At last the temple planned by King David, and built by Solomon his son,
was completed. “All that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the
Lord,” he had “prosperously effected.” 2 Chronicles 7:11. And now, in order
that the palace crowning the heights of Mount Moriah might indeed be, as David
had so much desired, a dwelling place “not for man, but for the Lord God” (1
Chronicles 29:1), there remained the solemn ceremony of formally dedicating it
to Jehovah and his worship.
The spot on which the temple was built had long been regarded as a
consecrated place. It was here that Abraham, the father of the faithful, had
revealed his willingness to sacrifice his only son in obedience to the command
of Jehovah. Here God had renewed with Abraham the covenant of blessing,
which included the glorious Messianic promise to the human race of deliverance
through the sacrifice of the Son of the Most High. See Genesis 22:9, 16-18.
Here it was that when David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to stay
the avenging sword of the destroying angel, God had answered him by fire from
heaven. See 1 Chronicles 21. And now once more the worshipers of Jehovah
were here to meet their God and renew their vows of allegiance to him.
The time chosen for the dedication was a most favorable one—the seventh
month, when the people from every part of the kingdom were accustomed to
assemble at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast was
preeminently an occasion of rejoicing. The labors of the harvest being ended
and the toils of the new year not yet begun, the people were free from care and
could give themselves up to the sacred, joyous influences of the hour.
37
At the appointed time the hosts of Israel, with richly clad representatives
from many foreign nations, assembled in the temple courts. The scene was one
of unusual splendor. Solomon, with the elders of Israel and the most influential
men among the people, had returned from another part of the city, whence they
had brought the ark of the testament. From the sanctuary on the heights of
Gibeon had been transferred the ancient “tabernacle of the congregation, and
all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle” (2 Chronicles 5:5); and these
cherished reminders of the earlier experiences of the children of Israel during
their wanderings in the wilderness and their conquest of Canaan, now found a
permanent home in the splendid building that had been erected to take the place
of the portable structure.
In bringing to the temple the sacred ark containing the two tables of stone on
which were written by the finger of God the precepts of the Decalogue, Solomon
had followed the example of his father David. Every six paces he sacrificed. With
singing and with music and with great ceremony, “the priests brought in the ark
of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the
most holy place.” Verse 7. As they came out of the inner sanctuary, they took
the positions assigned them. The singers—Levites arrayed in white linen, having
cymbals and psalteries and harps—stood at the east end of the altar, and with
them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets. See Verse 12.
“It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one
sound to be heard in praising and