Bible Commentaries
2 Chronicles 5

Verse 1

THE ARK PLACED IN TEMPLE;
GOD'S GLORY FILLS THE HOUSE;
DEDICATED THINGS WERE DEPOSITED IN TEMPLE

"Thus all the work that Solomon wrought for the house of Jehovah was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God."

Verses 2-10

THE ARK BROUGHT INTO THE HOLY OF HOLIES

"Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the children of Israel assembled themselves unto the king at 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 tent of meeting, and all the vessels that were in the Tent; these did the priests the Levites bring up. And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, went before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And the staves were so long 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 that Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt."

"All of 2 Chronicles 5, 2 Chronicles 6 and 2 Chronicles 7 is virtually identical with 1 Kings 8:1 to 1 Kings 9:9, the few additions giving mainly liturgical information."^(F1) Our Commentary on 1 Kings has our discussion of what is contained in this section.

"The city of David, which is Zion" (2 Chronicles 5:2). Zion was the old citadel and stronghold of the Jebusites which David captured. The temple was located north of Zion on the elevation known as Moriah.

"And there it is unto this day" These words are from the ancient source quoted by the Chronicler (Ezra); because the temple no longer stood when Chronicles was written.

Verses 11-14

A CLOUD SYMBOLIZING GOD'S GLORY FILLED THE TEMPLE

"And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place (for all the priests that were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their courses; also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and their sons and their brethren, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets); and it came to pass, when the trumpeters and the singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Jehovah; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Jehovah, saying, For he is good; for his lovingkindness endureth forever; that the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of Jehovah, so that priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of God."

"The significance of the temple is made specific in the ceremonies that accompanied its dedication. They designated the Temple to be the lineal successor to Israel's previous sanctuaries."^(F2) The ark of the covenant and the tent of meeting were brought into the temple, and God recognized the temple as the place where his name was recorded and where a manifestation of his earthly presence would dwell.

In view of all the sins and rebellions of Israel, and of the sins and failures of David, and especially of Solomon, and in consideration of the basic truth that God never commanded the building of the temple in the first place…. in spite of all this, God remained firm and immovable in his promise to Abraham that, "in him and in his seed (singular) "(Genesis 12:3), all the families of mankind would be blessed. To fulfill that glorious promise to the patriarchs, it was impossible for God to reject Messiah had been delivered, no matter what misunderstandings or outright sins and rebellions marked the behavior of the Chosen People. We may state it bluntly that, God was stuck with Israel until He had achieved the Grand Objective, namely, that of bringing the Prince of Life into our lost and ruined race. This simple truth explains why God accepted the temple, honored it with his presence, and sent fire from heaven as another positive indication of his approval (2 Chronicles7:1-10).

"The cloud of God's glory that filled the temple (2 Chronicles 5:11-14), was called the [~shekinah]."^(F3)