The Temple Dedication

VII
The Temple Dedication

1. JERUSALEM, OCTOBER, 959 B.C.E.


ARK OF THE COVENANT
MOVED TO NEW TEMPLE
Israel's leaders watch in awe
at ceremony during Feast

WHEN THE Temple was finally finished, Solomon stored all the treasures in the magnificent structure, and then he summoned all of Israel's leaders -- the heads of the tribes and clans -- to Jerusalem for the ceremony of transferring the Ark of th Covenant from the Tent in the City of David to its new home.
In October, 959 B.C.E., during the annual Feast of Tabernacles, the leaders watched in awe as the Levites lifted the Ark and carried it out of David's makeshift dwelling along with all the other sacred vessels.
Then the king and the others sacrificed sheep and oxen before the Ark in such numbers that no one tried to keep count.
The priests then carried the Ark into the inner room of the Temple -- the Holy of Holies -- and placed it beneath the angels' wings; their wings spread over the Ark and its carrying poles. These carrying poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the outer room, but not from the outside doorway.
Nothing was in the golden container except the two stone tablets which Moses had put there at Mount Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were leaving Egypt.
When the priests had undergone the purification rites for themselves, they all took part in the ceremonies without regard to their normal duties.
And how the Levites were praising the Lord as the priests came out of the Holy of Holies.
The singers were Asaph, Heman, Juduthun and all their sons and brothers, dressed in finespun linen robes and standing at the east side of the altar. The choir was accompanied by 120 priests who were trumpeters, while others played the cymbals, lyres and harps. The band and chorus united as one to praise and thank the Lord; their selections were interspersed with trumpet obbligatos, the clashing of cymbals, and the loud playing of other musical instruments -- all praising and thanking Yahweh. There theme was "He is so good! His lovingkindness lasts forever!"
And at that moment the glory of the Lord, coming as a bright cloud, filled the Temple so much so that the priests could not continue their work.

Solomon stood and prayed: "The Lord has said that he would live in the thick darkness, but I have made a Temple for you, O Lord, to live in forever!"
Then the king turned around to the people and they stood and received his blessing:
Solomon: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, the God who talked personally to my father David and has now fulfilled the promise He made to him. For He told him, 'I have never before, since bringing my people from the land of Egypt, chosen a city anywhere in Israel as a location for my Temple where My name will be glorified; and never before have I chosen a king for my people Israel. But now I have chosen Jerusalem as that city; and David as that king. My father wanted to build this Temple, but the Lord said not to. It was good to have the desire, the Lord told him, but he wasn't the one to build it: his son was chosen for that task. And now the Lord has done what he promised, for I have become the king in my father's place, and I have built the Temple for the Name of the Lord God of Israel, and placed the Ark there. And in the Ark is the Covenant between the Lord and his people Israel.

As he spoke, Solomon was standing on a platform in the center of the outer court, in front of the altar of the Lord. The platform was made of bronze, 7 1/2 feet square and 4 1/2 feet high. Now, as the people watched, he knelt down, reached out his arms towards heaven, and prayed this prayer:

Solomon: O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like You in all of heaven and earth. You are the God who keeps His kind promises to all those who obey You, and who are anxious to do Your will. And You have kept Your promise to my father David, as evidence today. And now, O God of Israel, carry out Your further promise to him that 'your descendants will always reign over Israel if they obey My laws as you have.' Yes, Lord God of Israel, please fulfill this promise, too. But will God really live upon the earth with me? Why even the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You -- how much less this Temple which I have built! How I pray that You will heed my prayers, O Lord, my God! Listen to my prayer that I am praying to You now! Look down with favor day and night upon this Temple -- upon this place where You have said that You would put Your name. May You always hear and answer the prayers I will pray to You as I face towards this place. Listen to my prayers and to those of Your people Israel when they pray toward this Temple; yes, hear us heaven, and when you hear, forgive ... Whenever sometone commits a crime, and is required to swear to his innocence before this altar, then hear from heaven and punish him if he is lying, or else declare him innocent ... If Your people Israel are destroyed before their enemies because they have sinned against You, and if they turn to You and call themselves Your people, and pray to You here in this Temple, then listen to them from heaven and forgive their sins and give them back this land You gave to their fathers ... When the skies are shut and there is no rain because of our sins, and then we pray toward this Temple and claim You as our God, and turn from our sins because You have punished us, then listen from heaven and forgive the sins of Your people, and teach them what is right and send rain upon this land which You have given to Your people as their own property ... If there is famine in the the land, or plagues, or crop disease, or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if Your people's enemies are in the land besieging our cities -- whatever the trouble is -- listen to every individual's prayer concerning his private sorrow, as well as the public prayers. Hear from heaven where you live, and forgive, and give each one whatever he deserves, for You know the hearts of all mankind. Then they will reverence You forever, and will continually walk where You tell them to go ... And when foreigners hear of Your power, and come from distant lands to worship Your great name, and to pray toward this Temple, hear them from heaven where You live, and do what they request of You. Then all the peoples of the earth will hear of Your fame and will reverence You, just as Your people Israel do; and they too will know that this Temple I have built is truly Yours ... If Your people go out at Your command to fight their enemies, and they pray toward this city of Jerusalem which You have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for Your name, then hear their prayers from heaven and give them success ... If they sin against You (and who has never sinned?) and You become angry with them, and You let their enemies defeat them and take them away as captives to some foreign nation near or far, and if in that land of exile they turn to You again, and face toward this land You gave their fathers, and this city and this Temple I have built, and plead with You with all their hearts to forgive them, then hear from heaven where You live and help them and forgive Your people who have sinned against You ... Yes, O my God, be wide awake and attentive to all the prayers made to You in this place. And now, O Lord God, arise and enter this resting place of Yours where the Ark of Your strength has been placed. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let Your saints rejoice in Your kind deeds, O Lord God, do not ignore me -- do not turn Your face away from me, Your anointed one. Oh, remember Your love for David and Your kindness to him.

As Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices. And the glory of the Lord filled the Temple, so much so that all the people who had been watching, fell flat on the pavement, and they worshipped and thanked the Lord.
"How good he is!" they exclaimed. "He is always so loving and kind."
Then the king and all the people dedicated the Temple by sacrificing burnt offerings to the Lord. King Solomon's contribution for this purpose was 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. The priests were standing at their posts of duty, and the Levites were playing their thanksgiving song, "His Loving Kindness is Forever," using the musical instruments that King David himself had made and had used to praise the Lord. Then, when the priests blew the trumpets, all the people stood again. Solomon consecrated the inner court of the Temple for use that day as a place of sacrifice, for there were too many sacrifices for the bronze altar to accommodate.
For the next seven days, they celebrated the Tabernacle Festival, with large crowds coming in from all over Israel; they arrived from as far as Hamath at one end of the country to the brook of Egypt at the other. A final religious service was held on the eighth day. Then on October 7, 959 B.C.E., he sent the people home, joyful and happy because the Lord had been so good to David and Solomon and his people Israel.
So Solomon finished building the Temple as well as his own palace. He had completed what he had planned to do.

One night the Lord appeared to Solomon and told him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place where I want you to sacrifice to me. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust swarms to eat up all of your crops, or if I send an epidemic among you, then if my people will humble themselves and pray,. and search for me, and turn from their wicked way, I will heard from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. I will listen, wide awake, to every prayer made in this place. For I have chosen this Temple and sanctified it to be my home forever; My eyes and My heart will always be here.
"As for yourself, if you follow Me as your father did, then I will see to it that you and your descendants will always be kings of Israel; but if you don't follow Me, if you refuse the laws I have given you, and worship idols, then I will destroy My people from this land of mine, which I have given them , and this Temple will be destroyed even though I sanctified it for Myself. Instead, I will make it a public horror and disgrace. Instead of it being famous, all who pass by will be incredulous.
"Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to this land and to this Temple, they will ask and they answer will be, 'because his people abandoned the Lord God of their fathers, the God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they worshipped other gods instead. That is why He has done all this to them."

2.

IT WAS now 20 years since Solomon had become king and the great building projects of the Lord's Temple and his own royal palace were completed.
He now turned his energies to rebuilding the cities which King Hiram of Tyre had given him , and he relocated some of the people of Israel into them.
It was at this time, too, that Solomon fought against the city of Hamath-zobah and conquered it. He built Tadmor in th desert and built cities in Hamath as supply centers.
He fortified the cities of upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, both being supply centers, building their walls and installing barred gates. He also built Baalath and other centers at this time, and constructed cities where chariots and horses were kept. He built to his heart's desire in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout the entire realm.
He began the practice of conscripting as slave laborers the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites -- the descendants of those nations which the Israelites hadn't completely wiped out. However, he didn't make any slaves of any of the Israeli citizens, but used them as soldiers, officers, charioteers, and cavalrymen; also 250 of them were government officials, who administered all public affairs.
Solomon now moved his wife (she was the Pharoah's daughter) from the City of David sector of Jerusalem to his new palace he had built for her. For he said, "She must not live in King David's palace, for the Ark of the Lord was there and it is holy ground."
Then Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar he had built in front of the porch of the Temple. The number of sacrifices differed from day to day in acordance with the instructions Moses had given; there were extra sacrifices on the Sabbath, on new moon festivals, and on the three annual festivals -- the Passover celebration, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Tabernacles.
In assigning the priests to their posts of duty he followed the organizational chart prepared by his father David; he also assigned the Levites to their work of praise and of helping the priests in each day's duties; and he assigned the gatekeepers to their gates.
Solomon didn't deviate in any way from David's instructions concerning these matters and concerning the treasury personnel. Thus, Solomon successfully completed the construction of the Temple.
Then he went to the seaport towns of Ezion-geber and Eloth, in Edom, to launch a fleet presented to him by King Hiram. These ships, with Hiram's experienced crews working alongside Solomon's own went to Ophir and brought back tons of gold to him.

He also received countless foreign visitors, including the Queen of Sheba, who had heard of Solomon's fabled wisdom. Makeda came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions.