Oracle

From: Concise Bible Dictionary: O By: George A. Morrish

• 1 min. read • grade level: 7

It was said of Ahithophel that his counsel was “as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God,” or at the “word” of God (2 Sam. 16:23²³And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom. (2 Samuel 16:23)). In all other places in the Old Testament the word “oracle” applies to the holy of holies. It is doubtless so called because God said, “There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel” (Exod. 25:22²²And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 25:22)). And it was from there that Moses received many of the laws (1 Kings 6:5-31⁵And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about: ⁶The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. ⁷And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. ⁸The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third. ⁹So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar. ¹¹And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹²Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father: ¹³And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel. ¹⁴So Solomon built the house, and finished it. ¹⁵And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. ¹⁶And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place. ¹⁷And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long. ¹⁸And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. ¹⁹And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ²⁰And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. ²¹So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. ²²And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold. ²³And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. ²⁴And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. ²⁵And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. ²⁶The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. ²⁷And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. ²⁸And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. ²⁹And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. ³⁰And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without. ³¹And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall. (1 Kings 6:5‑31); 1 Kings 7:49⁴⁹And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, (1 Kings 7:49); 1 Kings 8:6,8⁶And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. (1 Kings 8:6)
⁸And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. (1 Kings 8:8); 2 Chron. 3:16¹⁶And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. (2 Chronicles 3:16); 2 Chron. 4:20²⁰Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold; (2 Chronicles 4:20); 2 Chron. 5:7,9⁷And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: (2 Chronicles 5:7)
⁹And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day. (2 Chronicles 5:9); Psa. 28:2²Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. (Psalm 28:2)).

In the New Testament the word thus translated is λόγιον; it is applied to the law given to Moses, and committed to Israel; and also to truths revealed in New Testament times (Acts 7:38³⁸This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: (Acts 7:38); Rom. 3:2²Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. (Romans 3:2); Heb. 5:12¹²For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. (Hebrews 5:12); 1 Peter 4:11¹¹If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11)). It signifies “a message or answer given by God,” and thence the place from which such were given.

In the learned heathen world, Satan had places in imitation of this, at which it was professed that an answer from their gods could be obtained; but the answers were often purposely vague in order that afterward they could be interpreted differently according as the event turned out. Thus the persons were duped who asked the questions.

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