The Ark Gets Parked

1 Kings 6-9

With this week featuring both the Autumnal Ember Days and the Feast of St. Matthew (September 21st), our recaps of 1 Kings as featured in our Old Testament lessons from Morning Prayer will cover only Chapters 6–9, as our lectionary skips over Chapter 7 entirely. As a reminder, the Ember Days are days of prayer and penance which occur at the four seasons (“Ember Days at the Four Seasons” sounds like the name of a fancy restaurant), where we also pray for development of vocations for clergy. At St. Matthew’s, we’ve also taken to praying for the development of all vocations in the Church, including those of the laity.

To easily remember when the Ember Days are, memorize this mnemonic: “Lent, Penty, Crucy, Lucy,” for the days occur on the Wednesdays following the start of Lent, Pentecost, Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14th), and St. Lucy’s Day (December 13th).

This week features the ancient equivalent of scrolling through Zillow or watching Property Brothers, reading exhaustive descriptions of temples and palaces.

Chapter 6

And here we get a description of the Temple, but if you’re more visual, like me, here’s a picture (zoom in to embiggen):

Chapter 7

Started after construction of the Temple was complete, Solomon’s palace took thirteen years to build (showing that contractor delays are not a new development). It was twice the size of the Temple and possessed many leather-bound books and smelled of rich mahogany.

Chapter 8

Ever since David brought the ark into Jerusalem, it was housed in a temporary structure. Now the time had come for the ark to be brought into the Temple, and to inaugurate a new era for Jerusalem during Sukkot, or the Festival of Tabernacles, which occurs in October. It was one of three festivals commanded by God for all Israel to come together and celebrate: originally, it was a harvest festival, but had come to represent a time of remembrance for the people’s exodus from Egypt and settlement of the Promised Land.

As the priest left the Holiest of Holies after placing the ark in its new home, the Lord’s glory filled the place: something like a cloud filled the air, like smoke machines at a KISS concert.

Solomon gave a (frankly too long) speech, but in it he makes a very good point. This place, this temple, is not like the temples that the pagans build, where they believe their gods live. No. God, the real God, is nowhere and everywhere. This is his symbolic home, the place where people come, and where God has promised to be, when they offer their prayers.

Chapter 9

After building the temple and completing his palace, twenty years have passed since God last spoke to Solomon. Now, God appears to him, telling him that should he remain faithful, his house shall never fall; and if the people should turn away from God, and not follow His commandments, they shall be cut off from the land and the Temple will be reduced to rubble (spoiler alert, neither Solomon nor the people are able to keep up their end of the bargain).