2 Chronicles 5

1 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 gold and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

The Ark Brought to the Temple

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 forever.” 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.

2 Chronicles 5 Commentary

Chapter 5

The ark placed in the temple. (1-10) The temple filled with glory. (11-14)

Verses 1-10 The ark was a type of Christ, and, as such, a token of the presence of God. That gracious promise, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, does, in effect, bring the ark into our religious assemblies, if we by faith and prayer plead that promise; and this we should be most earnest for. When Christ is formed in a soul, the law written in the heart, the ark of the covenant settled there, so that it becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost, there is true satisfaction in that soul.

Verses 11-14 God took possession of the temple; he filled it with a cloud. Thus he signified his acceptance of this temple, to be the same to him that the tabernacle of Moses was, and assured his people that he would be the same in it. Would we have God dwell in our hearts, we must leave room for him; every thing else must give way. The Word was made flesh; and when he comes to his temple, like a refiner's fire, who may abide the day of his coming? May he prepare us for that day.

Cross References 17

  • 1. S 1 Kings 6:14
  • 2. S 2 Samuel 8:11
  • 3. S Numbers 3:31; 2 Samuel 6:12; S 1 Chronicles 15:25
  • 4. S 1 Chronicles 9:1; 2 Chronicles 7:8-10
  • 5. S Numbers 3:31; S 1 Chronicles 15:2
  • 6. Revelation 11:19
  • 7. S Genesis 3:24
  • 8. Hebrews 9:4
  • 9. S Exodus 16:34; S Deuteronomy 10:2
  • 10. S 1 Chronicles 24:1
  • 11. 1 Kings 10:12; 1 Chronicles 9:33; S 1 Chronicles 25:1; Psalms 68:25
  • 12. S 1 Chronicles 13:8; 1 Chronicles 15:24
  • 13. S 1 Chronicles 16:34,41; 2 Chronicles 7:3; 2 Chronicles 20:21; Ezra 3:11; Psalms 100:5; Psalms 106:1; Psalms 107:1; Psalms 118:1; Psalms 136:1; Jeremiah 33:11
  • 14. S Exodus 40:34
  • 15. Exodus 40:35; Revelation 15:8
  • 16. Exodus 19:16
  • 17. S Exodus 29:43; S Exodus 40:35; 2 Chronicles 7:2

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 5 & 6

The words with which chapter five begins are the same with 1Ki 7:51, and what is contained in that and chapter six is much the same with 1Ki 8:1-66 on which see the notes; the blessing of Solomon on the people of Israel, which is there, is here omitted, and two verses are here added, much the same with Ps 132:8-10.

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2 Chronicles 5 Commentaries

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