>> Jen: Hey, good morning faithful listeners. My name is Jen. I am the host of the Bible Explained podcast. Thanks for being here to share a delicious hot cup of coffee or tea with me. This morning we'll be reading first kings chapter eight one through 13. Today. We're going to be talking today about Solomon dedicating the temple to God and bringing the ark of the covenant to God. But already we are starting to see a couple problems, like directly after the temple
is built. So let's read one kings eight. I'll be reading this out of the web as I always do, but of course, feel free to pause the podcast and grab the version of the Bible that you prefer and also your hot beverage this morning. Let's jump right in with first kings 8:1-13 then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel with all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers, households of the children of Israel to King Solomon in Jerusalem, bring up the ark of Yahwehs covenant out
of Davids city which is Zion. All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the 7th month. All the elders of Israel came and the priests picked up the ark. They brought up Yahwehs ark, the tent of meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites
brought these up. King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled to him were with him before the Arkansas, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. The priests brought in the Ark of Yahweh's covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the Cherubim's wings. For the cherubim spread their wings out over the place of the ark. And the cherubim covered the ark and its poles
above. The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary. But. But they were not seen outside. They are there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets which Moses put there at Horeb. When Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of the
land of Egypt. It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled Yahweh's house, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for Yahweh's glory filled Yahweh's house. Then Solomon said, Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in
forever. Now that the temple is completely finished, Solomon is ready to dedicate it now and to bring the ark of the covenant out of the tenemeeting, which was the original tabernacle, you know, the one they had back in the wilderness, and put the ark of the covenant in the new temple in the most holy place. So Solomon, it says, assembled all of the elders of
Israel and all the princes of Israel. So all of the tribe heads and brought them all together for this big feast in Jerusalem so that they could dedicate the temple to God bless and also put the ark of the Covenant into the temple as well. It says, the priest brought up the Ark of Yahweh's covenant out of David's city, which is Zion. Now, just to let you guys know, Zion is basically just Jerusalem. You'll see the term Jerusalem and Zion
interchangeable in scripture. But Zion was a specific place in Jerusalem. It was a hill. And it was apparently also where the ark of the covenant was staying until it went into the new Temple. It says the priests picked up the ark and they brought up Yahweh's Ark, the Tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent to the new Temple. Now, the only people allowed to touch the Ark of the covenant were the priests, specifically the Kohathite
priests. Now, the tribe of Levi, which made up the priests, had three like sub tribes, kind of the Kohathites, the. Oh, gosh, I can't remember them all. One started with an m. M. I know that it doesn't really matter, but the Kohathites were the only ones allowed to touch the ark of the covenant. And then one of the other sub tribes were allowed to touch the tenemeting. And then the third sub tribe were allowed to
touch the temple furniture. So this was not a simple process to take apart all of this stuff and carry it over to the temple. In fact, it was a pretty in depth process. It would have taken quite a long time. So maybe while Solomon and the elders were waiting for the priests to pack up all the stuff, they, uh, had this feast that is talked about here. We know that these feasts, back in old days would last for days and days on end. So this probably was not a
short one day thing. This probably was actually a pretty long feast. Now, one other thing it says here was that all of this was done in the month of Athanim, which is the 7th month. But if you go back a couple chapters, you'll notice that the Ark of the covenant was completed in the 8th month. This means that Solomon waited an entire eleven months to dedicate the
temple. I don't know if it was because things needed to be put in place in the new temple and everything needed to be spic and span and cleaned up. Um, or if Solomon just thought it was necessary to wait almost an entire year to dedicate the temple. Some people say it was because Solomon wanted to wait until the feast of booths took place, which, the feast of booths was a very energetic, fun holiday that the Israelites would celebrate, and still do celebrate, actually,
to this day. And it was in remembrance of goddesse supplying all of the Israelites needs when they were in the wilderness. And they would, you know, put up these shelters and just have a big old feast for almost like a week long. And it was a very fun celebration that everybody could take place. And it wasn't just for Israelites, actually. God actually encouraged the foreigner to take place in this particular celebration and feast.
So it's possible Solomon wanted to wait a, until the feast of booths, because it was a feast where a lot of people would already be celebrating, would already be remembering their freedom from bondage out of Egypt, and where many people would be in the city already to see this historic action take place. The ark going into the very first temple to God moving forward, it says that the priests took all of the holy vessels that were in the tent and brought them
to the new temple. While all of this is happening, it says King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled to him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle
that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. So while the priests were walking with the ark, because only the priests once again, were allowed to touch the Ark of the covenant, it says Solomon and all of Israel were bringing tons of animal sacrifices to sacrifice in dedication to the ark being brought into the temple. Now, what's really bizarre about this, and, uh, I find this personally bizarre, you might not think
anything of this. It says that they offered so many sacrifices that they could not be counted or numbered for multitude. If you look back in the Old Testament law, I think people have a misunderstanding of what sacrifice was supposed to be. Most people think that God ordered animals to just die left and right. And yes, animals were supposed to be the sacrifice for people's sins. That was the point of the animal's sacrifice, because the wages of
sin is death, right? So when we sin, the payment for that sin is something has to die. That is the, the rules of nature. That is what God said at the very beginning in the garden of Eden to Adam. He specifically said, in the day that you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will die. And he wasn't talking about his physical body, but his spiritual body, because sin equals death. All of humanity knows this. All of humanity throughout time, has performed animal sacrifices to
some extent. People know this, that death has to happen in order to be freed from sins. But God in the levitical law, really showed what He wanted from animal sacrifices. It was supposed to be a solemn event where the priests would actually lay their hands on the innocent animal and reflect on how this innocent animal would have to die for the sins of whoever was sacrificing it. It was not supposed to be just like slaughtering animals left and right. In fact, God even
said that. He said to people, to the Israelites, uh, as a whole, do not make sacrifices on your own property. Do not build altars on your own property. Don't make sacrifices for animals on your own property. Do it the right way. And that was because God didn't want just a massive slaughter of animals to take place needlessly. He wanted everything to be done decently and in order. So He had the people bring the animal sacrifice to the priests.
But the other thing you're going to notice if you read through the entire levitical law about sacrifices is that God didn't command animal sacrifices very much at all. There was only a few instances where God bless told people to bring animal
sacrifices. You know, we think of the Old Testament and we see passages like this where people were sacrificing so many animals that they couldn't be counted or numbered, that God loved this and that God was super happy about sacrifices and just wanted the slaughter of innocent animals. But like I said, if you go back to the Old Testament law, you're going to see that that's not really the case.
And what's really funny is that David, Solomon's dad, really understood this about God bless, that God does not delight in animal sacrifices. So let's read a few passages about what God thinks about animal sacrifices, and this is all found in scripture. Psalm 50 116, David says, for you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. Hosea six six says, and this is God speaking, I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice the knowledge of God
rather than burnt offerings. Then psalm 46 eight, which psalm 40, by the way, is my favorite chapter of the Bible. And also the namesake of p 40 ministries. And speaking of psalm 40, I have a wonderful psalm 40 beanie available in the shop. Lincoln bio shameless advertisement right there. But psalm 46 eight says, in sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offerings and sin offerings you have not required.
Then I said, behold, I have come. In the scroll of the book it is written of me, I delight to do your will, oh my God your law is within my heart. David understood that God does not delight in animal sacrifices. Then in Isaiah 111 through 33, which I won't read this whole thing, God talks about how like odious he finds sacrifices, specifically the way the Israelites were doing them. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? Said the LORD, I have had enough of burnt offerings, of
rams and the fat of well fed beasts. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or of goats. Then Jeremiah 721 23 says, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, add your burnt offerings
to your sacrifices and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices, but this command I gave them, obey my voice and I will be your God, and you shall be my people, and walk in all the way that I command you,
that it may be well with you. And then lastly, Hebrews ten four through ten is actually a passage where Jesus talks about sacrifices, animal sacrifices, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away the sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but, uh, a body have you prepared for me in burnt offerings and sin
offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come to do your will, o God as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. Then Hebrews explains, when he said above, you have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings. These are according to the law. Then he added, behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first
in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. So from the very beginning, God never desired animal sacrifice. And honestly, why would he? He wouldn't. Because animal sacrifices just prove sin. Animal sacrifices wouldn't have had to take place if sin didn't exist. So why would God be, like, super happy about animal sacrifices? He wouldn't because firstly, He loves
animals. And secondly, because he created them. And secondly, he doesn't like sin, so he doesn't like death. And animal sacrifices were just death. Now, of course, God bless told the Israelites how to do animal sacrifices the right way if and when they were going to do them. But ultimately, everything God commanded from the very beginning, and we can see this actually just two chapters ago, in one kings six, all God commanded was for the people to have a heart for him. Not a bunch of animal
sacrifices, but for the people to have a heart for Him. What did he say to Solomon? In one kings six, he said, as for this temple you're building, if you just walk in my commandments and you love me with your heart, I will be with you. You don't have to build me a temple for me to be with you. I will be with you. If you walk in my ways and listen to my commandments and love me, I'll be here. So God never
desired animal sacrifices. And, you know, Solomon, I don't think, understood this really about God, whereas David did. David, Solomon's dad, understood this. And actually, you can see the difference between Solomon and David because Solomon does tons of animal sacrifices throughout his lifetime. David hardly did any. Actually, there was a handful he did. But for the most part, you don't see David doing a lot of animal sacrifices, but you see Solomon just like having a bloodbath with
animals. One thing that frustrates me, people get into this mindset that the people written about in scripture, other than Jesus, of course. Uh, it's almost like they think that they're perfect and that they barely did anything wrong unless something was, like, an obvious sin. Like David obviously cheated with Bathsheba and then killed Bathsheba's husband. That's wrong. Yeah, but otherwise, David was basically perfect, except for that. Same with Solomon. You'll see so many people
defending Solomon. And everything that Solomon did, he wasn't perfect. He was a human being. And he didn't understand what God bless desired the same way that David did. So Solomon sacrifices all the sheep and cattle that can't be counted or numbered for multitude. Now, could Solomon have been trying to give his best to God? Absolutely. I think that's probably what Solomon was trying to do
here. And so God looks at the heart, and maybe Solomon thought that this was something that needed to happen. Um, but anyway, moving forward, the priest brought in the ark of Yahweh's covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the cherubim's wings, for the cherubim spread their wings out over the place of the ark. The cherubim
covered the ark and its poles above. The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside. They are there to this day. So as of the time that this was written, the Ark of the Covenant was still there. We know that the Ark of the Covenant is not there right now because the temple got destroyed and then rebuilt. And we don't know where the Ark of the Covenant is these days, though some people claim, uh, to
know where it's at. I don't know how much I believe that, but people like to. To claim they know where it is. It says the poles of the Ark of the Covenant were so long that it actually extended out of the most holy place, which is kind of interesting. Um, so I don't know if Solomon didn't think about that when he built the most holy place or if that was intentional. Not sure. But the Poles weren't supposed to be removed from the Ark of the covenant, so they're basically
stuck like that. But verse nine is interesting. There is nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets which Moses put there at Horeb when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. So what the heck happened to the other stuff that was supposed to be in the Ark of the Covenant? There's supposed to be two other things in there. A golden container of manna and also Aaron's rodental. So there was supposed to be multiple things in the Ark of the
Covenant. Not just the stone tablets, the Ten Commandments, but for some reason, there's only the Ten Commandments in here. So what happened to the other stuff? We have no clue. It could have been that when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant back in, I think it was one Samuel, they could have taken it out. But to me, I'm kind of like, why didn't they take out the Ten Commandments as well?
Not sure. But then afterward, when the Ark of the Covenant went back to Israel, there's a story of how several israelite men and women opened up the Ark of the covenant to look inside to make sure that everything was in there. And I think they died. If I remember incorrectly, I'm pretty sure they died, um, of. Because God said, no one's supposed to touch it. And also, you're not supposed to look inside. But somebody at some point looked inside and took those things out of the Ark of the
covenant. Where were they? We don't know. So some sort of problem is happening here, because God said not to open the ark of the covenant, and clearly the Ark of the covenant has been opened. I saw a funny meme and it was making fun of humanity. And it basically said, this is the whole essence of humanity. God: you people should do this thing. The people did not do it. Is that not true? Like, every single story in the Bible is just everybody doing the opposite of what God tells them
to do. Like, they never are doing the thing that God asked them to do. Like, at any point in time. It's just crazy. And we're all guilty of that, obviously. Every single one of us. We all fall short of God. So after this, it says, it came to pass when the priest had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled Yahweh's house. Now, this cloud is obviously talking about the Holy
Spirit. We've seen this cloud multiple times. Once in the desert, you know, it was the cloud that covered the Israelites and showed them which way to go. Then we see a cloud in, uh, the New Testament, during the transfiguration of Jesus, and several other times as well. It says that this cloud came and filled the entire temple, so much so that the priests couldn't even go in to the temple. And that just shows how much holier God was than the
priests. Because the priests felt so unholy in God's presence, they couldn't even enter into the temple. The priests could not stand to minister. They couldn't stand it. They could not stand God's presence by reason of the cloud. For Yahweh's glory filled Yahweh's house. That is how much greater God is than us. He is so much greater than us that we can't even stand in his presence. We can't stand it. Then Solomon said, Yahweh has said that he would
dwell in the thick darkness. I surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever. I think this is supposed to be a poem that Solomon was singing or writing about the temple, but it is interesting that he mentions that this is God's house of habitation and also a place for God to dwell in forever. As wise as Solomon was, he did not know the future, because God bless obviously was
not going to dwell in this temple forever. In fact, God bless was going to, um, leave the temple very quickly after Solomon, uh, died. God's presence did not stay very long in the temple because the Egyptians actually went into the temple and completely looted it. We'll get into that much later. But God's presence did not dwell in that temple forever. And God even said to David and probably to Solomon as well, I don't live in a house made of human hands. Like, what kind of a house
could you make me? I have all of heaven as my throne. What kind of a house can you make me? I don't live in a house of human hands, but because of God's mercy and God's love. And it specifically says God loved Solomon because of God's love and mercy. He came down into the temple and he lived there. Isn't that just kindness? You know, kind of like, I guess I'm not a mom, but I imagine it's similar to when your child gives you a really terrible drawing and you love it. It's probably the same thing
to God. He's probably like, aw, this is a nice little temple. And just like calms down and lives in it out of kindness and mercy to Solomon. But in actuality, he's got all of creation as his throne. But Solomon, I think there's a little bit of arrogance and pride here, maybe in this poem that he wrote, but maybe I'm reading it wrong, maybe no, you know what? I don't think I am. I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place
for you to dwell in forever. I think there's a little bit of arrogance going on with that poem that Solomon wrote to God bless. But tell me what you guys think. As usual, I love hearing from all of you. You can comment on whatever platform you are listening on, or you can directly message me or email me. M I do read my emails and I also try to respond to all of them. And of course, if you ever have
a prayer request, be sure to send it my way. But faithful listeners, I hope to see you all on tomorrow's podcast episode, and I hope that you all have a fantastic and wonderful rest of your day. Happy listening and God bless. Mhm. I.