What a glorious moment in time when all the dedicated
vessels are brought into the newly dedicated temple, the Holy place is set up
and then the ark is brought into the Holy of holies! Did you notice that all that was in the ark
were the tablets of the Law? At one time
there was manna and the staff of Aaron's that budded to signify he was God's
chosen man for the priesthood. I wonder
what happened to the tent itself. It was
truly amazing that this fabric tent had survived forty years in the wilderness
and then the period of the judges which we put at about 350 years, the kingships
of Saul and David and the period it took to build the temple. As the ark is set into place, the glory of
the Lord fills the temple so that the priests cannot stand to minister
there. The smoke of the voluminous
sacrifices would have filled the city and been seen for miles. Solomon steps in as both priest and king to
dedicate the temple. In many ways this
day is the fulfillment of the promises of God to Abraham and the proof is the
shekinah glory in the temple.
It seems strange to juxtapose the betrayal of Jesus in the
night with this passage about the dedication of the temple. Solomon said, at the beginning of his
dedication, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness." The glory was inexpressible, incomprehensible
light, just like the light that shone through at the Transfiguration of Jesus
only a short time before this night. The
time for betrayal was night, darkness, and Jesus calls them out on it, "Day
after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me." Then, the saddest sentence in the Gospel,
"And they all left him and fled."
It looks like Jesus is going to give up without a fight so they all take
off. One, whom we believe to be John
Mark, flees but is caught up until his garment breaks away and he flees naked,
and we presume, ashamed.
Although Paul was a prisoner of the state in Rome he was not
kept from preaching the Gospel. He summoned
the Jews first to make his case and they say they have heard nothing from
Jerusalem about him but they have heard about this sect, that it is everywhere
spoken against. Paul reasons with them through
Scripture but there comes a time when everyone has to decide for themselves if
they believe. Some do and some
don't. Paul then quotes Isaiah against
them and their unbelief and now it is time to move on to the Gentiles, they
know where they can come for more but he isn't going to dispute with them
forever. For two years Paul preached the
Gospel in Rome freely and then we know no more.
The glory of God was there for, as Paul wrote the Corinthians, we are
the temple of God, the home of His Spirit.
Does the world see that in you?
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