“So Solomon finished all his work on the Temple of the Lord. Then he brought all the gifts his father, David, had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the various articles—and he stored them in the treasuries of the Temple of God. Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of Israel. They were to bring the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion. So all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn. When all the elders of Israel arrived, the Levites picked up the Ark. The priests and Levites brought up the Ark along with the special tent and all the sacred items that had been in it. There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count! Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day. Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left Egypt. Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were present had purified themselves, whether or not they were on duty that day. And the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and all their sons and brothers—were dressed in fine linen robes and stood at the east side of the altar playing cymbals, lyres, and harps. They were joined by 120 priests who were playing trumpets. The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words: “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God.”
2 Chronicles 5:1-14 NLT
There is something poetically profound about this moment in history. To some degree, it is a return to official form for humanity. It is the first time where the presence of God has been called, invoked, by covenant in such a way since Eden. Yes, man had communed with God freely before, but only by his own intervention and his own decree. But a reversal of such had only proven to be disastrous for men. Whether it be the Tower of Babel or the plagues upon the Philistines, man does not simply call God to enter his social heart. This arrangement, first made by David, is made right here. Here we see a kind of prototype for the Christian experience with God. It is, as stated before, the anti-Babel. It was man wanting to meet God on his own terms, and God honoring it. The stairs to heaven were not carved as a ziggurat tower but rather a songbook of praise, and God himself made the structure. A column of smoke descending from the heavens. This did not separate the languages; it unified them. At the heart of this was not the rebellion of men in defiance of the cultural mandate, but it was the acceptance of the word of God mounted in the Holy of Holies and protected by the wings of spirits, as the Holy Spirit protects it now. Here lies the crux of the experience. We need not build a bridge to heaven with our hands. We must build one with our hearts, embed it in our lives, live a life of praise, and God will open heaven to us without a single brick laid.
Significance of the Moment: A return to official form for humanity, marking the first time God’s presence was invoked by covenant since Eden.
Contrast with Babel: Unlike the Tower of Babel, where man sought to reach God on his own terms, this moment represents a prototype for the Christian experience, where God honors man’s desire to connect.
Path to Heaven: God emphasizes the importance of building a bridge to heaven through hearts and lives of praise, rather than physical structures.
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