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Chapter 2
The Temple and Its Dedication
THE long-cherished plan of David to erect a temple to the Lord, Solomon wisely carried
out. For seven years Jerusalem was filled with busy workers engaged in leveling the chosen
site, in building vast retaining walls, in laying broad foundations,--"great stones,
costly stones, and hewed stones,"--in shaping the heavy timbers brought from the
Lebanon forests, and in erecting the magnificent sanctuary. 1 Kings 5:17.
Simultaneously with the preparation of wood and stone, to which task many thousands were
bending their energies, the manufacture of the furnishings for the temple was steadily
progressing under the leadership of Hiram of Tyre, "a cunning man, endued with
understanding, . . . skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone,
and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson." 2 Chronicles
2:13, 14.
Thus as the building on Mount Moriah was noiselessly
upreared with "stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was
neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in
building," the beautiful fittings were perfected according to the patterns committed
by David to his son, "all the vessels that were for the house of God." 1 King
6:7;2 Chronicles 4:19. These included the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, the
candlestick and lamps, with the vessels and instruments connected with the ministrations
of the priests in the holy place, all "of gold, and that perfect gold." 2
Chronicles 4:21. The brazen furniture,--the altar of burnt offering, the great laver
supported by twelve oxen, the lavers of smaller size, with many other vessels,--"in
the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and
Zeredathah." 2 Chronicles 4:17. These furnishings were provided in abundance, that
there should be no lack.
Of surpassing beauty and unrivaled splendor was the palatial building which Solomon and
his associates erected for God and His worship. Garnished with precious stones, surrounded
by spacious courts with magnificent approaches, and lined with carved cedar and burnished
gold, the temple structure, with its broidered hangings and rich furnishings, was a fit
emblem of the living church of God on earth, which through the ages has been building in
accordance with the divine pattern, with materials that have been likened to "gold,
silver, precious stones," "polished after the similitude of a palace." 1
Corinthians 3:12; Psalm 144:12. Of this spiritual temple Christ is "the chief
Cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in
the Lord." Ephesians 2:20, 21.
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.
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 thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and
instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth
forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that
the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord
had filled the house of God." Verses 13,14.
Realizing the significance of this cloud, Solomon declared: "The Lord hath said that
He would dwell in the thick darkness. But I have built an house of habitation for Thee,
and a place for Thy dwelling forever." 2 Chronicles 6:1,2.
"The Lord reigneth;
Let the people tremble:
He sitteth between the cherubims;
Let the earth be moved.
"The Lord is great in Zion;
And He is high above all the people.
Let them praise Thy great and terrible name;
For it is holy. . . .
"Exalt ye the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool;
For He is holy."
Psalm 99:1-5.
"In the midst of the court" of the temple had been erected "a brazen
scaffold," or platform, "five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three
cubits high." Upon this Solomon stood and with uplifted hands blessed the vast
multitude before him. "And all the congregation of Israel stood." 2 Chronicles
6:13,3.
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel," Solomon exclaimed, "who hath with His
hands fulfilled that which He spake
with His mouth to my father David, saying, . . . I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name
might be there." Verses 4-6.
Solomon then knelt upon the platform, and in the hearing of all the people offered the
dedicatory prayer. Lifting his hands toward heaven, while the congregation were bowed with
their faces to the ground, the king pleaded: "Lord God of Israel, there is no God
like Thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto
Thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their heart."
"Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of
heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built? Have respect
therefore to the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken
unto the cry and the prayer which Thy servant prayeth before Thee: that Thine eyes may be
open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof Thou hast said that Thou
wouldest put Thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant prayeth toward
this place. Hearken therefore unto the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people
Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear Thou from Thy dwelling place, even
from heaven; and when Thou hearest, forgive. . . .
"If Thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned
against Thee; and shall return and confess Thy name, and pray and make supplication before
Thee in this house; then hear Thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of Thy people
Israel, and bring them again unto the land which Thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
"When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against
Thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin,
when Thou dost afflict them; then hear Thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy
servants, and of Thy people Israel, when Thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they
should walk; and send rain upon Thy land, which Thou hast given unto Thy people for an
inheritance.
"If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or
mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their
land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: then what prayer or what
supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all Thy people Israel, when everyone
shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in his house:
then hear Thou from heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man
according unto all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest; . . . that they may fear Thee, to
walk in Thy ways, so long as they live in the land which Thou gavest unto our fathers.
"Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of Thy people Israel, but is come
from a far country for Thy great name's sake, and Thy mighty hand, and Thy stretched-out
arm; if they come and pray in this house; then hear Thou from the heavens, even from Thy
dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for; that all
people of the earth may know Thy name, and fear Thee, as doth Thy people Israel, and may
know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name.
"If Thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that Thou shalt send
them, and they pray unto Thee toward this city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which
I have built for Thy name; then hear Thou from the heavens their prayer and their
supplication, and maintain their cause.
"If they sin against Thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and Thou be angry
with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives
unto a land far off or near; yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are
carried captive, and turn and pray unto Thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We
have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly; if they return to Thee with all
their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have
carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which Thou gavest unto their fathers,
and toward the city which Thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for
Thy name: then hear Thou from the heavens, even from Thy dwelling place, their prayer and
their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Thy people which have sinned
against Thee.
"Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and let Thine ears be attent
unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into Thy
resting place, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength: let Thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed
with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in goodness. O Lord God, turn not away the face
of Thine anointed: remember the mercies of David Thy servant." Verses 14-42.
As Solomon ended his prayer, "fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt
offering and the sacrifices." The priests could not enter the temple because
"the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house." "When all the children
of Israel saw . . . the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their
faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshiped, and praised the Lord, saying, For He
is good; for His mercy endureth forever."
Then king and people offered sacrifices before the Lord. "So the king and all the
people dedicated the house of God." 2 Chronicles 7:1-5. For seven days the multitudes
from every part of the kingdom, from the borders "of Hamath unto the river of
Egypt," "a very great congregation," kept a joyous feast. The week
following was spent by the happy throng in observing the Feast of Tabernacles. At the
close of the season of reconsecration and rejoicing the people returned to their homes,
"glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the Lord had showed unto David, and to
Solomon, and to Israel His people." Verses 8,10.
The king had done everything within his power to encourage the people to give themselves
wholly to God and His service, and to magnify His holy name. And now once more, as at
Gibeon early in his reign, Israel's ruler was given evidence of divine acceptance and
blessing. In a night vision the Lord appeared to him with the message: "I have heard
thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up
heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I
send pestilence among My people; if My people, which are called by My name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear
from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now Mine eyes shall be
open, and Mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I
chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever: and Mine eyes and
Mine heart shall be there perpetually." Verses 12-16.
Had Israel remained true to God, this glorious building would have stood forever, a
perpetual sign of God's especial favor to His chosen people. "The sons of the
stranger," God declared, "that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to
love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from
polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain,
and make them joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for
all people." Isaiah 56:6, 7.
In connection with these assurances of acceptance, the Lord made very plain the path of
duty before the king. "As for thee," He declared, "if thou wilt walk before
Me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and
shalt observe My statutes and My judgments; then will I establish the throne of thy
kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not
fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel." 2 Chronicles 7:17, 18.
Had Solomon continued to serve the Lord in humility, his entire reign would have exerted a
powerful influence for good over the surrounding nations, nations that had been so
favorably impressed by the reign of David his father and by the wise words and the
magnificent works of the earlier years of his own reign. Foreseeing the terrible
temptations that attend prosperity and worldly honor, God warned Solomon against the evil
of apostasy and foretold the awful results of sin. Even the beautiful temple that had just
been dedicated, He declared, would become "a proverb and a byword among all
nations" should the Israelites forsake "the Lord God of their fathers" and
persist in idolatry. Verses 20, 22.
Strengthened in heart and greatly cheered by the message from heaven that his prayer in
behalf of Israel had been heard, Solomon now entered upon the most glorious period of his
reign, when "all the kings of the earth" began to seek his presence, "to
hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart." 2 Chronicles 9:23. Many came to see
the manner of his government and to receive instruction regarding the conduct of difficult
affairs.
As these people visited Solomon, he taught them of God as the Creator of all things, and
they returned to their homes with clearer conceptions of the God of Israel and of His love
for the human race. In the works of nature they now beheld an expression of His love and a
revelation of His character; and many were led to worship Him as their God.
The humility of Solomon at the time he began to bear the burdens of state, when he
acknowledged before God,
"I am but a little child" (1 Kings 3:7), his marked love of God, his profound
reverence for things divine, his distrust of self, and his exaltation of the infinite
Creator of all--all these traits of character, so worthy of emulation, were revealed
during the services connected with the completion of the temple, when during his
dedicatory prayer he knelt in the humble position of a petitioner. Christ's followers
today should guard against the tendency to lose the spirit of reverence and godly fear.
The Scriptures teach men how they should approach their Maker--with humility and awe,
through faith in a divine Mediator. The psalmist has declared:
"The Lord is a great God,
And a great King above all gods. . . .
O come, let us worship and bow down:
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."
Psalm 95:3-6.
Both in public and in private worship it is our privilege to bow on our knees before God
when we offer our petitions to Him. Jesus, our example, "kneeled down, and
prayed." Luke 22:41. Of his disciples it is recorded that they, too, "kneeled
down, and prayed." Acts 9:40. Paul declared, "I bow my knees unto the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 3:14. In confessing before God the sins of Israel,
Ezra knelt. See Ezra 9:5. Daniel "kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and
prayed, and gave thanks before his God." Daniel 6:10.
True reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite greatness and a realization
of His presence. With this sense of the Unseen, every heart should be deeply impressed.
The hour and place of prayer are sacred, because God is
there. And as reverence is manifested in attitude and demeanor, the feeling that inspires
it will be deepened. "Holy and reverend is His name," the psalmist declares.
Psalm 111:9. Angels, when they speak that name, veil their faces. With what reverence,
then, should we, who are fallen and sinful, take it upon our lips!
Well would it be for old and young to ponder those words of Scripture that show how the
place marked by God's special presence should be regarded. "Put off thy shoes from
off thy feet," He commanded Moses at the burning bush, "for the place whereon
thou standest is holy ground." Exodus 3:5. Jacob, after beholding the vision of the
angel, exclaimed, "The Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. . . . This is none
other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." Genesis 28:16, 17.
In that which was said during the dedicatory services, Solomon had sought to remove from
the minds of those present the superstitions in regard to the Creator, that had beclouded
the minds of the heathen. The God of heaven is not, like the gods of the heathen, confined
to temples made with hands; yet He would meet with His people by His Spirit when they
should assemble at the house dedicated to His worship.
Centuries later Paul taught the same truth in the words: "God that made the world and
all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands; neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything,
seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; . . . that they should seek the
Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find
Him, though He be not far from every one of us: for in Him we live, and move, and have our
being." Acts 17:24-28.
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord;
And the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.
The Lord looketh from heaven;
He beholdeth all the sons of men.
From the place of His habitation
He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth."
"The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens;
And His kingdom ruleth over all."
"Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary:
Who is so great a God as our God?
Thou art the God that doest wonders:
Thou hast declared Thy strength among the people."
Psalms 33:12-14; 103:19;77:13,14.
Although God dwells not in temples made with hands, yet He honors with His presence the
assemblies of His people. He has promised that when they come together to seek Him, to
acknowledge their sins, and to pray for one another, He will meet with them by His Spirit.
But those who assemble to worship Him should put away every evil thing. Unless they
worship Him in spirit and truth and in the beauty of holiness, their coming together will
be of no avail. Of such the Lord declares, "This people draweth nigh unto Me with
their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me."
Matthew 15:8,9. Those who worship God must worship Him "in spirit and in truth: for
the Father seeketh such to worship Him." John 4:23.
"The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him."
Habakkuk 2:20.
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