The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries Ancient and Modern. James E. Talmage

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СКАЧАТЬ "before the porch of the Lord" stood the altar of sacrifice. This was of brass twenty cubits square and ten cubits high. To the service of the altar belonged many of the utensils such as basins, pots, and shovels, specially made under the direction of the master craftsman, Hiram of Tyre. Another prominent object within the court was the molten sea, called also the brazen sea.^[48] This great font measured thirty cubits in circumference and stood five cubits high, and was richly ornamented. The walls were a hand-breadth in thickness, and the brim was embellished with flower work. It was mounted on twelve brazen oxen, arranged in groups of three, the groups facing respectively north, south, east and west. The great font stood between the altar and the porch "on the right side of the house, eastward, over against the south."^[49] Associated with the molten sea were ten smaller vessels called lavers, mounted on bases of special construction and provided with wheels to facilitate removal.^[50] The lavers were used in connection with the service of the altar, for the washing of the offerings; but the main font or molten sea was reserved for the ceremonial cleansing of the priests.

      When the House of the Lord was completed, elaborate preparations were made for its dedication. First came the installation of the Ark of the Covenant and its appurtenances, the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the holy vessels. With great solemnity and to the accompaniment of ceremonial sacrifice, the Ark was brought by the priests and placed within the Holy of Holies beneath the wings of the cherubim. At this time the Ark contained only the two tables of stone "which Moses put there." The staves by which the Ark was borne were so drawn out as to be visible from within the Holy Place, and then "it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 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."^[51]

       Then Solomon addressed the assembled multitude, reciting the circumstances under which the building of the Temple had been conceived by his father David and executed by himself, and proclaiming the mercy and goodness of Israel's God. Standing before the altar of the Lord, in the court of the Temple, the king spread forth his hands toward heaven, and offered the dedicatory prayer. The king then blessed the people, saying "Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us."^[52]

      The principal services with the attendant festivities lasted seven days, and "on the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people."^[53]

      For only a third of a century did this splendid edifice maintain its supremacy and glory. In the later years of his reign Solomon had done wickedly in the sight of God and the people had not been slow to follow their king in evil paths. Israel had grown weak in their allegiance to Jehovah and had gone after strange gods. Following the death of Solomon the nation was disrupted. In the fifth year of the reign of Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt besieged the City of David and even despoiled the Temple and carried away part of the sacred treasures. Next, Jehoash, king of one part of the divided nation, took away gold and silver and sacred vessels from the House of the Lord and carried them into Samaria.^[54] It is thus shown that the desecration of the Temple was not effected wholly by the enemies of Israel; the people to whom the House had once been sacred contributed to its profanation. Ahaz, the wicked king of Judah, removed the altar from its place and substituted therefore another fashioned by his own order after the pattern of the altars of the heathen; moreover he took down the molten sea and dismantled the lavers.^[55] Mannasseh, another evil king who reigned in Judah, followed after Baal and set up idolatrous shrines within the very precincts of the Temple.^[56] The precious things of the House of the Lord were used as barter between kings. So, Asa king of Judah purchased the aid of Ben-hadad, to fight against Israel;^[57] so also did Jehoash purchase peace from Hazael king of Syria;^[58] and so did Hezekiah strip the House of the Lord for plunder wherewith to pay tribute to the Assyrians.^[59]

      Some attempts were made to repair the worst of the ravages upon and within the Temple^[60] but it seemed that the House had been abandoned to its fate. In the year 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, completed the destruction of the Temple in connection with his conquest of the kingdom of Judah. Whatever of value was yet there he carried away, and the building was destroyed by fire.^[61]

      There occurs yet one later mention of some of the vessels that had been made for the service of Jehovah—when they were brought out to crown the triumph of Belshazzar in his heathenish feast. Then was manifest the displeasure of the Lord, and the trembling king heard from the lips of Daniel his doom—for he had been unmindful of the fate that had overtaken his father, and had lifted up himself against the Lord of heaven; and had brought out the vessels of the house of God that he and his lords, his wives and his concubines might drink wine therefrom; and he had praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; but the God in whose hand was his breath and whose were all his ways had he not glorified. He had been weighed in the balances and was found wanting; and his kingdom was taken from him. That night, Belshazzar the king was slain.^[62]

THE TEMPLE OF EZEKIEL'S VISION

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      In the twenty-fifth year of the Babylonian captivity, while yet the people of Israel were in exile in a strange land, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Ezekiel; the power of God rested upon him; and he saw in vision a glorious Temple, the plan of which he minutely described.^[63] As to whether the prophet himself considered the design so shown as one to be subsequently realized, or as but a grand yet unattainable ideal, is not declared. Certain it is that the Temple of the vision has not yet been builded.

      In most of its essential features Ezekiel's ideal followed closely the plan of Solomon's Temple; so close, indeed, is the resemblance, that many of the details specified by Ezekiel have been accepted as those of the splendid edifice destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. A predominant characteristic of the Temple described by Ezekiel was the spaciousness of its premises and the symmetry of both the Holy House and its associated buildings. The area was to be a square of five hundred cubits, walled about and provided with a gateway and arches on each of three sides; on the west side the wall was to be unbroken by arch or portal. At each of the gateways were little chambers regarded as lodges,^[64] and provided with porches. In the outer court were other chambers. The entire area was to be elevated, and a flight of steps led to each gateway. In the inner court was seen the great altar, standing before the House, and occupying the center of a square of one hundred cubits.^[65] Ample provision was made for every variety of sacrifice and offering, and for the accommodation of the priests, the singers, and all engaged in the holy ritual.^[66] The main structure comprised a Porch, a Holy Place, and an inner sanctuary or Most Holy Place, the last named elevated above the rest and reached by steps. The plan provided for even greater exclusiveness than had characterized the sacred area of the Temple of Solomon; the double courts contributed to this end. The service of the Temple was prescribed in detail; the ordinances of the altar, the duties of the priests, the ministry of the Levites, the regulations governing oblations and feasts were all set forth.^[67]

      The immediate purpose of this revelation through the vision of the prophet appears to have been that of awakening the people of Israel to a realization of their fallen state and a conception of their departed glory. The prophet was thus commanded:

      "Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.

      "And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, СКАЧАТЬ