sculptured forms which nearly resemble the winged creatures1 and mysterious trees familiar to us in Assyrian sculpture. The Cherub with the alternate face of a man and of a lion, and the Palm, then, as afterwards in the Maccabæan2 age, the emblem of Palestine, were worked alternately along the walls. At the end of the chamber were the two symbols of nourishment and feasting, which in a more tangible and material form was represented by the sacrifices: as, on the rough altar outside, the great sacrificial feasts were of animal flesh, so within, the daily offering was of the consecrated loaves on their gilded table, the daily cloud of incense from the gilded altar. A "wall of partition," such as the lighter structure of the tent had not allowed, shut in the innermos sanctuary. But this too was penetrated by foldingdoors of olive-wood; over which hung a party-colored curtain, embroidered with cherubs and flowers. The Holy He who in the progress of the building ventured to look in would have seen a small square chamber, like an Egyptian adytum, absolutely dark of Holies. except by the light received through this aperture. But in the darkness,5 two huge golden forms would have been discerned, in imitation, on a grand scale, of the cherubs which had formed the covering of the ancient Ark. But, unlike those movable figures, these stood firm on their feet; one on the north, one on the south side, waiting to receive the Ark, which was destined to occupy the vacant space between them. Their vast 1 Ezek. xli. 18-20. All knowleged of the cherubs was lost in the time of Josephus (Ant. viii. 3, § 3). 2 See the Maccabæan coins. 4 Debir, i. e. not "oracle," but "innermost part." 5 In the later Temple, workmen for repairs were let into it blindfold 3 1 Kings vi. 31; 2 Chron. iii. 14; (Middoth). Josephus, Ant. viii. 3, § 3. "Thou shalt be wings extended over it and joined in a car or throne, called the "chariot' of the cherubs," to represent the throne of Him who was represented as flying and sitting upon the wings of the wind, and the extension of His protecting shelter over His people, "safe under His feathers." A protuberance of rough rock or stone waited to receive the Ark itself.2 To mark the sanctity of this extremity of the Temple, the chambers which ran round the rest of the building were not allowed to lean against the outer walls of the sanctuary, but, as in the case of an Egyptian adytum, a passage was left free all round it outside. tion. In turning from the building to the history of its The Dedica- erection, every stage of its progress is recorded. The magnitude of the event is marked by the fact that now, for the first time since the Exodus, we have the years and months recorded. The foundationstone was laid in the month Zif (May) of the fourth year of Solomon's reign. It was completed in the month Bul (November) of the eleventh year. And the solemn dedication took place in the month Ethanim (October) of the succeeding year. This interval of nearly a year took place no doubt in order to accommodate it to the great national Festival of the Tabernacles. The whole population came up from the remotest extremities of the empire. The two solemnities were joined; the extraordinary taking the place of the ordinary festival, and the ordinary festival being thus postponed to the following week, so as to make altogether a prolonged holiday of a fortnight.5 1 1 Chr. xxviii. 18; compare Ps. xviii. 10, xcix. 1; Isa. vi., xxxvii. 16; Ezek. i. 26; Ecclus. xlix. 8. 2 Mishna, Joma, v. 2. 1 Kings vii. 65. 4 As afterwards in the dedication of the Temple of Bethel by Jeroboam, 1 Kings xii. 32. See Lecture XXIX. 5 2 Kings viii. 1, 65; 2 Chr. vii. 8, 9, 10. It was on the fourteenth day of the seventh month that the festival opened. Two processions advanced from different quarters. The one came from the lofty height of Gibeon, bearing with it the relics of the old pastoral worship, now to be disused forever. The Sacred Tent, tattered no doubt, and often repaired, with its goats' hair covering and boards of acacia wood, was carried aloft. Together with it were brought the ancient brazen altar, the candlestick, and the table of shewbread, and also the brazen serpent. A heathen tradition described that the King himself had inaugurated the removal1 with solemn sacrifices. cession. This train, bearing the venerable remains of the obsolete system, was joined on Mount Zion by The proanother still more stately procession, carrying the one relic which was to unite the old and the new together. From its temporary halting-place under the tent erected by David on Mount Zion, came forth the Ark of acacia-wood, covered with its two small winged figures, supported as of old by the Levites on their shoulders. Now, as before when it had removed from the house of Obed-edom, the King and people celebrated its propitious start by sacrifices, -but on a far greater scale, -"sheep and oxen that could not be numbered "for multitude."2 The road (such was the traditional picture preserved by Josephus) was flooded with the streams of blood.. The air was darkened and scented with the clouds of incense; the songs and dances were unintermitted. Onwards the procession moved "up" the slope of the It entered, doubtless, through the eastern gate bill. 1 Eupolemus (in Eusebius, Præp. Ev. ix. 34). He says Enλwp, Shiloh, but this is a natural confusion for Gibeon. 2 1 Kings viii. 5. 3 Ant. viii. 4, § 1. way. It ascended court after court. It entered the Holy Place. And now, before the Ark disappeared for the last time from the eyes of the people, the awful reverence which had kept any inquisitive eyes from prying into the secrets of that sacred Chest gave way before the united feelings of necessity and of irresistible curiosity. The ancient lid formed by the cherubs was to be removed; and a new one without them to be substituted, to fit it for its new abode. It was taken off, and in so doing, the interior of the Ark was seen by Israelite eyes for the first time for more than four centuries, perhaps for the last time forever. There were various relics of incalculable interest which are recorded to have been laid up within, or beside it,1. -the pot of manna, the staff or sceptre of the tribe of Aaron, and the golden censer of Aaron. These all were gone; lost, it may be, in the Philistine captivity. But it still contained a monument more sacred than any of these. In the darkness of the interior lay the two granite blocks from Mount Sinai, covered with the ancient characters in which were graven the Ten Commandments. "There was nothing in the Ark save these." On these the lid was again shut down, and with this burden, the pledge of the Law which was the highest manifestation of the Divine Presence, the Ark moved within the veil, and was seen no more."2 In that dark recep tacle, two gigantic guardians were, as we have seen, waiting to receive it. The two golden cherubs were spreading forth their wings to take the place of the diminutive figures which had crouched over it up to this time. On a rough unhewn projection of the rock, 1 Heb. ix. 4. It may, however, be the testimony" (Exod. xvi. 33; Num that this is an erroneous inference xvii. 10). from "before the Lord," and "before 2 See Lecture VII. 8 under this covering, the Ark was thrust1 in, and placed lengthways, on what is called "the place of its rest."2 Then the retiring Priests, as a sign that it was to go out thence no more, drew forth from it the staves or handles on which they had borne it to and fro; and although the staves themselves remained within the veil, the ends could just be seen protruding through the door, in token that its long wanderings were over. They remained long afterwards, even to the later days. of the monarchy, and guided the steps of the Chief Priest as he entered in the darkness. The final settlement of the Ark was the pledge that the Lord God of Israel had given rest to His people in the new capital of Jerusalem -and also rest to the Levites, that they should no more carry the Tabernacle 5 to and fro. but minister in the fixed service of the Temple. The relics from Gibeon were for the most part stored up in the sacred treasuries. The Altar of incense and the table of shewbread alone were retained for use, and planted in the Holy Place. The Brazen Serpent was set up, if not in the Temple, yet somewhere in Jerusalem; with an altar before it on which incense was burnt.7 The Priests who had thus deposited their sacred burdens came out of the porch, and took up their place in the position which afterwards became consecrated to them, -"between the porch and the altar." Round 4 "Even to this day," 1 Kings viii. 8; 2 Chr. v. 9 (see Keil ad loc.). 5 1 Chr. xxiii. 25, 26. 6 Josephus (Ant. viii. 4, § 1) adde "the candlestick." 7 2 Kings xviii. 4. |