Expositor's Dictionary of Texts Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God. Presentation2 Chronicles 5:13-14 It was a dedication day. It was a day of the advent of the Holy Ghost. I. Notice The Time of the Advent. 1. Without doubt it was a time of Prayer. Never let it be forgotten that it was when Christ was baptized and praying that the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost came down upon Him. Prayer is the essential condition of the advent of the Spirit to the soul. 2. It was a time of Praise. 3. It was a time of Peace. Unity is an essential condition of the advent of the Spirit. It was when the Church of later days 'was with one accord in one place,' when dissensions and discords were put away, it was then that the holy flame lighted upon the waiting Church, and illumined them for suffering and for service. It was a time of Presentation when the Spirit came. The temple was dedicated. We may pray and we may praise, but if we do not present our bodies a living sacrifice, God cannot send upon us the Holy Ghost, for the flame only falls upon the altar, and if the sacrifice is not there it cannot be consumed. II. Observe The Manner of the Spirit's Advent. How did He come? He came— 1. Suddenly. 2. Mysteriously. The symbol of His presence was a cloud. 3. Glorious, too. Veiled though it might be under the likeness of a cloud, it was a presence, it was an appearance of the glory of the Lord. 4. Gracious also. The cloud that overshadowed the mercy-seat was not a thunder-cloud. III. The Marks of the Advent of the Spirit in the Soul. We have them in the passage:— 1. Self-effacement. 'The priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud.' Self was forgotten, and Christ was all in all. 2. Sanctity. In earlier days we read that the tabernacle 'was sanctified by His glory'. 3. Sacrifice. Offerings were multiplied in the service of God. We read that 'the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord' (2 Chronicles 7:4). And most true is it that the life of sacrifice follows upon the reception of the Spirit. —E. W. Moore, Life Transfigured, p. 219. References.—V. 13.—Bishop Boyd-Carpenter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 289. V. 13,14.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 375. VI. 4.—H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Thankfulness Sermons, 1822-1902. 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 Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.
And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.
Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:
For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.
There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course:
Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;
So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God. Nicoll - Expositor's Dictionary of Texts Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission. Bible Hub |
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