J. O. CORLISS by J. O. Corliss

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 24, 1910

J. O. CORLISS

By J. O. Corliss

History of the Hebrew Sanctuary — No. 5

J. O. CORLISS

Its Establishment in Palestine

It already has been pointed out that the ark was held by the Hebrews to be their guarantee of God’s presence. That they at least counted it as their shield from danger is shown by their carrying it to battle when strongly pressed by the Philistine host. 1 Sam. 4: 3. Indeed, the people were trained to that belief from the time they entered Palestine. It will be remembered that, in order for Israel to cross the Jordan safely, God caused the waters of that river to stand “upon an heap,” and thus the waters were “cut off” before the priests who bore the ark, that the people might pass over on foot. To insure the waters remaining “cut off” until Israel “rushed across” (Heb. of Joshua 4: 10), the ark was retained in the midst of the river bed until the last person was “clean passed over.” The ark was then removed to the river bank “right against Jericho,” and the river immediately resumed its natural course.

But before this was permitted, twelve stones from the center of the river bed were taken to the shore, to be set up in Gilgal as a memorial of the day’s transaction. The people were there taught to reply to inquiries regarding the meaning of that heap of stones, that they were there to commemorate the holding back

of the waters by the presence of the ark in the river bed. Verse 7. And yet, they were told that “God dried up the waters” until the people all crossed over. Verse 23. Coupling these statements with the miracle of the occasion, it must not be thought strange that the people were led to invest the ark with that peculiar sacredness which made them afterward stand in awe of its latent power.

The first night of the Hebrews in Palestine was passed in Gilgal. Just how long they remained there is not definitely known. Shortly after the capture and burning of Ai, however, we find the “camp” of Israel at Makkedah (Joshua 10: 21), ten or twelve miles south of the present Jerusalem, which would imply that the sacred tabernacle was also there. But be that as it may, it seems that about this time, the division of the territory among the tribes was, in a measure, settled. This, however, was not the end of trouble to them; for their experience had only begun in the promised land. They were now to enter upon a campaign of extermination with the warlike nations of the country, whom they expected to supplant.

The first place to engage the attention of the Hebrews was Jericho, the “city of palms.” Gilgal, being about five miles west of the Jordan, was almost a suburb of that famous city, lying close under the range of the whitish-gray mountains of Judea. Spies had already visited the place, and had reported favorably the situation to Joshua. Joshua 2: 1, 23, 24. This first place to be taken, being high and “fenced up to heaven” (Deut. 9: 1) and filled with savage warriors, it would not do to let the people suppose themselves left alone to cope with so powerful a foe. Some visible representation of God must not only accompany them, but take the all-important part in capturing the citadel. The “ark of God,” chosen for this purpose, was therefore taken from the sanctuary and carried in procession around the city walls once each day for six days, and on the seventh day seven times. By a preconcerted arrangement, at the close of the last circuit, seven priests going before the ark were to blow a long blast on their ram-horn trumpets, and at the same time all the people were to shout at the top of their voices. This was done as agreed, and the wall of the city “fell down flat.”

This early use of the ark by the Hebrews, would seem to imply that it was regarded as the important factor in establishing their relation to God. Its location, therefore, would naturally determine the situation of the sanctuary itself, which was designed for God’s “habitation.” As already seen, Gilgal was its first resting-place in Palestine. We next find it at Shiloh, a city of Ephraim. This seems to have been the unanimously chosen site for the sanctuary, since the entire assembly of the people were there present, at the erection of the holy tabernacle. Joshua 18: 1. It probably seemed fitting that this Canaanite Taanath (Joshua 16: 6) should become a permanent “rest” for the “house of God,” since it was located in the midst of Ephraim, one of the sons of Joseph, the first-born of Jacob’s beloved Rachel. Joshua and the people doubtless believed that God recognized Joseph’s birthright title to the ascendancy among the tribes (1 Chron. 5: 1, 2; Gen. 49: 26), and probably this carried some influence in settling upon the principal city of Ephraim as the sanctuary’s resting-place and the capital of the nation.

It is true that in the time of the judges Shechem became a central and important place in the affairs of Israel. Even in Joshua’s day, it had begun to assume a phase which betokened its future greatness, as the coronation city of the realm. Joshua 24: 1; 1 Kings 12: 1. One thing which gave the place its material standing in the eyes of the people was the fact of its being the site of the venerable oak consecrated by both Abraham and Jacob as a sanctuary. Joshua 24: 26. It was also the burial-place of their ancestor Joseph, whose bones were brought thither from Egypt (Joshua 24: 32), and the home and burial-place of Joshua. Joshua 24: 25-30.

But notwithstanding this prominence of Shechem, the Levitical city of refuge in Mount Ephraim (Joshua 20: 7), the sanctuary remained undisturbed in Shiloh from the time of its location there, for more than three hundred years. As before cited, the ark was then removed from its resting-place in the tabernacle, in the days of Eli the high priest, and borne to the field of battle, where it was captured by the Philistines. “The ark of God was taken,” is the sacred record of the event. 1 Sam. 4: 11. Not only this, but the two priests accompanying it, Hophi and Phineas, were slain, and when the news of the calamity reached the ears of Eli, the high priest, he, too, fell down and died. So the tabernacle was forsaken of God; for he had “delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.” Ps. 78: 60, 61.

This indeed was a deep loss to Israel; for by it their sanctuary service was greatly interrupted. So great, indeed, was the grief of all the people at the captivity of their “ark of God” that the irregular services in the rival sanctuary at Dan were then brought to a close. Judges 18: 30, 31. See also God’s condemnation of this rival worship in Ps. 78: 58-64. But if Israel’s grief was great at the loss of the ark, the men of Ashdod were alarmed with its possession; for their own fish-god, Dagon, had been found prostrate, and broken before it. Being thus made weary of their captive assets, the ark was taken to Gath. Here men and boys were smitten with a most painful disorder, when they in turn sent the sacred chest to terrified Ekron. From that place the distressing cries of the people “went up to heaven,” as they prepared to send the ark back to the land of the Hebrews.

Left to themselves, the cows, which drew the cart bearing the ark, went direct to Beth-shemesh, a city seven miles away from Ekron, on the northern border of Judah. The people of Beth-shemesh, after offering in sacrifice the cows which had brought the ark to them, became inquisitive regarding the contents of the ark, and foolishly attempted to view its interior. Many thousands of them died in consequence. Because of this they desired the ark removed from their city, and so sent for the people of Kirjath-jearim (a place on the borders of Benjamin, eight miles west of Jerusalem) to come and take it away. This was done, and the ark was carried into the house of “Abinadab in the hill,” and Eleazar was appointed as its keeper. Here the ark remained twenty years (1 Sam. 7: 2), but the tent of the sanctuary was still at Shiloh.

Mountain View, Cal.