This chapter highlights the role of the Levitical musicians and singers in the dedication of the temple.

Everything about the Temple is HUGE.

The temple is huge. The brazen altar is huge. The herds of animals for sacrifice are huge. And the band is huge.

One hundred and twenty trumpets – is a lot of trumpets and a lot of loud.

Back in 1st Chronicles 25 when the Tabernacle of David was set up, we find that all together there were 288 trained singers and musicians. It sounds as if they all showed up for the temple dedication… AND – they brought all their musical kids and grandkids with them.

I love that Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun are all still alive and get to be in on this. And all their kith and kin are there too.

I grew up in a VERY musical family. Family reunions, holidays, and even funerals were opportunities to make music. Music has a way of connecting across generations. I could make music along with my family elders and feel a sense of belonging.

I imagine it was very special for those men – who had been teaching their children and grandchildren music for decades – to hear them all together making this epic music of praise as God in Heaven showed up in a cloud of glory and moved into His new place.

Let’s talk about the glory cloud…

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Glory is word that you hear in church. But before any of us pray for “God’s glory to be revealed” we really ought to know what we’re asking for. Cuz it might kill somebody.

In Exodus 33 Moses asked to see the glory of God. Now, bear in mind, Moses is the guy who has seen God at the burning bush and the pillar of cloud and fire. He has literally been on Mount Sinai so close with God that his face glowed. God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered him with the Divine Hand as His “glory” passed by. Moses was only allowed to see the afterglow or “back” of the unfiltered presence of God because it would’ve been lethal to try to take in the full frontal presentation of His glory. (see Ex. 33:18-23)

And what does Moses see and hear? God makes all His “goodness” pass before Moses and He declares His Name. So God equates His glory with His goodness and His name. His name is indicative of His presence and His character. God’s is so good, so perfect, that His presence carries a wonderful weight. He “takes up space.” There is no one else like Him. Not even close. He is the only uncreated Creator with unlimited power. AND He is perfectly right and good and true and He loves perfectly too.

And when He shows up at the Temple, there is no human form, there is only a very powerful… cloud. The cloud of glory filled the entire sanctuary. There were probably several priests in the Holy Place where the menorahs and the tables with the “Bread of the Presence” were. They had to evacuate.

This cloud filling the Temple will happen again. In Heaven:

“and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭15‬:‭8‬ ‭LEB‬‬

What was it that caused the cloud of God’s presence to appear at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple? It was unity in worship.

“it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭KJV‬‬

It’s not just unity. People unite about all kinds of things; sometimes bad things. Unity by itself is nothing. Unity in worship to Yahweh is something. Something powerful.

Did you know that when people sing together their pulses sync up? Back in 2013, researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that heart rates slowed and became synchronized when people sang together. Interestingly, this effect was most pronounced when singing in unison.

Unison is a technical musical term. It doesn’t just mean we’re all singing together. You could have an 8-part, polyphonic choral piece where everyone is “singing together.” Unison singing is where everyone is singing the same notes and the same phrases at the same time. That’s what was happening at the temple dedication. The musicians and singers were making “one sound.” Unison.

If we would have the presence of the LORD in our worship gatherings, unity is essential.

We may have differing perspectives on eschatology or ecclesiology, but praising and thanking the LORD Who saves us is one place where we can all come together in agreement.

So why is unity so important to God?

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The word here translated as “one,” is echad.

It is not strictly a mathematical one (though it is certainly used that way in the OT). It is also a one of unity. It’s the “one” of marriage:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The husband and wife do not morph into one physical entity like Power Rangers turning into Megazord. There are still (mathematically) 2 distinct humans, but they have been joined into a unit. A team.

“I and the Father are one.”
‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭30‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Father and the Son are distinct but yet One. The LORD is a unity. Or, as Deuteronomy has it:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deut. 6:4.

Believers are invited into that unity – that echad. This is the prayer of Jesus; that the distinct individual saints would all be one- united in Christ by the Holy Spirit. In order for that to happen we must yield our personal agendas to walk in step with the LORD; like adjusting your stride to walk with someone else. We all adjust to Christ.

I don’t think we need to expect a visible cloud to waft into the room when we gather to worship because the glory cloud has already taken up residence within the temple of the person who is born again.

When the cloud of God’s presence filled the temple it says,

“…the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

When all the living stones are assembled together and come into agreement as the Temple, and the presence of the Lord is felt in His Temple, it is my experience that it DOES become very difficult to “stand to minister.”

I’m not sure what other people sense or feel or experience when the LORD “shows up” but I’m rather sensitive to the Lord’s presence (and consequently, everything else). Sometimes it seems like it takes a sledgehammer of God’s glory to get some people’s attention while I’m moved to tears with a nudge. When His presence enters the sanctuary I find it difficult to “stand to minister.” I am overwhelmed and I cannot continue to sing. If you ever catch me doing a “spontaneous instrumental” it’s probably because of this. I’m trying not to cry.

Just to clarify – the LORD is present everywhere all the time whether we are aware of Him or not. And since we cannot see the presence of the LORD (no visible glory cloud), it’s a little challenging to explain the nuance between His pervasive presence (which is always there) and the powerful manifestation (showing up) of His presence which may be strongly felt (which does not happen all the time). Sometimes people will use the word “move.” As in, “God is moving” or “a move of God.” It’s not that He’s static all the rest of the time. It’s just that sometimes He “shows up” in a way that is very difficult to miss. Sometimes His powerful presence comes with supernatural happenings – healings, miracles, inspired speech, revelatory knowledge, etc. Sometimes He simply brings comfort, assurance, peace, and encouragement.

God’s glory is His goodness and His name. God’s glory is His presence. You cannot separate them. In fact, every time you read the word “glory” you could understand it as glorious-good-Yahweh-presence

This is why coming together in unity to worship and praise is so important. It’s not a pep rally or the pre-show or the warm up for the sermon. It’s how we practice being one with our hearts in sync. It’s how the glory is revealed.

Jesus said that the Father had given glory to the Son and that glory had, in turn, been given to the Church in order to make us one. And this glorious unity is to serve as evidence to the word that the Gospel is true. How else can you explain all these different people from sinful pasts being transformed and coming together as one?

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Glory > Unity > Witness

May the cloud of Yahweh’s presence fill your temple.

☁️