2 Chronicles 5:1-14

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

Solomon rules *Israel

2 Chronicles Chapter s 1 to 9

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 5

Solomon brings the *ark into the *temple – 2 Chronicles 5:1-10

v1 Then Solomon had finished all his work for the *LORD’s *temple. So Solomon brought into the *temple all the things that his father David had given for the *temple. Solomon put all the silver, gold and other things into the *storerooms of God’s *temple.

v2 Then Solomon called for all the leaders of *Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. He called for all the heads of the *tribes to come. And he called for the leaders of the families to come. He called them to bring the *ark of the *LORD’s special promise from Zion, the city of David. v3 And all the men in *Israel came together to the king. It was during the holy holiday in the 7th month.

v4 When all the leaders of *Israel had arrived, the *Levites lifted up the *ark. v5 They brought the *ark. And they brought the tent where God met with his people. Also, they brought all the holy things that were in the tent. The priests and the *Levites brought all these things. v6 King Solomon and all the *Israelites came together in front of the *ark. They *sacrificed so many sheep and *bulls that nobody could count them.

v7 And the priests brought the *ark of the *LORD’s special promise to its place. They put it in the inner room of the *temple, that is, the most holy place. They put it beneath the wings of the *cherubim. v8 The *cherubim spread their wings over the place of the *ark. They covered it and the poles that the *Levites carried it by. v9 The poles were very long. A person in the holy place, in front of the most holy place, could see their ends. But nobody could see the poles from outside the holy place. The poles are still there today. v10 There was nothing in the *ark except the two stones that Moses put there. He put them there at the mountain called Horeb. That was where the *LORD told the *Israelites about his special promise to them. That was after the *Israelites had come out of Egypt.

Verse 1 The next three Chapter s are about the *dedication of the *temple.

Solomon finished the *temple. Then he brought into the *temple the things that David had provided. These things included the gifts from Tou, king of Hamath (1 Chronicles 18:10-11). Also, David provided a vast amount of precious metals, in addition to his gifts of wood and stone (1 Chronicles 22:14; 1 Chronicles 26:26; 29:2-). The workers probably used a lot of these gifts in order to make things for the *temple. But Solomon put whatever things they had not used into *storerooms at the *temple.

Verses 2-3 Solomon called for all the nation’s leaders to come to him in Jerusalem. They would bring the *ark of the *LORD’s special promise to the *temple. So, the *temple on the mountain called Moriah replaced the holy places from before that time. Since the time when David was king, the *ark was in the special tent. David made that tent for it (1 Chronicles 16:1). The tent was in Zion, the city of David. For 40 years, the *ark had been in that tent. The other holy place was in the town called Gibeon (1 Chronicles 16:39).

Solomon had completed the *temple. He finished the work in the 8th month of his 11th year as king. That was in September or October 960 *BC. The *dedication of the *temple was in the autumn of the next year. That was in the 7th month of the year 959 *BC. At that time, there was a special week when the *Jews lived in shelters. They did this to remember the time when God led them through the desert. Solomon *dedicated the *temple to God on the 8th day during this special time.

Verses 4-6 The priests and the *Levites brought the *ark to the *temple. It was the duty of the *Levites to carry the *ark to its new place. Also, they brought the holy tent. It had been in the town called Gibeon. With the tent, they brought all the holy things that were in it.

Solomon and the people came in front of the *ark. There they *sacrificed a large number of animals. This was before the priests put the *ark out of sight in the most holy place.

Verses 7-10 Then the priests took the *ark into the holy place. Only priests could go into that place. They put the *ark beneath the *cherubim at the end of the room. There were curtains between the holy place and the most holy place. But the priests could see the poles from the holy place.

In the *ark, there were the two stones that God’s 10 commands were on. But the other original contents of the *ark were not there. These objects were the gold pot of *manna and Aaron’s stick (Exodus 16:32-34; Numbers 17:10-11).

The cloud of God’s *glory fills the *temple – 2 Chronicles 5:11-14

v11 The priests came out of the holy place. (All those priests had prepared themselves to serve in the holy place. For this event, they did not keep in their groups.) v12 All the *Levite musicians stood on the east side of the *altar. These musicians were Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, their sons and relatives. They wore clothes of white *linen. And they played *cymbals, *harps and *lyres. With them were 120 priests who sounded their *trumpets. v13 The priests who sounded the *trumpets were in perfect harmony with the singers. They praised the *LORD and they gave thanks to him. The singers sang to the sound of the *trumpets, *cymbals and other instruments. They praised the *LORD and they sang these words: ‘God is good. His love continues for all time.’

Then a cloud filled the *LORD’s *temple. v14 The priests could not continue their work because of the cloud. And the *LORD’s *glory filled God’s *temple.

Verses 11-14 After the priests had put the *ark in the most holy place, they came out to the people. These priests were not just the group who should have been on duty at that time. They came from all the groups for this special event.

The *Levite musicians stood on the east side of the *altar. They sang to the *LORD and they played their musical instruments. 120 priests with *trumpets stood in their place. These priests sounded their *trumpets to join in the music of the *Levites. All this music was in perfect harmony. The priests and the *Levites praised the *LORD and they gave thanks to the *LORD. They sang that God is good. They sang about his love that is always the same. The words of this song appear often in the Psalms, for example, Psalms 136.

Then the *LORD’s *glory filled the *temple area like a cloud. The *LORD was there among his people.

ark ~ the ark of the LORD or the ark of God; the Bible also calls it the ark of God’s special promise. It was a wooden box with gold all over the outside and over the inside. It had two gold cherubim on the top. (see Exodus 25:10-22.) The *Israelites kept the ark in the most holy place, first in the LORD’s tent and then in the temple. The ark was a sign that God was with them (Exodus 25:22).
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
lord ~ someone with authority, such as the king.
cherubim ~ special angels. Images of these were in the most holy place where they were over the ark. Isaiah and Ezekiel saw cherubim when they saw God’s glory.
temple ~ a special building for the *worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the *worship of the real God.
angel ~ a servant who brings messages from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
temple ~ a special building for the *worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the *worship of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
lord ~ someone with authority, such as the king.
storeroom ~ a room that people keep stores in.
tribe ~ The 12 families of the sons of Jacob became the 12 tribes of *Israel.
Levite ~ a person who belongs to the tribe of Levi. They helped the priests.
tribe ~ The 12 families of the sons of Jacob became the 12 tribes of *Israel.
sacrifice ~ something that people give to God. If it was an animal, the priests would burn all or part of it on an *altar. That was to say thank you to God. People also offered sacrifices when they asked God to forgive their *sins. Jesus died as a sacrifice for our *sins. To sacrifice is to give a sacrifice.
bull ~ the male animal that mates with a cow.
cherubim ~ special angels. Images of these were in the most holy place where they were over the ark. Isaiah and Ezekiel saw cherubim when they saw God’s glory.
angel ~ a servant who brings messages from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
ark ~ the ark of the LORD or the ark of God; the Bible also calls it the ark of God’s special promise. It was a wooden box with gold all over the outside and over the inside. It had two gold cherubim on the top. (see Exodus 25:10-22.) The *Israelites kept the ark in the most holy place, first in the LORD’s tent and then in the temple. The ark was a sign that God was with them (Exodus 25:22).
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
lord ~ someone with authority, such as the king.
temple ~ a special building for the *worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the *worship of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
dedication ~ the ceremony when you dedicate something to God.
dedicate ~ to give to God in a special way.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
dedicate ~ to give to God in a special way.
manna ~ the ‘bread’ that God provided to feed the *Israelites in the desert.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
linen ~ a type of material that is like cotton. Linen is a very good quality material.
cymbal ~ a musical instrument. A person hits two of them together and they make a loud noise.
harp ~ a musical instrument that has many strings.
lyre ~ a musical instrument with strings.