AFTER THE TEMPLE OF YAHUAH WAS COMPLETED, SOLOMON WAITED AROUND 11 MONTHS TO DEDICATE IT BECAUSE HE WAS WAITING FOR THE DAY OF ATONEMENT TO ARRIVE IN THE SEVENTH MONTH, SO THAT THE ARK OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT COULD BE PLACED INTO THE NEWLY BUILT SET-APART ORACLE, SO THAT THE TEMPLE COULD BECOME FULLY-FUNCTIONAL (NO ARK-NO PRESENCE-NO POINT OF HAVING TEMPLE). BUT ALSO, ONLY ONE PERSON (THE HIGH PRIEST) WAS EVER AUTHORISED TO ENTER THAT SET-APART CHAMBER AND (JUST AS IMPORTANTLY) ONLY ON ONE SPECIFIC DAY PER YEAR: ATONEMENT.
SO THE TEMPLE COULDN’T BE DEDICATED AND ANOINTED UNLESS THE ARK WAS IN THE MOST SET-APART PLACE, AND THAT COULDN’T HAPPEN EXCEPT ON THE 10TH DAY OF THE 7TH MONTH OF THE YEAR. SO THE WAIT OF 11 MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THE TEMPLE’S COMPLETION TO THE DATE THAT IT COULD BE DEDICATED WAS SO THAT THE NEXT DAY OF ATONEMENT COULD ARRIVE AND THE HIGH PRIEST COULD ENTER THE MOST SET-APART ORACLE TO PLACE THE ARK OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT THERE. REMEMBER (AS DAVID DISCOVERED THE HARD WAY) NO ONE DARED TO PRESUME WHEN IT CAME TO HANDLING THE PRECIOUS (DANGEROUSLY RADIOACTIVE) ARK OF YAHUAH’S PRESENCE.
DEDICATION (1 KINGS 8)
1Then King Solomon told all the elders of Yisharal, the heads of the Tribes, and the leaders of the families of Yisharal to come together in Yerushalim, for he wanted them to join in moving the Ark of YAHUAH’S Blood-Covenant from the City of David (Zion) up to the Temple. 2So during the Feast of Booths in the seventh month, all the men of Yisharal came to the meeting with King Solomon.
THE TWO DWELLING COMPLEXES, THE ONE FOR YAHUAH AND THE ONE FOR THE KING (THE TEMPLE AND THE PALACE), CONSTRUCTED ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT WERE FAR FROM ORDINARY. THE TEMPLE AND THE PALACE TOGETHER HAD EXTRA-ORDINARY SYMBOLISM THAT NOT ONLY SHOWED AN ORGANIC CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO, BUT ALSO THE NEW REALITY OF THEIR VERY EXISTENCE MARKED THE END OF THE TIME OF YISHARAL BEING IN AN UNSETTLED CONDITION. THE TEMPORARY WILDERNESS TABERNACLE WAS IN TATTERS (AFTER 400 YEARS) AND KING SOLOMON WAS THE ANOINTED EARTHLY KING OVER YAHUAH’S KINGDOM. IN THE TORAH, YISHARAL’S KING WAS NOT TO BE A MONARCH IN THE TYPICAL MIDDLE EASTERN (OR ORIENTAL OR EVEN LATER EUROPEAN) SENSE OF IT. THAT IS, THE EARTHLY KING OVER YISHARAL WAS NOT TO BE A DICTATOR FIGURE BUT RATHER YAHUAH’S SERVANT, SET OVER YISHARAL MERELY TO CARRY OUT YAHUAH’S WILL (HIS DIVINE LAWS & COVENANT). AND THIS IS WHY THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOLOMON’S PALACE (IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE TEMPLE) WAS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO ILLUSTRATE THIS SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT AND CONNECTEDNESS BETWEEN YAHUAH AND THE KING.
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES WAS A PILGRIMAGE FESTIVAL THAT REQUIRED ALL ADULT MALES IN YISHARAL (REGARDLESS OF SOCIAL STATUS) TO JOURNEY TO THE TEMPLE. THEREFORE ALL THE DIGNITARIES WERE PRESENT, ALL THE ADULT MALES OF YISHARAL WERE ALSO PRESENT, AND ALL CLASSES OF SOCIETY CAME TO THE TEMPLE DEDICATION AND STAYED FOR THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
3-4When all the elders of Yisharal arrived, the Priests and Levites carried the Set-Apart Ark of YAHUAH up to the Temple, as well as the Tabernacle Tent and all the Set-Apart utensils that were in it (THE REMNANT OF THE WILDERNESS TABERNACLE THAT HAD BEEN RESTING IN GIBEON UP TO NOW)..5King Solomon and all Yisharal met together before the Ark of the Blood-Covenant and sacrificed so many sheep and cattle that no one was able to count them all. 6The Priests carried the Ark of YAHUAH’s Blood-Covenant inside to the Most Set-Apart Oracle (SPEAKING PLACE) in the Temple, under the wings of the Cherubim. 7The wings of the Cherubim spread out over the Set-Apart Ark, and they covered the Set-Apart Ark and its carrying poles. 8The poles are still there today. They are too long for the Most Set-Apart Place, so anyone standing in the Set-Apart Place can see the ends of the poles, although no one outside can see them. 9The only things inside the Set-Apart Ark were the two tablets that Moses put there at Mt. Horeb. This is where YAHUAH made His Blood-Covenant with the Yisharalites after they came out of Egypt.
( PAUL STATES IN HEBREWS THAT THE ARK ALSO HAD THE POT OF MANNA AND AARON’S STAFF THAT BUDDED, HOWEVER THEY COULD HAVE MERELY BEEN PLACED `BEFORE THE ARK’ AS THE TORAH STATES ).
THE CLOUD THAT APPEARED IN THE TEMPLE WAS NOT MEANT TO CAUSE TERROR BUT RATHER AWESOME REVERENCE. WE OFTEN HEAR OF YAHUAH APPEARING IN A CLOUD (LIKE THE ONE THAT LED YISHARAL THROUGH THE WILDERNESS) THROUGHOUT THE SCRIPTURES. WHEN YAHUSHA ASCENDED IT WAS NO CHEAP PHRASE TO SAY THAT HE ROSE INTO THE CLOUDS UNTIL HE BECAME OBSCURED BY THEM. SO THE IDEA OF CALLING WHATEVER THIS PRESENCE OF YAHUAH IS IN THE TEMPLE “A CLOUD” IS TO TRY AND DESCRIBE AN INDETERMINATE FORM. WE CAN CERTAINLY SEE A CLOUD, BUT WE CAN’T REALLY TOUCH IT OR EVEN ASSIGN IT A DEFINITE SHAPE. AND THIS GOES HAND IN HAND WITH YAHUAH REFUSING TO ALLOW MANUFACTURED IMAGES OF HIM, BECAUSE UNLIKE ALL THE FALSE GODS & GODDESSES, POPULATING THE WORLD’S SOCIETIES (FASHIONED AFTER HUMANS OR ANIMALS) YAHUAH BEARS NO FORM WHATSOEVER THAT COULD EVER BE CAPTURED OR PROPERLY DEFINED IN HUMAN TERMS OR EVEN COME CLOSE WITHIN OUR 4 DIMENSIONAL UNIVERSE.
10-11When the Priests came out of the Set-Apart Place, the cloud filled YAHUAH’s Temple, so that the Priests couldn't continue their work in YAHUAH’S House because the Temple was filled with the esteem-power of YAHUAH.
THE CLOUD WAS SO LUMINOUS THAT ITS PRESENCE FELT AS THOUGH IT WAS PRESSING DOWN WITH IRRESISTIBLE PRESSURE, FORCING THE PRIESTS TO LEAVE. THERE IS NOTHING TO INDICATE THAT SOLOMON OR THE PRIESTS WERE EXPECTING THIS. ON THE OTHER HAND IT MUST HAVE BEEN SO VERY WELCOMED ESPECIALLY BY THE KING. AFTER ALL KING SOLOMON HAD EXPENDED YEARS OF EFFORT AND ENORMOUS SUMS OF MONEY ON THIS HOUSE FOR YAHUAH. WHAT IF YAHUAH DIDN’T ACCEPT IT? BUT WITH THE APPEARANCE OF THE CLOUD NOT ONLY DID SOLOMON AND ALL WHO WERE THERE HAD VISIBLE PROOF THAT YAHUAH WOULD HAPPILY DWELL THERE, BUT THIS WAS ALSO THE REAL DEDICATION OF THE FACILITY. TO DEDICATE MEANS TO SET-APART FOR YAHUAH, TO SEPARATE AND CONSECRATE AND DECLARE DIVINELY PURE.
12Then Solomon said, “YAHUAH causes the sun to shine in the sky, but He chooses to live in a dark cloud. 13Now, YAHUAH, I have built a beautiful Temple for you, where You may live forever.”
14Then King Solomon turned toward all the Yisharalites who were standing there and asked YAHUAH to bless them. 15He prayed this long prayer to YAHUAH: “YAHUAH, the Alahim of Yisharal, is great. He has done what He promised my father David, when He said, 16‘I brought My people, Yisharal, out of Egypt, but I had not yet chosen a city from among the Tribes of Yisharal for a House to rest My Name. And I had not chosen a man to be leader over My people, Yisharal. But now I have chosen Yerushalim to be the city of My Name, and I’ve chosen David to rule over my people, Yisharal.’
17“My father David wanted desperately to build a House for the Name of YAHUAH, the Alahim of Yisharal. 18But YAHUAH said to my father, ‘I know that you want very much to build Me a House, and that’s a good thing. 19But you are not the one to build My House, but your son will definitely do it!’20“So YAHUAH has kept His promises and I am the King now in place of my father David. I rule the people of Yisharal as YAHUAH promised, and I have built the House for YAHUAH, the Alahim of Yisharal. 21I have made a place in the Temple for the Set-Apart Ark, and inside it is the Blood-Covenant that YAHUAH made with our ancestors when He brought them out of Egypt.”
22Then Solomon stood in front of whole the assembly of Yisharal and faced YAHUAH’S altar. Solomon then spread his hands and looked toward heaven 23and said, “YAHUAH, Alahim of Yisharal, there is no one like You in Heaven or on the earth. You keep the Everlasting Blood-Covenant that You made with Your people. You are kind and loyal to those who follow You with all their heart. 24You made a promise to Your servant, my father David, and You kept that promise. You made that promise with Your own mouth, and with Your own hands You made it come true today. 25Now, YAHUAH, Alahim of Yisharal, please keep the other promises You made to Your servant David, my father. You said, ‘David, if Your sons carefully obey Me as You did, You will always have someone from Your family ruling the people of Yisharal.’ 26Again, YAHUAH of Yisharal, I ask you to keep the promise You made to your servant, my father David.
SOLOMON’S PRAYER STATES THAT THE MAINTAINING OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT AND THE KINDNESS WITH HIS NATION OF YISHARAL IS CONDITIONAL ON THEM LIVING IN HIS PRESENCE WITH ALL OF THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS. THEREFORE YAHUAH WILL ONLY SHOW HIS KINDNESS TO YISHARAL AND BESTOW THE BLESSINGS CONTAINED WITHIN HIS BLOOD-COVENANT TO THE NATION, PROVIDED THEY OBEY HIM AND WALK IN HIS WAYS. CEASE DOING SO AND THE BLESSINGS ARE YANKED, AND YAHUAH’S KINDNESS TURNS TO DISCIPLINE AND JUDGMENT.
27But, O’ mighty YAHUAH, can You really live here with us on the earth? The whole sky and the highest Heaven cannot contain You. So certainly this Temple that I’ve built cannot hold You either. 28But please listen to my prayer and my request, for I am your servant, and You are YAHUAH my Alahim. Hear this prayer that I’m praying to you today. 29In the past you said, ‘I will be honoured for My Name is there.’ So please watch over this House, night and day. And please listen to my prayer as I turn toward this House and pray to You. 30And please listen to our prayers in the future when I and your people Yisharal turn to this place and pray to you. We know that you live in Heaven. We ask you to hear our prayer there and forgive us.
SOLOMON RECOGNISES THAT YAHUAH IS NOT A MAN WHO, BECAUSE OF BEING TRAPPED IN A PHYSICAL BODY AND IN A PHYSICAL TERRESTRIAL SPHERE OF SPACE-TIME, CAN ONLY BE IN ONE PLACE AT ONE TIME. FOR YAHUAH IS EVERYWHERE AT ONCE. HE DOESN’T PACK HIS BAGS AND TRAVEL DOWN FROM HEAVEN IN ORDER TO VISIT THE TEMPLE ON OCCASION (THUS VACATING HIS THRONE IN HEAVEN FOR A TIME). HE IS OMNIPRESENT, MEANING, HE’S IN ALL PLACES, TIMES (PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE) AND DIMENSIONAL SPHERES ALL AT ONCE. HE’S ALSO OMNIPOTENT (ALL POWERFUL) AND OMNISCIENT (ALL-KNOWING, EVEN OUR DEEPEST THOUGHTS AND DESIRES).
THE PURPOSE FOR A TEMPLE WAS NOT TYPICAL OF WHAT WAS UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED IN THE 10TH CENTURY B.C. RATHER YAHUAH’S TRUE HOME WAS HEAVEN. AND YET YAHUAH’S EARTHLY PRESENCE WAS OBVIOUS AND EVEN VISIBLE (IN THIS CASE IN THE FORM OF A CLOUD THAT LITERALLY DROVE THE PRIESTS OUT OF THE SANCTUARY BUILDING). FURTHER YAHUAH’S DEFINITION OF A TEMPLE WAS IN MANY WAYS AN ENORMOUS SHIFT FROM WHAT HUMANS OF THAT ERA IMAGINED. IT WAS THOUGHT BY ONE AND ALL THAT A TEMPLE VIRTUALLY HOUSED AND EVEN SHUT-IN THE GODS AND GODDESSES WHO CHOSE TO RESIDE THERE, MUCH LIKE A BOTTLE THAT IMPRISONED A GENIE. BUT SOLOMON REALISED THAT FOR YAHUAH AND FOR HIS WORSHIPPERS, THE TEMPLE WAS MERELY A PLACE OF MEETING AND EVEN THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT COULD BE WELL-DEFINED. WHILE THE TORAH LAW HAD REQUIREMENTS FOR ATTENDANCE AT THE TEMPLE ON CERTAIN OCCASIONS, PRAYERS DIRECTED FROM ANYWHERE TOWARDS THE TEMPLE WERE JUST AS EFFECTIVE AS IF ONE WERE STANDING IN ITS COURTYARDS.
31Those who wrong others will be brought to this altar. If they are not guilty, they will make an oath and promise that they are innocent. 32Please listen from Heaven and judge them. If they are guilty, please show us that they are guilty. And if they’re innocent, please show us that they are not guilty. 33Sometimes your people Yisharal will sin against You, and their enemies will defeat them. Then the people will come back to You and praise you. They will pray to You in this Temple. 34Please listen in Heaven, please listen to the prayers of Your people Yisharal. Forgive them for their sins and let them have their land again, for You gave this land to their ancestors. 35Sometimes they will sin against You, an You will stop the rain from falling on their land. Then they will pray toward this place, speaking and praising Your Name again. You make them suffer, and they will be sorry for their sins. 36So please listen in heaven to their prayer. Then forgive us for our sins and teach the people to walk in Your good ways. Then, YAHUAH, please send rain to the land You gave them. 37The land might become very dry and no food will grow on it. Or maybe a great sickness will spread among the people. Maybe all the food that is growing will be destroyed by insects. Or your people might be attacked in some of their cities by their enemies. Or many of your people might get sick. 38When any of these things happen, and people feel compelled in their hearts to spread their hands in prayer toward this House, 39please listen to their prayer. Listen while You’re in Your dwelling place of Heaven and forgive them and help them. Only You know what people are really thinking, so only you can judge them fairly. 40Do this so that Your people will fear and respect You all the time that they live in this land that You gave to our ancestors. 41-42Foreigners from other places will hear about Your greatness and power, and come from far away to pray at this House. 43From Your dwelling place of Heaven, please listen to their prayers. Please do everything the people from other places ask You also. Then they will fear and respect You the same as Your people here in Yisharal. Then all people everywhere will know that I built this mighty House for Your Name to rest. 44Sometimes You will command Your people to go and fight against their enemies. Then Your people will turn toward the city that You have chosen and the House that I built in your Name, and they will pray to you, YAHUAH. 45Please listen to their prayers from Your dwelling place of Heaven, and help them. 46Your people will sin against You. I know this because everyone sins. And You will be angry with Your people. You will let their enemies defeat them. Their enemies will make them prisoners and carry them to some faraway land. 47In that faraway land, Your people will think about what happened and they will be sorry for their sins, and they will pray to You again. They will say, ‘We have sinned and done wrong.’ 48They will be in that faraway land of their enemies, but they will turn back to You. They will feel sorry for their sins with their whole heart and being. They will turn toward the land You gave their ancestors. They will look toward the city You chose and toward the House I built, and they will pray to You. 49Please listen to their prayers from Your special dwelling place of Heaven, and do what’s right. 50Forgive Your sinful people for all the things they’ve done against You. Make their enemies be kind to them. 51Remember that they are Your people, Your inheritance, and that You brought them out of Egypt, that hot furnace! 52Please listen to my prayers and to the prayers of your people Yisharal. Listen to their prayers any time that they ask You for help. 53You have chosen them from all the peoples of the earth to be Your own special inheritance. YAHUAH, You promised to do that for us. You used Your servant Moses to make that promise when You brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
DOES THIS ALL SOUND FAMILIAR? THINK BACK TO MOSES AND THE TABERNACLE. OF COURSE THE UNCHANGING YAHUAH DEDICATED SOLOMON’S TEMPLE OF STONE AND WOOD IN YERUSHALIM IN THE SAME WAY HE DID THE PORTABLE ONE MADE OF FABRIC, ANIMAL SKINS, AND WOOD AT THE FOOT OF MT. SINAI.
AND BY REPEATING THIS PATTERN THE PEOPLE KNEW THAT YAHUAH PRONOUNCED THIS TEMPLE, THIS HOUSE, ACCEPTABLE AND NOW IT'D BEEN PURI-FIRED.
59I pray that YAHUAH our Alahim will always remember this prayer and what I have asked. I pray that He will do these things for His servant, the King, and for His people, Yisharal. I pray that He will do this every day. 60If He will do these things, all the people of the world will know that YAHUAH is the only true Alahim. 61You people must be loyal and true to YAHUAH our Alahim. You must always follow and obey all of His Laws and Commands. You must continue to obey in the future as you do now.”
62Then King Solomon and all the Yisharalites with him offered sacrifices to YAHUAH. 63Solomon killed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep as Intimate-Peace Offerings to YAHUAH. In this way the King and the people showed that they had dedicated the Temple to YAHUAH. 64King Solomon also dedicated the yard right in front of YAHUAH’s Temple. He offered Ascending-Near Offerings, Love-Grain Offerings, and the fat from the animals that were used as Intimate-Peace Offerings.
66The next day Solomon told the people to go home. All the people thanked the King, said goodbye, and went home. They were happy because of all the good things that YAHUAH had done for David His servant and for His people Yisharal.
ALL UP, THE THRONGS OF PEOPLE REMAINED IN YERUSHALIM FOR 15 DAYS TOTAL, WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING TO BEHOLD. NO DOUBT THEY CAMPED OUT FOR MILES AROUND THE CITY.
NOW AN IMPORTANT EVENT HAS BEEN LEFT OUT OF THIS EVENT IN 1 KINGS 8 - BUT WE FIND IT RECORDED IN 2 CHRONICLES 7:
1When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from the sky and burned up the Ascending-Near Offering and the sacrifices, and the esteem of YAHUAH filled the Temple. 2The priests could not enter YAHUAH’S Temple because the esteem- cloud of YAHUAH filled it. 3When all the Yisharalites saw the fire come down from Heaven and the esteem of YAHUAH on the Temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces low to the ground, worshipping and thanking YAHUAH, singing, “For YAHUAH is good, and His loving-kindness will last forever.”
54When Solomon prayed to YAHUAH, he was on his knees in front of YAHUAH’S altar and his arms were raised toward Heaven. When he finished praying, he stood up. 55Then, in a loud voice, he asked YAHUAH to bless all the people of Yisharal, saying 56“Praise YAHUAH! He promised to give rest to His people, Yisharal, and He has given us rest! He used his servant Moses and made many good promises to the people of Yisharal. And He has kept every one of them! 57I pray that YAHUAH our Alahim will be with us, as He was with our ancestors. I pray that He will never leave us. 58I pray that we will turn to Him and follow Him. Then we will obey all the laws, decisions, and commands that He gave our ancestors.
KING SOLOMON INVOKES MOSES’ NAME AND REMINDS THE PEOPLE THAT WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE IS ALL PART OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT THAT YAHUAH HAD MADE WITH MOSES 500 YEARS EARLIER. YAHUAH WAS WITH YISHARAL BECAUSE HE SAID HE WOULD BE, AND THEIR MANY VICTORIES OVER THEIR ENEMIES AND THE FACT THAT THEY ARE NOW AT REST IN THE LAND OF CANAAN, PARTICIPATING IN THIS DEDICATION CELEBRATION, IS EXPERIENTIAL PROOF OF YAHUAH’S PROMISE OF HIS MYSTERIOUS PRESENCE BEING WITH THEM. BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER STRONG IMPLICATION IN WHAT SOLOMON WAS SAYING, FOR IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR THE PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT NOW THAT THE TEMPLE WAS COMPLETED AND DEDICATED, AND THAT ALL OF YAHUAH’S PROMISES MADE TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB ABOUT ARRIVING AND SETTLING IN CANAAN HAD BEEN MET, THAT YAHUAH WOULD NOT LEAVE THEM TO THEMSELVES. SO SOLOMON PRAYED ALOUD IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE THAT YAHUAH WOULD NOT ABANDON THEM, JUST AS HE HAD NOT ABANDONED THE PATRIARCHS.
King Solomon made these offerings there in the yard, because the bronze altar in front of YAHUAH was way too small to hold them all. 65So there at the Temple, King Solomon and all the people of Yisharal celebrated this festival, and people came from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the border of Egypt in the south. This huge crowd of people ate, drank, and enjoyed themselves together with YAHUAH for seven days. Then they stayed for another seven days.
2 CHRON 711So Solomon finished building YAHUAH'S’ Temple and the King’s Palace. Solomon did everything that he had planned to do in building a house for YAHUAH and for himself. 12Then YAHUAH appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “Solomon, I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for myself to be a house for sacrifices. 13When I close the sky so that there is no rain, or command the locusts to destroy the land, or send sicknesses to my people 14and if my people who are called by my name become humble and pray, and look for me, and turn away from their evil ways, then I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15Now, my eyes are open, and my ears will pay attention to the prayers prayed in this place. 16I have chosen this Temple, and I have made it a set-apart place. So I will be honored there forever, My Name will rest here and I will watch over it and think of it always. 17You must serve Me with a pure and honest heart, just as your father David did. You must obey My laws and do everything that I commanded you. If you obey all I have commanded, and if you obey My laws and Rules, 18then I will make you a strong King and your Kingdom will be great. That is the Blood-Covenant I made with David your father when I told him that Yisharal would always be ruled by one of his descendants. 19“But if you don’t obey My Laws and Commands that I gave you, and if you worship other deities and serve them, 20then I will take the Yisharalites out from My land that I gave them. And I will leave this Temple that I have made set-apart for My Name. I will make this Temple something that all the nations will speak evil about. 21Everyone who sees it will be amazed. They will ask, ‘Why did YAHUAH do this terrible thing to this land and to this Temple?’ 22People will say, ‘This happened because they left YAHUAH, the Alahim of their ancestors. He brought them out of Egypt, but they decided to follow other deities. They began to worship and to serve those deities. That is why He caused all these bad things to happen to them.’”