Friday, May 23, 2014

Bring up the Ark

Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Kings 8:1–11, “Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.”

The Ark and the Tabernacle had been the centre of Israeli worship since the time that it was built when the Lord gave Moses the Law. However, it became redundant when the Temple was complete. Some of the most precious items from the Tabernacle were transferred to the Temple. Notably, the Ark was brought from the Tabernacle, where it had been kept since David brought it to his city. They also brought other items that were essential to the proper conduct of their ceremonial religion as well. Sacrifices were offered for sin, for praise and for thanksgiving. When everything was put in place the glory of the Lord appeared in the form of a cloud. This was then same cloud that had directed Israel by day when they travelled in the Wilderness. The Lord showed His approval of the Temple and indicated that He was with Israel as they moved forward into the kingdom phase of their history when they were established in one place and no longer nomadic.

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