Solomon Dedicates the Temple
Study Scripture: 1 Kings 8: 22 – 24, 37 – 39, 46, 48 – 50
Background Scripture: 1 Kings 8: 22 – 53
Devotional Reading: Psalm 34: 11 – 22
Lesson 2 September 7, 2024
Key Verse
whatever prayer or plea [q]is offered by any person or by all Your people Israel, [r]each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his [s]hands toward this house; 39 then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive and act, and give to each in accordance with all his ways, whose heart You know—for You alone know the hearts of all [t]mankind. 1 Kings 8:38-39
INTRODUCTION
Solomon is reputed to be the ‘wisest man’ in the Scriptures. His reputation was based on a particular ‘gifting’ of God in that given a blanket choice to request ‘anything’ from God, Solomon choose ‘wisdom’ to enable him to govern God’s people. God granted him that, then graciously offered him all that ‘men’ would normally desire – wealth, fame, power etc.
The life of King Solomon is extremely interesting and informative for his gift of ‘wisdom’ is part of those qualities predicted as belonging to the Messiah.
But despite the superior quality of this ‘gift’ given by God, this was not sufficient for Solomon to live a life that would contain the essential element of being a ‘man after God’s own heart’ as his father David was.
It certainly pleased Yahweh that Solomon wanted this gift of ‘wisdom’ to rule the people of God in the right way, and for that he was complimented and given great blessings in addition to the requested ‘gift’ of wisdom.
But it seems clear that having the gift to rule wisely, with accompanying wealth, status, and high regard from the pagan nations, is not all that God wants His servants and people to have.
The Apostle Paul therefore has to warn believers after detailed teaching on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-15 that the “agape love” bestowed by Yahweh on believers is the indispensable characteristic to enable a life apart from the influence or domination of the flesh.
Solomon forgot about being a man ‘after God’s own heart’, and so he married Pharaoh’s daughter as well many multiple pagan wives despite Yahweh’s condemnation of that practice. 1 Kings 11 made the famous “But” warning:
“But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites-
From the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods”. Solomon clung to these in love.
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David”.
Verse 7- 14 recounts that Solomon as well established pagan temples in Jerusalem for his wives. Yahweh confronted him and declared judgment on him for his disobedience and his gross behavior.
Solomon’s extravagant lifestyle and building programs in addition led him to overtax his people, things which led to the splitting of the nation into the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom.
His commentary on his life and the vanity of his life is recorded in the Book of Ecclesiastes that he wrote at the end of his life. In Ecclesiastes 12:1 he declared his conclusion:
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”……
Vs. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil”.
The Apostle Paul told believers they should be warned that the possession of ‘spiritual gifts’ does not guarantee good behavior. These ‘gifts’ are given to build up the body of Christ. Accordingly, there can be no boasting.
Misuse of these ‘gifts’ to bring about and give personal power, wealth, and status is displeasing to Yahweh. Their use at all times must come under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit. If any sign of the flesh arises, there must be repentance and an about-face.
Critical to the thinking of believers must be the fact that this incredibly beautiful and magnificent Temple Solomon would build cannot rival in glory even the flowers that God created.
Nor can it rival you believers who are the “Temple of God indwelt by God the Holy Spirit”. Jesus’ statement on this is recorded in Matthew 6:28-30:
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Now if God so clothes the lilies of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”.
Hence, we know what the core reason for Solomon’s failure.
He had failed to follow his own advice in Proverbs 3:5:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh.
And strength to your bones”.
So note what 1 Corinthians 6:19 teaches us:
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
For you have been bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s”.
So what can we say then? Learn from Solomon’s great prayer. But learn also from the Scriptures and from the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles that your body is the temple of Yahweh, fearfully and wonderfully made, and is the incomparable creation of Yahweh, made in His image and likeness.
The King Solomon had wisely acquainted himself with the extant Scriptures, notably the desire of his godly father King David to build a ‘house’ that would if possible, be commensurate with the dignity of Jehovah.
2 Samuel 7:1 tells us David proposed to build the Temple to Yahweh but Yahweh had the prophet Nathan deny permission for David to build. In this Chapter vss. 12-16 God then told David that his son from his bowels through whom Yahweh would establish the kingdom, forever would be permitted to build the Temple to Yahweh.
Note that this Temple would replace the movable Tabernacle and so be a permanent structure to be established as the centre of Israel’s religious life.
Clearly, this son named Solomon was groomed by David as his successor and he was royalty, the son of the loved Bathsheba, trained for this task of building the Temple and ruling the nation.
If any man was capable of building such an edifice it would be King Solomon, given his father David’s military achievements, the accumulation of a massive amount of materials for the building, and the unification of the nation, and the fabulous wealth, power, and prestige he inherited.
In addition, Solomon was given wisdom, erudition, sophistication, statesmanship.
It is however important to note the very important lessons about Solomon so that we do not divorce his life and the importance of the Dedication of the Temple from the reality of God’s plan and human behavior.
Solomon, unlike king Saul and king David who had been anointed without prior warning or extensive formal preparation, was prepared from childhood to be king. He well knew the promises of God to his father that a son from the line of David would change the world. So, the young Solomon began his reign with great wealth, a stable peace, and great potential, possibilities, and responsibilities.
The problem was, and his life contains a warning to us, that faith, preparation, and even the gift of great human wisdom must stand the test of time.
He began well as we will see from how he built and dedicated the Temple, but his faith faded as he grew older. Despite his great spiritual inheritance
“his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been…..So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord”.
1 Kings 11:4.
Note that the All-Merciful and compassionate God despite knowing the sad conclusion, did answer Solomon’s prayer in a most abundant fashion.
God was pleased with Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the Temple but God’s blessing in 1 Kings was couched in negative terms, namely, since you did not ask for some things indicating selfish outcomes, but for discernment to administer justice, that will bring blessing and success to you.
Note in all this however that Solomon’s training to be king did not prompt him to ask for his heart to be ruled by God. He wanted and asked God for him to be an effective king, but not a godly man.
One writer gives us a note of caution, and this note will help us in our spiritual life and growth.:
“There are however a couple of cautions about Solomon’s celebrated wisdom that we should take note of. The first is that Solomon could offer wise counsel but he could not make anybody else wise, Solomon’s wisdom was God’s gift, not something for which he deserved credit.
God alone knows the deep things of creation and the particulars of every personal situation.
A word to the wise helps for the moment, but God’s servants must point those who seek life-changing insights to the Lord, not to themselves.
The second caution: divine wisdom is often mysterious or difficult. The Lord deserves our humble adoration whether his will makes sense to us or not.
It is possible that Solomon’s request for wisdom-with-qualifications (‘help me rule successfully’) sowed the seeds of his undoing.
A lasting connection with God cannot be gained if we seek it on our own terms with prior conditions. Solomon was born in royal surroundings and he had clear expectations for how his life should turn out.
It is common for believers to approach the Lord most often seeking his blessing for the path we would prefer to travel.
But every saint must give up the notion that he or she is in control. The living God is always worthy of worship and very often his ways are not our ways”.
The Books of 1 and 2 Kings received their names because they document the reigns of the forty monarchs of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah following David. Israel had twenty kings, and Judah had twenty, including one female who usurped the throne: Athaliah. The English Bible presents the Books primarily as historical accounts.
The historical period Kings covers totals about four hundred and thirteen years. The events that frame this period were Solomon’s coronation as co-regent with David (973 B.C.) and Jehoiachin’s release from Babylonian exile (561 B.C.). However, most of Kings deal with the period that spans Solomon’s coronation and the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., a period of three hundred and eighty-seven years. At the beginning we see the Temple built and at the end the Temple burnt.
The Holy Spirit led the writer of Kings to give an interpretation of history, not just a chronologically sequential record of events, as is true of all the writers of the Old Testament historical books. Some of the events in Kings are not in chronological order. They appear in the Text as they do usually to make a point that was primarily theologically edifying (i.e., to emphasize a spiritual lesson from history). The writer chose the historical data that he included for this purpose, under the superintending inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).
One writer comment on Kings: “All three major sections of Kings (the reign of Solomon, the divided kingdom, and the surviving kingdom) emphasize many theological lessons, but each one repeats and reinforces the main motif: the importance of obeying the Mosaic Law in order to succeed. This motif stands out very clearly in the first major section dealing with Solomon’s reign (chs. 1—11).
The nation of Israel reached the height of its power and prestige in Solomon’s day. It began to decline because of Solomon’s unfaithfulness and his failure to honor the Mosaic Covenant. Other important theological emphases in Kings include: the sovereignty of God, the kingdom of God, the Davidic kingdom, God’s grace, hope for the future, judgment, and repentance”.
The major lesson that the Book of Kings teaches its readers is that failure to honor the revealed will of God results in ruin and destruction. For Israel the revealed will of God was the Mosaic Law and the later revelations of the prophets (men and women who spoke for God).
The ceremony in 1 Kings 8 consecrated the newly built Temple in Jerusalem. Temple construction had begun in 966 BC and required seven years for completion (1 Kings 6:1, 38). That completion in 959 B.C. marked an important transition in Israelite history, as the location of encounter with the holy God became immovable, with the Temple replacing the portable Tabernacle. The first half of Solomon’s forty-year reign was focused on crafting and building the Temple (chapters 5,6,7. See 9:1-10 for God’s commentary), and his palace (7:1-12).
Today’s Lesson from 1 Kings 8 considers a portion of the dedication prayer at the ceremony for the finished Temple, over which King Solomon presided.
Solomon’s Temple was widely regarded as the most magnificent Temple of his day and beyond and a concrete example of what it means to give one’s best to the Master. No expense was spared; the absolute best of materials fashioned and erected by the most skilled craftsmen, artisans and builders of the day under the watchful eyes of priests to ensure proper consecration.
Several preparatory elements led up to this prayer: the Temple was completely furnished
(1 Kings 7:13–51), the Ark of the Covenant had been brought into the Temple (8:1–9), and the King had “blessed all the congregation of Israel” (8:14).
The prayer of dedication that followed (8:23–53) is one of the longest prayers in the Bible. (2 Chronicles 6:14–42) Only the prayer in Nehemiah 9:5–38 is of similar length.
Solomon introduced seven petitions with a backward look, emphasizing God’s faithfulness (vv. 23-26). He concluded with a forward look, stressing God’s mercy (vv. 52-53).
The prayer’s outsized length should not be attributed to the king’s penchant for elaboration and excess.
The King did not merely ramble on and on (Matthew 6:7). Quite the opposite: the prayer is clearly organized and invites study and reflection. The lavish Temple dedication ceremony has never been replicated and the highpoint of that ceremony was Solomon’s prayer of Dedication and Jehovah’s response to the prayer.
Solomon’s prayer should be studied by God’s people for its God-centered content, priority and orientation.
TEXT
Verses 1 – 11
The Ark Installed in the Temple
The Israelites regarded the Ark of the Covenant as the throne of Yahweh. It was the place where He manifested His presence in a localized way and where He received the ‘blood’ that atoned for the Israelites’ sins on the Day of Atonement. The Ark had rested in David’s Tabernacle in Zion, the City of David, since he brought it from the house of Obed-edom, (2 Sam. 6:17).
It was the only item in the Temple that was not new. God’s person and methods of dealing with Israel at the ‘mercy seat’ remained as they had always been!
Note the Dedication ceremony was with the assembled heads of the tribes, and the elders, as well as the leaders of the ancestral houses. This assembly showed the links to the past of the nation.
The ceremony of installing the Ark in ‘Solomon’s Temple’ took place during the Feast of Tabernacles. This was one of the Feasts that the Mosaic Law specified for compulsory attendance by all Israelite males, (Lev. 23:33-36).
The Feast was a commemoration of the LORD’s faithfulness during His people’s wilderness wanderings. It looked back to their slavery in Egypt and forward to their establishment in the Promised Land. The bringing of the Ark into the temple symbolized the fulfillment of that hope. Evidently Solomon waited for this Feast in order to celebrate the dedication of the Temple and used the months following the completion of construction to furnish it and to prepare for the celebration.
Verses 3-8 picture the symbolic enthronement of Yahweh as Israel’s King. Israel’s God now entered into His “house.” Note, the people did not regard the sovereignty of a human king as firmly established until he built a palace for himself. Now they saw the sovereignty of the divine King established over Israel.
‘To this day (vs. 8) shows that the writer wrote this part of Kings before 586 B.C. when the Babylonian army destroyed this Temple (9:13, 21; 10:12, 20; 2 Kings 2:22; 8:22; 10:27; 14:7; 16:6; 17:23, 34).
The Ark housed the tablets of the Decalogue (Ten Commandments; Heb. 9:4). The sole presence of these Stone Tablets in the Ark reemphasized the importance of the Israelites submitting to the Mosaic Covenant, represented by these Tablets. Obedience would be the key to Israel’s success.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may [a]be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will [b]achieve success. (Josh. 1:8).
Formerly a pot of manna, symbolizing God’s faithful provision of the needs of His people, and Aaron’s rod that budded, symbolizing God’s confirmation of the Aaronic priesthood, had rested near the ark in the tabernacle.
The Shekinah (from the Hebrew root translated “to dwell”) cloud (Exod. 19:9; 24:15-16), symbolic of Yahweh’s presence, filled the Temple. It had also filled the Tabernacle at its dedication (Exod. 40:34-35). The cloud enabled the Israelites to understand that their God had come to dwell among them and to bless them with His presence. Even priestly ministry was impossible during this glorious revelation of Yahweh. All that the people could do was worship.
Verses 12 – 21. Solomon’s Address to the People
God previously said that He would dwell in the cloudy pillar in the wilderness (Lev. 16:2). Solomon hoped that God would now dwell in the Temple forever (i.e., from then on).
In his address to the gathered Israelites, Solomon emphasized the desire of David’s heart to build the temple (vv. 17-18).
God raised up Solomon for that task as He had promised to do.
The Temple was a house for the reputation (name) of Yahweh; it made a statement about Him. The Mosaic Covenant was the basis of Israel’s ongoing fellowship with God (v. 21).
Solomon demonstrated humility and gratitude, two requisite qualities for maintaining fellowship in the Covenant.
Verse 22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord … and spread forth his hands toward heaven.
It is significant that Solomon himself prayed this prayer in the presence of the people, personally leading them in worship; he did not delegate it to a priest or prophet.
The standing posture of prayer Solomon adopts is the most commonly seen in ancient Near Eastern art. Other postures, especially kneeling or prostration, were legitimate, of course (1 Chronicles 29:20;
2 Chronicles 29:29).
By the time Solomon concludes the prayer, he will have switched from standing to kneeling (1 Kings 8:54;). The changeover is explained more fully in 2 Chronicles 6:12–13.
In both postures, the fact that Solomon extended his hands toward heaven adds an aura of solemnity and earnestness (Exodus 9:29; Deuteronomy 32:40–41; Lamentations 3:41; Daniel 12:7).
It reflects the idea of God as being far “above” creation, not just spatially but also figuratively. Humans look “up” to God, seeking help during their hour of need (Deuteronomy 4:39; John 8:23).
Solomon voiced his prayer not just for his own benefit but on behalf of all the congregation of Israel. These were especially those Israelites who were in attendance personally for the Temple dedication
(1 Kings 8:1–2). Their presence is important partly because they must overhear the exhortations to avoid sin and partly because God wishes to emphasize the relationship with the people of Israel. They were united with each other and God by their history, present life, and hope for a blessed future. In a sense, they are being dedicated as much as the Temple when we note the blessing mentioned in
1 Kings 8:14 (compare 2 Samuel 6:18).
Verse 23. … The Lord God of Israel there is no God like thee, …
The following two verses are worded almost identically with 2 Chronicles 6:14–15. The confession emphasizes the uniqueness of God, an idea that appears in many biblical texts (Psalms 115:3–8; 135:15–18).
The Lord God of Israel tolerates no rivals (Deuteronomy 4:15–20; 5:7; etc.). One area of His uniqueness appears in keeping a covenant in His merciful love. This language comes from Deuteronomy 7:9, 12 and reflects the direction of that Book. While Israelites were responsible for obeying God’s commandments, their relationship with God rested primarily on His covenant promise. It was not earned by human merit.
Even so, the verse at hand emphasizes the attitude of the people. As indicated by “the Shema” (“hear”) in Deuteronomy 6:4–5, the people should hear and receive the Law of Moses with enthusiasm, commitment, and even rejoicing, as emphasized throughout Deuteronomy. Mindless, routine obedience cannot be the goal of the relationship because it is not sustainable. Those who follow God without enthusiasm will stop following at a slight provocation (Matthew 13:1–9).
Verse 24. You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You [as]promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
The promise to David that his offspring would build the Temple (2 Samuel 7:13), now fulfilled, is evidence of God’s faithfulness.
The eventual destruction of kingship and even that of the Temple did not cancel God’s plan for Israel; rather, God used those events to symbolize His presence as they pointed to greater, eternal realities regarding spiritual and heavenly kingship and Temple. God may carry out His promises in various ways, but the promises always remain.
Verse 37. If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be.
The Old Testament often summarized the calamities that may befall God’s people in terms of “sword,” “famine,” and “pestilence” (eg.1 Chronicles 21:11–12; Jeremiah 14:12). These three general categories speak to oppression and/or fatalities caused by human adversaries, meager harvests, and disease, respectively.
Blasting (blight), mildew, locust, and caterpillar result in famine as crops are destroyed (Psalm 78:46; Amos 4:9; Joel 1:4). These predictions of calamities come from the greatly expanded listing in Deuteronomy 28:15–68.
Verse 38. What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, … and spread forth the hands toward this house.
Solomon asks God to reply to any prayer offered by those either in the Temple or so mindful.
On the other hand, the ancient Greek translation (the Septuagint) omits the phrase by all the people Israel. The prayer does envision Gentiles praying, beginning in 1 Kings 8:41. But here the focus remains on Israelites as those especially subject to the curses following a violation of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28).
Which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, … speaks to pangs of conscience
(1 Samuel 24:5; Romans 2:15). Each person knows his or her own troubles and can express them in prayer as hands are lifted toward this house (Exodus 9:29; Job 11:13; Psalm 88:9; Isaiah 1:15).
This may work on two levels: (1) the suffering of the people as a whole may be expressed in different ways by different individuals, and (2) each person should be aware of his or her details and ably communicate about them to God. In other words, prayer can take many forms.
On the one hand, it depends partly on forms shared by the community as a whole over time. On the other hand, it depends partly on individual experience and perception.
Verse 39. … whose heart thou knowest (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men.
Humans do well to know their own hearts and minds as God knows them (Hebrews 4:12–13). That is an ideal to strive for, though not attainable since God knows us better than we know ourselves
(1 Corinthians 11:28–32; 2 Corinthians 10:12).
We have a tendency toward self-deception (1 John 1:8).
If God responds to prayer based on an assessment of need (Matthew 6:8, 32), how much more are His responses in reaction to the direction of one’s heart (13:58)!
The divine response follows a sequence that begins with an appeal for God to “hear”; this is a feature in ancient Israelite prayers (Psalms 5:1; 27:7; 28:2; 54:2; 64:1; Lamentations 3:8, 44). Then God forgives, since a request for help usually accompanies self-assessment and turning away from sin. Then God acts appropriately. This sequence is relevant because the moral and spiritual ground must be cleared before action occurs.
Note the warning at the same time.
God does assess the ways of the person praying. Wicked people who defy God’s call cannot utter legitimate prayers. That is because their intention is not to change their ways but to escape some immediate trial (Proverbs 15:29; Isaiah 58:1–9; Hosea 6:1–7:16; 1 Timothy 2:8).
The verse also insists that God knows the thoughts of all people, not just Israelites. This insight leads to the expectation that Gentiles may also pray toward the Temple and ask for God’s help.
Verse 46. If they sin against thee, … the prayer takes an important turn, assuming that the people may sin so grievously that the covenant might fail as the Israelites are removed from their Promised Land. This event did occur. However, the prediction goes beyond the curses for disobedience in Deuteronomy 28:15–68 to promises of prosperity in Deuteronomy 30:1–10.
These envision the loss of the land as a punishment, and the return to it as an effect of God’s mercy, respectively. The relationship between Israel and God was not based on human achievement but on God’s love and kindness.
So, the prayer ends with a request that God will renew the people even after their communal sins have resulted in the curses of Deuteronomy 28:15–68. Even the collapse of their culture ought not to be the last word. God remains just and punishes sin, but He also shows mercy.
This verse should not be read as an excuse for sin. “God knows I’m human and will forgive me,” a sentence often heard in Christian circles, is a statement of extreme arrogance and careless indifference to the moral and spiritual demands of faith.
It is not a statement honoring God or taking human duties or capacities seriously. It distorts Solomon’s point here. The prayer does not ask for cheap grace because it accepts the reality of punishment for sin.
Verse 48. And so return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul, … the house which I have built for thy name.
Here Solomon assumed that suffering will cause people to reflect on their lives and amend them. It also assumes that God will hear their prayers of repentance when uttered in a land of exile.
This means, in turn, that God’s presence is universal and that He is interested in the prayers of people seeking change and redemption.
The verse also reveals the idea of praying toward the Temple in Jerusalem. It may be the earliest evidence for that practice.
Much later, Daniel prayed, facing Jerusalem while in Babylon (Daniel 6:10). This practice shows how posture indicates the direction of the heart. A good (and bad) example of this is Ezekiel 8:16, which describes “about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the Temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.”
Verse 49. Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause.
It’s one thing to hear, but another thing to heed (see the distinction in Ezekiel 33:4–5). We see both elements in this prayer, with the request to maintain their cause as the heeding part.
The “cause” has been given to the Israelites by God; it is the very reason for the existence of their nation (Deuteronomy 7:6). Thus, the prayer ultimately is that God’s will be done as the nation of Israel fulfills its divine purpose.
God is certainly interested in having His will done!
Verse 50. and forgive Your people who have sinned against You … God takes no pleasure in our suffering, even when deserved, (Ezekiel 18:32; 33:11). Spiritual reform sometimes results in suffering, since we need to eliminate certain attitudes and behaviors. But even the suffering draws the compassion of God and of righteous people.
Note that Yahweh had promised David to establish the throne of David’s son forever and Solomon knew that and he extolled the greatness of Yahweh and His faithfulness in keeping the Covenant promises.
But Solomon also knew that Yahweh’s promises to David was expressed in conditional terms. Psalms 132 makes it clear there is an “if”. In that Chapter verse 12 it states:
“If your children will keep my covenant, my testimony that I will teach them, their children also will sit on your throne forevermore”.
This Psalm of Ascent sung as the people went up to the Temple is very instructive, for in it the people had to pray for Yahweh to keep His promises and not turn away from keeping David’s children.
CONCLUSION
We must not overlook that in Solomon’s prayer recorded in verses 41-43 he prayed that God would hear the prayer of a foreigner who would come a long distance to show he respected Yahweh’s Temple and Yahweh’s name out of his devotion to this Almighty God.
Solomon prayed this remarkable prayer as he remembered the promise to Abram that “All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you”.
So Solomon prayed “that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do the people of Israel”.
Israel only very seldom felt this sense of mission to those outside the nation of Israel and Yahweh had to act in due time to correct this failing. The New Testament emphasized this promise to Abram in many Scriptures including Matthew 2:1-12; 24: 14; 28:19-20; Mark 13:10; Luke 24:47.
We note therefore how people of God fail in their mission. They had been reminded of this mission by Solomon but Yahweh (God) had to intervene so that His will would be done.
Let us therefore not fail Yahweh and feel satisfied that we are not like ancient Israel. We often are exactly like them.
We often like to keep to ourselves and are happy singing the songs of Zion and the choruses lauding what Yahweh has done for us, while we keep on breaking the commandments of Yahweh, and living lives of selfishness which are aimed at driving people, the lost, away from God. We thus are helping the work of Satan.
Solomon very well knew how human beings are and his prayer takes account of human waywardness and the critical necessity for Yahweh’s mercy and His forgiveness. We note this and it puzzles us that he was capable of this great ability to discern human failings.
Yet he failed. He was crowned, but he failed.
Will we fail, though we know the promise made to Abram that God will call us and bless us?
Therefore, one of the most puzzling features of prayer in the Bible occurs in this prayer at the dedication of the Temple. Here, Solomon voiced the nation’s prayer for forgiveness as part of its ongoing life together. In this case, Solomon prayed for forgiveness of sins that had not yet been committed!
In that regard, the prayer serves as a reflection on the entire history of Israel, from the time of the exodus of 1447 B.C. four-hundred and eighty-one years in the past as Solomon uttered this prayer to Nebuchadnezzar’s forced removal of the citizens of Judah in 586 B.C. three hundred 380 years after the prayer).
For us to understand the prayer, we must place it within this larger context, the story of Israel in the Promised Land, covering the entire books of Joshua through 2 Kings. Both that history and Solomon’s prayer reflect a realistic assessment of the human condition and the tendency of human beings to fail.
The Bible does not try to pretend that a perfect, sinless time existed at some point after the Garden of Eden. Idolatry and oppression occurred regularly; they still do. Solomon’s prayer foreshadowed the outcome found in 2 Kings 25. Even so, Israel’s story, as recorded in the Books of Joshua through 2 Kings, is not an obituary but a warning and an invitation to a better life.
Solomon’s prayer rests on the assumption that God seeks to heal and forgive, even when (or especially when) sins threaten to overcome the sinners. God defends penitent people from those who would oppress them and even from themselves. The worship by Old Testament Israel and the New Testament church celebrates the expansive nature of God’s mercy.
The prayer in 1 Kings 8 is, therefore realistic and hopeful.
The dedication of the holiest spot on earth (at the time) was connected to the reality of unholiness. Solomon cast the nation of Israel as a whole on the mercy of God. In so doing, Solomon sought God’s commitment to continue working with the people as part of their centuries-long process of learning and obeying.
The Church would do well to recover the biblical practice of confession of sins, both of individuals and of the Church as a whole.
Part of that recovery would involve acknowledgment that the temptations to harm others or dishonor God do not go away. We will need forgiveness in the future, and we need humility in the present. Solomon’s prayer shows us a way forward.
This Chapter climaxes the writer’s emphasis on the greatness of Yahweh as Israel’s God. It is the most detailed account of a dedication service in the Bible. It is also one of the most theologically significant Texts in 1 and 2 Kings.