Stroll through Scripture for October 26, 2025

Based on 1 Kings 5:1-5; 8:1-13

Whenever I hear talk about the ark of the covenant, I can’t help but think of the 1981 movie Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark.  There’s a famous scene in the movie in which the Nazis have the lost ark and have captured Indiana Jones and his companion.  Indiana tells his companion to close her eyes tight and not to watch.  The Nazis, drunk with power, open the lid of the ark and quickly regret it – all falling dead from the unleashed power from within the ark.  The ark eventually ends up in a US government warehouse, lost to time and bureaucracy. 

This Sunday’s reading talks about moving the ark to the newly built Temple in Jerusalem.  When the ark is placed in the inner sanctuary, we are told that a cloud filled the Temple – signifying the presence of God.  The scene is designed to show God’s power and mystery and that no one can stand being in God’s presence.  

There was a belief that no one could look upon God and live – God would be too overwhelming.  It’s why the priests would have a rope tied around their waste, so that if they made the mistake of looking at God, and fell to their death, their body could safely be dragged out of the holy place without risking anyone else’s life.  Today, there are pastors who wear cinctures, or small ropes around their waste and vestments as a reminder of this.  

One of the other things that strikes me about this passage is Solomon.   He is being faithful, but at the same time pointing to himself.  He’s proud of having built the Temple for God. This is how the passage ends.  It makes me wonder if he is doing this for God or for himself. Maybe both.  Solomon is a smart guy after all.  But the reality is he didn’t build the Temple – he temporarily enslaved his own people and taxed them and made them forced labor to build the Temple.  

This seems to be a fall out from the warning that God issued to Israel back in 1 Samuel 8 when the people desired to have a king.  It was a rejection of God as their king.  In the passage God said that such a decision would lead to a life of servitude under a human king.  And here we are just two kings later, Israel finds itself with that exact situation.  That isn’t the first time though.  The people will quickly regret the demand in 1 Samuel 12.  But there is no reversing the situation and so there are long term effects.  

Questions for further reflection:

• The Temple is symbolic of God’s presence.  What do you see as symbolic of God’s presence in our modern times?