HISTORY OF THE WORLDLY SANCTUARY.
THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE.
It was at this time when the Lord had given David "rest round about from all his enemies," that the situation of the house of his God came into his mind, and he said unto Nathan the prophet, See now I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. 2 Sam. viii. This must refer to the tent which he had pitched for it; for the tabernacle, as we have seen, was still at Gibeon. The same may probably be understood of the saying of Uriah the Hittite. 2 Sam. xii, 11. Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee." But the same night he was commanded to tell him that he should not build a house for him to dwell in. This was because he had been a man of war, and had shed much blood. But he was promised that Solomon his son should build the house. 1 Chron. xxii, 8-10. The place where the angel of the Lord appeared to David, at the time the plague was stayed, namely, the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, [chap. xxi, 14-18,] upon mount Moriah, [2 Chron. iii, 1,] which was near to mount Zion, was chosen for its location. Extensive preparations were immediately made for the construction of the building. The neighboring king of Tyre was enlisted to furnish servants and material. The charge which David gave to Solomon and the princes concerning this work, was as follows: "Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise, therefore, and build ye the Sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord. 1 Chron. xxii, 19. And again: Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the Sanctuary: be strong and do it. Chap. xxviii, 10. The plan and whole model of this structure was laid by the same divine architect as the Tabernacle; namely, God himself. After David had given to Solomon an accurate pattern of the house and every thing pertaining thereto, as recorded in 1 Chron. xxviii, 11, and onward, he said, "All this the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." Verse 19. The author of the first book of the Kings and of the second of Chronicles has very fully described the temple and all the apartments belonging to it. The commencement of the work is thus described, in 1 Kings vi, 1, 2: "And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the hight thereof thirty cubits." This was in the year B. C. 1012. In addition to the length of the house above given, there was the porch which was ten cubits, making the whole length of the temple proper, seventy cubits. But the temple, strictly so called, which comprised the portico, the holy, and the holy of holies, formed only a small part of the sacred edifice. It was surrounded by spacious courts, chambers and other apartments much more extensive than the temple itself, as this was never designed to hold a concourse of people, but was for the service of the Lord; and the priests were the only people employed in it. We learn from 1 Kings vi, 17, that the holy place was forty cubits long, and twenty wide, [verse 2,] and the most holy place twenty cubits in length and the same in breadth. Verse 20; 1 Chron. iii, 8. The two holy places of the temple differed from the tabernacle only in being an enlargement of that plan. The vessels of the Sanctuary were also increased in size and number. The cherubim which Solomon made for the most holy place, as described in 1 Kings vi, 23; 2 Chron. iii, 10, were not found in the tabernacle, but were peculiar to the temple. Concerning the whole building the Bible Companion says: "As we possess only verbal descriptions of the temple of Solomon, it is impossible to obtain a very accurate idea of the relative parts, and their respective proportions. Hence we must not feel surprised that no two writers who have undertaken to describe it agree in their descriptions." Says Dr. Clarke, "There is a great variety of opinion concerning the temple, its structure, ornaments, &c.; and modern writers, such as Vitalpandus, Dr. Lightfoot, and Dr. Prideaux, professing to be guided by the same principles, have produced very different buildings." We will not therefore attempt to enter into any particular description of the temple and its various apartments. It will be sufficient for us here to say that it was a structure of wonderful magnificence and splendor. The carving of the walls of the house with figures of cherubim; the overlaying it with pure gold within and without; the doors of olive trees adorned with carved work, and overlaid with gold fitted to the carvings, with the various other ornaments and embellishments of the house, were accomplished at an expense, which, says Dr. Clarke, it is impossible to estimate. At the expiration of seven years and six months from its commencement, the building was completed. The dedication did not take place till the following year, the twelfth of Solomon's reign. Having all things prepared for this joyful occasion, we read that Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, which is Zion. 1 Kings viii. From the narrative of this chapter, we might be led to suppose that the ark and tabernacle were abiding at the same place. But we have seen that the ark was brought into the city of David, and the tabernacle still remained in Gibeon. On this point Dr. Clarke remarks, "It is generally agreed that at this time there were two tabernacles, one at Gibeon, and the other at the city of David, which one David had constructed as a temporary residence of the ark, in the event of a temple being built. Which of these tabernacles were brought into the temple at this time, is not well known; some think both were brought in, in order to prevent idolatry. I should rather suppose the tabernacle from Gibeon was brought in, and that the temporary one erected by David was demolished." As the ark is brought forward "unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place," our attention is arrested by the declaration of verse 9, that there was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb; for we remember having read in Heb. ix, 4, that in the ark were not only the tables of the covenant, but the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. How can we reconcile this apparent discrepancy? That these last were originally placed in the ark is evident. Ex. xvi, 33, 34; Num. xvii, 10. They must therefore have been removed before the time of Solomon; and it must be the tabernacle as it existed during the lifetime of Moses, of which the Apostle speaks. "Therefore, says Calmet, we need not trouble ourselves to reconcile the various scriptures which mention this subject; some of which refer to the tabernacle, others to Solomon's temple, and others to the temple built by Zorobabel, which places were very different from each other." There is another point to which our minds are naturally led in this connection, and that is concerning the book of the law written by Moses: where was it placed? We read in Deut. xxxi, 26, the charge which Moses gave to the Levites, saying, "Take this book of the law and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee." Much doubt exists in many minds even at the present day as to what place is meant by the expression, "in the side of the ark:" some supposing that it meant within, others, upon the outside of the ark. The following criticism from Dr. Prideaux, on this point may not be out of place: "As to the book or volume of the law, it being commanded to be put mitzaad, i. e., on the side of the ark, those who interpret that word of the inside, place it within the ark, and those who interpret it of the outside, place it on the outside of it, in a case or coffer, made on purpose for it, and laid on the right side; meaning by the right side, that end of it which was on the right hand. And the last seem to be in the right as to this matter; for, first, the same word, mitzaad, is made use of where it is said that the Philistines sent back the ark with an offering of jewels of gold put in a coffer by the side of it. And there it is certain that word must be understood of the outside and not of the inside. Secondly, the ark was not of capacity to hold the volume of the law of Moses, with the other things placed therein. Thirdly, the end of laying up the original volume of the law in the temple was, that it might be reserved there as the authentic copy by which all others were to be corrected and set right; and therefore, to answer this end, it must have been placed so as that access might be had thereto on all occasions requiring it, which could not have been done if it had been put within the ark, and shut up there by the cover of the mercy-seat over it, which was not to be removed. And, fourthly, when Hilkiah, the high-priest, in the time of Josiah, found the copy of the law in the temple, there is nothing said of the ark; neither is it there spoken of, as taken from thence, but as found elsewhere in the temple. And, therefore, putting all this together, it seems plain that the volume of the law was not laid within the ark, but had a particular coffer or repository of its own, in which it was placed on the side of it. And the word mitzaad, which answers to the Latin, a latere, cannot truly bear any other meaning in the Hebrew language. And therefore the Chaldee paraphrase, which goes under the name of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, in paraphrasing on these words of Deuteronomy—'Take this book of the law and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant,' renders it thus: 'Take the book of the law and place it in a case or coffer, on the right side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God.'" The Sanctuary and its ark are now again together; the sacred vessels are all brought into their respective places; the movable tabernacle erected by Moses gives place to the permanent and more glorious temple of Solomon; and God takes possession of his habitation. "And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord." The shekinah, or visible glory of God, which had dwelt in the tabernacle had now passed into the temple; and that temple was to be thenceforward the Sanctuary of the Lord. It will be remembered that in the commencement of this article we passed over the prophetic song of Moses, [Ex. xv, 17,] till it should be fulfilled. That time has now arrived. David in Psalm lxxviii, gives a brief outline of Israel's history from their141deliverance from Egypt to his day. Moses standing upon the shore of the Red Sea, looked forward and prophesied. David, standing this side of the accomplishment of that prophecy, looked back and recorded its fulfillment. If then we wish to know what Moses meant, let us see how David says it was fulfilled. Therefore we read: Verses 53, 54, "And he led them on safely so that they feared not, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his Sanctuary, even to his mountain which his right hand had purchased." Verse 56. "And he built his Sanctuary like high palaces," &c. No one can fail to understand these passages, and see that David calls the temple which was here built, the Sanctuary. Hence we see how inapplicable it is to apply Ex. xv, 17, as some have done, to the land of Canaan. The Sanctuary has now reached the summit of its earthly glory. Its sacred vessels are perfect and complete. It contains the very ark which was made by Moses under the express direction of Heaven; and that ark contains the very tables of the covenant which were written by Jehovah himself. The temple building was a structure of magnificence and glory, and there was nothing to hinder the Levitical worship from going forward in all its perfection. We would be happy long to contemplate both the temple and the Sanctuary in this prosperous condition; but sin ever present to mar the affairs of man, soon brings a shade over this bright picture. The temple as above described, retained its primitive splendor but thirty-three years, and from this time its history is one of decline. Its services became more or less imperfect, and its glory gradually departed, till finally it ceased to exist on earth. The reader will remember that the object of this investigation is to make very apparent what the Holy Ghost recognizes as the Sanctuary of the Lord. Claims have been put in at various times and by various persons, in favor of this whole earth, and by others for at least a portion of it, Palestine, as the holy place, the dwelling place, the Sanctuary, of the Lord. But that which is the Sanctuary, we may expect to find the Bible dwelling largely upon, and bringing to our view as such: and we do find upon its sacred pages, continually introduced to us, under the very explicit name of the Sanctuary of the Lord, the building which we have been noticing; hence our interest in investigating the main facts concerning it. We have seen that during Israel's sojourn in the wilderness, this building was fifty-six times called the Sanctuary. From its entrance into the holy land, to its location in the temple, this term is by the sacred penmen nineteen times more expressly applied to it as will be seen from the following quotations: Josh. xxiv, 26; 1 Chron. ix, 29; xxii, 19; xxiv, 5; xxviii, 10; 2 Chron. xx, 8; Ps. xx, 2; xxviii, 2, margin; xxix, 2, margin; lxiii, 2; lxviii, 24; lxviii, 17; lxvii, 15; lxxviii, 54, 69; xcvi, 6, 9, margin; cxxxiv, 2; cl, 1.