2 Chronicles 5:2-14

2 Chronicles 5:2-14

[2] Then Solomon  assembled  the elders  of Israel,  and all the heads  of the tribes,  the chief  of the fathers  of the children  of Israel,  unto Jerusalem,  to bring up  the ark  of the covenant  of the LORD  out of the city  of David,  which is Zion.  [3] Wherefore all the men  of Israel  assembled  themselves unto the king  in the feast  which was in the seventh  month.  [4] And all the elders  of Israel  came;  and the Levites  took up  the ark.  [5] And they brought up  the ark,  and the tabernacle  of the congregation,  and all the holy  vessels  that were in the tabernacle,  these did the priests  and the Levites  bring up.  [6] Also king  Solomon,  and all the congregation  of Israel  that were assembled  unto him before  the ark,  sacrificed  sheep  and oxen,  which could not be told  nor numbered  for multitude.  [7] And the priests  brought in  the ark  of the covenant  of the LORD  unto his place,  to the oracle  of the house,  into the most  place, even under the wings  of the cherubims:  [8] For the cherubims  spread forth  their wings  over the place  of the ark,  and the cherubims  covered  the ark  and the staves  thereof above.  [9] And they drew out  the staves  of the ark, that the ends  of the staves  were seen  from the ark  before  the oracle;  but they were not seen  without.  And there it is unto this day.  [10] There was nothing in the ark  save the two  tables  which Moses  put  therein at Horeb,  when the LORD  made  a covenant with the children  of Israel,  when they came out  of Egypt.  [11] And it came to pass, when the priests  were come out  of the holy  place: (for all the priests  that were present  were sanctified,  and did not then wait  by course:  [12] Also the Levites  which were the singers,  all of them of Asaph,  of Heman,  of Jeduthun,  with their sons  and their brethren,  being arrayed  in white linen,  having cymbals  and psalteries  and harps,  stood  at the east end  of the altar,  and with them an hundred  and twenty  priests  sounding  with trumpets:)  [13] It came even to pass, as the trumpeters  and singers  were as one,  sound  to be heard  in praising  and thanking  the LORD;  and when they lifted up  their voice  with the trumpets  and cymbals  and instruments  of musick,  and praised  the LORD,  saying, For he is good;  for his mercy  endureth for ever:  that then the house  was filled  with a cloud,  even the house  of the LORD;  [14] So that the priests  could  not stand  to minister  by reason  of the cloud:  for the glory  of the LORD  had filled  the house  of God. 

What does 2 Chronicles 5:2-14 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Solomon dedicated the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles ( 2 Chronicles 5:3). The priests brought the ark and the utensils, that had been in the tent David had pitched for the ark, into the temple. The temple site was north of, and higher than, the "city of David" where the Jerusalemites lived. Sacrifices of worship accompanied the installation. The descent of the cloud (shekinah) signified that God"s presence now abode in the most holy place in a localized sense (cf. Exodus 40:34-35). From then on God dwelt there among His people until the Babylonians destroyed the temple in586 B.C. (cf. Ezekiel 10). His presence was the basis for Solomon"s address to the people and his prayer that followed.
The statement in 2 Chronicles 5:9 that the poles of the ark were visible "to this day" suggests that someone wrote Chronicles before the destruction of the temple. However, most scholars believe the evidence for a postexilic date of composition is overwhelming, and that this reference is a copyist"s mistake. Probably it came into this text from 1 Kings 8:8. [1] Evidently the veil did not extend the full width of the sanctuary.