Ps. 132: Ascent of Invitation

Psalm 132:13 "For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling:"

David loved God. David wanted to create a temple, a dwelling place for God. Due to David's lot in life as a warrior, this task wasn't for him, as God wanted to separate that from his temple. So devoted to this ideal, David wouldn't even sleep until God had a place to be among the people of Israel.

The temple is a place where people come from all around to pay tribute and worship God, to meet him. Those who follow God will be blessed, and those who don't...well...humiliation.

1 Ch. 25: Temple Musicians

1 Chronicles 25:1 "David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals."

Music was very important. So important that David had the army help him divide them up and put them in place. Music accompanied prophesying. Its interesting that there were 288 people with the responsibility. That's 12+12x12. Did it "happen" to be that way? Or did they decide to have that number? 

Harps, lyres and cymbals...strings and percussion! Yes!

1 Ch. 24: The Number of the Priest

1 Chronicles 24:3 "With the help of Zadok a descendant of Eleazar and Ahimelech a descendant of Ithamar, David separated them into divisions for their appointed order of ministering."

Ministering at the temple was a big responsibility, and it needed a big staff. There were 24 families ready to serve, and they drew lots for an order of service. Then there's a genealogy of the priests, which is important. It's good to know who did what. Why? I'm not sure. But there are the names.

1 Ch. 23: Gershon, Kohath and Merari

1 Ch. 23: "the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service."

David's winding it down, and making some more preparations for the temple. The Levites, who had been responsible for the care and transportation of all the elements that made up the tabernacle, were numbered. They were part of three distinct groups, sons of Levites: The Gershonites, the Kohathits, and the Merarites. In verse 3, it says Levites age 30 and older were counted, while in verse 24, it talks about Levites age 20 and older. Contradiction? I thought so at first, but there's a distinction...Those 30 and older were counted from the entire tribe, numbering 38,000. Those 20 and older were those who served in the temple. At least that's how I read it.

Now that the tabernacle was done away with, and a permanent temple was in place, the Levites could cross that off their list...the hassle with the takedown and assembly of the tent all the time. But they still had their responsibilities to serve inside the temple. It was a new thing for them. 

The wandering tabernacle days were over. This temple is where God would be always.

1 Ki. 8: Home Permanent

1 Kings 8:11 "And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple."

This is big time. All of Israel was ordered to assemble at the completed temple. The priests were bringing the ark into the temple from Zion. This is sort of the completion of what God promised way back in the time of Abraham. The promised land was conquered. God had a permanent place for his presence among the people of Israel.

So many sacrifices were made that they were immeasurable. What a mess. This showed a renewed (again) devotion to the work of God in their midst.

I think I don't know why the ark was said to have nothing except the stone tablets inside as the priests brought it into the Most Holy Place. What happened to the jar of manna? Aaron's staff? Were they taken by the Philistines? Wouldn't the ark have the same lethal effect on the Philistines who tried to move/touch it? If these things were taken, why were the stone tablets left? I wonder.

At any rate, the glory of the LORD filled temple so intensely that even the commissioned priests could not perform their duties. God's simple glory was so great that priests didn't have to do anything.

Solomon recognizes the fulfillment of prophecy, in that the temple was promised to David that it would be built by his son. Here it was. Built. What an amazing thought, to witness fulfillment of prophecy firsthand. To (maybe) have witnessed the original prophecy, and then to see it take place exactly as spoken. How often did/does that happen?

I just love Solomon's prayer of dedication in vs. 22-61. It's long-winded, but it's really Solomon talking to God. I don't see any real pretense or showmanship. Solomon is thankful for the covenant of love. Love. The covenant is more than just, "here's some land, live peacefully." This covenant was made because God loved his people and keeps his promise to his people.

Solomon also realizes how little consequence his building is for a God who cannot be contained by the highest heavens. Solomon built a place where "the Name" will dwell. And God said his Name would be there. This is all coming from God. Solomon realizes also that his people need mercy and forgiveness. Pretty humble coming from the richest, wisest man on earth. His prayer includes requests for discipline and justice when (not "if," v. 46) people screw up. I love that. He asks for correction. He expects God to show his holiness. Amazing.

Solomon seeks comfort and rest in God. He appears to realize that he's really nothing without God and his mercy.

So many sacrifices were being offered at this dedication that the courtyard had to be consecrated, since the altar was too small to handle the 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. It was a two week celebration, and God was the host with the most. That's my kind of party...right?

1 Ki. 6: Temple of Soul

1 Kings 6:22 "So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary."

The temple is actually smaller than I thought. I think I was thinking of Solomon's palace. There is no comparison to the amount of description that went into the tabernacle, originally. That took chapters. This is one chapter. Is this perhaps because having a temple for the LORD was of human origin? The concept of the tabernacle was divinely inspired, and it's construction and layout details were described to the minutest detail. That's not to say there weren't details with the building of the temple. Anyway, with the scope of the labor and construction, it's hard to believe the comparative size of the temple. Not that big.

Interesting that the stones were all carved and honed at the quarry. No stones were worked at the temple site. I'm guessing it's because of reverence, but what grabs me is the skill that had to go into the stonecutting off-site, in order to make it perfect. If a stone was wrong, was it discarded? Hauled off-site to fix? What a pain...

The stone temple was paneled inside to the point that no stone showed. While that would make modern interior designers cringe, I wonder if the significance of the cedar was life, while stone connoted death. Just wondering. That's what I do. Then the cedar is overlaid with gold, so...it's abundant life, apparently. It took seven years to complete.