ותשׁלם כל־המלאכה אשׁר עשׂה המלך שׁלמה בית יהוה
Thus all the work that King Shlomo did in the house of Adonai was finished.
(1Ki 7:51 CJB)
Thus all the work that King Shlomo did in the house of Adonai was finished.
(1Ki 7:51 CJB)
CONNECTION WITH THE PARASHA
Parasha Ki Tisa speaks of the completion and the inauguration of the building of the Tabernacle. The chosen haftarah is about King Solomon completing and dedicating the 1st temple.
IT IS FINISHED
Solomon finished the Temple in seven years.
Thus all the work that King Shlomo did in the house of Adonai was finished. After this, Shlomo brought in the gifts which David his father had dedicated -- the silver, the gold and the utensils -- and put them in the treasuries of the house of Adonai. (1Ki 7:51 CJB)
All the leaders accompanied Solomon for the final ceremony.
Then Shlomo assembled all the leaders of Isra'el, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the paternal clans of the people of Isra'el, to King Shlomo in Yerushalayim, to bring the ark for the covenant of Adonai out of the City of David, also known as Tziyon. (1Ki 8:1 CJB)
It was in the month of Tishri, the time of the festival of Sukkot.
All the men of Isra'el assembled before King Shlomo at the festival in the month of Etanim, the seventh month. (1Ki 8:2 CJB)
The Ark was brought to its Place, carried by the Levites, as is supposed to be done.
All the leaders of Isra'el came.
The cohanim took the ark and brought up the ark of Adonai, the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils that were in the tent; these are what the cohanim and L'vi'im brought up. (1Ki 8:3-4 CJB)
Peace offerings were made.
King Shlomo and the whole community of Isra'el assembled in his presence were with him in front of the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen in numbers beyond counting or recording. (1Ki 8:5 CJB)
The big moment arrives when the Ark was placed in the sanctuary. We remember that HaShem spoke to Moshe from between the wings of the Cherubim.
The cohanim brought the ark for the covenant of Adonai in to its place inside the sanctuary of the house, to the Especially Holy Place, under the wings of the k'ruvim. For the k'ruvim spread out their wings over the place for the ark, covering the ark and its poles from above. (1Ki 8:7 CJB)
As a witness to all of the presence of the Ark, the poles were pushing on the inside of the curtain. About 1 Kings 8:8, the sages wrote, "The poles pressed, stuck out, and protruded into the veil and they appeared as woman's two breast [against the fabric.]" b. Yoma 54 a
The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day. (1Ki 8:8 CJB)
THE CONTENTS OF THE ARK
There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moshe put there at Horev, when Adonai made the covenant with the people of Isra'el at the time of their leaving the land of Egypt. (1Ki 8:9 CJB)
Does this contradict Hebrews 9:4?
In the Ark were the gold jar containing the man, Aharon's rod that sprouted and the stone Tablets of the Covenant; (Heb 9:4 CJB)
Actually, even Jewish authorities took issue with this text, as they pointed out that the Ark also contained the original scroll of the Torah written by Moshe as well as the shattered remains of the first set of tablets. It is then that they noticed the Hebrew of the text in 1 Kings 8:9 which says,
אין בארון רק שׁני לחות האבנים אשׁר הנח שׁם משׁה בחרב אשׁר כרת יהוה עם־בני ישׂראל בצאתם מארץ מצרים׃
The two enlarged underlined words are the words NOT and ONLY forming two negatives. The text therefore should translate as, 'NOT ONLY the two tablets ... were in the Ark..."
THE THICK CLOUD
At mount Horeb HaShem told Moshe,
Adonai said to Moshe, "See, I am coming to you in a thick cloud...(Exo 19:9 CJB)
Then the Torah tells us that later:
So the people stood at a distance, but Moshe approached the thick darkness [Hebrew word is "cloud"] where God was. (Exo 20:21 CJB)
Also:
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. Moshe was unable to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud remained on it, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. (Exo 40:34-35 CJB)
As happened at the time of the inauguration of the Tabernacle in the desert, HaShem's glory suddenly filled the Temple in the form of a thick cloud overcoming the priests, which to the people who knew the accounts of what happened in the desert, confirmed the validity of this Temple that Solomon had built.
When the cohanim came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of Adonai, so that, because of the cloud, the cohanim could not stand up to perform their service; for the glory of Adonai filled the house of Adonai. Shlomo said, "Adonai said he would live in thick darkness. (1Ki 8:10-12 CJB)
The thick cloud of glory that filled the Tabernacle in the desert and the Temple Solomon built never appeared at the dedication of the second Temple.
It appeared later, though, on Mount Hermon, as Matthew tells us:
Six days later, Yeshua took Kefa, Ya`akov and his brother Yochanan and led them up a high mountain privately. As they watched, he began to change form -- his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became as white as light. Then they looked and saw Moshe and Eliyahu speaking with him. Kefa said to Yeshua, "It's good that we're here, Lord. I'll put up three shelters if you want -- one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu." While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them; and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!" When the talmidim heard this, they were so frightened that they fell face down on the ground. But Yeshua came and touched them. "Get up!" he said, "Don't be afraid." (Mat 17:1-7 CJB)
THE "PLACE"
Solomon himself commented:
"But can God actually live on the earth? Why, heaven itself, even the heaven of heavens, cannot contain you; so how much less this house I have built? (1Ki 8:27 CJB)
So what did he mean by:
But I have built you a magnificent house, a place where you can live forever." (1Ki 8:13 CJB)
The sage Rashi explains, "From when it was chosen it would no longer be permissible [to offer sacrifices] on improvised altars, and the Divine Presence no longer dwelled in any other place."
This means that regardless of whether the Temple stands upon it or not, that mountain remains the place "Where Adonai your God will put his name ... which is where he will live" (Deu 12:5 CJB).
Unlike the other places where the Ark rested, this Mountain remains the Place of His eternal dwelling. It is the Place Avraham saw as he went to offer Isaac,
On the third day, Avraham raised his eyes and saw the place in the distance. (Gen 22:4 CJB)
It is the place where he saw,
The city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God. (Heb 11:10 CJB)
THE BLESSING FROM THE KING
As Moshe turned to the people to bless them at the completion of the tabernacle and its inauguration, Solomon turns to bless the people.
At His return, when he has finished dedicating the 3rd temple, we will also stand as Yeshua blesses us His people!
Then the king turned around and blessed the whole community of Isra'el. The whole community of Isra'el stood (1Ki 8:14 CJB)
We are not given all words of the blessing, but we at least have the liturgical formula which he used, formula which pointed to fulfilled prophecy,
...As he said:
"Blessed be Adonai, the God of Isra'el, who spoke to my father David with his mouth and fulfilled his promise with his hand. He said, 'Since the day I brought my people Isra'el out of Egypt, I chose no city from any of the tribes of Isra'el in which to build a house, so that my name might be there; but I did choose David to be over my people Isra'el.' Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Adonai the God of Isra'el; but Adonai said to David my father, 'Although it was in your heart to build a house for my name, and you did well that it was in your heart, nevertheless you will not build the house. Rather, you will father a son, and it will be he who will build the house for my name.' Now Adonai has fulfilled this spoken word of his; for I have succeeded my father and sit on the throne of Isra'el, as Adonai promised; and I have built the house for the name of Adonai the God of Isra'el. And there I have made a place for the ark containing the covenant of Adonai, which he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." (1Ki 8:15-21 CJB)
If Solomon was given to fulfill the prophecy of his father David, Yeshua will even more certainly come and fulfill the prophetic promise of rebuilding the Tabernacle of David that is fallen (Amos 9:11; Acts 15: 16-18)
SHABBAT SHALOM!
R' Gabriel
Parasha Ki Tisa speaks of the completion and the inauguration of the building of the Tabernacle. The chosen haftarah is about King Solomon completing and dedicating the 1st temple.
IT IS FINISHED
Solomon finished the Temple in seven years.
Thus all the work that King Shlomo did in the house of Adonai was finished. After this, Shlomo brought in the gifts which David his father had dedicated -- the silver, the gold and the utensils -- and put them in the treasuries of the house of Adonai. (1Ki 7:51 CJB)
All the leaders accompanied Solomon for the final ceremony.
Then Shlomo assembled all the leaders of Isra'el, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the paternal clans of the people of Isra'el, to King Shlomo in Yerushalayim, to bring the ark for the covenant of Adonai out of the City of David, also known as Tziyon. (1Ki 8:1 CJB)
It was in the month of Tishri, the time of the festival of Sukkot.
All the men of Isra'el assembled before King Shlomo at the festival in the month of Etanim, the seventh month. (1Ki 8:2 CJB)
The Ark was brought to its Place, carried by the Levites, as is supposed to be done.
All the leaders of Isra'el came.
The cohanim took the ark and brought up the ark of Adonai, the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils that were in the tent; these are what the cohanim and L'vi'im brought up. (1Ki 8:3-4 CJB)
Peace offerings were made.
King Shlomo and the whole community of Isra'el assembled in his presence were with him in front of the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen in numbers beyond counting or recording. (1Ki 8:5 CJB)
The big moment arrives when the Ark was placed in the sanctuary. We remember that HaShem spoke to Moshe from between the wings of the Cherubim.
The cohanim brought the ark for the covenant of Adonai in to its place inside the sanctuary of the house, to the Especially Holy Place, under the wings of the k'ruvim. For the k'ruvim spread out their wings over the place for the ark, covering the ark and its poles from above. (1Ki 8:7 CJB)
As a witness to all of the presence of the Ark, the poles were pushing on the inside of the curtain. About 1 Kings 8:8, the sages wrote, "The poles pressed, stuck out, and protruded into the veil and they appeared as woman's two breast [against the fabric.]" b. Yoma 54 a
The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day. (1Ki 8:8 CJB)
THE CONTENTS OF THE ARK
There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moshe put there at Horev, when Adonai made the covenant with the people of Isra'el at the time of their leaving the land of Egypt. (1Ki 8:9 CJB)
Does this contradict Hebrews 9:4?
In the Ark were the gold jar containing the man, Aharon's rod that sprouted and the stone Tablets of the Covenant; (Heb 9:4 CJB)
Actually, even Jewish authorities took issue with this text, as they pointed out that the Ark also contained the original scroll of the Torah written by Moshe as well as the shattered remains of the first set of tablets. It is then that they noticed the Hebrew of the text in 1 Kings 8:9 which says,
אין בארון רק שׁני לחות האבנים אשׁר הנח שׁם משׁה בחרב אשׁר כרת יהוה עם־בני ישׂראל בצאתם מארץ מצרים׃
The two enlarged underlined words are the words NOT and ONLY forming two negatives. The text therefore should translate as, 'NOT ONLY the two tablets ... were in the Ark..."
THE THICK CLOUD
At mount Horeb HaShem told Moshe,
Adonai said to Moshe, "See, I am coming to you in a thick cloud...(Exo 19:9 CJB)
Then the Torah tells us that later:
So the people stood at a distance, but Moshe approached the thick darkness [Hebrew word is "cloud"] where God was. (Exo 20:21 CJB)
Also:
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. Moshe was unable to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud remained on it, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. (Exo 40:34-35 CJB)
As happened at the time of the inauguration of the Tabernacle in the desert, HaShem's glory suddenly filled the Temple in the form of a thick cloud overcoming the priests, which to the people who knew the accounts of what happened in the desert, confirmed the validity of this Temple that Solomon had built.
When the cohanim came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of Adonai, so that, because of the cloud, the cohanim could not stand up to perform their service; for the glory of Adonai filled the house of Adonai. Shlomo said, "Adonai said he would live in thick darkness. (1Ki 8:10-12 CJB)
The thick cloud of glory that filled the Tabernacle in the desert and the Temple Solomon built never appeared at the dedication of the second Temple.
It appeared later, though, on Mount Hermon, as Matthew tells us:
Six days later, Yeshua took Kefa, Ya`akov and his brother Yochanan and led them up a high mountain privately. As they watched, he began to change form -- his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became as white as light. Then they looked and saw Moshe and Eliyahu speaking with him. Kefa said to Yeshua, "It's good that we're here, Lord. I'll put up three shelters if you want -- one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu." While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them; and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!" When the talmidim heard this, they were so frightened that they fell face down on the ground. But Yeshua came and touched them. "Get up!" he said, "Don't be afraid." (Mat 17:1-7 CJB)
THE "PLACE"
Solomon himself commented:
"But can God actually live on the earth? Why, heaven itself, even the heaven of heavens, cannot contain you; so how much less this house I have built? (1Ki 8:27 CJB)
So what did he mean by:
But I have built you a magnificent house, a place where you can live forever." (1Ki 8:13 CJB)
The sage Rashi explains, "From when it was chosen it would no longer be permissible [to offer sacrifices] on improvised altars, and the Divine Presence no longer dwelled in any other place."
This means that regardless of whether the Temple stands upon it or not, that mountain remains the place "Where Adonai your God will put his name ... which is where he will live" (Deu 12:5 CJB).
Unlike the other places where the Ark rested, this Mountain remains the Place of His eternal dwelling. It is the Place Avraham saw as he went to offer Isaac,
On the third day, Avraham raised his eyes and saw the place in the distance. (Gen 22:4 CJB)
It is the place where he saw,
The city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God. (Heb 11:10 CJB)
THE BLESSING FROM THE KING
As Moshe turned to the people to bless them at the completion of the tabernacle and its inauguration, Solomon turns to bless the people.
At His return, when he has finished dedicating the 3rd temple, we will also stand as Yeshua blesses us His people!
Then the king turned around and blessed the whole community of Isra'el. The whole community of Isra'el stood (1Ki 8:14 CJB)
We are not given all words of the blessing, but we at least have the liturgical formula which he used, formula which pointed to fulfilled prophecy,
...As he said:
"Blessed be Adonai, the God of Isra'el, who spoke to my father David with his mouth and fulfilled his promise with his hand. He said, 'Since the day I brought my people Isra'el out of Egypt, I chose no city from any of the tribes of Isra'el in which to build a house, so that my name might be there; but I did choose David to be over my people Isra'el.' Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Adonai the God of Isra'el; but Adonai said to David my father, 'Although it was in your heart to build a house for my name, and you did well that it was in your heart, nevertheless you will not build the house. Rather, you will father a son, and it will be he who will build the house for my name.' Now Adonai has fulfilled this spoken word of his; for I have succeeded my father and sit on the throne of Isra'el, as Adonai promised; and I have built the house for the name of Adonai the God of Isra'el. And there I have made a place for the ark containing the covenant of Adonai, which he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." (1Ki 8:15-21 CJB)
If Solomon was given to fulfill the prophecy of his father David, Yeshua will even more certainly come and fulfill the prophetic promise of rebuilding the Tabernacle of David that is fallen (Amos 9:11; Acts 15: 16-18)
SHABBAT SHALOM!
R' Gabriel
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