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great popular festival; nor yet that of all feasts, that of Tabernacles, when agricultural
labor was at an end, probably witnessed the largest concourse in Jerusalem.^121
But the Feast of Tabernacles had a threefold meaning. It pointed back to the time when,
"strangers and pilgrims" on their way to the Land of Promise, Israel, under its Divine
leadership, had dwelt in tents. The full import of this memorial would be best realized
at the dedication of the Temple, when, instead of tent and tabernacle, the glorious
house of God was standing in all its beauty, while the stately palace of Israel's king was
rising. Again, the Feast of Tabernacles was essentially one of thanksgiving, when at the
completion, not only of the harvest, but of the ingathering of the fruits, a grateful
people presented its homage to the God to Whom they owed all, and to Whom all
really belonged. But what could raise this hymn of praise to its loudest strains, if not
that they uplifted it within those sacred walls, symbolical of God's gracious Presence as
King in His palace in the midst of His people, whose kingdom He had established.
Lastly, the Feast of Tabernacles - the only still unfulfilled Old Testament type - pointed
forward to the time of which the present state of Israel was an initial realization, when
the name of the LORD should be known far and wide to earth's utmost bounds, and all
nations seek after Him and offer worship in His Temple. Thus, however viewed, there
was the deepest significance in the conjunction of the dedication of the Temple with
the Feast of Tabernacles.
But, as previously stated, there is yet another question of somewhat greater difficulty
which claims our attention. To judge by the arrangement of the narrative, the
dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 8) might seem to have taken place after the
completion of Solomon's palace, the building of which, as we know, occupied further
thirteen years (1 Kings 7:1). Moreover, from the circumstance that the second vision of
God was vouchsafed "when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the
LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do" (1
Kings 9:1), it has been argued, that the dedication of the Temple must have taken place
immediately before this vision, especially as what was said to him seems to contain
pointed reference to the consecration prayer of Solomon (1 Kings 9:3, 7, 8). But, even
if that vision took place at the time just indicated,^122 the supposed inference from it
cannot be maintained.
For, although part of the sacred vessels may have been made during the time that
Hiram was engaged upon Solomon's palace, it is not credible that the Temple should,
after its completion, have stood deserted and unused for thirteen years. Nor are the
arguments in favor of this most improbable assumption valid. The appeal to 1 Kings
9:1 would oblige us to date the dedication of the Temple even later than the completion
of Solomon's palace, viz., after he had finished all his other building operations. As for
the words which the LORD spake to Solomon in vision (2 Kings 9:3-9), although
bearing reference to the Temple and the king's dedication prayer, they are evidently
(^)