Tuesday
They are moving the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple. Can you imagine what this must have looked like, thousands of people cheering and shouting, praying and worshipping, crying and laughing. Children running under foot, crowds of people pushing and shoving all to see this history making event. God is in his Holy Temple. 1 Kings 8:5 says they sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they couldn’t even count them all. Wow. The crowd sets aside as the Ark is brought into the Temple. The silence falls over the outer courtroom. Only a few will enter into the inner court and even less when the priest bring in the Ark into the Holy of Holies.
Inside the Ark of the Covenant are the stone tablets that Moses put in there. You might notice that the pot of manna and Aaron’s rod are missing at this point. I’m not sure why, but they were probably lost when the Philistines had captured the ark. It’s what happens when you take your eyes off of something so special, it’s hard to get it back. But anyway, the items in the Ark aren’t the important things, what is important is that God’s presence is in the Temple.
Solomon stands before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and prays. What a magnificent sight this would have been, a glorious day in the life of the Israelites.
I wonder if this is a small glimpse of what Heaven will be like?
Pondering the majesty and glory of God
Pastor Kathy