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absolute darkness. All lavers, shovels, and basins used in the service of the Court were of bright brass, and they were made in such vast numbers that king Solomon left them unweighed; while the bowls, snuffers, basins, and spoons used in the Holy were, like the altar, the table, and the candelabra, of pure gold.

102. DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.

[1 KINGS VIII.; 2 CHRON. VI. VII.]

The seventh month in the year, when the Feast of Tabernacles was solemnised, a season of rejoicing, hallowed by religious observances, was the time selected for the dedication of the Temple. As usual, the inhabitants of Palestine came flocking in their long caravans to Jerusalem, the holy city, and for miles round about its walls. the tents of the strangers were pitched. But on this occasion the pilgrims were attracted by an event of singular solemnity and interest. We can well fancy their impatient anxiety to witness at last the completion of the Lord's House, their eagerness to behold its wonders, and their zeal to be present when the Ark was deposited in its new and permanent resting-place. In that eventful year the Feast of Tabernacles was to last fourteen days, or twice the usual period.

Early on the morning of the great day, the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the priests, and the Levites, assembled at the holy hill of Gibeon. From thence they took the Tabernacle of the desert, the holy vessels and implements, with the Ark itself. Thus laden, they set out on their way to the gates of Jerusalem. They were met during their progress by the king in his splendid robes, and by an immense congregation. Countless offerings preceded the Ark, and a sacrifice was presented at

very frequent intervals. At last the procession arrived at the outer Court of the Temple. How the vast concourse of people must have poured in to gaze in astonishment at the altar, and the lavers, and the brass columns! The Ark contained the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, and nothing else. It was carried by the priests through the Court and the porch into the Holy, where they must have been startled by the blaze of gold which burst upon their eyes. From that inner chamber they passed into the dark and mysterious Holy of Holies. There, upon the unhewn rock, they placed the Ark, overshadowed by the golden wings of the Cherubim.

Meanwhile the great outer Court was thronged with eager worshippers. Round the huge altar were grouped the priests and Levites, and the musicians arrayed in their white garments, bearing in their hands cymbals and psalteries and harps. A hundred and twenty trumpeters were ready to sound their silver instruments. In front of the altar stood the king in all his youthful manliness and beauty, bearing the insignia of his rank. With one accord, the musicians broke forth into a magnificent strain of music, and for the first time the hymn of praise was heard in the Temple. At that solemn moment, in the presence of the king, the priests and the people, the glory of the Lord filled the sacred edifice and so brilliant was the spectacle that the priests could not minister on account of the dazzling light.

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Then spoke the king: The Lord said that He would dwell in darkness; I have surely built Thee a House to dwell in, a settled place for Thee to abide in for ever.'

He turned towards the people and blessed them. Then, kneeling in the presence of the congregation, he spread forth his hands and offered up a beautiful and impressive prayer. It is one of the finest forms of supplication that have been preserved to us; for it

breathes a purity of religious feeling almost unknown before, and reveals, as nothing else does, the greatness of Solomon's mind, the largeness of his religious views, and the depth of his moral sentiments.

After a short invocation, the king exclaimed: But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less this House that I have built! Yet have Thou respect to the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord, my God, to hearken to the cry and to the prayer, which Thy servant prays before Thee to-day: that Thy eyes may be open toward this House night and day, even toward the place of which Thou hast said, My name shall be there. . . . And hearken Thou to the supplication of Thy servant and of Thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place; and hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling place; and when Thou hearest, forgive.

If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before Thy altar in this House: then hear Thou in heaven, and do, and judge Thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteous

ness.

"When Thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against Thee, and shall turn again to Thee, and confess Thy name, and pray, and make supplication to Thee in this House: then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which Thou gavest to their fathers.

'When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against Thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin, when Thou afflictest them: then hear Thou in heaven,

and forgive the sin of Thy servants and of Thy people Israel, that Thou teach them the good wherein they should walk, and give rain upon Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.

If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, or locusts, or if there be caterpillars; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all Thy people Israel, who shall know every man the grief of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this House: then hear Thou in heaven Thy dwellingplace, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart Thou knowest (for Thou, Thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men), that they may fear Thee all the days they live in the land which Thou gavest to our fathers.

'Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of Thy people Israel, but comes out of a far country for Thy name's sake (for they shall hear of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched-out arm), when he shall come and pray toward this House: hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and do according to all for which the stranger calls to Thee; that all people of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel; and that they may know that this House, which I have built, is called by Thy name.

'If Thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever Thou shalt send them, and shall pray to the Lord toward the city which Thou hast chosen, and toward the House that I have built for Thy name: then hear Thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against Thee (for there is no man that sins not), and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them

away captives to the land of the enemy far or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication to Thee in the land of those who carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; and so return to Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive, and pray to Thee toward their land, which Thou gavest to their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the House which I have built for Thy name: then hear Thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause; and forgive Thy people that have sinned against Thee, and all their transgressions, wherein they have transgressed against Thee, and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: for they are Thy people and Thy inheritance which Thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron; that Thy eyes may be open to the supplication of Thy servant, and to the supplication of Thy people Israel, to hearken to them in all that they call for to Thee. For Thou hast separated them from among all the people of the earth, to be Thy inheritance as Thou hast spoken through Moses Thy servant, when Thou didst bring our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.'

When the last words were uttered, Solomon rose from his knees, blessed the congregation a second time, and then commenced the sacrifices of dedication. Huge as was the altar, it was too small for the occasion. For it is related that 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep were killed on that day; therefore the middle of the Court was hallowed by the king for this special purpose. Suddenly a miraculous fire descended from heaven, and consumed the sacrifices. When the children of Israel beheld the glory

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