2. The offering of sacrifice before the ark in the temple court. Before the sacred chest passed out of sight and into its sunless retreat within the veil, this ceremony presided over by the sovereign, was carried through by another company of priests, and in presence of "all the congregation of Israel." The sheep and oxen laid upon the altar could not be told for multitude. The First Book of Kings and Josephus mention that the king sacrificed twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. In any case, the offering was munificent, and corresponded to the magnificence of the occasion. The monarch probably felt that Jehovah's grace to himself and his people demanded generous acknowledgment. Cf. David's offerings on bringing the ark to Mount Zion (2 Samuel 6:6, 2 Samuel 6:18) and Josiah's on a similar occasion (2 Chronicles 35:7).
3. The placing of the ark in the holy of holies. While the blood of the sacrificial victims was flowing in the outer court, the priests at a given signal once more uplifted the symbol of Jehovah's presence, and, advancing with it towards the dwelling, passed in through the holy place, entering the inner shrine and reverently setting it between the wings of the colossal cherubim there erected. So immense were these figures that their wings overshadowed both the ark and its staves. It is probable that the staves were in the long side of the ark (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 1 Kings 3:6.5), and that this ran from north to south of the holy of holies. As, moreover, the staves were designed to be inseparable from the ark (Exodus 25:15), they were not removed, but merely drawn out, perhaps two in each direction; or they were so long (Revised Version), i.e. extended so far in each direction, that their ends might be seen by one standing in the doorway or immediately in front of the oracle, but not by one who stood without or at a distance in the holy place. Thus located, the ark remained in its shrine until the temple was destroyed. The phrase, "unto this day" (cf. 2 Chronicles 9:21; 2 Chronicles 12:1-16:19; 2 Kings 8:22), need only signify that the Chronicler used a manuscript composed before the destruction of Jerusalem, and deemed it unnecessary to alter words which were accurate enough from the standpoint of the original writer. Whether the ark was at any time borne before the Israelitish armies to battle, as in the days of Samuel (1 Samuel 4:4), cannot be determined; but it seems to have been removed from its place in the days of Manasseh, as it underwent a kind of second consecration at the hands of Josiah, who, in the eighteenth year of his reign, replaced it in the temple with imposing ceremonies (see 2 Chronicles 35:3). In Solomon's time the ark contained nothing but the two tables of stone, which Moses put therein at Horeb. There is no reason to suppose it ever contained aught else, the golden pot and Aaron's rod (Hebrews 9:4) having been originally appointed to be laid up before the Lord (Exodus 16:33), and before the testimony (Numbers 16:10), not necessarily inside the ark.
4. The giving of thanks before the altar. On emerging from the holy place into the court, the priests united with the rest of their brethren, and the Levites who were singers, in raising an anthem of praise to Jehovah, who had enabled them to carry forward their work to a successful termination. The whole body of the priesthood were present, the divisional arrangements made by David (1 Chronicles 24:3), by which they waited in turns, having been suspended, and the entire force consecrated for the occasion. The Levites, marshalled according to their families, the Asaphites on the right, the Hemanites in the centre, the Jeduthites on the left, each with their sons and brethren, were arrayed in byssus, or white linen—a dress not prescribed by the Law for the singers, but not forbidden (Bertheau)—and furnished with cymbals, trumpets, and other instruments of music (cf. 1 Chronicles 25:1). The priests, a hundred and twenty in number, and the Levitical singers, probably two hundred and eighty-eight (1 Chronicles 25:7), standing on the east of the great altar of burnt offering, while the trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments discoursed what was meant to be melodious music with one voice, praised and thanked the Lord, saying, "For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever." Cf. the jubilation of David on fetching the ark from the house of Obed-edom (1 Chronicles 15:28).
III. THE CONCLUSION OF THE CEREMONY. (Verses 13, 14.) "The house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;" and again, "the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God;" concerning which may be noted:
1. What this was. The notion that this was the smoke-cloud from the offerings on the brazen altar, which swept into the holy place as the priests emerged (Bertheau), is untenable. The phenomenon which now occurred was manifestly the same which had taken place on the completion of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34). The cloud was not the "bright and streaming cloud" called by the rabbins the Shechinah (Thenius), nor was the "glory of the Lord" the same thing as the "cloud" (Bahr); but the "glory of the Lord" was the beaming radiance of fire (Exodus 24:16), the resplendent appearance of light with which, as a heavenly Being, Jehovah is surrounded (Exodus 3:2; Exodus 13:21); the "cloud" was the robe of darkness in which that "glory" was wrapped, and by which it was veiled from mortal sight (Exodus 19:9, Exodus 19:16; Le Exodus 16:2).
2. What it signified.
(1) That Jehovah graciously accepted the finished structure which had been laboriously prepared for his dwelling, as formerly he had accepted the tabernacle at the hands of Moses and his contemporaries (Exodus 40:34), and as he still accepts at the hands of his believing people their works of faith and labours of love (Hebrews 6:10).
(2) That God would condescend to establish in it his presence, as of old he had done in the tabernacle, and as afterwards he would do in the temple of Christ's humanity (John 1:14), yea, as he still does in hearts that open to receive him (2 Corinthians 6:16).
(3) That God would considerately accommodate the manifestations of himself to the feebleness and imperfection of his worshippers, then as in the days of Moses, coming to them in a cloud as he did to the Church in the wilderness, as in the fulness of the times he came to men in the Person of his Son, with glory veiled and majesty concealed, and as he still reveals himself to his worshippers, according to the measure of their capacities (Ephesians 4:7), and in every instance "through a glass, darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
3. When it happened.
(1) When the priests had come out of the holy place. "This is the way of giving possession. All must come out, that the rightful Owner may come in. Would we have God dwell in our hearts? We must leave room for him, let everything else give way" (Henry).
(2) When the priests and Levites had arranged themselves at the east end of the altar. The choice of this as their situation, probably dictated by local convenience, was nevertheless significant. It symbolized that only on the basis of sacrifice, or through the mediation of atoning blood, could either men come to God or God approach to men (Hebrews 9:7, Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 10:19).
(3) When the whole company were of one mind. This also an indispensable preliminary to either Church or individual receiving a Divine visitation. The Church of Pentecost was of one accord when it obtained the baptism of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:14; Acts 2:1). Being pre-eminently the God of peace (Romans 15:33; 2 Corinthians 13:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:20), and having called his people to peace (1 Corinthians 7:15), God cannot dwell either in the midst of communities (sacred or civil) that are torn by strife and marred by faction, or in the hearts of individuals that are distracted by care or divided by worldliness.
(4) Whilst the anthem was ascending. At the moment the trumpeters and singers were engaged in thanking and praising God for his goodness and mercy. That showed the proper attitude of soul for all true worshippers, and in particular for such as are expectant of favours. Faith in the Divine existence and Divine goodness there must be (Hebrews 11:6), but gratitude for past mercies is no less indispensable (Philippians 4:6).
4. How it operated. "The priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud" (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:2). It inspired them with awe, filled them with such fear as became sinful creatures in the presence of a holy and a jealous God (Exodus 40:35; Le Exodus 16:2; Deuteronomy 4:24). Thus it symbolized the reverence that ought to characterize all who venture before him, whether in the public or private exercises of religion (Psalms 33:8; Psalms 89:7; Hebrews 12:28; 1 Peter 1:17). Christ's disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration feared when they entered into the cloud (Luke 9:34). Then it hindered their ministrations in the holy place. In this respect it served as an emblem of the dark dispensation under which they lived (2 Corinthians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 3:14), in comparison with which that of the New Testament is a dispensation of light, as well as of those obstructions arising from imperfect knowledge (1 Corinthians 13:12) which still hamper the worship of believers in the heavenly places of the Christian Church.
Learn:
1. The importance of order in all things connected with religion (1 Corinthians 14:40).
2. The settlement of religious ordinances in a country a true occasion of joy.
3. The high place assigned to music, vocal and instrumental, in Divine worship (Ephesians 5:19).
4. The highest theme of praise for either Church or saint—the goodness and grace of God.
5. The true glory of land and people, of state and Church—the indwelling in both of the Divine glory (Psalms 85:9).—W.
2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 5 - 2-chronicles-5 - worlddic.com