2 Crônicas 4

2 Crônicas 4

Meyer - 2 Chronicles 4:18 The Weight could not be found out. This was as it should be. There was no at tempt to keep an accurate account of what was given to the service of God. Even Solomon’s left hand did not know what his right hand did. There is a tendency in all of us to keep a strict account of what we give to God. We note it down in our ledgers; we rigorously observe the compact into which we have entered with Him; but the loftiest form of devotion overleaps such calculation. This liberality of the people reminds us of Mary’s. She never thought of the great cost of the precious spikenard which she broke over the Master’s person. It was her joy to give her all; and it was only when Judas came on the scene, that we learn how many hundred pence it was worth. Thus the churches of Macedonia abounded from their deep poverty unto the riches of their liberality, so that, beyond their power, they gave to the cause of God. This lavish generosity is the reflection of God’s. There is no measure in His bounty. It is heaped up, pressed down, and running over. He never says, I will give up to a certain amount, and hold my band; but He continues to give like the overflowings of the river of Egypt, or the abundance of the spring flowers, which cover the earth as with a carpet. Ah, what a God is ours, who loves with a love that passeth knowledge; and when He gives, exceeds abundance, however much we may have asked or thought. How truly may we say with the psalmist. “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works that Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” 2 Chronicles 4:19 Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: even the golden altar, the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, all the vessels (KJV): 2Ch 36:10,18 1Ki 7:48-50 2Ki 24:13 25:13-15 Ezr 1:7-11 Jer 28:3 Jer 52:18,19 Da 5:2,3,23 the golden (KJV): 2Ch 26:16-18 Ex 30:1-10 37:25-29 Rev 8:3 9:13 the tables (KJV): Ex 25:23-30 Lev 24:5-8 1Ch 28:16 Table with Bread of Presence Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: even the golden altar, the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, Frederick Mabie: The gold noted in conjunction with the altar utensils (2Ch 4:21–22) reflects their supreme importance in the sacrificial system. No expense was spared in even the smallest details of the construction and furnishing of the temple complex. The gold doors of the temple (v.22), like the veil, were both works of art and functional means of protecting holy space. Martin Selman: The symbolism of flora and fauna in the temple may either indicate God’s sovereignty over the created order or be another allusion to the harmony of all created things in God’s presence as in the Garden of Eden. NET NOTES - This bread offered to God was viewed as a perpetual offering to God. See Lev 24:5–9. QUESTION - What was the bread of the Presence? ANSWER - The bread of the Presence (also called the showbread or shewbread in some translations) was special bread always present on a table in the tabernacle (and later in the temple). Leviticus 24:5–7 describes this bread: “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord.” This bread of the Presence was 1) made of fine flour, 2) baked in 12 loaves, 3) arranged in two piles of six loaves each on a table of pure gold, 4) covered with frankincense, and 5) served as a memorial food offering to the Lord. The bread could only be eaten by Aaron and his sons in a holy place and was set out every Sabbath day (Leviticus 24:8–9). The bread of the Presence is first mentioned in Exodus 25:30. God instructed for it to be placed on the golden table in the tabernacle. The bread is also listed in the contributions for the tabernacle in Exodus 35:13 and noted as part of the completed tabernacle in Exodus 39:36. In Numbers 4 the Kohathites, who were sons of Levi, were given responsibility for the care of the table of showbread. First Chronicles 9:32 says, “Also some of their kinsmen of the Kohathites had charge of the showbread, to prepare it every Sabbath.” This bread was likely prepared on each Friday and placed in the tabernacle on each Sabbath in two piles of six. It would be replenished each week, allowing the priests to eat fresh bread in the holy place. At one point in David’s life, when he was on the run from Saul, he asked the priest Ahimelech for food. The priest gave David the bread of the Presence, since it was the only bread available (1 Samuel 21:1–6). David was not a priest, so it was technically unlawful for him to eat the showbread. Jesus later refers to this event, using it as proof that the Law was designed for man’s benefit, and that Christ is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1–8; Mark 2:25–27; Luke 6:3–5). The Old Testament showbread placed on the table in the tabernacle provides a wonderful picture of Jesus, the Bread of Life. Jesus is holy before God, He provides true sustenance, and He is always present. “Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry’” (John 6:35). One other New Testament reference, Hebrews 9:1–2, mentions the table of showbread as one of the items in the first section of the tabernacle. Also included in that place was the lampstand. Verse 15 notes, “Therefore [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.” The context explains that the important aspects of the Jewish law were no longer necessary since Christ has become high priest once and for all.GotQuestions.org 2 Chronicles 4:20 the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed; the candlesticks (KJV): 2Ch 4:7 Ex 25:31-37 burn after (KJV): Ex 27:20,21 the oracle (KJV): 1Ki 6:5,16,17 8:6 Ps 28:2 the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed; 2 Chronicles 4:21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, of purest gold; the flowers (KJV): Probably each branch of the chandelier was made like a plant in flower; and the opening of the flower was either the lamp, or served to support it. 2Ch 4:5 Ex 25:31-40 37:20 1Ki 6:18,29,35 perfect gold (KJV): Heb. perfections of gold, That is, the purest and best gold the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, of purest gold; TONGS [ISBE] - tongz (melqachayim): This word is, where it occurs in the King James Version and the English Revised Version, with two exceptions, changed in the American Standard Revised Version into "snuffers" (Ex 25:38; Nu 4:9; 2 Ch 4:21; see SNUFFERS), The exceptions are 1 Ki 7:49, "tongs of gold," and Isa 6:6, "taken with the tongs from off the altar." In Isa 44:12, where another word (ma`atsadh) is used, "the smith with the tongs" of the King James Version is changed in the Revised Version (British and American) into "the smith maketh an axe" (compare Jer 10:3). 2 Chronicles 4:22 and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the holy of holies and the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold. snuffers (KJV): Ex 37:23 1Ki 7:50 2Ki 12:13 25:14 Jer 52:18 basins (KJV): or, bowls the entry (KJV): Capellus and others suppose we should read, agreeably to 1 Ki 7:50, "The hinges also of the doors of the inner house," etc.; the word {pothoth,} "hinges," being mistaken for {paithach,} "an entry" or "door-way." 1Ki 6:31,32 and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the holy of holies and the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold. SNUFFERS; SNUFFDISHES [ISBE] - snuf'-erz, snuf'-dish-ez (melqachayim, machtoth): These two utensils are thrice mentioned in connection with the wilderness tabernacle (Ex 25:38; 37:23; Nu 4:9). the American Standard Revised Version prefers to read "snuffers and snuffdishes" in place of "tongs and snuffdishes" (compare 2 Ch 4:22), the connection between the two utensils being indicated by the fact that both are said to belong to the seven lamps, and were to be made out of the talent of gold which was specified as the weight of the whole (Ex 25:37-39). The seven-branched candlestick which stood in the holy place of both tabernacle and temple was surmounted, in each of its arms, by a removable lamp in which olive oil was burnt. From the requirement of keeping these lights brilliantly burning throughout each night of the year, arose the need for snuffers and snuffdishes. By the former, the burnt portions of the wick were removed; in the latter they were deposited previous to removal. The lamps may have required to be trimmed as often as every half-hour. For this purpose a priest would enter the outer chamber "accomplishing the services" (Heb 9:6). In the time of Solomon's Temple another word than melqachayim was used to describe this utensil. It is mezammeroth, from a verb meaning "to prune" or "trim," and is found in 1 Ki 7:50; 2 Ki 12:13; 25:14; 2 Ch 4:22; Jer 52:18. In 4 of these passages, the English text reads, "the snuffers and the basins"; the 5th is merely a summary of things taken to Babylon (2 Ki 25:14). In this constant later association of "basins" and "snuffers" it is seen that the basins referred to were used for the reception of the cast-off portions of the wicks of the seven lamps, and took the place of the snuffdishes of an earlier age. W. Shaw Caldecott G Campbell