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Solomon’s Magnificent Temple
21
Mount Moriah might indeed be a dwelling place “not for man but
for the Lord God” (
1 Chronicles 29:1
), there remained the solemn
ceremony of dedicating it.
The spot on which the temple was built had long been considered
holy. Here Abraham had revealed his willingness to sacrifice his only
[15]
son in obedience to Jehovah’s command, and here God had renewed
the glorious Messianic promise of deliverance through the sacrifice
of the Son of the Most High. See
Genesis 22:9, 16-18
. Here, when
David offered sacrifices to stop the avenging sword of the destroying
angel, God had answered him by fire. See
1 Chronicles 21:26
. And
now once more worshipers were here to meet their God and renew
their vows of allegiance to Him.
God’s Glory Fills the Temple at Its Dedication
Solomon chose the Feast of Tabernacles for the dedication. This
feast was above all an occasion for rejoicing. The labors of the
harvest were over, and the people were free from care and could
give themselves up to the joyous influences of the hour.
The multitudes of Israel, with richly-dressed representatives from
many foreign nations, assembled in the temple courts. The scene was
one of unusual splendor. Solomon, with the elders and influential
men, had brought the ark of the covenant from another part of the
city. The ancient “tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy
vessels” in it, had been transferred from Gibeon.
2 Chronicles 5:5
.
These cherished reminders of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness
now found a permanent home in the splendid building.
With singing, music, and great ceremony “the priests brought
in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner
sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place.”
Verse 7
. The
singers, dressed in white linen, having cymbals and harps, stood at
the east end of the altar with one hundred twenty priests blowing on
trumpets. See
verse 12
.
As “the trumpeters and singers” made themselves heard together
“in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their
voice with trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and
praised the Lord, ... the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, so