temple
- Solomon assembles all the people in Ethanim, which is the 7th month
- The priests and Levites bring up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels from the tent.
- They sacrifice more animals than can be numbered.
- The priests place the ark, with nothing except Moses' tablets of stone in it, underneath the cherubim
- All the priests present have sanctified themselves.
- Levitical singers – Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and families – with their instruments, stand east of the altar with 120 priests with trumpets, praising God with "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."
- When they come out, a cloud – the glory of the LORD – fills the house
- Solomon says: "The LORD has said he would dwell in thick darkness...."
- God has fulfilled his promise:
- He did not choose a city; he chose David to lead his people
- My father wanted to build this house, but God would not permit it
- He chose me, David's son, to build his house
- I have provided a place for the ark of the covenant, which he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
- Solomon kneels on a bronze platform 5 x 5 x 3, spreads out his hands and prays:
- There is no God like you; let your word be confirmed that you gave to my father David
- Heaven and earth cannot contain you, much less this house
- May your eyes be open night and day toward his house
- May you vindicate the righteous who plead before this altar
- May you hear our confessions and forgive us our sins, restoring our rain and ending famine, healing our plagues, turning away our enemies in wars caused by our sins
- Bless the foreigners who come because they hear of your great name
- If your people are carried into captivity because of their sin, hear their cries when they confess and repent, and let the captors have compassion on them. Solomon is anticipating what will happen in generations to come.
- "Now rise up, O LORD God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might...."
- After Solomon finishes his prayer, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and all the people bow down and worship
- Solomon rises from where he knelt before the altar and addresses the assembly
- Blessed be the LORD, who has kept all his promises
- May he be with us as he was with our ancestors
- May he maintain the cause of his servant and his people so that all the earth will know there is no other God
- Devote yourselves completely to the LORD our God
- Sacrifices of well-being: 22,000 oxen; 120,000 sheep
- These sacrifices consecrate the middle of the court, because the bronze altar is too small to contain all the sacrifices
- The celebrations last 7 days
1 Kings 9
1-9 God Appears Again to Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:12-22)
- God appears to Solomon: "I have heard your prayer and your plea...I have consecrated this house...and put my name there...my eyes and my heart will be there for all time..."
- This is what I require of you: Walk in my ways, as your father did, and I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever.
- But if you don't -- if you serve other gods,
- I will cut Israel off
- I will cast the house out of my sight; it will become ruins
- Israel will become a proverb and a taunt: People will ask, What became of this house? And the answer will be: Israel has forsaken the LORD their God
- 20 years into Solomon's reign -- after the temple and his house are finished -- Solomon gives Hiram 20 cities in Galilee
- When Hiram sees them, he is not pleased: "What kind of cities are these...my brother?" And the cities are called "Cabul." Footnote: probably means "a land good for nothing." The Chronicles account says that Solomon rebuilds the cities Huram gave to him and settles people of Israel in them.
- Hiram had sent the king 120 talents of gold.
- List of all that Solomon builds: the temple, his house, cities.
- List of the people he used as "forced labor": people not destroyed in the conquest of the land
- Israelites are never used as slaves, but as officials, commanders, captains of his army, including 550 supervisors of labor
- Solomon builds a house outside Jerusalem for Pharaoh's daughter, because he does not think it proper for her to live in the house of David, because the home of the ark is holy. (And she is probably a pagan.)
- He offers up burnt offerings in the temple 3 times a year, also for the new moons and sabbaths. He also appoints the divisions of the Levites, priests and gatekeepers to their temple duties.
- Solomon builds a fleet of ships.
- Hiram sends his experienced sailors on Solomon's ship; they go to Ophir and import 420 talents of gold, which they deliver to Solomon. (The Chronicles account makes it sound like these are Huram's ships, not Solomon's.)
No comments:
Post a Comment