TOPIC: REVERENCE FOR THE ARK OF GOD IS REWARDING
Text: 1 Kings 8:1-11
8:1 Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion.
8:2 Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of [a]Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
8:3 So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
8:4 Then they brought up the ark of the Lord, the [b]tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.
8:5 Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.
8:6 Then 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, under the wings of the cherubim.
8:7 For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.
8:8 The poles extended so that the [c]ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.
8:9 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
8:10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord
8:11 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
STUDY:
The Ark of the Covenant was at the centre of the worship of God’s people, Israel. It was previously captured by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:11) and was later brought to Zion by David and kept in the tent he had made for it (1 Sam. 6:16-17). Soon after the dedication of the temple of Jerusalem, King Solomon’s next and most important move was to bring up the Ark of God into the temple and restore it to where it rightly belonged. In doing this, he made sure all the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites, were part of it. By this approach, everyone was connected to the altar and the ark.
If we get ourselves connected to the altar and the Ark of the Covenant of God, we will be certain that God’s blessing will flow from the throne of grace to every one of us. More so, God’s presence will be revealed in our midst, as shown in our passage: “When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple” (vv. 10-11). This experience is worth looking up to.
Prayer:
Oh Lord, help me to always acknowledge your presence, activate it and experience it. Amen.
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