2 Chronicles 5

2 Chronicles 5:1

5:1-10 Now the temple was finished (v. 1; cf. 1 Kgs. 8). Verses 2-10 tell about the transporting of the furniture from the tabernacle of meeting to the temple. The ark was placed in the Most Holy Place. Perhaps the other items, like the altar of incense and the table of showbread, were put into the treasury at this time, since they were not used in Solomon’s temple. The Levites who carried the ark were priests (vv. 4, 7). They set the ark in its place . . . under the wings of the guarding cherubim (vv. 7, 8). Exo_25:15 required that the poles stay with the ark. (“Drew out,” v. 9 KJV, is inaccurate.) According to 1Ki_8:8, the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place. The two tablets of the law were in the ark at this time. 5:11-14 Verse 11b, “all the priests . . . without keeping to their divisions,” means that all the priests . . . present that day participated, not just the course that was assigned the duty. When the Levites and priests assembled at the east end of the altar, praising and thanking the LORD for His goodness and mercy, the glory of the LORD filled the temple so that the priests could not minister inside.