Verses 2-10

C. The Dedication of the Temple5:2-7:10

The dedication ceremony consisted of four parts: the installation of the ark, Solomon"s address to the people, Solomon"s prayer, and the celebration of the people.

"There can be little doubt that this ceremony, together with God"s response which immediately follows it, marks one of the major climaxes in the Chronicler"s presentation." [Note: H. G. M. Williamson, 1,2Chronicles, p213.]

Verses 2-14

1. The installation of the ark5:2-14

Solomon dedicated the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles ( 2 Chronicles 5:3). The priests brought the ark and the utensils, that had been in the tent David had pitched for the ark, into the temple. The temple site was north of, and higher than, the "city of David" where the Jerusalemites lived. Sacrifices of worship accompanied the installation. The descent of the cloud (shekinah) signified that God"s presence now abode in the most holy place in a localized sense (cf. Exodus 40:34-35). From then on God dwelt there among His people until the Babylonians destroyed the temple in586 B.C. (cf. Ezekiel 10). His presence was the basis for Solomon"s address to the people and his prayer that followed.

The statement in 2 Chronicles 5:9 that the poles of the ark were visible "to this day" suggests that someone wrote Chronicles before the destruction of the temple. However, most scholars believe the evidence for a postexilic date of composition is overwhelming, and that this reference is a copyist"s mistake. Probably it came into this text from 1 Kings 8:8. [Note: See Payne, p460; and C. F. Keil, The Books of the Chronicles, p324.] Evidently the veil did not extend the full width of the sanctuary.