THE KI NG ’ S BUSINESS were lesser feasts also. Following a week of special services in connection with the dedication of the temple, the Feast of Tabernacles followed (2 Chron. 7:8-10). There was a great assemblage of men (2 Chron. 5 :2). “Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of 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. “And all the men of Israel assembled them selves 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." Care was taken not to repeat the error committed when the ark was removed the first time, and God’s judgment fell upon Uzzah. The priests now took the ark and all of the holy vessels. There was a great procession headed by the elders and heads of the tribes, and the chief of the fathers, the king himself leading the procession. (1) THE PATTERN OF THE TEM PLE. Ex. 2:40. In both Old and New Testaments God has given definite instructions concern ing the worship of Himself. The temple was patterned after the tabernacle of the wilderness, and that tabernacle was a type of Christ. Every detail of it was given by God to Moses. (Ex. 25:40; Ex. 39:42-43): “According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. “And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had com manded, even so had they done it; and Moses blessed them.” (Acts 7:44) : “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.“ God gave to David instructions con cerning the temple (1 Chron. 28:1-19). Nothing in connection with either the tabernacle or the temple was left to accident or the device of man— an illus tration of the fact that God’s work should always be done according to God’s plan. The temple was double the size of the tabernacle-—90 x 30— 30 feet—-and faced the East.
861 (2) THE PREPARATION OF MATE RIAL. 1 Ki. 9:15-28. The materials were gathered by Da vid, Solomon and King Hiram; wood from the cedars of Mount Lebanon— red and of bitter taste which prevented its injury from insects, very tough and hard, with a beautiful grain susceptible of a rich polish, growing darker as the years passed; stone from the Phoenician quarries and from the rocks beneath Jerusalem. King Hiram furnished the skilled workmen. (3) THE PLACE OF THE TEMPLE. 2 Chron. 3:1. Mount Moriah, where Abraham of fered up Isaac (Gen. 22:2) “And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.** and where God commanded David to build Him an altar (2 Sam. 24:18-25; 1 Chron. 21:18; 22:1): “Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite.** “Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.** This was the place where Melchizedek appeared unto Abraham. Six hundred feet of foundation had to be laid on one side of the temple site, and three years were consumed in build ing the foundation, which remains to this day. (2 Tim. 2 :19): ’ “ Nevertheless the foundation of God stand- eth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.“ (4) THE PRAYER OF SOLOMON. 8:22-30. This prayer, as recorded in verses 22 to 54, is remarkable in its scope, em bracing, as it does, all conceivable con ditions and needs which might befall Israel during the course of the ages, many of which confront that people to day. Every believer should read care fully and analyze this prayer of this wise man, and connect with it the his tory of God’s earthly people and their
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