Solomon chose the Feast of Tabernacles for the dedication. This feast was above all an occasion for rejoicing. The labors of the harvest were over, and the people were free from care and could give themselves up to the joyous influences of the hour.
The multitudes of Israel, with richly-dressed representatives from many foreign nations, assembled in the temple courts. The scene was one of unusual splendor. Solomon, with the elders and influential men, had brought the ark of the covenant from another part of the city. The ancient “tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels” in it, had been transferred from Gibeon. 2 Chronicles 5:5. These cherished reminders of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness now found a permanent home in the splendid building.
With singing, music, and great ceremony “the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place.” Verse 7. The singers, dressed in white linen, having cymbals and harps, stood at the east end of the altar with one hundred twenty priests blowing on trumpets. See verse 12.
As “the trumpeters and singers” made themselves heard together “in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, ... the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” Verses 13, 14.
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