Vere. 8-11.-A great festival. I. TnE O00ASION. 1. The dedicat1,1Y11, of the altar. Probably e. pa.rt is here put for the whole. The writer means by the dedication of the lliLBr the dediclltion of the whole temple. That this should have been followed by a fee.st we.s appropriate, since (1) e.11 le.hour carried to a successful termination, as the temple had been, is fitted to occasion joy; and (2) the fact that sinful man is permitted to consecrate anything to Jehovah ought ever to excite within the heart glad emotions. 2. The Feast of Tabernacles, It would seem that the solemnities connected with the dedication were commenced seven days at least before the fifteenth of Tisri, the date of the Feast of Tabernacles, and that on the fifteenth this latter feast began, and was celebrated with unusual magnificence. II. 'l'HE GUESTS. 1. Solomon the king. So iR Christ himself ever present at the banquets be provides for his people, whether on earth within the Church militant, or in heaven in the Church triumphant. With reference to the former Christ says, "I will sup with him" (Rev. iii. 16); as regards the latter it is written, "The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall be their Shepherd'' (Rev. vii. 17); "I will drink it," the fruit of the vine, "new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matt. xxvi. 29). 2. All Israel with him, from the entering in of Hamath, the northen boundary of Palestine, to the river of Egypt, its southern limit. So will all the followers of God, the spiritual children and subjects of the heavenly King, be admitted to the banquet of salvation, both here and there-" he with me" (Rev. iii. 16). III. THE DURATION. Seven days. 1. Preceded by a seven days' dedication service, during which the multitudes of victims were slain by the king and the people-not by the priests, who were merely employed in sprinkling the blood upon the altar. 2. Fol- lowed by a solemn assembly on the eighth day, the last and the great day of the feast (John vii. 37). On the twenty-third day of the seventh month the assembly broke up, and the people returned to their homes. IV. THE GLADNESS. 1. Its character. The people's joy was sincere, deep, and exhilarating. Not only at the termination of the festal season, but throughout its continuance, the celebrants were merry in their hearts. 2. Its cause. Different from the mirth which stirred the heart of Nabal (1 Sam. xxv. 36), theirs proceeded from a contemplation of Jehovah's goodness to David, who had been the originator of the temple-building scheme, to Solomon, who bad carried it out, and to them who were to profit by it. Learn: 1. That national feastings are as proper to religion as national fastings. 2. That sovereigns and their subjects should at times unite in public expressions of religious feeling. 3. That good rulers are often long remembered by their people. 4. That God's goodness can be displayed to his saints long after they are dead. 5. That the greatest good a king or his people can receive from Heaven is religion, and the means of sustaining and advancing it.-W.
Vers.12-22.-A covenant concerning the Ohurch of God. I. THE PARTIES. I. The Lord. Jehovah, the supreme and self-existent Deity (Exod. iii. 14), the God of nature, who can "shut up heaven,"" command the locusts," "send pestilence" (ver. 13), as well as the God of grace, who can hear prayer, forgive sin, and heal not only land, but souls (ver. 14); the God of providence, who can pluck up nations by the roots, and scatter them abroad upon the face of the earth (ver. 20); the God of law and order, who issues statutes and commandments (ver. 19); the God of faithfulness and truth, who both maketh and keepeth covenant with his people (ver. 18); the God of believing families, who, as "the Lord God of their fathers," remembereth them the children for good (ver. 22); the God of justice, who is able to fulfil his threatenings as well as promises (ver. 20); the one living and true God, who will not tolerate the rivalry of such as a.re no gods (ver. 22). 2. Solomon the King of Israel. The prince of peace, the head and representative of his people, their intercessor and mediator, who by sacri- fices and supplications interposed between them and the all-glorious Jehovah who dwelt between the cherubim; in this respect a type of Jesus Christ, the heavenly Solomon, the true Prince of Peace (Isa. ix. 6), the King of Israel par excellence (John i. 49), the Head and Representative of the Church of God (Eph. i. 22), the Advocate and Intercessor for his believing people (Heb. vii. 25; 1 John ii. 1). II. Tiu BA~HI, Two I\Cts of grace on the part of Jehovah towards Solomon. 1. The 94 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [on. Vnt.1-18.