2 Chron 5 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 2 Chron 5:2-14

2 Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 3 And all the Israelites came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month.

4 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, 5 and they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The Levitical priests carried them up; 6 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

7 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. 9 These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

11 The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. 12 All the Levites who were musicians – Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives – 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. 13 The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:

‘He is good;
    his love endures for ever.’

Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

A. Find Out:

1. What was Solomon’s next task & who did he call for it? v.2
2. Who brought what? v.4,5
3. What did Solomon and the people do? v.6
4. Where was the ark put & what was inside it? v.7-10
5. What did the priests do & then the Levites etc. do? v.11-13
6. What then happened? v.13c,14

B. Think:

1. What, obviously, was their attitude towards the ark?
2. What was their attitude towards God?
3. How did God respond?

C. Comment:

     The ark was a box, but it had come to be associated with the manifest presence of God (see Samuel’s story and the story of David trying to bring up the ark). Therefore, when Solomon moves it from the tent to the temple he does so with great care and great reverence. He calls all his leaders to be there, and he ensures that the Levites (those who God had appointed for the task) carried it. As it was moved they appear to have a continual “sacrifice service” going on, as if to acknowledge the Lord and His holiness every step of the way.

     As they bring it into the temple and it is placed in the Most Holy Place, the Levite musicians and priestly trumpet players play and sing and worship God. It is as if they welcome God into His temple in the most whole-hearted manner possible.

     Then, even as had occurred when the tabernacle had first been completed, the glory of the Lord filled the place. It was as if the Lord was approving all that had been done and was acknowledging it by His manifest presence. So great was it, that no one could do anything.

     The lesson that must come from this episode must surely by that when we do all that the Lord has instructed us to do, we may expect Him to bless us with His manifest presence in whatever way is appropriate in the circumstances.

D. Application:

1. Obedience is all-important. Can we say we have completely obeyed the Lord in all things?
2. God blesses obedience. If we have been fully obedient, may we therefore expect the Lord’s presence with us