Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD's covenant from Zion, the City of David. – 2 Chronicles 5:2

Today's Scripture Reading (December 6, 2025): 2 Chronicles 5

There is a difference between the way that you value yourself and the way that others view you. My family often shapes my sense of self-worth. I am a husband, father, son, brother, grandfather, and uncle, among many other familial designations, to the various important people in my family. And I love to play those roles. But that is not how most of my friends see me. To the community, I am a pastor, counselor, spiritual leader, and, sometimes, a friend. One friend went even further and declared that when he calls me Garry, he is approaching me as a friend. But when he addressed me as Pastor Garry, or sometimes as Padre, he was looking to me as a spiritual leader. So, I needed to listen closely to the way that I was addressed. However, I know there is a significant difference between my internal view of myself and the way the community sees me and the expectations that they have of me.

Passages like this can be confusing. Often, Zion and Jerusalem seem to be used interchangeably. So, how can something be brought up from Zion to Jerusalem? However, we do need to understand the impact of the move. For a couple of generations, the Altar and the Ark had been separated, existing in different locations. But with the completion of the Temple, finally, the Ark could be reunited with the Altar and the rest of the Temple furnishings. Until the Ark was brought to the Temple and set in the Holy of Holies, the Temple could not fully operate. The Ark was a crucial part of the Temple.

So, the author of Kings includes this note: the Ark had to be brought up from Zion to the Temple in Jerusalem. The comment makes about as much sense as saying that something had to be brought up from Manhattan to New York City. Aren't they essentially indicting the same place?

In Jewish thought, there was a difference between Zion and Jerusalem. Zion and Jerusalem might refer to the same location, but also different aspects of that locale. Zion is a place of internal significance. Zion is what makes the Jewish people distinctive. For years, the Ark had dwelt in a tent in Zion. Priests attended to the Ark, but it was a place where the Jews worshiped, and only the Jews. It was from this place of internal significance that the Torah emerged. The Torah, or the Law, always comes from Zion, a place of special importance for the Jews.

But now, things were changing. The Temple was going to bring Judaism to the attention of the known world. Jerusalem was beginning its life as a spiritual center, not just for the Jews, but for all the nations. While the Law comes out of Zion, the message of God's Word, telling of his love for all of the people of the earth, emerges out of Jerusalem. And at this moment, the Ark was being transported from a tent of internal significance to the Jews to a place of external importance on the World Stage, because the Temple would become a place of worship for all the people of the earth.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 6