Jesus and Abraham

John 8 ⁴⁸They asked Jesus, "Were we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you?"
⁴⁹"I have no demon," Jesus answered. "I honor my Father, but you dishonor me. ⁵⁰I am not seeking honor for myself. But there is one who is seeking it and who judges in my favor. ⁵¹I am telling you the truth: whoever obeys my teaching will never die."
⁵²They said to him, "Now we know for sure that you have a demon! Abraham died, and the prophets died, yet you say that whoever obeys your teaching will never die. ⁵³Our father Abraham died; you do not claim to be greater than Abraham, do you? And the prophets also died. Who do you think you are?"
⁵⁴Jesus answered, "If I were to honor myself, that honor would be worth nothing. The one who honors me is my Father--the very one you say is your God. ⁵⁵You have never known him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see the time of my coming; he saw it and was glad."
⁵⁷They said to him, "You are not even fifty years old--and you have seen Abraham?"
⁵⁸"I am telling you the truth," Jesus replied. "Before Abraham was born, 'I Am'."
⁵⁹Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple
(1 Kings 8.1-9)

2 Chronicles 5 ²Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem, in order to take the LORD's Covenant Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. ³They all assembled at the time of the Festival of Shelters. ⁴When all the leaders had gathered, then the Levites lifted the Covenant Box ⁵and carried it to the Temple. The priests and the Levites also moved the Tent of the LORD's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. ⁶King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle--too many to count. ⁷Then the priests carried the Covenant Box of the LORD into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the winged creatures. ⁸Their outstretched wings covered the Box and the poles it was carried by. ⁹The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.) ¹⁰There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt.

The Glory of the LORD

^11-14All the priests present, regardless of the group to which they belonged, had consecrated themselves. And all the Levite musicians--Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and the members of their clans--were wearing linen clothing. The Levites stood near the east side of the altar with cymbals and harps, and with them were 120 priests playing trumpets. The singers were accompanied in perfect harmony by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, as they praised the LORD singing=:
"Praise the LORD, because he is good,
And his love is eternal."
As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud shining with the dazzling light of the LORD's presence, and they could not continue the service of worship.

The People's Unfaithfulness to God

Malachi 2 ¹⁰Don't we all have the same father? Didn't the same God create us all? Then why do we break our promises to one another, and why do we despise the covenant that God made with our ancestors? ¹¹The people of Judah have broken their promise to God and done a horrible thing in Jerusalem and all over the country. They have defiled the Temple which the LORD loves. Men have married women who worship foreign gods. ¹²May the LORD remove from the community of Israel those who did this, and never again let them participate in the offerings our nation brings to the LORD Almighty.
¹³This is another thing you do. You drown the LORD's altar with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer accepts the offerings you bring him. ¹⁴You ask why he no longer accepts them. It is because he knows you have broken your promise to the wife you married when you were young. She was your partner, and you have broken your promise to her, although you promised before God that you would be faithful to her. ¹⁵Didn't God make you one body and spirit with her? What was his purpose in this? It was that you should have children who are truly God's people. So make sure that none of you breaks his promise to his wife. ¹⁶"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel. "I hate it when one of you does such a cruel thing to his wife. Make sure that you do not break your promise to be faithful to your wife."