The Tupelo journal., 1903-12-11
h SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the International Series
for December 13, 19O3-The Ded-
fcation of the Temple.
THE LESSON TEXT.
q Kings Sill. 81, 6S.)

NfssN hAS 0A@H5 ~ 80 oAh "a ALC
covenant of the Lord out of the city of
David, which is Zion.
2. And all the men Of Israel assembled
themselves unto King Solomon at the feast
in the month Ethanim, which is the sew
enth month.
3. And all the elders OF Israel came, and
the priests took up the ark.
4. And they brought up the ark of the
Lord, and the tabernacle of the congrega-
ton, and all the holy vessels that were in
the tabernacle, even those did the priests
and the Levites bring up.
5. And King Solomon, and all the con-
%gregation of Israel, that were assembled
unto him, were with him before the ark,
sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not
be told nor numbered for multitude.
6. And the priests brought in the ark
of the covenant of the Lord unto his place.
into the oracle of the house, to the most
holy place, even under the wings OF the
cherubims.
Z. For the cherubims spread forth their
two wings over the place of the ark, and
the cherublms covered the ark and the
slaves thereof above.
s. And they drew out the slaves, that
the ends of the slaves were seen out in
the holy place before the oracle, and they
were not seen without; and there they ara
unto this day.
9. There was nothing in the ark save the
two tables of stone, which Moses put there
at Horeb, where the Lord made a cove
nant with the children of Israel, when they
came out of the land ofEgypt.
10. And it came to pass, when the priests
were come out of the holy place, tha. the
cloud filled the house of the Lord.
II. So that the priests could not stand to
minister because OF the cloud: for the
glory of the Lord had filled the house Of
the Lord.
81. And the king, and all Israel with him,
offered sacrifice before the Lord.
63. And solomon offered a sacrifice of
peace offerings. which he offered unto the
Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and
an hundred and twenty thousand sheep.
So tie king and all the children OF Israel
dedicated the house of the Lord.
TENT was glad when
they said unto me, Let us go into the
house of the LOrd.-Ps. 122:1.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Preparation for Building the Temple.
Kings 3.
Description of the Temple....... KingS6. :.
Inc dedication Ceremonies Kings SILL.
me Kings Address and Prayer..........
Kings S:t--6t.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Il Kings So When, in his fourth
year, Solomon began to build the tenn
pie, he found that the preparations of
David had made the work very much
lighter than it would otherwise have
Deen. Immense quantities of gold and
silver and brass and iron had been
stored away. Just how great these
quantities were and how much they
were worth in our money we have no
way of knowing, for the numbers, es-
peci1ly in the Books of Chronicles,
seem to be greatly exaggerated. ow-
ing perhaps to the confusion arising
from the use of letters of the Hebrew
alphabet for numbers.
(Chs. 6, y In these chapters is
given an interesting and detailed de-
scription of this most magnificent
building. The cubit was about IS
inches. AS We saw in Lesson TX. the
site of the temple was the threshing-
foo of Ornan, just outside the city.
The temple walls were of huge blocks
of hewn stone. Like the tabernacle.
the sanctuary consisted of two cham
bers; the Holy place Gao cubits long
by 20 broad, and the Holy of Holes,
which formed a perfect cube of 20
cubits. . Auditing upon the out
er walls of the temple were built cham
bers rising in three stories, for the use
of the priests and other officials. The
place OF worship assigned to the peo-
pie was the large outer court, contain
ing a brazen sea or laver intended for
the ceremonial ablutions of the priests.
and doubtless also Though it is not
expressly mentioned) the great brazen
altar of burnt offering. "-Ottley. For
more details of the temple see any
good Bible dictionary.
(Ch. SILLY Solomon assembled
the elders of Israel" etc.: Solomon be-
lieved in the impressiveness of great
pageants. The dedication ceremonies
covered an entire week, and were i'm
mediately followed by the regular
Feast of T~abernacles. ITO bring up
the ark" Which David had estab-
lished temporarily on Zion (the City
of David"). one of the two principal
hills of Jerusalem. And the tent of
meeting" The old tabernacle dating
from the days of Moses. 1t had been
standing of late at Gideon, but was
now brought to be preserved as a sa-
cred relic in the new temple. The
holy vessels" The candlestick. table
for showbread, altar of incense. the
brazen serpent and perhaps the great
brazen altar. Before the ark, sacrifc-
ing" The whole c%ers3tonial was re-
ligious and the most Impressive part of
it to the people wa the sacrificing. 1t
expresses sheir gratitude and praise,
but afso their confession of sin and
ths.y faith that Jehovah might be ap-
preached in penitence and would glad
ly pardon the sin, The animals sacri-
feed provided food for the immense
crowds that thronged the city. The
oracle" Better, the most holy place.
Tvs. 1860 After the priests had
placed the ark in the most holy place
the singers e Chron. 5:13) burst forth
with what has been called the national
anthem of the Hebrews, For He is
good; for His loving-kindness endureth
for ever"
EfDs and Tlsxls