Is a house dedication a biblical concept?

Then the dedication of the house took place. It was a feast of great joy. "The feast of dedication" which the Jews keep (Chanukah) does not commemorate the dedication of this house, but the cleansing of the temple from the defilement of Antiochus Epiphanes. Tradition claims that Psalms 138, 146, and 148 were composed by Haggai and Zechariah, and used in the dedication ceremony. But what a contrast with the magnificent dedication of the Solomonic temple! Here they offered a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering twelve he-goats. At the dedication of the first temple Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep (2 Chron. 7:7). And the greatest contrast with Solomon's temple, the glory cloud; the visible sign of Jehovah's presence which filled the house; was absent. No glory came to manifest the fact that Jehovah dwelt in the midst of His people. In the future another temple will stand again in Jerusalem, and into that temple the glory of the LORD will enter once more (Ezek. 43:1-3). It is the millennial temple which will be erected by converted Israel after the King has come back. Of this glorious event Zechariah bore witness: "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined unto the LORD in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee" (Zech. 2:10-11). These prophetic words were certainly not fulfilled in the dedication of the second temple, nor have they been fulfilled since. Perhaps this prophecy was the prophecy of hope and comfort for the godly then, as well as Haggai's prediction (Hag. 2:7-9). But note well the obedience to God's Word manifested in the dedication service--"as it is written in the book of Moses."

In the month of Adar, the twelfth month (which corresponds to our month of March), the dedication of the house takes place, but the house is no longer, as we have already pointed out, built according to its first dimensions, which were divine. This dedication is celebrated in a very feeble way, compared to the dedication of Solomon, a glorious memory, but in spite of this, joy fills the hearts of the people, for once again, God causes "his name to dwell" (v. 12) in this restored house in a publicly approved way. Not that His glory returns to it, nor His throne between the cherubim, but His spiritual presence cannot be lacking when the center of gathering of His people is acknowledged. Nineteen years previously, at the time when the altar was built, they had shown their unity; now, at the dedication of the temple, they realize this blessed truth: that the Lord is in their midst. The people consecrate, so to speak, their unity by His presence, but here again their unity bears the marks of their sin and ruin. They offer twelve he-goats as a sin offering, according to the number of tribes of Israel (v. 17). No tribe is excluded from the public confession of sin expressed by the sacrifice. We no longer find, as at the time of Elijah, an altar of twelve stones expressing the unity of the people, but rather, we find twelve he-goats offered on the altar for the expiation of a common sin. Thus they acknowledge their solidarity and equality in sin. The sin of Judah and Benjamin, to which tribes these transported people belong, is just as great in their eyes as the sin of the other ten tribes and it requires the same expiation. In these circumstances, they have recourse only to the Word, to that which "is written in the book of Moses" (v. 18) in order to organize their service.

Jehovah's great grace in this was a real occasion for joy. The priests are set in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, according to the law of Moses, and we find more faithfulness than in the best days of the kings (compare chap. 6: 20 with 2 Chron. 29:34). But we hear nothing of the ordinances of David, and a still greater deficiency is seen in their celebration of the feast of dedication. They kept the passover — a proof that the redemption of the people could be remembered in the land. Happy privilege of the restored remnant! Many also had joined them, separating themselves from the filthiness of the heathen of the land. Jehovah had given them cause for joy; but fire no longer came down from heaven to testify divine acceptance of the sacrifice offered for the dedication of the house. This was indeed a negative difference, but one of deep significance. And even that which formed the subject of their joy betrayed their condition. "Jehovah had turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel." It was great kindness and touching grace on His part. But what a change!

"Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the river, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, because that Darius the king had sent, did accordingly with all diligence. And the elders of the Jews builded and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. And they offered at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their courses, and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.

Jehovah's house being now completed, we have in the next place the account of the dedication.

"And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, and offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites. in their courses, for the service of God which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses." (vv. 16-18.)

Jehovah's house being now completed, we have in the next place the account of the dedication.

"And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, and offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites. in their courses, for the service of God which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses." (vv. 16-18.)

Thus God was honored in the restoration of His house, which is typical of the eventual restoration of the temple in the millennium as described in Ezekiel 40, though this in Ezra's time was much smaller. Since God was honored, the Jews had perfect right to rejoice in celebration of this glad event of the dedication of the temple. A large offering was made, though it was small in comparison to Solomon's offerings at the dedication of the first temple (1 Ki. 8:62-63). In Ezra's case, the offerings were 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs and twelve male goats (v. 17). But the important matter is that all of these are types of the Lord Jesus in various aspects of the value of His sacrifice at Calvary. The priests and Levites were assigned to their proper places of service in connection with the temple, as prescribed in the book of Moses, no doubt specially Leviticus.

Take another encouraging example from the Old Testament the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, when a small remnant of Judah returned from the captivity to their own land. They were not only separated from Babylon and its evil ways, through the gracious help of God, but they stedfastly refused unholy associations, and disallowed a polluted priesthood. They returned to that which was from the beginning. They first built the altar of the God of Israel, the true connection between Jehovah and the people, to offer burnt-offerings thereon "as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God." Then they built the house of God, the true centre to which all the faithful in Israel could assemble. At the dedication of the house of God — the temple — a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, were offered; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats according to the number of the tribes of Israel. It was a time of great joy.

They praised the Lord with cymbals; while the priests blew with their trumpets, and sang the same song when they laid the foundation as had been sung at the dedication of Solomon's temple. But many wept — the old men who had been eye-witnesses of the splendour of the former house. The contrast was indeed great. That was built amid the glories of the kingdom, and at a time when that kingdom was pre-eminent — a time also of peace, prosperity, and blessing a period which typified the reign of the Messiah, when all kings shall fall down before Him, and all nations shall serve Him. This was commenced by a feeble remnant amid the desolations of the once-glorious city, which men called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth (Lam. 2:15), themselves the subjects of a Gentile monarch, dependent on him, by the will of God, for permission to build, and surrounded on every hand by adversaries. Still they builded; and finally, after much unfaithfulness on their part, the house was completed, and they "kept the dedication of the house of God with joy." (Ezra 6:15-22.)

And again, as we see in Nehemiah 12, she has her wall. Right, that, having a wall, the wall should be dedicated. Public festivity had been often celebrated on such like occasions: at the carriage of the ark in the days of David; at the dedication of the temple in the days of Solomon; at the foundation of the second house in the time of Zerubbabel; and again, when that second house was finished, this was so. And now, in this day, this day of Nehemiah, the people again rejoice at the dedication of the wall which was now finished, and was encompassing the city.