Today’s first reading describes the dedication of the First Temple in Jerusalem. This Temple was destroyed by the King of Babylon who also exiled the Jewish king and many of the political and religious leader to Babylon. After the return from the exile a Second Temple was built (Ezra 3). This Second Temple greatly expanded by King Herod was the Temple that Jesus and the earliest Jewish Christians attended for prayer and to celebrate the sacred pilgrim feasts.
As we hear in today’s first reading for the dedication of the First Temple King Solomon gathers the elders and leaders of the ancestral tribes. The priest brought up the Ark of the Covenant and placed it in the inner room of the Temple, called the Holy of Holies. This room was separated from the outer room by a large curtain. God’s presence filled the Temples as we hear at the end of today’s reading:
“When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud, since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD.”
As today’s reading ends Solomon proclaims: “The LORD intends to dwell in the dark cloud; I have truly built you a princely house, a dwelling where you may abide forever.” However, as the dedication of the Temple continues King Solomon prays and acknowledge that no Temple can contain God:
“LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below; you keep your covenant of mercy with your servants who are faithful to you with their whole heart.” (1 Kings 8:23)
“Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth? If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).
Temple and churches are important places of prayer and places where we can experience the presence of God in a special way. As King Solomon acknowledges, no Temple or Church can contain the living God. Indeed, God walks with us on the journey of our life both inside and outside of the church.
Image: “Temple in Jerusalem” by mprivoro is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.