1 Kings 8:6

THE ARK’S NEW HOME

‘The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto His place.’

1 Kings 8:6

The site of the Temple was selected by David before he died. It was Mount Moriah, which was the scene of Abraham’s sacrifice. It lay to the north-east of Mount Zion. David reared an altar to commemorate the arrest of the destroying angel, so that the site was rendered doubly sacred from its ancient and more recent associations with redemption. But the choice of the site caused great difficulties, as the sides of the hill were steep, and the area of the summit was insufficient for the Courts of the Temple. It was necessary, therefore, that walls of immense thickness should be built up from the valley to the level of the summit and filled in with masonry, with a large number of storage chambers, and with a most perfect system of drainage, so that the accumulation of blood and refuse might be easily disposed of, together with the rivers of water which were constantly needed to keep the Courts of the Temple pure and sweet, in spite of the many sacrifices which were continually being offered under the blaze of the Oriental sun.

I. It was in consequence of these vast preliminary operations that the construction of the Temple consumed seven and a half years; but this period is comparatively small when compared with the eight hundred years which were consumed in the construction of Cologne Cathedral, and all the centuries during which Westminster Abbey slowly reached its present condition.

The work was partly done by the co-operation of Hiram, king of Tyre, whose skilled workmen hewed cedar and cypress trees out of Lebanon; but largely the work of construction, within the limits of Palestine itself, was accomplished by the forced labour of the ancient inhabitants of the land (1 Kings 5:13). These were torn from their homes, and compelled to labour in the unwelcome erection of the Temple of Jehovah, and one cannot wonder that out of the discontent which was generated by this enforced labour there came the elements of that revolution which culminated in the death of Adoniram, who was over the tribute, and the rending of the ten tribes of Israel from the house of David (1 Kings 12:18).

II. The materials of the Temple were very costly.—Every effort was made to build a house worthy of Jehovah. Inside, no stone was visible; gilded cedar-wood met the eye, together with the purple and embroidered tapestry. As in the old Tabernacle, so in the Temple, the sacred place was divided into two parts—the Holy and the Holiest. The latter was only entered once a year by the priest; it was wrapped in unbroken and perpetual darkness, save as the Shekinah shone between the Cherubim. It contained nothing but the ark, with its sacred tablets of stone, over which the outstretched wings of the Cherubim touched. This inner shrine was the especial home of God. His Tabernacle was with men, He was dwelling in the midst of His people; but there was no similitude or image of His presence. Everything was done to emphasise the belief of Israel that God was a Spirit.

III. Israel had never taken part in so magnificent a ceremonial as that dedication.—It appears that the preparation for it took twelve months to complete. It finally took place at the autumnal Feast of Tabernacles in the twelfth year of Solomon’s reign.

(a) The old Tabernacle was brought by a solemn procession of priests and Levites from the high place at Gibeon, to be stowed away in one of the chambers in the new Temple. On this occasion several of the ancient vessels and furniture, especially the golden altar of incense and the golden table of shewbread, were brought to their place in the new structure.

(b) But the most inspiring spectacle must have been the procession of priests and princes and chief representatives of the tribes which brought the ark from the temporary sanctuary in which David had placed it on Mount Zion forty years before. Probably all the men of Israel gathered to that procession. The progress of the assembled multitudes was slow, because of the sacrifices which were offered at every few steps. At the precincts of the Temple the great mass of the worshippers were stayed, the ark was taken from the shoulders of the Levites by the priests, who conveyed it into the darkness of the inner oracle, where it remained until it was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar. The staves were drawn out of the sockets of the ark to denote that the wanderings of the ark were now over for ever. In the meanwhile, the air was filled with sacred songs from the dense groups of priests, Levites, and musicians robed in white, holding in their hands glittering harps and cymbals, whilst one hundred and twenty trumpeters, priests, rent the air with blasts from the silver trumpets.

At that moment, when the feelings of the priests and the whole congregation were wrought to the highest point, the Shekinah Cloud, the emblem of the Divine presence, dazzling in its white glory, settled down upon the house, so that the priests could no longer stand to minister there, and were driven forth before the overpowering splendour.

Illustrations

(1) ‘There was but the one material symbol with which Jehovah’s presence was believed to be constantly associated by His own appointment. This was the ark. No spot and no building but that which contained the ark was reckoned the dwelling-place of God. He might on extraordinary occasions manifest Himself elsewhere. In the absence of a legitimate sanctuary, He might be invoked and worshipped elsewhere. But the existence of one, and only one, House of God, is the necessary corollary from the existence of but one ark of God; and if the ark was Mosaic, which cannot be intelligently disputed, so must the law of the unity of the sanctuary be. This law may have been temporarily in abeyance, and it may have been sinfully disregarded, but the antiquity of the law and its Mosaic origin is by this single fact triumphantly established.’

(2) ‘The Temple had been finished some eleven months when it was dedicated. The delay probably was due to the desirability of waiting for the next year, which was a jubilee year. The occasion chosen was the Feast of Tabernacles, when the people gathered from the whole land to dwell in booths. With solemn pomp the ark was borne from its temporary resting-place to its abiding place. How appropriate Psalms 132 was for such an occasion! And how comforted Solomon must have been when he saw the Shekinah Cloud settle down like God’s blessing and sign of approval! Thus was the first Tabernacle consecrated for its holy purposes (Exodus 40:34). It was as though the Divine King had taken up His residence, constituting the Temple His palace.’

(3) The Temple, though richly beautified, while without the ark was like a body without a soul, or a candlestick without a candle, or (to speak more properly) a house without an inhabitant. All the cost and pains bestowed on this stately structure are lost if God do not accept them; and unless He please to own it as the place where He will record His name, it is, after all, but a ruinous heap; when therefore all the work is ended the one thing needful is yet behind, and that is, the bringing in of the ark. This is the end which must crown the work, and which here we have an account of the doing with great solemnity. Solomon presided in this service, as David did in the bringing up of the ark to Jerusalem.’