worshipped and praised the Lord, saying, "For he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever." 2 Chron. vii. 3. Thus the temple was dedicated by Solomon with sacrifice and prayer; and by the Lord with fire from heaven and the cloud of glory.

Mr. Romaine says, When the temple was finished, and the furniture of it set in order, then they open the service with sacrificing to the Lord; and while the priests were blowing the trumpets over the sacrifices, triumphing in the Lamb, who was, by one offering of himself, to take away sin, then the glory of the Lord filled the house, by which he gave evident sign, that God would come and dwell among men, and they should see his glory tabernacling in the flesh,'

Seven days were spent in observing this feast of the dedication, and great was the joy of God's chosen amongst the people of Israel. On the fifteenth day of this same month was the feast of tabernacles; and Solomon and the congregation kept that feast also for seven days, which, added to the former, makes fourteen. On the three-andtwentieth day of this seventh month, Solomon sent away the people into their tents, glad and merry in heart for all the goodness that the Lord' had shewed unto David and Solomon, and to Israel, his people.

figurative of, Messiah, and which he had now fulfilled; which leads him to give an account how he became concerned and engaged in building the temple, and that the ark was deposited therein. Then he stood before the altar of the Lord, in the presence of all the people, and kneeled down upon his knees, and spread forth his hands towards heaven, and prayed the dedication prayer. In this he represented Christ, and was now acting in a manner in which he typified him. Solomon now turned his face to the temple, a type of Christ's person; he stood indeed still upon the scaffold, but he was so placed as to be before, or opposite the brazen altar, on which the sacrifices were laid, so that his prayer was founded on what they were memorials of, the one offering of Christ, which perfecteth for ever. He stretched out his hands towards heaven, and intercedes for the whole Israel of God; a figure of Christ, our Intercessor, who prays on the behalf of his whole church, and his intercession is founded on his oblation. Solomon's prayer is very comprehensive, it takes in every case they could possibly be in. So does the intercession of Christ; and his prayer, recorded in the 17th of John, takes in all the cases, and comprehends all the necessities of his people. Solomon in treats that the Lord would keep his covenant promise, which he had made

hensible Essence; so that he is "over all God, blessed for ever. Amen."

The temple, with its curious workmanship and sculpture, with its value and glory, with its furniture and veils, with its services and ordinances, was an exhibition of Christ's body; the perfection of which exceeds all description; the purity and holiness of it extends beyond the utmost stretch of conception.

The temple was a type and prefiguration of Christ's incarnation; it was an outward, sacred, and solemn pledge and memorial, that in the fulness of time, the everlasting covenant, which obtained between the Eternal Three, before all worlds, would be realized and carried into execution by the incarnation of Jehovah, the essential and only-begotten Son of God, who would be made flesh, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem his people who were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of

sons.

Christ, the Holy One of Israel, the Holy One of God, is stiled the Most Holy, Dan. ix. 24. in allusion to the holiest of all in the temple of Solomon. The cloud of glory which came down and filled the house, was a divine and solemn prefiguration that the Son of God would fill the temple of his humanity with all the fulness of Godhead. And, like as the glory of the Lord

face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David, thy servant." He then turned himself to the people, and blessed them. See 1 Kings viii. 55, &c. In which he expresses his best wishes for them, and closes with a most important and affectionate exhortation to them. Then the

Lord, as an evidence of his hearing and accepting Solomon's prayer, sends fire from heaven, which consumed the sacrifices on the altar; and the glory of the Lord, i. e. fire, light, and splen dor, surrounded with a cloud, came down again the second time, and filled the temple: "Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord." 2 Chron. vii. 1, 2. Upon the sight emblems of Je

and visible appearance of these hovah's presence, which was also a token of his most gracious acceptance of the prayer offered, of the temple consecrated to his name, and of the sacrificial services, the whole congregation fell down and worshipped Jehovah.

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and

worshipped and praised the Lord, saying, "For he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever.” 2, Chron. vii. 3. Thus the temple was dedicated by Solomon with sacrifice and prayer; and by the Lord with fire from heaven and the cloud of glory.

Mr. Romaine says, When the temple was finished, and the furniture of it set in order, then they open the service with sacrificing to the Lord; and while the priests were blowing the trumpets over the sacrifices, triumphing in the Lamb, who was, by one offering of himself, to take away sin, then the glory of the Lord filled the house, by which he gave evident sign, that God would come and dwell among men, and they should see his glory tabernacling in the flesh.'

"

Seven days were spent in observing this feast of the dedication, and great was the joy of God's chosen amongst the people of Israel. On the fifteenth day of this same month was the feast of tabernacles; and Solomon and the congregation kept that feast also for seven days, which, added to the former, makes fourteen. On the three-andtwentieth day of this seventh month, Solomon sent away the people into their tents, glad and merry in heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shewed unto David and Solomon, and to Israel, his people.