When Is Christmas?

12.31.23 1 Kings 8:6–13 (EHV)

6 The priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim, 7 for the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place for the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles with their wings. 8 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets, which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 When the priests came out from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the House of the LORD. 11 The priests were not able to take their positions to minister in the presence of the cloud, because the Glory of the LORD had filled the House of the LORD. 12 Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he dwells in thick darkness. 13 I have truly built a majestic house for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”

When Is Christmas?

What is it that tells you it’s Christmas time? “It’s not Christmas until. . .” We have made it a tradition to go to Kluck’s on the Friday after Thanksgiving to cut down a tree, take it home, and decorate it. You might think of the Christmas music that starts up on 104.1. Here at church we also set up the tree. We change the banners and put up the lights. The choir practices with special music. It takes a lot of work, but I would think that most people think it is worth it in order to try and properly set the stage for the season in celebration of our Savior’s birth and entry into this world.

In our lesson for today from 1 Kings, Solomon was trying to set the stage for God to come to his temple. Up to this time the Ark of the Covenant had been kept in a tent. David had been setting aside the provisions, and it was Solomon’s job to build the temple. He wanted to do it right! The makings of it were as immaculate as you could get. The inside of the temple was covered with gold and the lampstands were made out of gold. There were angels, palm tree designs and precious stones throughout on the walls. There were two huge gold plated angels called “cherubim” that were placed in the Most Holy Place. Their wings spread out the entire width of the room and touched each other in the middle. It was as beautiful and expensive as you could get. Nothing was spared. Solomon called it a MAJESTIC house. But it wouldn’t be COMPLETE until GOD moved in.

“King Solomon, along with the whole congregation of Israel who had gathered with him in front of the ark, was sacrificing sheep and cattle, too many to be counted.” Why the sacrifices? There was a time previous to Solomon, when David tried to have the ark moved, but he didn’t show enough care and respect for what was happening. When the ox stumbled, a man reached out and tried to steady the ark, and he was put to death for just touching it. Solomon knew from his father’s mistake what an awesome thing this was, to try and move this holy item into the temple, the place where God would come to the Israelites in a special way. He didn’t want people to die in the process, and he didn’t want to inadvertently upset and sin against God. So in order to appease the holy God, thousands of animals were slaughtered for the sins of the Israelites. They were recognizing the HOLINESS of God through the sacrifice of so many animals.

There was one thing that didn’t change at all, and that was the Ark of the Covenant. It remained the same. All it had in it was the Ten Commandments and a smaller pair of cherubim over the top of it. Then, of course, the LORD who would dwell between the cherubim as well. No changes were made to the ark at all. But there’s something to be said for that, isn’t there? Some things don’t need to be changed. The Ten Commandments are the Ten Commandments, more precious than gold. They reveal God’s will for mankind, a direct revelation from God Himself. Written on stone, nothing flashy, but nonetheless solid and changeless. On top of the ark, the LORD would dwell between the two angels, in an area called the Shekinah. He is glorious in and of himself. The minute you try to IMPROVE God’s Word or God, you end up ruining it completely.