Who Spoke First?

Who Spoke First?

When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated--the silver and the gold and all the furnishing--and he placed them in the treasuries of God's temple....and all the men of Israel came together to the king at the time of the festival of the seventh month...(2 Chronicles 5:1-3)

All the work was done. The new glorious temple of the LORD was finished! It was the crowning achievement of Solomon's reign.

The bronze altar, the Sea standing on the 12 carved bulls, the special basins, the gold lamp stands, the gold sprinkling bowls, the bronze doors, the four hundred carved pomegranates...all the polished bronze ornaments. According to 2 Chronicles 4,"All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze was not determined..."

And this didn't count all of David's treasures of gold and silver and precious stones that he had assembled during his reign. Not to mention the elaborate embroidered curtains.

1 Kings 7 tells us more, "The capitals of both pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies...gold floral work and lamps and tongs....pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers... "


Such priceless elegance to show glory to Israel's God!

But something was missing!  Something else to bring in - the most important piece of all -- the one thing that had been with God's people, through their journeys from the days of Moses.

They were awaiting the arrival of the carved-in-stone commandments. The tablets that recorded the key obligations of Israel's covenant, the covenant that made Israel God's own special chosen people, and its divinely designed container, called the Ark of the Covenant.

And so they waited. At the Feast of Tabernacles, when the new temple was being dedicated, and as Solomon stood ready to commemorate the occasion, the Ark made its stately journey on its carrying poles from the part of Jerusalem called the City of David to the new temple.

Levites pass it to priests at the temple entrance, and they solemnly place the Ark of the Covenant, containing God's written Word, under the wings of the cherubim in the Most Holy Place.

Crowds fill the courtyard. The people sing and rejoice.

All the Levites who were musicians...stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets...
trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD...they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:

    He is good; His love endures forever.
                 (2 Chronicles 5:12-13)

And then what happened?

Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God
(2 Chronicles 5:12-14).

The glory of the LORD overwhelms them!

So that exact space, in the Most Holy Place, then contained God's Written Word.  The Creator God, symbolized by the cherubim, invaded the space.


Those historical words, carved in stone, have shaped mankind's story for thousands of years. Simple words that even a child can memorize, quote and understand.

Placing the ark in the temple, in its designated place, reminds us for all eternity, that God Himself has spoken to His people before they ever opened their mouths to speak to Him.

Before we even thought to speak to Him, He turned His Face toward us and spoke to us.

And then He continued to speak to us, through His prophets, and through His Son.

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His being  (Hebrews 1:1-2).


He spoke to us before we ever even thought to speak to Him.

We love Him because He first loved us.