The Reign of King Solomon over a United Israel (970-930 B.C.) 1Ki 1:1 to 1Ki 11:43 records the story of the reign of King Solomon. The plot of this historical account of Solomon’s life takes a familiar structure as it discusses the establishment, prosperity and failure of his reign as king over Israel.

1. The Establishment of Solomon’ Reign 1Ki 1:1 to 1Ki 2:46

2. The Prosperity of Solomon’s Reign 1Ki 3:1 to 1Ki 10:29

3. The Failure of Solomon’s Reign 1Ki 11:1-40

4. Epilogue 1Ki 11:41-43

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Reign of King Solomon (His Prosperity) 1Ki 3:1 to 1Ki 10:29 gives us the story of Solomon’s reign as king over the united kingdom of Israel. The emphasis in this passage of Scripture is Solomon’s prosperity as a result of obeying God’s Word. In contrast, the final chapter of Solomon’s reign will end sadly with the story of Solomon falling away from God and how his kingdom grew weak and became divided as a result of his sins.

One of the reasons for Solomon’s prosperity can be seen in his willingness to give generously to the Lord. 1Ki 3:1-15 gives us the story of Solomon’s great sacrifice that he offered to God and how God responded to him in a dream and blessed him. As a new king he had a great need, which was to rule over his people with wisdom and discretion. In his need he came to God with an offering. It was Solomon’s offering of one thousand burnt offerings to the Lord that prompted God to give back to the king a gift. This great sacrifice opened the windows of heaven for Solomon that forever changed the effectiveness of his ministry, for God gave him great wisdom and wealth.

Then God came to Solomon a second time and promised to be with His people and bless the entire nation (1Ki 6:11-13). Although God blessed Solomon in his first divine encounter, the people were blesses during this second visitation. During these years God did not mind Solomon’s prosperity. In fact, it was God who had given him the power to gain this wealth. In fact during his second great sacrifice at the dedication of the Temple Solomon was able to offer sheep and oxen without number (1Ki 8:5). His first offering to God consisted of one thousand burnt offerings (1Ki 3:4). This time he offered twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep (1Ki 8:63). The Lord responded by visiting him again in a dream (1Ki 9:1-9). This time God promised to establish his royal lineage forever and to honour the Temple with His presence. Solomon continued to give (2Ch 8:12; 2Ch 9:12). As he gave he continued to prosper, and he built to his heart’s desire. In fact, he became the richest man on earth, receiving tribute from many kingdoms around him. Solomon made silver as common as stones (2Ch 9:27). In other words, he made the city look more and more like Heaven itself, whose streets are paved with gold.

There is a teaching in today’s churches that one should be specific to God in prayer with his particular need as he gave an offering. In other words, an act of giving should be accompanied with a request to God for a particular need. If someone wanted a Scriptural basis for speaking these blessing forth as they gave an offering, then this verse would certainly support such a teaching.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Ceremony Of Dedication

v. 1. Then Solomon, the Temple being completed in all its parts, assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, the princes of the father-houses, all these being representatives of the entire congregation, unto King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion, the summit of Moriah being higher than Mount Zion.

v. 2. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, also known as Tishri, which is the seventh month. The festival here referred to is the Feast of Tabernacles, which seems at that time to have been better observed than the other two great festivals, and it was very appropriate that Solomon chose just this season of the year.

v. 3. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark, the bearing of which was their special work, Num 4:15.

v. 4. And they brought up the ark of the Lord and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the tent which seems finally to have been located on a hill near Gibeon, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up, the latter carrying the coverings of the Tabernacle, Num 3:31; Num 4:5 ff.

v. 5. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him were with him before the ark, in a procession which went ahead of the priests, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told or numbered for multitude, nobody thought it worthwhile to count the great number of sacrifices, for there was no regard to expense.

v. 6. And the priests brought in the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord unto his place, in to the oracle of the house, to the Most Holy Place, even under the wings of the cherubim, evidently setting the ark so as to have it stand with its length north and south.

v. 7. For the cherubim, 1Ki 6:27, spread forth their two wings, those which touched in the middle of the room, over the place of the ark, and the cherubim, bending forward as did those on the cover of the ark, covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

v. 8. And they drew out the staves, that is, the staves were very long on account of the great weight of the ark and on account of the fact that the bearers were not allowed to touch the sacred vessel, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the Holy Place before the oracle, that is, if any one approached very near to the Most Holy Place; and they were not seen without; and there they are unto this day, this account having been written before the destruction of Jerusalem.

v. 9. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. It seems, then, that “the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded,” Heb 9:4, had been removed from the ark or were again deposited later.

v. 10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the Holy Place, that the cloud, the visible token of the presence of Jehovah in the fullness of His majesty, as in the wilderness, filled the house of the Lord,

v. 11. so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. Cf Exo 40:34-35. The entire Sanctuary was filled with this gracious manifestation, making it impossible for the priests, for the time being, to perform their work. The Church of the New Testament is assured of the continual merciful presence of Jehovah, until at last we shall progress from believing to seeing.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.The stately and impressive service with which the Temple, the character and contents of which have now been described, was dedicated, is related in this chapter, and divides itself into four sections. We have

(1) the removal of the ark and Solomon’s ascription of praise on the occasion (1Ki 8:1-22).

(2) The prayer of consecration (1Ki 8:23-54).

(3) The benediction of the congregation (1Ki 8:55-61), and

(4) the festal sacrifices which followed on and completed the dedication (1Ki 8:62-66). The inaugural rites, it is clear, were on a scale corresponding with the magnitude and renown of the undertaking (1Ch 22:5).

SECTION I.The Removal of the Ark.

1Ki 8:1

Then [i.e; when the work of the house of the Lord was practically ended, as stated in 1Ki 7:51. But the precise date of the dedication is a matter of dispute and uncertainty. We know that it took place in the seventh month of the year, but of what year we cannot be so sure. Was it the same year in the eighth month of which (1Ki 6:38) the house was finished (Ewald)? Was the dedication, that is to say, one month anterior to the completion of the house and its appointments? Or are we to understand “the seventh month” to mean the Ethanim of the following year (Bhr)? are we to assign the dedication, that is, to a date eleven months after completion? Or, finally, are we to believe with the Vat. LXX. (the LXX. text is here, however, in great confusion), that the temple was not dedicated until the palaces were also built (see 1Ki 9:1-9); are we to hold, i.e; that though finished and ready for use, it remained unused for a period of thirteen years (Thenius, Keil)? These are questions which we cannot perhaps answer with absolute certainty, but, to my mind, every consideration is in favour of the date first mentioned, i.e; the seventh month of the eleventh year of Solomon’s reign. It is true Bhr says that this opinion “needs no refutation,” while Keil pronounces it directly at variance with 1Ki 7:51.” But it is worth while to inquire whether this is so? And, first, as to the bearing of the passage just cited, “So was ended all the work which,” etc; taken in connexion with 1Ki 8:1, “Then Solomon assembled,” etc. To the cursory reader it appears no doubt as it this “then” must refer to the completion of the work of which we have just heard, and which was not effected until the eighth month of the year (1Ki 6:38). But

(1) though probably a mark of time (= tune), is clearly a word of great latitude of meaning, and may apply as well to one month before completion (the time specified in 1Ki 7:51) as to eleven months after; and

(2) it would be quite consistent with the usus loquendi of the sacred writers to describe the temple as finished, when in reality it was incomplete in a few minor particulars (De minimis non curat scriptura). Further more, if the temple was finished in every detail, and in all its furniture and appointments, in the eighth month, as we learn from 1Ki 6:38, we may be perfectly sure it would or could be practically finishedfinished so as to be ready for consecrationby the seventh month. Indeed, it is not an unreasonable presumption, that it hardly would be perfect and complete on the day of dedication. Those who have built or restored churches, not to speak of cathedrals, which would perhaps afford a closer analogy to the temple, know how extremely difficult, if not impossible, it is to have every detail finished and arranged for the day of consecration. Some few accidental omissions will have to be supplied afterwards, or experience will suggest certain alterations and improvements which have to be made. There is no inherent improbability, therefore, that the temple should be dedicated in the seventh month, though it was not finished until the eighth month, i.e; three or four weeks later. And there was a strong reason why the dedication should take place at the earliest possible date. There had been a long period of preparation, extending back into the preceding reign (1Ch 28:1-21; 1Ch 29:1-30.); the dedication consequently had long been eagerly looked for; moreover the erection had evidently been hurried forward, a prodigious number of labourers having been employed in order to expedite the work. It is almost inconceivable, therefore, that, after these energetic measures had been taken, either the king or the nation should have been content to wait thirteen yearsnearly twice the time it had taken to build the templeuntil the palaces, which were entirely independent and secular buildings, were also completed. If the great national sanctuary, which was the glory of the land, was ready for use, as we know it was, we can hardly believe, considering the natural eagerness and impatience of men, that the tribes of Israel, or their ambitious monarch, would, of their own choice, defer the consecration for an indefinite number of years. It would appear consequently that it is the view that the dedication was postponed for thirteen years “hardly needs discussion” (see below on 1Ki 9:1). And the same considerations apply, though perhaps with diminished force, to their waiting one year. For if it be said that the delay was occasioned by the desire to connect the dedication with the feast of tabernacles, which was par excellence the feast of the year () the answer is that it is more likely that the work would be hurried on by the employment of additional hands, if need be, or that the edifice would be consecrated, though not complete in all its details, at the feast of the eleventh year, than that, for the sake of one month, they should wait eleven months. And if the objection be raised that a feeling of religious awe would forbid the dedication of an imperfect building, or of a perfect building with imperfect arrangements, it is easy to reply that both building and furniture may have been practically complete, and may have been believed at the time to be perfect, but that the experience of the first few days suggested a few alterations or additions which threw the completion of the work in all its particulars into the eighth month. It is worthy of notice that Josephus distinctly states that the dedication was in the seventh month of the eighth year (Ant. 8.4. 1) ] Solomon assembled [. See Ewald, 233 b] the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief [Heb. princes] of the fathers of the children of Israel. [This great assembly (compare Dan 3:2) can hardly be said to have been suggested to Solomon by the precedent afforded by David (Keil), when bringing up the ark (2Sa 6:1), for it was only natural that he should summon the representatives of the people to witness an event of such profound importance in the national history, as the dedication, after years of waiting (2Sa 7:6-13), of a national sanctuary intended to supersede the tabernacle, at which for five centuries their forefathers had worshipped. And the more so, as they had been called together by David to con-salt about the erection (1Ch 28:1), and had offered willingly of their treasures (1Ch 29:6-9) towards its decoration. It is inconceivable, therefore, that the temple of the Jews could have been formally opened, except in the presence of the “elders and heads of the tribes.” Nor can we (with Rawlinson) see a contrast between the more popular proceedings of David, who “gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand (2Sa 6:1), and the statelier, more aristocratic system of his son, who merely summons the chief men;” for Solomon’s “eiders,” etc. (Deu 16:18; 1Sa 16:4; 1Sa 30:26-31), may well have equalled David’s “chosen men” in number. It is quite likely that there was more formality and stateliness in this latter ease, but it was practically the same class of persons, i.e; the leading men by birth, talents, or prowess, that were present on both occasions. In fact, it was the Jewish Church by representation] unto King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up [Heb. to bring up] the ark of the covenant of the Lord [so called because it contained the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with the children of Israel (verse 9). The temple being really, or principally, a receptacle for the ark, the removal of this venerated relic to its place in the oracle is narrated first, as being of the first importance] out of the city of David, which is Zion. [Cf. 2Sa 6:12, 2Sa 6:17.]

1Ki 8:2

And all the men of Israel [not all the heads of the tribes just mentioned (1Ki 8:1), as Keil, but all who came to the feast, as every male Israelite was under obligation to do (Deu 16:16) ] assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast [the Heb. word (with the art.) always means the feast of tabernacles. The same word is used of the feast of passover (Exo 23:15) and pentecost (ib. verse 16), but “the feast” here can only mean that of tabernacles. As the “feast of ingathering” (Exo 23:16), as commemorating the deliverance from Egypt (Le 23:43), and as peculiarly a social festival (ib. verses 40-42; Num 29:12 sqq.), it was the most joyous as well as the greatest ( . Jos; Ant. 8.4. 1) gathering of the year. (Compare the Jewish saying of a later date: “He who has never seen the rejoicing at the pouring out of the water of Siloam, has never seen rejoicing in his life.”) It was doubtless for this reason that tabernacles was selected for the dedication. A special feast of dedication, however, was held for seven days before the feast of tabernacles proper commenced (see on verse 65). It did not displace that great feast, however (Stanley), but simply preceded it. It is worthy of notice that Jeroboam selected the same feast (1Ki 12:32) for the inauguration of his new cultus. The idea of Josephus, that the feast of tabernacles “happened to coincide with the dedication” hardly seems probable] in the month Ethanim [variously interpreted to mean gifts, i.e; fruits (Thenius), flowing streams (Gesenius)it falls about the time of the early rainsand equinox (Bottcher) ], which is the seventh month. [This is added because the month was subsequently known as Tisri (see on 1Ki 6:1), or to show that “the feast” was the feast of tabernacles.]

1Ki 8:3

And all the elders of Israel came [Not a mere repetition. The men who were summoned to Jerusalem (1Ki 8:1) were all present, of their own accord, to witness the removal], and the priests took up the ark. tin the parallel account in 2Ch 5:4, we read that “the Levites took up the ark.” But there is no contradiction, as has been too readily supposed. For 2Ch 5:7 of the Chronicles,” the priests brought in the ark,” etc; confirms the statement of the text. And the explanation is suggested in 2Ch 5:5 of the same chapter, “These did the priests, the Levites (so the Heb.) bring up.” Same expression in Jos 3:3. All the priests were LevitesKeil translates, “the Levitical priests”and this somewhat singular expression is no doubt used to remind us that such was the ease. Nor need it cause us any surprise to find the priests employed in this service. It is true that the ark was given into the charge of the Kohathite Levites (Num 3:30, Num 3:31); and it was their duty to bear it (Num 4:15; Num 7:9; Num 10:21; cf. 1Ch 15:2, 1Ch 15:11, 1Ch 15:12). But the real care and supervision of the ark always belonged to the sons of Aaron. It was their office, e.g; to put on or take off the covering of the ark and of the vessels, which the Levites were forbidden directly to touch (Num 4:5-15). It was quite in accordance with the spirit of these provisions that Solomon now entrusted the carriage of the ark to the superior order. But more than that, Solomon was not without precedent to justify his choice, indeed, we may see in his selection of the priests a minute mark of truth, amounting almost to an undo-signed coincidence. For we find that on occasions of extraordinary solemnityat the crossing of the Jordan, e.g. (Jos 3:6, Jos 3:15, Jos 3:17), and at the siege of Jericho (Jos 6:6), the priests had borne the ark (of. 1Sa 4:4; 1Ch 15:11, 1Ch 15:12). It was no doubt these familiar precedents guided Solomon, or the ecclesiastical authorities, in their selection of the priests on this occasion. A “settled place,” a “house of cedars” (2Sa 7:7), “having now been found for the ark” to abide in, after it had “dwelt in curtains” for 500 years, it was taking its last journey, and in order to mark this journey as exceptional, in order to show both the ark and the house the greater reverence, it was determined that it should be borne for the last time by the priests. Keil suggests that the ark may have been uncovered, but this is very improbable. Why, we may ask, were coverings provided, and their use prescribed (Num 4:5-15), if they were to be arbitrarily dispensed with? He also adds that Levites were not allowed to enter the most holy place. But neither, it may be added, was this lawful for the priests. Levites and priests might enter that day, because the house was not then dedicated. The cloud (Jos 3:10) claimed it for God.

1Ki 8:4

And they brought up the ark of the Lord [which had now been for nearly 40 years “in the tabernacle that David had pitched for it” on the Mount Zion (2Sa 6:17) ], and the tabernacle of the congregation [Heb, “the tabernacle of meeting“. This had been for many years at Gibeon. (Cf. 1Ki 3:4; 2Ch 1:8; 1Ch 16:1-43 :89. See note on 1Ch 3:4.) The tabernacle of Mount Zion is never called “the tabernacle of the congregation”indeed, it is expressly dis-tingnished from it, 2Ch 1:3, 2Ch 1:4. The ark and the tabernacle were now reunited in the temple of Solomon, thus “marking the identity and continuity of the life and ritual of the Hebrew Church” (Wordsworth) ], and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle [Perhaps the brazen altar. Certainly the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, the candlestick, and also the brazen serpent (Stanley) ], even those did the priests and Levites bring up. [We are hardly justified in saying (as Keil, al.) that the Levites carried all but the ark. The text rather favours the view that the priests assisted in bringing up the tabernacle and its furniture. So 2Ch 5:5. Neither the tabernacle nor its vessels were designed for further use in the temple; the latter had been replaced by vessels better suited to the enlarged sanctuarythey were simply preserved, so far as we know, as relics of the past. in the treasury or side chambers.

1Ki 8:5

And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him were with him; before the ark [Prayers and sacrifices alike were offered toward the mercy seat (Psa 28:2; cf. Exo 25:22) ], sacrificing sheep and oxen [apparently the ark festal en route (cf. 2Sa 6:18) whilst the sacrifices were offered. The object of the sacrifice was to testify the grateful joy of the people at the proximate realization of their hopes. There may have been also in the background the idea of averting the Divine anger, of making a propitiation for possible errors and imperfections in their service. There were tragedies connected with the removal of the ark in time past (1Sa 4:17; 1Sa 6:19; 2Sa 6:7) which, we may be sure, were not altogether forgotten on this occasion] that could not be told or numbered for multitude. [Cf. 2Sa 6:13. But the sacrifices on that occasion were on a much smaller scale (1Ch 15:26). Josephus adds (Ant. 8.4. 1), that a vast quantity of incense was burnt, and that men preceded the ark, singing and dancing, until it reached its destination].

1Ki 8:6

And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant unto his [i.e; its. But this word is never found in the A.V. It has come into use since the date of our translation] place [cf. 1Ki 6:19] into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place [Heb. holy of holies], even under the wings of the cherubims [1Ki 6:27. Whether the ark stood with its length east and west, or north and south, it is somewhat difficult to decide. But see on 1Ki 6:8].

1Ki 8:7

For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered [ from , texit; hence, , booth; LXX. , i.e; overshadowed and concealed. This word is of some importance as showing that the ark would thenceforward and always be in complete darkness, under the outstretched wings of the cherubima fact which suggests the true explanation of the following verse] the ark and the staves thereof above [Heb. from above].

1Ki 8:8

And they drew out [It is uncertain whether is transitive, as our A.V. renders it, and as in 1Ki 3:14 = lengthen, in which case, however, it should almost be followed by , or intransitive, as in Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16; Deu 25:15, when the meaning would be, “The staves were long,“ but the latter rendering has the support of most scholars. As the oracle in the tabernacle was a cube of ten cubits, they cannot have been more than eight or nine cubits, and it is doubtful whether, the ark being only 2.5 cubits, they would be so long. Their length is mentioned in order to account for the ends being seen. It is immaterial to the meaning of the passage, however, which interpretation we put upon this verb. If we adhere to the A.V. then we must understand that, as it was forbidden to remove the staves from the rings at the corners of the ark (Exo 25:12-15), they drew the staves forward towards one end of the ark; that they removed the staves altogether from the ark (Stanley) is a view to which the text lends no support] the staves, that the ends [Heb. heads. It is possible the ends of the staves were fitted with knobs. This would prevent their removal] of the staves were seen out in [Heb. from] the holy place [Marg. ark, the word found in the Chronicles Heb 5:9. It is questionable, however, whether is ever used, by itself, of the ark (Gesen; Thesaurus, s.v.) It may be used of the most holy place (see on Heb 5:10), but here it would appear to designate the (1Ki 6:17), the body or “temple of the house” (Exo 26:33; Heb 9:2). Its meaning appears to be so defined by the next words] before the oracle [i.e; a person standing in the holy place, but at the west end, near the entrance to the oracle (1Ki 6:31), could see the ends of the staves. Several questions of considerable nicety suggest themselves here.

1. What was the position of the ark? Did it stand, that is to say, east and west, or north and south under the wings of the cherubim?

2. What was the position of the staves? Were they attached to the ends or to the sides of the ark?

3. How could the ends of the staves be seen, and by whom and whenon the occasion of the dedication only or in later years?

4. Why has our author recorded this circumstance?

As to

1. the balance of evidence is in favour of the ark having stood north and south, in a line, that is, with the wings of the cherubim. For

(1) only thus apparently could the cherubim have “covered the ark and the staves thereof.”

(2) If it had been otherwise, the “cherubim overshadowing the mercy seat,” presuming that they were retained in the temple, would have had an unequal and one-sided position, for instead of being equally prominent, they would have stood, one with the back, the other with the face to the entrance and the holy place.

(3) Had the ark stood east and west the projecting staves would surely have been in the high priest’s way in the performance of his solemn functions (Le 16:12-15). That they served to guide him to the mercy seat is of course mere conjecture, and as such of no weight.

2. As to the staves, Josephus states (Ant. 3.7. 5) that they ran along the sides of the ark, and this would appear to be the natural and proper arrangement. It follows hence again that they cannot have been more than eight or nine cubits long, inasmuch as they found a place between the bodies of the cherubim, which cannot have been more than nine cubits apart.

3. The explanation of the Rabbins is that the ends of the staves were not really seen, but that they projected into the curtain and so made two visible protrusions or prominences. But this view hardly satisfies the requirements of the text, and it assumes that the ark stood east and west, which we have found good reason to doubt. But even if this were so, it is doubtful whether the staves, so long as they remained in the rings, could be made to reach to the door of the oracle, unless indeed they were lengthened for the purpose. How then were they seen? The following considerations may assist us to answer this question.

(1) The oracle, of course, in its normal state was in perfect darkness (Heb 5:12). Once a year, however, a gleam of light was admitted, when the curtain was drawn partially aside to permit of the high priest’s entrance.

(2) When the curtain was drawn to one (probably the left) side, the light would fall, not on the ark, but on the ends of the staves projecting from the right or north end of the ark, which would thus be distinctly visible to the high priest. But

(3) at this time the high priest was not alone in the holy place. It was not required that “there should be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation,” except when the high priest went in to make an atonement for the holy place (Le 16:17). At an earlier stage of the service he would seem to have required assistance. According to the Mishna (Yoma), a priest held the basin of blood and stirred it to prevent coagulation, at the time of his first entry. Moreover

(4) his extremely doubtful whether the high priest can have drawn aside the curtain himself. Whether he entered three or four times on that day, at his first entry his hands were certainly full. If he carried “a censer full of burning coals of fire”.. “and his hands (, both fits) full of sweet incense beaten small” (ib. Heb 5:12), it is clear that some other person must have drawn aside the veil for him. It is to this person, I take it, the priest who was privileged to draw aside the curtain, and possibly to others standing nearcertainly to the high priestthat the ends of the staves were visible. Nor would a reverent look directed towards these objectsmade originally for the Levites to handleinvolve unhallowed curiosity. And if this were so, it would help to explain (4) the mention of this circumstance by our author. If it were a fact that year by year a gleam of light fell upon the staves, and if priest after priest testified of what he had seen, up to the time of writing (“unto this day;” see below), we can readily understand why a circumstance of so much interest should be recorded. And we have not an adequate explanation of its mention here, if we are to understand that the staves were seen on the day of dedication, when of course they must have been visible, and never afterwards, or that the staves were partially drawn out of their rings in order to show that the ark was now at rest], and there they are unto this day. [Same expression 1Ki 9:21; 1Ki 12:19; 2Ki 8:22. At the date of the publication of this book, the temple was of course destroyed (2Ki 25:9), so that at that day the staves were not there. But the explanation is very simple. Our historian has copied the words he found in the MS. he was using.]

1Ki 8:9

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there [Exo 25:16; Exo 40:20; Deu 10:5. This statement appears to be at variance with Heb 9:4, which mentions “the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded,” as in the ark, along with “the tables of the covenant.” And it is to be observed that, while our text excludes these relics from the ark (temp. Solomon), no other scripture save that just cited expressly includes them. In Exo 16:34 and Num 17:1-13 :25 (Heb. A.V; 17:10) they are commanded to be laid up “before the testimony,” words which no doubt may mean, as they were long interpreted to mean, “before the tables of testimony in the ark”observe, the words are “before the testimony,“ not “before the ark“but which are now generally thought to import “in front of the ark which con-rained the testimony.” We know the book of the law was put “at the side () of the ark” (Deu 31:26), and hence it is held by some that the golden pot, etc; occupied a similar position. It seems preferable, however, considering the distinct statement of St. Paul, or the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which, to say the least, embodies Jewish tradition, to adhere to the ancient interpretation that the golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod were in the ark. And this in no wise conflicts with the statement of the text, for these treasures might well have been removed by the Philistines, whose first thought, we may be sure, would be to open their new acquisition. It is not improbable, indeed, that the object of the men of Bethshemesh in looking into the ark was to see whether these treasures were still there. For if the golden pot ever was in the ark, we can hardly suppose it would escape the rapacity of the Philistines, who would leave the two tables of stone as things of no value. Indeed, it is just possible that the trespass offering, the golden mice, etc; were designed as a return for the golden pot which had been removed. And the statement of the text, “there was nothing,” etc; almost implies that there had been something there at one time (see Alford on Heb 9:4). It seem probable, therefore, that the golden pot and Aaron’s rod were originally deposited “before the testimony” in the ark; that they were removed during its captivity (1Sa 5:6.); and that the sacrilege was discovered at Bethshemesh (1Sa 6:19). This last mentioned episode explains how it came to be known that “there was nothing,” etc. It is hardly likely after that memorable visitation that Solomon could have opened the ark and taken out the two relics, as Rawlinson suggests. Nor have we any warrant for the view that the mercy seat, with the cherubs, was removed to make way for a new lid without them, and so the interior of the ark was disclosed to view (Stanley) ] at Horeb [See Exo 3:1; Exo 17:6; Exo 33:6; 1Ki 19:8. This name, which means dry ground, desert, would appear to have belonged to two or three different places in the wilderness. But as the name of the place where the law was given and the covenant with God made (Deu 4:10, Deu 4:13) it became subsequently a nomen generale for the whole of the Sinaitic region. Here the mount of the law is clearly meant] when [Heb. which, is occasionally found in the sense of quum, as in Deu 11:6; Psa 139:15; 2Ch 35:20; of. 1Ki 9:10 (Gesen; Thessalonians, s.v.) ] the Lord made a covenant [Heb. cut; see note on 1Ki 5:12. is to be understood. Same ellipsis in 1Sa 20:16; 1Sa 22:8] with the children of Israel when they came [Heb. in their coming] out of the land of Egypt. [Exo 34:27, Exo 34:28; Deu 4:13.]

1Ki 8:10

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out [Rather, as the priests came out] of the holy place [It has been supposed that “the holy” () is here put for the most holy place, as in Eze 41:23. But this is not by any means the necessary interpretation. The cloud may obviously have filled the entire building only as the priests left it. It would seem, however, from Eze 41:11 as if the priests, having left the oracle, were about to min later in the holy place], that the cloud [Observe the article; the well known cloud which betokened the Divine presence. It had rested upon the tabernacle on the day that it was dedicated (Exo 40:34), had ac companied it in its journeys (ib. verse 38), and had apparently been specially displayed at certain junctures in the history of Israel (Num 12:5, Num 12:10; Num 16:42; Deu 31:15). ]t was thus the acknowledged symbol of God’s presence, and as such was a visible sign that He now accepted the temple, as He had formerly accepted the tabernacle, as His shrine and dwelling place. It is hardly correct to identify the cloud with the Shechinah of the Targums (Rawlinson), for it is noticeable that the Targums never render “the cloud” or “the glory” by “the Shechinah.” In fact, as regards the use of the word by Jewish writers, it would seem to be a periphrasis for God. We may see in the cloud, however, the seat of the Shechinah filled the house of the Lord.

1Ki 8:11

So that the priests could not stand to rainwater because of the cloud [They were overpowered by the manifestation, precisely as Moses had been before (Exo 40:35). It was at the moment when the singers and trumpeters, standing at the east end of the altar, began their service of praiseand the reappearance of the priests may well have been the signal for them to begin (2Ch 5:13)that “the house was filled with a cloud.” Possibly the priests were about to burn incense. Evidently ministrations of some sort were intended and were interrupted. The exact correspondence with Exo 40:35 (cf. Eze 44:4) is not to be overlooked. The idea obviously is that the Divine approval vouchsafed to the tabernacle was now in turn granted to the temple], for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. [Is the “glory of the Lord” identical with the cloud, or is something additional intended by these words? It is certainly noticeable that what Exo 40:10 says of the cloudthat it “filled the house”Exo 40:11 says of the glory. It is also true that there is no mention of any light or fire. And the “darkness” of Exo 40:12 might naturally seem to refer to the cloud, and therefore to exclude the idea of light. But surely the words are to be interpreted here by their signification and use elsewhere, and we find “the glory of the Lord elsewhere mentioned as something distinct from the cloud. We must remember that what by day was a pillar of cloud, by night was a pillar of fire (Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22). In Exo 19:9, Exo 19:16, the mention of the “thick cloud” is followed by the statement that “Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire“ (Exo 19:18). Similarly, in Exo 24:1-18; we are told that “the glory of the Lord appeared upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it (the glory?) six days; and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire “ (Exo 24:16, Exo 24:17). But perhaps the most decisive passage in this connexion is Exo 40:34, where we are told that “the cloud abode upon“ the tent of meeting, while “the glory of the Lord filled the (interior of the) tabernacle.” Compare Exo 16:7, Exo 16:10; Le Exo 9:6, Exo 9:23; Num 14:10; Num 16:19, Num 16:42. It would appear, therefore, that “the glory of the Lord” was not the cloud, but, as the word almost seems to imply, a “light from heaven above the brightness of the sun” (Act 26:13; cf. Rev 1:14, Rev 1:16). It is hardly necessary to add that the glory, though apparently resident in the cloud, was not always luminous; the cloud veiled it from the eyes of men.

1Ki 8:12

Then spake Solomon [in a transport of emotion at the sight. The cloud and the glory proved that his pious work was accepted. These blessed tokens assured him that “the Lord was there” (Eze 48:35); that the incomprehensible Godhead had entered the earthly shrine he had prepared, and would dwell there], The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. [Heb. , lit; darkness of clouds. When did God speak of dwelling in dark cloud? The reference, probably, is to Exo 19:9; Exo 20:21, Deu 4:11; Deu 5:22 (note that, in the three last cited passages, this same word is used, and in the last two in connexion with cloud, which would appear to be a practically synonymous term), but especially to Le Deu 16:2, “I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.” Solomon had thus every warrant for connecting a theophany with the thick dark cloud. Cf. Psa 18:11; Psa 97:2. The words cannot refer to “the holy of holies not lighted by windows” (Wordsworth).

1Ki 8:13

I have surely built [Heb. to build, I have built] thee a house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in forever. [The temple was primarily, as already remarked, a shrine for the ark, between the cherubim of the mercy seat of which God dwelt. This was a (from , statuit), a settled place. The tabernacle was but a poor and transitory abode, partaking of the frailty of the shepherd’s tent (Isa 38:12). For (), cf. Isa 26:4; Isa 51:9; Dan 9:24; Psa 145:13.

1Ki 8:14

And the king turned his face about [He had been earnestly gazing toward the house where the cloud appeared. He now faced the congregation] and blessed [This word here, and in 1Ki 8:55, is used somewhat loosely. The blessing was in both cases addressed to God. The Hebrew king was not authorized to bless the peoplethat was the prerogative of the priests (Num 6:23; cf. Le Num 9:22), and he is only said to bless here as felicitating, as wishing them a blessing. Dean Stanley ] “Jewish Ch.,” vol. 2. p 218) characteristically asserts that Solomon “performed the highest sacerdotal act of solemn benediction.” But the same word is used in 1Ki 8:66, of the people blessing the king. “Did the people,“ as Wordsworth pertinently asks, “also perform a priestly act?” The word is elsewhere used of saluting. See note on 1Ki 8:66, and Gesen. s.v.] all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood); [Heb. were standing (); “stood” conveys the idea that the congregation rose as Solomon spoke, whereas they were standing already in the temple courts.

1Ki 8:15

And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel [1Ki 1:48], which spake with his mouth unto [or, concerning; after verbs of speaking has the force of de (Gen 20:2; Jer 40:16; Psa 69:27). David my father [The words were really spoken to Nathan], and hath with his hand [i.e; power; cf. Job 34:20; Act 4:28; Act 13:11; Ezr 7:6] fulfilled it [the spoken word He has fulfilled in deed], saying, [The reference is to 2Sa 7:1-29; of which Solomon merely gives the substance. Much of what he says here is not recorded there.]

1Ki 8:16

Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house, that my name might be therein [The chronicler adds here, “Neither chose I any man to be ruler,” etc. Probably our account comes nearer to the words actually spoken. The speech in the Chronicles looks as if it had been somewhat amplified, though it only completes the sense (Rawlinson)], but I chose David to be over my people Israel. [Cf. Psa 78:70. This psalm pursues much the same line of thought as this address.]

1Ki 8:17

And it was in the heart of David my father [2Sa 7:2; 1Ch 17:1] to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

1Ki 8:18

And the Lord said unto David my father [Not, perhaps, totidem verbis. The Divine approval was implied in 2Sa 7:11-16, and it may have been expressed at the same time. The narratives of Scripture are necessarily greatly condensed], Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

1Ki 8:19

Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house [Wordsworth observes that it was filial reverence prevented Solomon’s mentioning the cause of this prohibition which, however, is mentioned with appropriate humility by David himself (1Ch 22:8) ]; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name. [2Sa 7:11, 2Sa 7:12. The recurrence of “the name” of the Lord is to be noticed (see 2Sa 7:16, 2Sa 7:17, 2Sa 7:18, 2Sa 7:29, 48, etc.) The name of God is the expression to man of Has nature, attributes, etc.]

1Ki 8:20

And the Lord hath performed [Same word as in 1Ki 2:4. Lit; “hath raised up” (LXX. ). Also same word as “risen up” (LXX. ) below, and as “set up” in 2Sa 7:12. We might translate “established” throughout] his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel [2Sa 1:1-27 :48], as the Lord promised [2Sa 7:12], and have built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel [ib. 2Sa 7:13].

1Ki 8:21

And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord [Hence its name, “the ark of the covenant” (Exo 34:28; cf. Deu 9:11)] which he made with our forefathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt [1Ki 8:9, 1Ki 8:16].

SECTION II.The Prayer.

The prayer of dedication, properly so called, now begins. This solemn and beautiful composition was probably copied by our author from the “Book of the Acts of Solomon” (1Ki 11:41), possibly from the “Book of Nathan the prophet” (2Ch 9:29). It was evidently committed to writing beforehand, and would, no doubt, as a matter of course, be religiously preserved. The later criticism objects to its authenticity that the many references to the Pentateuch prove it to be of a later date. Ewald assigns it to the seventh century B.C.; but this is simply to beg the question of the date of the Pentateuch. It is obviously open to reply that these references only prove that the king was acquainted, as he was bound to be (Deu 17:18), with the words of the law. It divides itself into three parts. The first (verses 22-30) is general; the second (verses 31-53) consists of seven special petitions; the last (verses 50-53) consists of a general conclusion and appeal to God’s covenant mercy.

1Ki 8:22

And Solomon stood [i.e; took his stand (LXX. ). Not “was standing.” It was but for a moment, however, for we find him presently kneeling (1Ki 8:54; 2Ch 6:13). The latter passage informs us that he both stood and knelt upon a “brazen scaffold,” three cubits high] before the altar of the Lord [i.e; the brazen altar of sacrifice. The platform or scaffold was “set in the midst of the court” (2 Chronicles l.c.) All these rites took place in the open air. The king bad no place within the edifice] in the presence [the word is not to be pressed to mean “facing the people.” It is hardly likely he would pray towards the peoplehe was their , i.e; he spoke for them to Godor turn his back on the sacred Presence just manifested], and spread forth his hands towards heaven: [one attitude of earnest prayer thoughout the East, as may be seen at the present day amongst the Mohammedans. (See Lane’s “Modern Egyptians,” ch. 3; “Religion and Laws.”) So completely was this posture identified with supplication that to “lift up the hands” came to be a synonym for prayer (Exo 9:29, Exo 9:33; Psa 44:20; Psa 143:6; Isa 1:15; Isa 65:2.) ]

1Ki 8:23

And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee [Similar words are found in Exo 15:11; Psa 86:8, etc. They do not at all imply the existence of other gods, but are explained by other passages (e.g; verse 60; Deu 4:39, “the Lord He is God and none else;” 2Sa 7:22; 2Sa 22:32) as meaning that the God of Israel stands alone, and alone is God. It would be strange, indeed, if the people whose great peculium was the unity of the Godhead (Deu 6:4; Isa 42:8) recognized other deities. Observe: Solomon begins his prayer with an act of praise; with a recognition at once grateful and graceful of God’s past mercies (cf. Psa 65:1, Psa 65:2; Php 4:6). Exandit Dominus invocantem, quem laudantem vidit” ], in heaven above, or on earth beneath [Jos 2:11], who keepest covenant and mercy [same words in Deu 7:9] with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart. [cf. Deu 2:4.]

1Ki 8:24

Who hast kept with thy servant David my father [Solomon sees in this a special pledge of God’s faithfulness and truth] that thou promisedst [Heb. spakest, same word as below. The alteration in the A.V. obscures the connexion]: thou spakest also [Heb. and thou spakest, i.e; “yea,” or “for thou spakest”] with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thine hand [verse 15, and Heb 3:6. The completion of the house, following the establishment of Solomon upon the throne, was to him proof conclusive that the promise of 2Sa 7:1-29. had received its fulfilment], as it is this day.

1Ki 8:25

Therefore now [Heb. And now. The promise has been but partially fulfilled. The house is built; he now prays that the succession may be continued in David’s line] keep [cf. verse 24, “thou hast kept”] with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst [Heb. spakest to, as above] him, saying [The reference is of course to the great promise of 2Sa 7:12-16], There shall not fall thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel [cf. 1Ki 2:4], so that [marg; if only. As to the condition, see note on 1Ki 2:4, and cf. 1Ki 6:12, 1Ki 6:13] thy children take heed to [Heb. keep. Same word as above. The repetition is suggestive. God’s keeping His promise was contingent on their keeping His commandments] their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

1Ki 8:26

And now, O God [The LXX; Vulg; Syr; and Arab. read, O Lord God, as do many MSS. But the word is more likely to have been inserted (in conformity with 1Ki 8:23, 1Ki 8:25) than to have been left out] let thy word [The Keri has thy words. Keil sees here a reference to “all the words“ of 2Sa 7:17; but this, especially when the reading is doubtful, is somewhat too remote], I pray thee, be verified [ optative form. Gesen; Gram. 126. 2] which thou spakest [Psa 132:14] unto thy servant David my father.

1Ki 8:27

But [. Bhr refers for this use of the word to 1Sa 29:8; 1Ki 11:22; 2Ki 8:13; Jer 23:18] will God indeed [Web. verily; same root as that of preceding verb, “verified.” The repetition shows the connexion of thought. “But can these words be verified? Will God verily,” etc.] dwell on the earth? behold the heaven and heaven of heavens [Same expression Deu 10:14. Cf. Psa 115:16; Psa 148:4; Isa 66:1. The Jewish belief respecting the seven heavens (see Wetstein on 2Co 12:2; Stanley, “Corinthians,” l.c.) is of much later date, and a reference to it, or to the belief of some Rabbins in two heavens (after Deu 10:14), is altogether out of the question. The “heaven of heavens” =”all the spaces of heaven, however vast and infinite” (Gesen; cf. Psa 148:4). The analogy of “holy of holies” would, however, suggest that not all the heavens, but the highest heavens are intended] cannot contain thee; how much less [ : Ewald, 354 c] this house that I have builded? [Two points are to be noticed here.

(1) Solomon never denies for a moment that the temple was a real habitation of Jehovah, or that a real presence was manifested there. He only denies that the Deity is contained in earthly temples

(2) He had no unworthy ideassuch as were prevalent in that ageof God as a local deity, limited to space. The words clearly prove his grasp of the omnipresence and infinity of God. With this passage compare Psa 139:7-10; Isa 66:1 (quoted in Act 7:49), and Act 17:24.]

1Ki 8:28

Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant [=the prayer I now offer, which is that thou wilt hear all future prayers offered here, mine and my people’s] and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer [Three words are used here, , and . The first (from , precatus est; see 1Ki 8:29) is apparently a general term for prayer; the second (from , propitius fuit) is properly a cry for mercy; hence an earnest prayer or supplication; while the third signifies a joyful cry; hence a mournful cry or prayer] which thy servant prayeth before thee today.

1Ki 8:29

That thine eyes may be open [This anthropomorphism does not conflict with what was said under 1Ki 8:27] toward this house night and day [not so much to watch over it as to see the worship and prayer offered there], even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there [cf. Eze 48:35, and Eze 48:18, Eze 48:19, Eze 48:20, etc. When had God said this? Never perhaps, in so many words. Keil says the reference is to 2Sa 7:13 implicite (“He shall build an house for my name”), while Rawlinson thinks the “reference is not to any single text, but to the many passages in Deuteronomy where God speaks of a place which He will choose to ‘set his name’ there (Deu 12:5, Deu 12:11, Deu 12:18, etc.; Deu 14:23; Deu 15:20; Deu 16:2, etc.) ” But it is very probable that a revelation was made to David respecting the sanctuary, the terms of which are not preserved to us. This is almost implied by Psa 78:68; Psa 132:10; 1Ch 22:1passages which prove that David claimed to have Divine sanction for placing the temple on “Mount Zion.” Psa 132:1-18, is unmistakeably Davidic, and embodies some features of the message of God (e.g; the condition, Psa 132:12) not preserved in 2Sa 7:1-29.]: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward [Marg. in, but Heb. . supports the A.V. rendering. Now that God had revealed His presence in the temple, the Jew, wherever he might be, would, and as a matter of fact did, pray towards it (Dan 6:10; Psa 5:7; Jon 2:4), just as the Mohammedan has his Kibleh in Mecca] this place.

1Ki 8:30

And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven [Heb. unto heaven, a pregnant censtruction hear the prayer that ascends unto heaven. The chronicler here, as elsewhere, simplifies the meaning by reading “from heaven,” ] thy dwelling place [Here, and in verses 39, 43, and 49, heaven is described as the true dwelling place of Deity. Confidently as Solomon believes that he has built a habitation for the Lord, he never dreams that the “Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands” (Act 7:48; Act 17:4) ]: and when thou hearest, forgive. [There is possibly a play of words here ].

With the next verse the special or particular supplications begin. Like those of the Lord’s prayer, they are seven in number, and no doubt for the same reason, viz; because seven was the number of covenant, the number which expressed the relationship between the Lord and His people In fact, to the Jew the number “seven” was something like the sign of the cross to a large portion of Catholic Christendom, for it spoke to him of God’s covenant of mercy and peace.
And the first of the seven concerns oaths. The king implores the covenant-keeping God to watch over the covenants of words made in the now consecrated sanctuary, and to protect their sanctity by punishing the false swearer. There were cases in which the Mosaic law provided that an oath should be administered to suspected persons (Exo 22:11; Le Exo 5:1, Exo 5:4, etc.) And there were other cases in which men of their own accord, for “an end of all strife,” would make oath. Now every oath, whatever its form (Mat 23:16-22), is in reality an affirmation” by the God of truth” (Isa 65:16); it is an appeal to the knowledge and power and justice of the Most High (Le 19:12; Deu 6:13; Deu 10:20; Isa 48:1; Jer 12:16; Jer 44:26). A false oath, consequently, dishonoured the Divine name, and polluted the sanctuary dedicated to that name, and if it went unpunished, contradicted the principles and provisions of the dispensation Of temporal punishments, and so encouraged falsehood and impiety. God is here entreated, consequently, to take cognizance of the oaths sworn before His altar (verse 31), and to be a swift witness against the false swearers (Mal 3:5). It is, perhaps, because of the direct dishonour which perjury offers to the Divine name that, as Bhr suggests, this prayer stands first among the seven, thus corresponding to the “Hallowed be Thy name” in the Lord’s prayer, and to the third among the ten commandments.

1Ki 8:31

If any man trespass [The force of the Hebrew (which begins somewhat abruptly) (LXX. ) is probably, As for that which, or in all cases in which, i.e; when. The chronicler, as usual, simplifies by reading ] against his neighbour, and an oath be laid [Heb. and he (the neighbour) lay an oath, i.e; prescribe a form of adjuration, such as that in Deu 21:7] upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come [This translation cannot be maintained. For in the Heb. there is no def. art; as there would be if were noun and nominative; and, moreover in that case the verb, to agree with the feminine noun, would be . And as no other meaning can be extracted from the words as they stand, we are driven to suspect a slight corruption of the text, either

(1) the omission of between the words, which in that case would have stood , and would mean, “and he (the accused) come and swear“a conjecture which is supported by the LXX; , or

(2) the omission of the preposition , which would yield = and he (the accused) enters into the oath, an expression found in Neh 10:29 and Eze 17:13] before thine altar in this house. [Despite the last words, the altar of sacrifice before the house is probably meant. This was the altar of the Jewish layman, and, moreover it was one visible sign of the covenant. Psa 1:5; Exo 24:6-8; cf. Exo 20:24. The altar which afforded shelter to the manslayer, in the same way lent sanctity to the oath. The practice of swearing by the altar (Mat 23:18) is of later date.

1Ki 8:32

Then hear thou in heaven [Heb. and thou, thou wilt hear the heavens. The same expression, , is found in verses 34, 36, 39. See Ewald, 300 a. Keil sees in it the adverbial use of the accusative. Most of the versions read “from heaven,” as does the Chronicles and one MS.], and do [i.e; act] and judge thy servants, condemning [Heb. to make (i.e; prove) wicked] the wicked, to bring [Heb. give, same word as below] his way [i.e; works, fruits] upon his head [cf. Eze 9:10; Eze 11:21; same expression] and justifying [Heb. to make righteous. Cf. in N.T. and justum facere] the righteous [cognate words are used in both cases], to give him according to his righteousness.

The second special petition contemplates the case, which was morally certain to occur, of Hebrews taken captive in war and carried to a foreign land. To be separated from the commonwealth, the rites and the blessings of Israel, was one of the greatest calamities which could befal a Jew (Deu 4:27, Deu 4:28; Le 26:33; Psa 137:1-9.), and as such Solomon gives it a prominent place in his prayer. The connexion, how. ever which some have imagined to exist between this prayer and the preceding, viz; that that referred to internal, this to external dangers, is too artificial to have found a place in Solomon’s thoughts.

1Ki 8:33

When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy [cf. Le 26:7, 17; Deu 28:25. There is a constant reference to these two chapters throughout this prayer, or, if no direct reference to them, there are unmistakeable reminiscences of them], because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess [or praise. Psalm 54:8 Hebrews; 106:47; 122:4] thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house. [The marg. towards is a mistaken attempt at avoiding the difficulty which lies on the surface of the text, viz; that persons in a foreign land could not pray in the temple. But the king obviously is speaking here, not of those taken captive, but of the nation at large (“thy people Israel”) by its representatives (cf. Joe 2:17), supplicating after its defeat. The idea of captives does not come in until the next verse. Under the term house the courts are obviously included (Act 2:46; Luk 18:10). Into the edifice the priests alone were admitted.

1Ki 8:34

Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them [i.e; the captives of Israel, those carried off by the enemy. There is no thought here of the captivity of the nationthat is referred to in 1Ki 8:46-50as the prayers to be offered in the temple prove. This petition is in exact accordance with the promises and threatenings of the law, for the former of which see Le 26:40-44; Deu 30:1-5; for the latter, Le 26:33; Deu 4:27; Deu 28:64 sqq.] again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

The third petition concerns the plague of drought. Just as rain, in the thirsty and sunburnt East, has ever been accounted one of the best gifts of God (Le Deu 26:4; Deu 11:11; Job 5:10, and passim; Psa 68:9; Psa 147:8; Act 14:17), so was drought denounced as one of His severest scourges (Le Deu 26:19; Deu 11:17; Deu 28:23, Deu 28:24, etc.) This petition finds an illustration in the public supplications which are still offered in the East, and by men of all creeds, for rain.

1Ki 8:35

When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place [toward, because the inhabitants of the land everywhere would direct their prayers toward the holy oracle in Jerusalem (Psa 28:2) ], and confess [praise] thy name, and turn from their sin, when [or because, ] thou afflictest them. [LXX. Humbling should be the result of affliction.]

1Ki 8:36

Then hear thou in heaven [see on 1Ki 8:32], and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel that thou teach them [rather, because thou art teaching them, etc. The thought is, “Forgive, because they have learned the lessen Thy discipline of drought was meant to teach;” because the chastisement has fulfilled its purpose] the good way [1Sa 12:23] wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

The fourth petition refers to the various plagues mentioned in the law (Lev 26:1-46.; Deu 28:1-68.), as the punishment of apostasy or infidelity.

1Ki 8:37

If there be in the land famine [Heb. Famine should there be, etc. The word is emphatic by position. Famine is denounced, Le 26:20, 26; Deu 28:33], if there be pestilence [Le 26:25; Jer 14:12; Jer 24:10; Amo 4:10; Eze 6:12, etc.], blasting [same word Gen 41:6; Amo 4:9; Deu 28:22], mildew [lit. paleness, , Deuteronomy l.c.], locust, or if there be caterpillar [It is uncertain whether , lit; devourer, here rendered “caterpillar,” is not an adjective and an appellation of the locust = devouring locust. Deu 28:38 ( “the locust shall consume it”) certainly favours this view. But the Chronicles and the Verss. distinguish it here (by the introduction of “and” between the two words) as a separate plague. It is also similarly distinguished, Joe 1:4; Psa 78:46. Gesen. considers it to be a species of locust]; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities [Heb. his gates, but “the land of his gates” hardly yields sense. It is noteworthy that the LXX. (with most of the Verss.) reads . Thenius, consequently, to bring the Hebrew text into harmony, would substitute for . Another suggested emendation is , “in the land, even in their gates.” But it is doubtful whether any alteration is really required. “The land of their gates” (cf. “land of their captivity,” 2Ch 6:37; Jer 30:10, etc.) may perhaps be interpreted the land where their gates (i.e; fortified cities) are. The marg. “Jurisdiction“the gate being the place of judgment (Rth 4:11; Pro 22:22; 2Sa 15:2)is altogether out of the question]; whatsoever plague, whatsoever [Heb. every plague, etc.] sickness there be.

1Ki 8:38

What prayer and supplication soever [There is here a studied reference to the preceding words. Lit; every prayer, etc. We might render in 1Ki 8:37, “Whatsoever the plague,” etc; and here, “Whatsoever the prayer,” etc.] be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart [Here again there is an unmistakeable reference to the “plague” (same word) of 1Ki 8:37. The plague of the heart is the inner smart of the conscience corresponding with and perhaps more painful than the smiting of the person. The meaning obviously is that the prayers will vary. according to the various mental and physical sufferings of men], and spread forth his hands [see on 1Ki 8:22] toward this house.

1Ki 8:39

Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) [Jer 17:10. Cf. (Act 15:8; also ib. Act 1:24).

1Ki 8:40

That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. [Solomon anticipates that a godly fear will be the result of forgiveness and restoration. We find the same thought in Psa 130:4. The mercy and goodness of God should lead to repentance, but unhappily it not unseldom fails to do so.]

The fifth petition contemplates the prayers which foreigners, attracted by the fame of Jerusalem, of its religion and sanctuary could offer towards the house. The Gentiles who should visit Jerusalem would assuredly, with their polytheistic ideas and their belief in local or tribal deities, invoke the aid and blessing of the mighty God of Jacob. This mention of aliens from the commonwealth of Israel in the prayer of dedication, especially when viewed in the light of the exclusiveness and bigotry which characterized the Jews of later days, is especially to be noticed. As Rawlinson (in loco) observes, “Nothing is more remarkable in the Mosaic law than its liberality with regard to strangers.” He then quotes Exo 22:21; Le Exo 25:35; Deu 10:19; Deu 31:12; Num 15:14-16; and adds: “It is quite in the spirit of these enactments that Solomon, having first prayed God on behalf of his fellow countrymen, should next go on to intercede for the strangers,” etc. The intercourse of the Hebrews at this period with foreign nations, and the influence they exercised on the Jewish thought and manners (see Stanley, “Jewish Ch.” 2. Leer. 26.), are also to be remembered. These new relations with the stranger would no doubt have widened Solomon’s views.

1Ki 8:41

Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake; [Solomon takes it for granted that such will come, and not without good reason, for the house was “exceeding magnifical” and destined to be “of fame and glory throughout all countries” (1Ch 22:5). And we can hardly doubt that in the visit of the Queen of Sheba we are to see one fulfilment of this anticipation. (Note the expression of 1Ki 10:1 “concerning the name of the Lord.”) One who blessed God, as she did (1Ki 8:9), would certainly pray towards the house. In the time of the second temple there were several instances of strangers (e.g; Alexander the Great, Ptolemy Philadelphus, and Seleucus; see Keil in loc.) worshipping the God of Jacob in Jerusalem.

1Ki 8:42

(For they shall hear of thy great name [Cf. Jos 7:9; Psa 76:1; Psa 99:3], and of thy strong hand [cf. Exo 6:6; Exo 13:9; Deu 9:26, Deu 9:29; cf. Deu 7:19. They had heard at a much earlier date (Exo 15:14; Exo 18:1; Jos 5:1). The reference is not so much to the marvels of the Exodusthat was long pastas to the wondrous works which Solomon assumes will hereafter be wrought], and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house.

1Ki 8:43

Hear thou in heaven thy dwell-lug place, and do according to an that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name [It is interesting to notice this foreshadowing of the inclusion of the Gentiles in the one fold. The same thought is found in some of the Psalms and in Isaiah, as St. Paul witnesses (Rom 15:9 sqq.) Cf. Psa 22:27; Psa 72:11; Psa 86:9; Psa 98:3; Psa 102:15; Psa 117:1; Isa 49:6; Isa 52:10] to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name. [Heb. that thy name is called (or, has been called, . LXX. ) upon this house, i.e; that God has taken this house for His habitation: that He dwells there, works, hears, answers there. Same expression, Jer 7:10, Jer 7:11, Jer 7:14; Jer 25:29; Deu 28:10; Isa 4:1. In Num 6:27 we have, “they shall put my name upon the children of Israel.” In Deu 12:5, and Deu 16:6 (cf. 1Ki 11:36), we read of the place God has “chosen to put his name there.”

So far the royal suppliant has spoken of prayers offered in or at the temple. He now mentions two eases where supplications will be offered by penitents far distant from the holy city or even from the Holy Land. And first, he speaks of the armies of Israel on a campaign.

1Ki 8:44

If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever [Heb. in the way which] thou shalt send them [These words clearly imply that the war, whether defensive or offensive (i.e; for the chastisement of other nations), is one which had God’s sanction, and indeed was waged by His appointment], and shall pray unto the Lord toward [Heb. in the way of. Same expression as above. The repetition is significant. “They have gone in God’s way. They may therefore look the way of God’s house for help.” Executing God’s commission, they might justly expect His blessing] the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name.

1Ki 8:45

Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. [Heb. do their judgments, i.e; secure them justice, defend the right. Same words, Deu 10:18; cf. Psa 9:5, Heb.]

The last petitionthe second of those which speak of prayers addressed towards the temple, or the Holy Presence which dwelt there, from a foreign landcontemplates as possible the captivity of the Hebrew nation. It has hence been too readily inferred that this portion of the prayer, at least, if not the preceding petition also, has been interpolated by a post-captivity writer. But there is really no solid reason for doubting its genuineness. Not only is it the seventh petition (see on verse 31), but the captivity of Israel had been denounced as the punishment of persistent disobedience long before by Moses, and in the chapters to which such constant reference is made (Le 26:33, 44; Deu 28:25, Deu 28:36, Deu 28:64; cf. Deu 4:27)a fact which is in itself an indirect proof of genuineness, as showing that this petition is of a piece with the rest of the prayer. And when to this we add that the carrying of a conquered and refractory race into captivity was an established custom of the East, we shall be inclined to agree with Bhr, that “it would have been more remarkable if Solomon had not mentioned it.”

1Ki 8:46

If they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not), and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy [Heb. give them before an enemy], so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, fax or near;

1Ki 8:47

Yet if they shall bethink themselves [Heb. as marg; bring back to their heart. Same phrase, Deu 4:39; Deu 30:1. The latter passage, it should be noticed, treats of the captivity, so that Solomon, consciously or unconsciously, employs some of the very words used by Moses in contemplating this contingency. These repeated coincidences lead to the belief that the prayer was based upon and compiled from the Pentateuch] in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have Committed wickedness. [This verse is full of paronomasia, , etc. Words almost identical with this confession were used (Dan 9:5; Psa 106:6) by the Jews in their captivity at Babylon, from which it has been concluded that this part of the prayer must belong to the time of the captivity. But surely it is, to say the least, just as likely that the Jews, when the captivity of which Solomon spoke befel them, borrowed the phrase in which their great king by anticipation expressed their penitence. Seeing in the captivity a fulfilment of his prediction, they would naturally see in this formula, which no doubt had been preserved in the writings of the prophets, a confession specially appropriate to their case, and indeed provided for their use.

1Ki 8:48

And so return unto thee with all their heart [almost the words of Deu 30:1-20. Deu 30:2, as those in verse 47 are of Deu 30:1], and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, Which led them away captive [observe the paronomasia is here used in two senses], and pray unto thee toward [Heb. the way of] their land [see Dan 6:10] which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name. [There is apparently a climax here, “land,” “city,” “house.”]

1Ki 8:49

Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause. [Heb. do their judgments, as in verse 45.]

1Ki 8:50

And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion [Heb. to compassion or bowels = , 2Co 6:12; Php 1:8; Php 2:1, etc. before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them. [For the fulfilment of this prayer, see Ezr 1:3, Ezr 1:7; Ezr 6:13; Neh 2:6. Compare Psa 106:46.]

In the three following verses we have a sort of general conclusion to the dedication prayer. It is hardly correct to say that these last words apply to all the preceding petitionsthe plea “they are thy people” manifestly cannot apply in the case of Psa 106:41-43. On the other hand, as little are they to be limited to the persons last mentioned in Psa 106:46 -50, though it is highly probable they were suggested by the thought of the captives. They are manifestly in close connection with the preceding verses.

1Ki 8:51

For they be thy people [a citation or reminiscence of Deu 4:10], and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt [cf. Deu 4:21, 53. There is a constant recurrence throughout the Old Testament to this great deliverance, and with good reason, for it was the real birthday of the nation, and was also a pledge of future help and favour. God who had “wrought such great things for them in Egypt “could not well forsake them. Solomon’s constant plea is that they are the elect and covenant race] from the midst of the furnace of iron [i.e; a furnace for iron, heated and fierce as for smelting. Same phrase, Deu 4:20].

1Ki 8:52

That thine eyes may be open [cf. 1Ki 8:29] unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel [of. 1Ki 8:28, 1Ki 8:30], to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.

1Ki 8:53

For thou didst separate them from [Le 1Ki 20:24, 1Ki 20:26; cf. Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6] among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance [same expression, Deu 4:20; Deu 9:26, Deu 9:29. This is no idle repetition of verse 51. The idea of that verse is deliverance, of this election. Cf. Num 16:9; Num 8:14], as thou spakest by the hand [see note on Num 2:25] of Moses thy servant [Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6; Deu 9:26, Deu 9:29; Deu 14:2], when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

In Chronicles (Deu 6:1-25 :41, 42) the prayer ends somewhat differently. “Now therefore arise, O Lord God,” etc.words which are found in substance in Psa 132:8-10. These two verses look like an addition, and were probably inserted by the chronicler to form a connecting link with 1Ki 7:1-3 (Bhr). The LXX. has an extremely curious addition, said to be taken from the “Book of the Song.” Stanley sees in its very abruptness and obscurity an evidence of its genuineness (“Jewish Ch.” 2:218).

SECTION III.The Concluding Blessing.

The service of dedication concludes, as it commenced, with a benediction (verse 14).

1Ki 8:54

And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before [see note on 1Ki 8:22] the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees [the first mention of this posture in the sacred history (Stanley). The Jews usually stood in prayer (Luk 18:11, Luk 18:13) ] with [Heb. and] his hands spread up to heaven.

1Ki 8:55

And he stood [this does not necessarily imply that he drew nearer to the congregation, as Keil], and blessed [cf. 2Sa 6:18, and see note on 2Sa 6:14. The words of blessing, which are presently given (verses 56-61), prove that he did not assume priestly functions and put any blessing upon the people, Num 6:27] all the congregation of Israel with a loud [Heb. great] voice, saying,

1Ki 8:56

Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised [a distinct reference to Deu 12:9, Deu 12:10 (cf. Deu 3:20), where we read that when the Lord should have given rest to Israel, then a place for sacrifice, etc; should be appointed (Deu 12:11). That place is now dedicated, and the king sees in this circumstance a proof that the rest is now at last fully attained. The permanent sanctuary is a pledge of settlement in the land. The rest hitherto enjoyed (Jos 21:44) had been but partial. Only under Solomon were the Philistines brought into complete subjection (1Ki 9:16), and hitherto the ark had dwelt in curtains]; there hath not failed [Heb. fallen; cf. 1Sa 3:19] one word [a clear reference to Jos 21:45, as the preceding words are to Jos 21:44] of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand [cf. verse 53] of Moses his servant [viz. in Le 26:3-13, and in Deu 28:1-14, i.e; in the chapters which are the sources of this prayer, etc.

1Ki 8:57

The Lord our God be With us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us. [Solomon insensibly glides again into prayer; here for the presence of God, in 1Ki 8:59 for His help. There is probably a reference to Deu 31:6, Deu 31:8; Jos 1:5, where, however, “forsake” is represented by a different word.

1Ki 8:58

That he may incline our hearts unto him [Psa 119:26; Psa 141:4], to walk in an his ways [verse 25; 1Ki 2:4. The condition on which God’s blessing was insured was at this time printed on Solomon’s mind], and to keep his commandments, and his satutes, and his Judgments [see note on 1Ki 2:3, to which verse there is not improbably a reference], which he commanded our fathers.

1Ki 8:59

And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of [Heb. to do the judgment of] his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require [Heb. the thing of a day in his day. Same phrase Exo 5:18; Exo 16:4]:

1Ki 8:60

That an the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else. [See 1Ki 8:22. We have here a recurrence to the thought of 1Ki 8:43, which was evidently prominent in Solomon’s mind. He hopes the house now dedicated will be fraught with blessing for the world, and that the Gentiles will come to its light. Cf. Isa 2:2, Isa 2:3.]

1Ki 8:61

Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God [An instructive commentary on these words is found in 1Ki 11:4, where it is said of this Solomon, “His heart was not perfect,” etc.same words. Similarly, ib. 1Ki 11:3, 1Ki 11:9 are a comment on the prayer of verse 58. Having preached to others, he himself became a castaway], to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, us at this day [That day the nation proved its piety by the dedication of the house.

At the close of this prayer (omitted in Chronicles), according to 2Ch 7:1, “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house,” but Bhr rejects these words as an interpolation. He maintains, indeed, that the chronicler contradicts himself, for we can hardly think that the glory which we are told (1Ki 5:14) had already filled the house, left it and then returned. It is certainly suspicious, and a much stronger argument against the words in question, that no mention of the fire is made by our author, for, brief as this history is, it is difficult to believe that so signal an interposition could have remained unnoticed, if it really occurred.

SECTION IV.The Festal Sacrifices.

The ceremonial of dedication was followed, as would naturally be the case, by sacrifices on a scale of unusual grandeur. Apart from their religious use and significance, the sacrifices testified to the devotion of the giver who on this of all days must not appear before the Lord empty, and they also afforded materials for the great and prolonged feast by which this auspicious event in the history of Israel must be commemorated.

1Ki 8:62

And the king, and an Israel with him [Another indication (see on 1Ki 8:2) that practically the whole Israelitish nation (i.e; its males) assembled to witness this great function (1Ki 8:65. But see on 1Ki 16:17). The words also prove that the sacrifices mentioned presently were offered by the people as well as by the king], offered sacrifice before the Lord. [See note on 1Ki 9:25 ]

1Ki 8:63

And Solomon offered a sacrifice [Solomon is mentioned as chief donor, and as the executive. But others shared in the gift] of peace offerings [Le 1Ki 7:11 sqq. This was especially the sacrifice of praiseit is called “the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings,” ib. 1Ki 7:13, 1Ki 7:15. See Bhr, Symb. 2:368 sqq. In the peace offering, the fat was burnt on the altar, but the flesh was eaten (1Ki 7:15; cf. Deu 12:7), so that this form of offering was, in every way, adapted to a festival. The idea that “ox after ox, to the number of 22,000, and sheep after sheep, to the number of 120,000, were consumed,” sc. by fire (Stanley), is expressly excluded], which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. [it is very possible that these numbers have been altered in course of transcription, as is the case with numbers elsewhere, but there is no ground for suspecting exaggeration or mistake. For, in the first place, the Chronicles and all the Versions agree with the text, and, secondly, the numbers, compared with what we know of the sacrifices offered on other occasions, are not unduly large, nor were they such that (as has been alleged) it would be impossible to offer them within the time specified. If, at an ordinary Passover a quarter of a million of lambs could be sacrificed within the space of two or three hours (Jos; Bell. Jud. 6.9. 8), there can obviously have been “no difficulty in sacrificing 3000 oxen and 18,000 sheep on each of the seven days of the festival” (Keil). (But were not the sacrifices spread over fourteen days? verse 65.) And it is to be remembered

(1) that “profusion was a usual feature of the sacrifices of antiquity Sacrifices of a thousand oxen () were not infrequent. According to an Arabian historian (Koto beddyn), the Caliph Moktader sacrificed during his pilgrimage to Mecca 40,000 camels and cows and 50,000 sheep. Tavernier speaks of 100,000 victims as offered by the King of Tonquin” (Rawlinson, Stanley); and

(2) that the context insists on the ex traordinary number of victims. They were so numerous, we are told, that the brazen altar was quite inadequate to receive them (verse 64). It has been already pointed out (note on verse 62) that the people joined the king in the sacrifices. Indeed it is against not only verse 62, but verses 63, 65, to suppose that all the victims were offered by Solomon alone (Ewald, Stanley). If these numbers, therefore, include those offered by the people, we can the more readily understand them. For, by the lowest computation, there could hardly be less than 100,000 heads of houses present at the feast (Bhr, Keil), and if the numbers of David’s census (2Sa 24:9) may be trusted, there may very well have been four or five times that number, and on such an occasion as that, an occasion altogether without precedent, every Israelite would doubtless offer his sacrifice of thanksgivingthe more so as a large number of victims would be required for the purposes of the subsequent feast. And as to the impossibility of the priests offering so prodigious a number within the specified time (Thenius, al.), we have only to remember

(1) that if there were 38,000 Levites (men over thirty years of age) in the time of David (1Ch 23:3), or any thing like that number, there must have been at the very least at this period two or three thousand priests (Keil), and we can hardly think that at the dedication of so glorious a temple, in which they were so profoundly interested, many of them would be absent from Jerusalem. But if there were only one thousand present, that number would have been amply sufficient to perform all the priestly functions. For it was no necessary, part of the priests’ office either to slay the victim, or to prepare it for sacrificethat any Israelite might do (Le 1Ki 1:5, 1Ki 1:6, 1Ki 1:11; 1Ki 3:2, 1Ki 3:8, etc.); the duty of the priest was strictly limited to “sprinkling the blood round about upon the altar” (Le 1Ki 3:2, 1Ki 3:8; cf. 1Ki 1:5), and burning the fat, the kidneys, etc; upon the altar (Le 1Ki 3:5). It is clear, consequently, that there is no difficulty whatsoever as to the manual acts required of the priests. It only remains to notice one other objection, viz; that the people could not possibly have eaten all the flesh of these peace offerings. But here again the answer is conclusive, viz.

(1) that it was not necessary that all should be eaten, for the law expressly provided that if any of the flesh remained over until the third day, it should be burnt with fire (Le 1Ki 7:15; 1Ki 19:6), and

(2) no one can say what the number of people may not have been (see below on verse 65), and

(3) the sacrifices were spread over fourteen days.] So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.

1Ki 8:64

The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court [i.e; the entire area of the court of the priests (1Ki 6:36). Ewald translates “the inner court.” The whole space may have been regarded as “one huge altar” (Rawlinson), or temporary altars may have been erected all over the area. As already observed, this fact alone points to an enormous number of victims] that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings [Heb. the burnt offerings, i.e; either the usual daily burnt offerings (Num 28:3), or more probably, those appropriate to such a special function (Num 29:13 sqq.; cf. 1Ki 3:4) ], and meat offerings [Heb. the meat offering. Both this and the preceding word () are singular (generic) in the original], and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord [i.e; house of the Lord] was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings [and yet it was 20 cubits (30 feet) square, and so would offer a surface of 100 square yards].

1Ki 8:65

And at that time Solomon held a feast [the necessary sequel to such number of peace offerings (cf. 1Ki 3:15). All the flesh that could be, must be eaten (Le 1Ki 19:5, 1Ki 19:6) ], and all Israel with him, a great congregation [see note on 1Ki 8:64. “All Israel” would hardly be an exaggeration], from the entering in of Hamath [the northern boundary of Palestine. See Stanley, S. and P. pp. 14, 505, 506] of Egypt [i.e; the southern limit of the Holy Land. See Num 34:5; Jos 15:4, Jos 15:47; 2Ki 24:7; Gen 15:18, where the word is refers to the Nile. The Wady el Arish must be intended ], before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days [The two periods are thus distinguished, because they were properly distinct, the first being the feast of dedication, the second the feast of tabernacles. This is more clearly explained in 2Ch 7:9, 2Ch 7:10.]

1Ki 8:66

On the eighth day he sent the people away [i.e; on the eighth day of the second feast, the “three and twentieth day of the month” (ib; 1Ki 8:10). The first impression is that the eighth day of the period of fourteen days is meant, but the context, to say nothing of the Chronicles, contradicts this. The feast of dedication began on the eighth day of the month Ethanim (1Ki 8:2), and lasted until the fourteenth. The feast of tabernacles began on the fifteenth and lasted till the twenty-first. On the evening of the twenty-second, the “day of restraint”, he dismissed the people, who would depart to their homes next morning]: and they blessed [i.e; felicitated, saluted (on taking leave). Cf. Pro 27:14; 2Ki 4:29; 1Sa 25:6, 1Sa 25:14. Marg. thanked. See note on 1Sa 25:14] the king, and went unto their tents [i.e; homesan archaic expression, dating from the times of the desert wanderings. Jos 22:4; Jdg 7:8; 2Sa 20:1; l Kings 2Sa 12:16] joyful and glad of heart for an the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant [the real founder of the temple. Solomon had but carried out his ideas and had entered into his labours], and for Israel his people.

HOMILETICS

1Ki 8:8-11

The Dedication of the Temple and its Teaching.

The eighth day of the seventh month of the year 1004 B.C; or, according to some, B.C. 1000, was one of the brightest days of Jewish history

“a day in golden letters to be set
Among the high tides of the calendar;”

for on that day the holy and beautiful house, which had been seven and a half years in building, for which preparations had been made for a much longer period (1Ch 22:5), and on which a force of some one hundred and sixty thousand workmen had been in different ways employed; on that day of days this house of houses was solemnly dedicated to the service of Almighty God. Let us carry our thoughts back to that day; let us join the procession; let us try to realize the scene, for we may learn a lesson thence, first, as to the consecration of our churches, and secondly, as to the dedication of our souls and bodies to God.

It is an enormous concourse that is gathered in and about the holy city. From “the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt” (1Ki 8:65) every town and hamlet had sent up its tale of men. No Israelite who could be presentand in the seventh month the labours of the field were well nigh overwould be absent. We must not think of the heads of the tribes alone; it is a nation keeps festival today. And such a nation, with such a history! And its glory culminates today in the dedication of its temple. What child of Israel, then, but would be there?

With early morning all Jerusalem, and its neighbouring hills and valleys (Psa 125:2), was instinct with life. The Easterns always rise early, and that day was a high day. It is still early when the great procession is marshalled. At its head is “Solomon in all his glory.” The dignitaries of the State, of the Church (1Ki 4:1-19); all are there. Their rendezvous is the Mount Zion; their object to escort the ark of God, with all the honour they can render it, on its last journey, to its last resting place. And so the white robed priests (2Ch 5:12) take up the consecrated structure and bear it tenderly, yet proudly, to its home. Today the Levites may not carry it. As at the Jordan (Jos 4:10), as at Jericho (Jos 6:4), as in Mount Ebal (Jos 8:33), so on its last journey it must be borne on the shoulders of priests. The processionwe cannot follow its course, for it is probable that, for the sake of effect, it would make a considerable detour, perhaps a circuit of the city; nor can we speak of its psalmsand we may be sure if psalms (Psa 15:1-5, Psa 29:1-11; 1Ch 17:7 -36) were chanted at the removal of the ark, they would not be wanting at the dedication of the templeor its sacrifices (1Ki 8:5)the procession (cf. 1Ki 1:38) at last reaches the temple precinct; it passes through the gate; here the crowd is checked, but the priests and princes pass on; they reach the inner court; here the princes stop, but the priests pass on. The whole temple platform is now choked with worshippers, while thousands who cannot gain admittance witness the august ceremonial from without, many, no doubt, having found a coign of vantage on the Mount of Olives. The priests, with their precious burden, pass through the porch, pass through the holy place, pass through the veil into the thick darkness of the oracle. There they lay down the ark, the outward and visible sign of the covenant, under the overshadowing wings of the colossal cherubim. They leave it wrapped in darkness; they leave it to begin at once their ministrations before the new shrine. At this point of the ceremonial it had been arranged that priests and Levites, singers, trumpeters, and harpists should burst into a song of praise (2Ch 5:12, 18). But ere they can fully accomplish their purpose, the dedication has become a true consecration, for the awful cloud, the token of the Divine presence, the cloud which retied” the glory of the Lord” has filled the house, and the priests cannot stand to minister. As at the dedication of the tabernacle (Exo 40:34) so now, the incommunicable Godhead has “come in a thick cloud” (Exo 19:8), and has driven them, as it drove Moses, from the sanctuary. The king, who sees the portent from without, recognizes at once that his and his father’s hope is realized; that his and his people’s offering is accepted; that his and their projects and labours are now crowned; and, overcome with joy, he cries, “I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place,” etc.

“Majestic silence! then the harp awoke,
The cymbal clanged, the deep-voiced trumpet spoke,
And Salem spread her suppliant hands abroad,
Viewed the descending flame, and blessed the present God.”

Such, in brief, was the dedication of this house. It is true prayers and sacrifices followed, but of these we cannot now speak particularly. The essential parts of the consecration were

(1) the solemn and formal setting a part of the edifice by the king and the representatives of the people, to be the house of God, and

(2) the formal entryto use the language of menby the Godhead, concealed under the thick cloud, upon His new shrine.

So that in this service, as in all true services, there were two parts, man’s and God’s. It was man’s part to offer the house with appropriate ceremonial to the Most High; it was God’s part to accept it with appropriate signs. Now both of these are commonly and correctly called consecration. It will be for our convenience, however, if we now call the first of these dedication and restrict the term consecration to the second. And, using the words in these senses, let us see in this imposing ceremonial a lesson, first, as to our churches. As to which, we learn:

I. THAT CHURCHES SHOULD BE FORMALLY DEDICATED TO GOD. For if a formal service of dedication was fitting in the case of the temple, how can it be inappropriate in the case of the church? Is the latter less worthy of care and reverent regard than the former? Is it built for objects of less importance, or objects less Divine? Is it less dear to God, or less truly “God’s house,” because man is admitted to a place therein? Or may men build houses for God and retain the ownership for themselves? “Can we judge it a thing seemly for any man to go about the building of an house to the God of heaven with no other appearances than if his end Were to rear up a kitchen or parlour for his own use? Or, when a work of such a nature is finished, remaineth there nothing but presently to use it and so an end?” (Hooker.) Alas, that churches and chapels should ever have been offeredsometimes by public auctionto the pewholders, or dedicated by brass plates, etc; to the service of opulent parishioners. Too often have they become congeries of petty freeholds, temples of exclusiveness, God’s house in nothing but name. But this could not have been if the true idea of dedication had not been obscured or lost.

II. HOW CHURCHES SHOULD BE DEDICATED TO GOD. This history tells us that it should be with all possible solemnity and stateliness. There may surely be a procession. If this was right for the Jew, it cannot be wrong for us. There may be processional hymnsthe psalm which was acceptable in their lips cannot be unbecoming in ours; the dignitaries of the State may join the ranks, even “kings of the earth” may “bring their glory and honour into it” (Rev 21:24); in fact, it cannot be too stately, provided it be done not for self glorification but for the glory of God. For is not God the same now as then; is He not still a great king? And is not man the same? Does he not still owe the profoundest homage he can render to his Maker? And if it be heartfelt, why may it not be public? The history teaches that an august ritual befits the dedication of a church, and that, inter alia, there should be sacrifices (1Ki 8:5, 1Ki 8:62; cf. 2Sa 24:24we should not come before the Lord empty), music (2Ch 5:12, 2Ch 5:13the language of heaven, the one tongue that escaped confusion at the building of Babel), and that the book of the covenant should be borne (as it is in Germany, and as the ark was) in procession to its place. “These things the wisdom of Solomon did not account superfluous” (Hooker).

It is to be remembered here that our Lord by His presence sanctioned the observance of a feast of dedication (Joh 10:22).

III. THAT CHURCHES MUST BE CONSECRATED BY GOD. The bishop, or other officer, can only consecrate in the sense of dedicatingof setting apart from profane uses. And this is what the consecration of churches and churchyards really meansno more and no less (see Hooker, Eccles. Pol. 5.12. 6), If either is to be “hallowed“ (1Ki 9:2), it must be by the Divine presence. The Moslems say that wherever their great Caliph Omar prayed is consecrated ground. We hold that holy ground (Exo 3:5) must derive its sanctity from the All-Holy. The God who filled the temple must also hallow the church.

IV. THAT CHURCHES SINCERELY DEDICATED TO GOD WILL BE CONSECRATED BY GOD. Was the Ineffable Presence granted to the temple? Then why not to the church also? God has no favourites, nor is His arm shortened. The Presence will not be revealed, but it will be there; none the less real, all the more real, because it is spiritual. It would be strange if, in the dispensation of the Spirit, we disbelieved in the presence of Him who fills heaven and earth, who is “in the midst of the seven candlesticks” (Rev 1:13), and who has promised His presence to companies of “two or three” sincere souls (Mat 18:20, Ubi tres, ibi ecclesia). Our churches indeed are “sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1Ti 4:5), and if there is no cloud, yet we may “behold the glory of the Lord” (2Co 3:18); but they receive their full and perfect consecration in the of Christ’s body and blood (1Co 10:16). Men forget that if there is not a Real Presence then there must be a real absence. Some will allow God to be present everywhereexcept in His church and sacraments.

As to the Christian life, this dedication of the temple reminds us

I. THAT OUR BODIES ARE TEMPLES OF THE HOLY GHOST (1Co 6:19; 1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17; 2Co 6:16). “God has built” the “temple of the body” (Joh 2:21) to be His shrine (Rom 8:9, Rom 8:11; 2Co 6:16; Eph 3:17).

II. THAT WE SHOULD DEDICATE THEM TO GOD (Rom 6:13, Rom 6:19; Rom 12:1; 1Co 6:13 -29; Mat 22:21). This is done in baptism, may be done in confirmation, and must be done in conversion (the turning to God).

III. THAT IF WE DEDICATE THEM, GOD WILL CONSECRATE THEM. If we “open the door” (Rev 3:20; Joh 14:23) He will enter in and dwell there. We have but to give the heartthe innermost recess of the house, the adytumto Him, and He will possess and glorify the whole body (Luk 11:34, Luk 11:36).

1Ki 6:1-38. 1Ki 6:7, and 1Ki 8:1-66. 1Ki 8:12

The Silence and the Darkness.

In the first of these passages we are told that the house, built for the habitation of the Most High, was reared in profound silence; in the second, that the Most High Himself dwelleth in the thick darkness.
Now observe, first, that darkness stands in the same relation to sight that silence does to hearing. In the one, nothing is seen; in the other, nothing is heard. And, secondly, that the cloud and the house were alike the shrine and the dwelling place of Deity: the cloud the inner, the temple the outer abode. We learn, therefore, that the God who appears in the cloud (Le 1Ki 16:2), and dwells in the thick gloom of the oracle, is One who shrouds Himself in silence and darkness. Hence, let us learn

I. THAT HE IS A GOD THAT HIDETH HIMSELF (Isa 45:15). “No man hath seen God at any time” (Joh 1:18; Mat 11:27; Deu 4:12). “Thick darkness is under his feet” (Psa 18:9, Hebrews) “Darkness is his secret place; dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion” (1Ki 8:11; of. Psa 97:2). And He hides Himself, not as Eastern kings have done (comp. Est 1:14, and Herod. 3:84), to enhance their renown and dignity, and to increase the awe and reverence of their subjectsomne ignotum pro magnificobut because we cannot see His face and live (Exo 33:20). “Whom no man hath seen or can see” (1Ti 6:16). “Dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto” (ib.) Cf. Act 22:11.

II. THAT WE CANNOT BY SEARCHING FIND OUT GOD (Job 11:7). In one sense those are not so far wrong who speak of Him as “the Unknowable.” The Quicunque vult describes Him as “Incomprehensible” (Latin, immensus, i.e; immeasureable). Man cannot understand the mysteries of his own existence, how much less the being of the Godhead. If we could understand God, we should be intellectually equal with God (Gen 3:22). It is no argument against the doctrine of the Trinity, or the eternal generation of the Son, or the procession of the Holy Ghost, that each is a mystery. How could it be otherwise? We have “nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.”

III. THAT HIS WAYS ARE WRAPPED IS DARKNESS. See Rom 2:1-29 :33; Deu 29:29; Ecc 11:5. His judgments are an abyss of which we cannot see the bottom (Psa 36:6). His footsteps are not known (Psa 77:19). As He dwells in the thick cloud, so are His judgments far above out of sight (Psa 10:5). “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing” (Pro 25:2). Hence it is that His dealings are often so mysterious and painful, because what He does we know not now (Joh 13:7). The disciples” feared when they entered into the cloud” (Luk 9:1-62 :84). “Now we know in part.” We only see, it has been said, as it were, the underside of the carpet, and so life is a confused and meaningless mixture. It is not God’s will that we should see the plan and pattern yet. (Cf. Col 1:26; Eph 3:9.)

IV. THAT HIS WORKS ARE WROUGHT IN SILENCE. He is Himself a God that keepeth silence; Psa 1:3, 21 recognizes this. If silence be golden, the Eternal has observed this golden rule. Men blaspheme Him, defy Him, challenge Him to smite them deadas a well known atheist is said to have doneetc; and He keeps silence. Amid “earth’s many voices,” amid its everlasting Babel, His voice is never heard. Similarly, He works in the silence. At the creation, “He spake and it was done.” “God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” Creation moves in silence. We speak of “the music of the spheres; but it is buts beautiful conceit. On the contrary, “there is no speech, no language; their voice is not heard” (Psa 19:8, Heb.) Much truer is that exquisite conception

“And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth.”

The fact is that,

“In solemn silence, all
Move round this dark terrestrial ball.”

And in silence, too, is this planet sustained and ordered. How

“silently the springtime
Her crown of verdure weaves,
And all the trees on all the hills
Open their thousand leaves.”

Or as another, not less beautifully, puts it

“Soundless as chariots on the snow
The saplings of the forest grow
To trees of mighty girth:
Each nightly star in silence burns,
And every day in silence turns
The axle of the earth.
“The silent frost, with mighty hand,
Fetters the rivers and the land
With universal chain;
And, smitten by the silent sun,
The chain is loosed, the rivers run,
The lands are free again.”

But for the discordant din of men, and but for the voices of beasts and birds, this earth would be a temple of silence. And it is in the silence that God reveals Himself. Not in the great and strong wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in the still small voice (1Ki 19:12, 1Ki 19:18). “Let us be silent,” says one, “that we may hear the whispers of the gods.” In the silence, too, His Church has grown. His kingdom “cometh not with observation” (Luk 17:20). As silently as the seed grows, day and night, in the soil; as silently as the leaven works in the meal. And in the silence our Holy Lord will come againas a thief in the night, as a snare, as the lightning.

V. THAT ALL THE EARTH SHOULD KEEP SILENCE BEFORE HIM (Hab 2:20). It is not meant to preach here “the eternal duty of silence,” nor that all worship should be “of the silent sort;” but that, in realizing the awful presence of God, men should be hushed into the profoundest awe. When we do “take upon ourselves to speak unto our Lord,” we should remember that “we are but dust and ashes” (Gen 18:27). Our finger on our lips, our lips in the dust. It was this feeling, in part, led Solomon to build the temple in silence. And the feeling which found this expression in act he has elsewhere translated in words (see Ecc 5:1, Ecc 5:2). It was with a similar feeling that our Lord acted (Mar 11:16). And it is significant that we read of “silence in heaven” (Rev 8:1).

VI. THAT GOD‘S WORK MUST BE DONE IN SILENCE. “All real work is quiet work. It must be unobtrusive if it is to be fruitful. “The temple was thrown down with axes and hammers, and they that did it roared in the midst of the congregation (Psa 74:4, Psa 74:6), but it was built up in silence” (M. Henry). A temple of the Lord, a temple of “living stones,” is now being built. “O God, that the axes of schism or the hammers of furious contention should be heard within Thy sanctuary” (Hall). It is because of our unseemly cries and wranglings, because of the clash of controversy and the shouts of heated partizans, that this temple has made such poor progress. Not until we have been first hushed into silence can the headstone be brought forth with shouting (Zec 4:7).

1Ki 8:2; cf. 1Ki 6:16

The Holy of Holies and the Heaven of Heavens.

Elsewhere we have spoken of the correspondence of the Jewish temple with the Christian Church. But let us now trace a truer and higher resemblance. For the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that the “holy places made with hands” are “the figures (, i.e; copies) of the true” (Heb 9:24). The temple of Solomon, therefore, must correspond to things in the heavens. It does this, first, in its structure; secondly, in its furniture; thirdly, in its services.

I. IN ITS STRUCTURE. The temple, we have seen, was a reproduction, on an enlarged scale, and in a more permanent form, of the tabernacle. And the tabernacle was fashioned after a heavenly pattern (Exo 25:40; Exo 26:30; Exo 27:8; Heb 8:5). Thrice was Moses admonished to make it “according to the fashion which was showed him in the mount.” It has been well said that earth is

“But the shadow of heaven, and things therein
Are to each other like.”

But this is true in a special sense of the earthly and heavenly temples. Their resemblance is recognized in the very language used of the temple. “Heaven thy dwelling place” is constantly found in close connexion with “this house” (1Ki 8:30, 1Ki 8:34, 1Ki 8:39, 1Ki 8:43). The same wordZebulused of the temple in 1Ki 8:13 is used of heaven in Isa 63:15. Compare also Isa 63:18, “a settled place for thee to dwell in,” etc; with verses 30, 39, 48, etc. (Hebrews) The same wordHaycalagain, used of the temple in 1Ki 6:5, 83; 1Ki 7:50; 2Ki 24:13, is elsewhere used of heaven (Psa 11:4; Psa 18:7; Psa 29:9, etc.) But can we trace the resemblance? Can we suggest any points of contact? Let us try, premising, first, that a “general analogy is all that we can look for” (Alford on Rev 8:8).

1. The temple was tripartite (see 2Ki 6:1-33. Introduction). It was composed of porch, holy place, and oracle (the side chambers were hardly integral parts of the structure; see note on 1Ki 6:6). Now it is remarkable that though the Jewish fathers spoke of “seven heavens”some held that there were twoHoly Scripture speaks of three, and three only. When St. Paul would describe the very dwelling place of Deity, he calls it “the third heaven” (2Co 12:2). What are the three heavenswhether atmospheric (nubiferum), sidereal (astriferum), and angelic (angeliferum), or whatit does not concern us to say; it is enough for our purpose that there are three. And three, it must be remembered, is the number and signature of God.

2. All the temple was God‘s dwelling place. It is a mistake to suppose that the oracle was the abode of God, the holy place the abode of the people. In the temple the people had no place. It was the “house of the great God” (Ezr 5:8); a palace for God, and not for man (1Ch 29:1). “As the whole house, so also each compartment is called ‘the dwelling place'” (Bhr). Again, the holy place, as well as the entire sanctuary, is called the palace (1Ki 6:5 with 2Ki 24:13). The primary design of the temple, as of the tabernacle, was to afford a habitation for the ark and for Him whose covenant it contained.

3. But the inner temple was God‘s shrine. In the holy of holies, He was revealed. He dwelt “between the cherubim” (Exo 25:22; 1Sa 4:4; 2Ki 19:15, etc.) The word Shechinah, which is used to denote the Presence, is derived from shachan, “he dwelt.” So it is in heaven. Heaven is God’s throne (Isa 66:1; Act 7:49); but there is a “heaven of heavens,” where He is revealed. True “the heaven and heaven of heavens” cannot contain Him, any more than the holy and the holy of holies, but in each He has His special habitation. Here again temple and temple not built with hands are alike.

4. The temple blazed with gold and gems. It was “exceeding magnifical” as the palace of the Godhead. Everything was appropriate to a great king. “Pure gold,” “gold of Uphaz,” cedar, olive wood, all was “for glory and beauty” (Exo 28:2). Compare the description of heaven in Rev 21:9 sqq. Like a jasper stone (Rev 21:11); pure gold (Rev 21:18, Rev 21:21); precious stones (Rev 21:19, Rev 21:20); twelve pearls (Rev 21:21).

II. IN ITS FURNITURE. Observe: the furniture and appointments outside the house, in the court of the priestsbrazen altar, molten sea, layers, etc.have no counterparts in heaven. They are “of the earth, earthy.” In the holy place were the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, the ten candlesticks, etc. (1Ki 7:48-50). In the most holy place were the mercy seat, the cherubim of glory, the ark, the golden censer, etc. And heaven has its golden altar (Rev 6:9; Rev 8:8; Rev 9:18), its incense (Rev 8:8, Rev 8:4), its seven lamps (Rev 4:5; cf. Exo 27:1-21 :23; Zec 4:2). And for the table of shewbread, see Rev 22:2. Or if it be said that the “table of the face” has no counterpart in heaven, we may reply that it is not needed, because His servants “see his face” and feast upon His presence (Revelation 24:4). Similarly heaven has its mercy seatthe Fount of Mercy dwells thereits cherubim and seraphim (Isa 6:2; Rev 4:7; cf. Eze 1:10), and its golden censer (Rev 8:3, Rev 8:5). It has no arkthe covenant is writ in the heart of the Eternal, as He now writes it on the hearts of men (Heb 8:10). But it has its throne (Rev 4:2 et passim), and the ark was the throne of God (cf. Isa 6:2).

III. IN ITS SERVICES. Here we must distinguish between

(1) the service of the holy place, and

(2) the service of the Holiest of all.

As to the former, it must here suffice to say that it centred round the altar of incense. Morning and evening, year in, year out, incense was burnt upon the golden altar. And we have already seen that incense is offered in heaven. As to its meaning, lessons, etc; we have spoken elsewhere. Let us turn, therefore, to the worship of the most holy place. And here we observe

1. The cherubim of glory overshadowed the mercy seat (Heb 9:5). They were, as it were, choirs on either side of the place of the Presence. Now the cherubim were symbolical representations of all created existences (see note on 1Ki 6:29) from the highest to the lowest. But especially did they shadow forth the highest forms of intelligence, the celestial beings who surround the Lord of glory; they were earthly counterparts of the heavenly seraphim (Isa 6:2), and so they pourtrayed, as far as was possible, the worship of the heavenly hosts. It is true they were silentthey could not be otherwisebut still they conveyed the idea of ceaseless contemplation, of the most profound and reverent homage, of awestruck adoration. Indeed, we only understand what they symbolized by comparing the shadow with the substance. For we find that heaven has its cherubim. The “four beasts () round about the throne, full of eyes before and behind” (Rev 4:6-8), are clearly the “very substance” of those things of which Isaiah’s and Ezekiel’s winged creatures (Isa 6:2; Eze 1:10; Eze 10:14) were the likeness, and of which Solomon’s cherubim were the copies. The silent, stately cherubim consequently were adumbrations of the mysterious hierarchy who ceaselessly praise the Uncreated Light and lead the worship of the skies (Rev 4:8-11; Rev 5:8, Rev 5:9, Rev 5:14), “raising their Trisagion ever and aye.”

2. The high priest entered the most holy place once a year. The ceremonial of the day of atonement (Lev 16:1-34.) foreshadowed, as we are expressly told in Heb 9:1-28; the entry of our great High Priest into heaven itself. The Jewish high priest, robed in spotless white vestments, passed through the veil of blue and purple and scarlet (Exo 26:31) into the holy oracle, with the blood of calves and goats, etc. Even so our unspotted Lord, “the High Priest of our profession” (Heb 2:1), passed through (not into, ) the blue heavens (Heb 4:14) into the presence of the Eternal, with His own blood (Heb 9:12). And as the high priest presented the tokens of deathas he sprinkled the blood (which is the life of the flesh) seven times before the mercy seat eastward (Le 16:15), and so in figure pleaded the meritorious death of Him who should come to put away sin, so does our great High Priest present his pierced and wounded formHe stands before the throne as a “Lamb as it had been slain” (Rev 5:6)and pleads His passion, the death of One who has come, for the salvation and life of the world. It may be that, like the high priest, He utters no articulate words; it may be that, like him, He simply appears as the representative of man to show the tokens and pledges of atonement; or it may be that as the incense was burned when the blood was sprinkled, so His powerful intercession, of which the incense was a type, is joined to the silent pleading of His wounds. But whichever way it is, it is clear that the ritual of the holy of holies has its blessed counterpart in the ritual of the heaven of heavens.

1Ki 8:23-53

The Prayer of Dedication.

In how many and varied ways is Solomon a type of the Divine Solomon, the true Son of David Even in this respect they are alikethat each has “taught us how to pray” (Luk 11:1 sqq.) For we may be sure that the Prayer of Dedication is for our instruction and imitation, otherwise it would hardly have been recorded, and recorded at such length, in Scripture. “After this manner therefore pray ye” (Mat 6:9).

I. LAYMEN MAY OFFER PUBLIC PRAYER. This is no monopoly of priests. The Hebrew king might not sacrifice or burn incense (2Ch 26:18), but he might lead the prayers both of priests and people, and that on the greatest day in the history of Israel. Even so, though “we give not to our princes the ministering either of God’s word or of the sacraments” (Art. 37.), still we do not deny them any “prerogative which we see to have been given always to all godly princes in Holy Scripture” (ib.), and least of all the prerogative of prayer exercised by David, Solomon, Asa (2Ch 14:11), Jehoshaphat (ib; 1Ki 20:5-12), and Hezekiah (ib; 30:18-20). It was Constantine, a layman, presided at the Council of Nice.

II. KINGS SHOULD BE PROUD TO TAKE PART IN RELIGIOUS FUNCTIONS. Whatever divinity doth hedge them about, they are not greater or wiser than Solomon, and the proudest moment of his life was when he led the ark to its resting place; the happiest, when he “blessed all the congregation of Israel” (1Ki 8:14). Never is king so great as when he takes his proper place before God. Alas! that religion should have ever been brought into such contempt that kings should be ashamed or afraid to be the “nursing fathers” of the Church (Isa 49:23). Solomon’s prayer is “a testimony that a wisdom which can no longer pray is folly” (Bhr).

III. PRAYER SHOULD BE PRECEDED BY PRAISE. It was not until Solomon had “blessed God” (1Ki 8:15) that he prayed to God (1Ki 8:23-53). “praemissa laude, invocatio sequi solet.” This was the rule of the early Church (see Psa 65:1, Psa 65:2 for the scriptural order; cf. Php 1:3, Php 1:4; Php 4:6, and see Howson’s Hulsean Lectures, No. 4; for the combination of thanksgiving and prayer in St. Paul’s Epistles). And Solomon not only began but ended with blessing (1Ki 8:56).

IV. TRUE PRAYER IS ASKING GOD FOR WHAT WE NEED. Not rhetorical display, not sesquepedalia verba, not a mere string of texts and hymns, but the simplest, humblest cry of the heart. Which of us has not heard prayers like the Pharisee’swithout one word of prayer (i.e; petition) in them? And how many prayers are made painful by their pretentiousness. Perhaps a child has been ordained our pattern (Mat 18:2-4), that from it we should learn to pray. “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart” (Bunyan).

V. PRAYER SHOULD BE OFFERED FOR ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. Not for self only. It is not “my Father,” but “our Father.” Perhaps selfishness is nowhere more conspicuous or more hateful than in our prayers. We are members one of another. It is in the Pharisee’s prayer that we find so much “I.” Notice how varied were Solomon’s petitions, and cf. 1Ti 2:1, 1Ti 2:2, 1Ti 2:3. Tennyson says

“For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands in prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?”

And he does not stop there, but adds that thus

“the whole round world
Is bound by golden chains around the feet of God.”

This prayer of dedication was a veritable Litany (verses 31, 33, 37, 41, 44, etc.)

VI. PRAYER SHOULD BE SCRIPTURAL, i.e; conceived in the spirit and expressed in the words of Scripture. This prayer was pre-eminently so What St. Cyprian says of the Lord’s prayer, “Quanto efficacius impetramus quod petimus in Christi nomine, si petamus ipsius oratione,” may suggest to us that that prayer is most likely to move God’s hand which is based on God’s Word. Supplication should be shaped by revelation.

VII. PRAYERS MAY BE LITURGICAL. The Scripture references, its artificial structure, and indeed, its very preservation, prove that this prayer was a precomposed form. A form need not involve formalism. All Christians use forms of praise; why not forms of prayer? (See Hooker, V. 26.2. 3.)

VIII. OUTWARD FORMS ARE NOT TO BE DESPISED. Solomon “kneeled upon his knees, with his hands stretched out towards heaven” (cf. Dan 6:10; Act 7:60; Act 9:40; Act 20:1-38 :86; Act 21:5; Eph 3:14, and, above all, Luk 22:41 and Luk 24:50. Also Psa 28:2; Psa 63:4; Psa 134:2). Ritualism is a question of degree, for we all use some rites. So long as we have bodies, we can never have a purely spiritual religion, but must “glorify God in our bodies and spirits” (1Co 6:20). That forms have their foundation in human nature, and may be impressive and edifying, is proved by the fact that “no nation under heaven either doth or ever did suffer public actions which are of weight to pass without some visible solemnity” (Hooker, IV. 1.8), and for this reason, that

“Sounds which address the ear are lost and die
In one short hour; while that which strikes the eye
Lives long upon the mind: the faithful sight
Graves on the memory with a beam of light.”

It is only when forms usurp the place, or mar the reality, of spiritual worship (Joh 4:24) that they are really reprehensible.

1Ki 8:62-66

The Feast on the Sacrifices.

In this prodigious number of sacrificesin round numbers 150,000 victims3,000 oxen and 18,000 sheep forevery day of the festival (Keil); five oxen and twenty-five sheep forevery minute of each day (Thenius)in this wholesale slaughter, which converted the court of the priests into one great shambles, and almost choked the sewers of the temple with blood, one feature is liable to be overlooked (note on 1Ki 8:64), namely, that all these sacrifices were “peace offerings,” with the exception, of course, of the usual burnt offerings. In all theseand king and princes and people alike brought their thousandsall was first given to God, but the bulk was given back by God to the sacrificers. With the exception of the fat, etc; burnt on the altar, and the blood (which was the life), poured out at its base, and the customary portion of the priests (Le 1Ki 7:14, 1Ki 7:21; 1Co 9:13), all the rest was carried home by the offerer to provide a feast for him and his family. The peace offering was thus a social festival And the same remark applies to the still greater numbera quarter of a millionof paschal lambs offered year by year in later times. The blood was sprinkled as a memorial before God, but the lamb was roasted entire to provide a supper for the household (Deu 16:1-7). In all these sacrifices God graciously entertained those who offered them with their own oblationswhich He had first given themat His own table. And herein we have an illustration of God’s gracious way of dealing with our gifts and offerings. He accepts them at our hands, but gives them back for our use and enjoyment. We present our sacrifice, and He spreads banquet for our souls. It is a curious circumstance, and one that shows how entirely this principle has been overlooked, that “sacrifice,” which properly means “something made sacred,” “consecrated,” has come to be a synonym for “loss,” “privation.” But this a true sacrifice can never be. There is no such thing as giving at a loss to the Lord of all. He insists on paying us back a hundred fold. All our offerings are in this sense peace offerings. He sends us away laden with our own gifts, “joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness of the Lord” (1Ki 8:66). Let us now see how this holds good.

I. OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. This is the one veritable sacrifice of the world. Of all others it may be said, “Of thine own have we given thee.” He alone “offered him self” (Heb 9:14). “With his own blood” (1Ki 8:12). Behold how this oblation comes back to us charged with blessing. “Once offered to bear the sins of many“ (1Ki 8:28); “Having obtained eternal redemption for us” (1Ki 8:12). “By the obedience of one many are made righteous” (Rom 5:19). Compare Heb 2:9, Heb 2:10; Heb 12:2; Php 2:6-11; and especially Joh 10:11, Joh 10:17, and Joh 6:51.

II. OF THE SACRIFICE OF OUR BODIES (Rom 12:1). If in separating the body from common uses and yielding our bodies instruments of righteousness to God (Rom 6:13), we seem to suffer inconvenience, privation, etc; it is not really, so. This sacrifice brings “joy and gladness of heart.” Not unseldom are we conscious of the present gain. “Virtue is its own reward.” The “testimony of the conscience” is no slight recompense. How great, for example, is the guerdon of purity!

“So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity
That when a soul is found sincerely so
A thousand liveried angels lacquey her,
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt,
And in clear dream and solemn vision
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear,” etc.

There is a story told of George Herbert which shows how little sacrifices become great feasts. On his way to a musical gathering, he stopped by the way to help a poor waggoner out of the ruts. Arriving late and bespattered with mud, he was commiserated for the loss and inconvenience he had sustained. But he would not allow that it was loss. “The remembrance,” he said, “will bring music into the heart at midnight.”

III. OF THE SACRIFICE OF OUR ALMS. True, they are loss when given to serve self, or for the praise of men. “Verily I say unto you, they have (i.e; er haust, ) their reward” (Mat 6:2). Such givers get what they bargained for; they receive “their good things” (Luk 16:25). But then there was no oblation to God. A Scottish laird having put a crown piece by mistake into the plate, asked for it back again. On being told that he might put what he chose in, but take nothing out, he said, “Well, well, I suppose I’ll get credit for it in heaven.” “Na, na,” was the just reply, “ye’ll only get credit for the penny.” But if the alms be hue offerings to God, then they have both a present and an eternal reward. Present, in hearing the widow’s heart sing for joy, and in the blessing of him that was ready to perish” (Job 29:13); eternal, in that “God is not unrighteous to forget,” etc. (Heb 6:10), and that a “cup of cold water only” shall in no wise lose its reward (Mat 10:42). Such gifts are the truest and safest investments (Pro 19:17).

“We lose what on ourselves we spend,
We have as treasure without end
Whatever Lord, to Thee we lend.”

There is on record an admirable prayer of Thomas Sutton, the pious founder of the Charterhouse, “O Lord, Thou hast given me a large estate, give me a large heart.” We cannot lose what we give away.

IV. OF THE SACRIFICE OF OUR OBLATIONS. We use “oblations” here in the liturgical sense of the word, i.e; of the oblations of bread and wine in the Holy Communion. For these were anciently, and should be still, solemnly offered to God, as our thank offerings, as a sort of first fruits of His creatures. And now consider how they are given back to us. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (, the joint participation in) of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (1Co 10:16.) We have presented to the Divine Majesty bread and wine, and He gives us in return the body and blood of our Lord (ib; Joh 11:24, Joh 11:25).

V. OF THE SACRIFICE OF WORLDLY PROSPECTS, etc. Men often speak of the sacrifices they have had to make for the sake of their religion. And time was when great sacrifices were demanded; these are sometimes demanded still. But they involve no loss, no real and abiding injury. On the contrary, they are actually, and in the long run, a gain. “There is no man that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life”. On which Bengel beautifully remarks that nature gives us each but one father and one mother, but the Church gives us many. (Cf. Rom 16:18.) “What shall I do,” said Amaziah, “for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? …. And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this” (2Ch 25:9). Who had made more sacrifices than St. Paul? And yet who was it wrote of “having nothing, yet possessing all things?” (2Co 6:10). The man who had such loved and loving friends as Rom 16:1-27. proves him to have had, cannot be called poor. Well might he write, “I have all and abound” (Php 4:18). The sacrifices he had made procured him a continual feast. It is the same with all our sacrifices. The Great King cannot receive gifts, but he must return them “according to his royal bounty” (1Ki 10:13). The Greatest Giver in the world will never be outdone in generosity by king Solomon.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND

1Ki 8:6

The Ark of the Covenant.

The ark was the heart of the temple. For it the shrine was erected. It was regarded as the throne of Jehovah. Hence the reverence with which it was approached. In itself the ark was not very remarkable. It was a chest 2.5 cubits long, and 1.5 cubits deep and broad, made of wood covered with gold; the lid, called “the mercy seat,” being of pure gold, having the cherubim at its ends. For its construction see Exo 25:1-40; where it is placed first as the most important of all the furniture of the tabernacle. Describe its connection with the people’s entrance to Canaan, leading them through the Jordan, and heading the procession round Jericho. A superstitious sanctity was attached to it later. The outward symbol was supposed to have the efficacy which belonged only to that which it symbolized. It was carried into battle (1Sa 4:1-22.) under this delusion, but the ark could not save a people from whom God had withdrawn. Their superstition was rebuked by the defeat of the army, and the capture by the Philistines of the ark itself. Show how often in Church history the sign has been substituted for the thing signified, to the injury of God’s cause. Though the superstitions belief in the ark was always rebuked, its sanctity was vindicated: by its avenging progress through the cities of Phllistia, and by the punishment of Uzzah. Moreover a blessing came with it to those who received it aright, e.g; to the house of Obed-Edom. The ark had been brought up to Jerusalem by David amid national rejoicing and placed in a tent prepared for it; now it found its abiding place in Solomon’s temple. Throwing on the ark the light of the Epistle to the Hebrews, let us remind ourselves of certain religious truths to which it bore silent witness. These will be suggested by the contents of the ark, by its covering, by the mode of approaching it, and by its uses in worship.

I. THE ARK SUGGESTED THAT THE COVENANT RESTED ON LAW. The safe custody of the material tables of stone implied the moral observance of the precepts inscribed on them. “There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone,” etc. (If we are to understand Heb 9:4 as asserting that Aaron’s rod and the pot of manna were actually inside the ark, they had probably disappeared by Solomon’s time.) The term “a covenant” is only used by way of accommodation, when applied to the relation between man and God. Such a “covenant” is merely a promise, which God makes dependent on the fulfilment of certain conditions; e.g; the promise after the flood is called a “covenant.” So the covenant of Sinai was a promise on God’s part, conditioned by the observance of the ten commandments on man’s part. This was proclaimed by the presence of the tables of the law in the ark of the covenant. Show from Scripture and experience that bliss is conditioned by obedience. There is nothing lawless either in morals or in nature.

II. THE ARK PROCLAIMED THAT MERCY CAME BETWEEN MAN AND THE BROKEN LAW. “The mercy seat” covered “the tables.” The value of mercy was typified by the pure gold of the capporeth. Exhibit the necessity of mercy to men who are prone to evil and forgetful of good. Illustrate it from God’s dealings with Israel, and Christ’s goodness to His disciples. The publican struck the keynote of true prayer when he exclaimed, “God be merciful to me, a sinner” Compare Psa 51:1-19. Show how the sense of our want of mercy grows with our sensibility to the sinfulness of sin. Paul the apostle an example of this: “of sinners I am the chief.”

III. THE ARK DECLARED THAT AN ATONEMENT MADE MERCY POSSIBLE. Describe the day of atonement; the sacrifice offered; the high priest entering the holy of holies with the blood which he sprinkled on the mercy seat. Even he could only draw near to the mercy, seat after the sacrifice (compare Heb 9:1-28.) “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission? Apply this to the sacrifice of “the Lamb of God,” who was “wounded for our transgressions,” whose “blood cleanseth from all sin.” Describe him as the High Priest in the Holiest of all, having opened the way for all sinners to the abounding mercy of God.

IV. THE ARK ENCOURAGED MEN TO DRAW NEAR TO GOD. The law (represented by the tables) was broken; but the mercy of God (represented by the capporeth) was revealed; and the atonement (represented by the sprinkled blood) was provided; so that God fulfilled promise about the mercy seat. “There will I commune with thee.”

Apply the teaching of this subject to those conscious of guilt, burdened by sorrow, etc. “Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”A.R.

1Ki 8:10, 1Ki 8:11

The Presence of the Lord in the House of the Lord.

The Shechinah, which is here referred to, was a most brilliant and glorious light, usually concealed by a cloud; a fit emblem, therefore, of Jehovah, the God of light and of glory, who is retied from His creatures. As the visible symbol of the Divine presence, “the pillar of cloud and fire,” had gone before Israel in the wilderness, proving their guide and defence. Suddenly and mysteriously it appeared in the new temple of Solomon, at the festival of dedication, giving Divine sanction to the work, and assuring all beholders that Jehovah had made that His dwelling place. Not only was the holy of holies filled with the cloud, but the holy place also, indeed, the whole building was permeated by it, so that all the building was henceforth holy. The signs of the Divine presence are different now, but the reality of it may be consciously felt. “Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The New Testament counterpart of this manifestation is found in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, when “suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Act 2:2). Compare these two manifestations: the splendour of the temple, with the poverty of the upper room; the narrowness of national rejoicing, with the breadth of worldwide preaching, etc. Let us seek the changeless inward truth underlying the changeful outward form which embodies it.

I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE DIVINE PRESENCE. Read the account of that which, on the part of the people, had preceded this display.

1. Sacred memories were recalled. The worn tent, the ark, the holy vessels, had just been brought in (1Ki 8:4), and glorious yet tender associations were connected with each. The revival of old impressions made in youth, etc; makes the heart sensitive to the Spirit of God. Give examples.

2. Divine law was enthroned. “Nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone” (1Ki 8:9). Disobedience to God’s commands, forgetfulness of them, unfits us for seeing Him. It deteriorates character, debases the heart. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? he that hath clean hands and a pure heart,” etc.

3. God‘s claims were recognized. By the completion of the temple, by the multitudinous sacrifices (1Ki 8:5). The willingness to give our. selves up to God prepares us to see Him as our God. Not the intellectual research, but the reverent submission discovers Him. “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” “He that doeth the will of my Father shall know of the doctrine.” “We beseech you, there. fore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present yourselves a living sacrifice,” etc.

4. Earnest prayers were offered. Solomon’s prayer, which follows, was but the formal and public utterance of many secret prayers on the part of himself and others. See how often he spoke to God about this building, and how often God spoke to him. He and his people prayed above all things that the special glory of the tabernacle might be granted to the temple. Now the prayers were answered. “Ask and ye shall receive,” etc. The apostles expected the Holy Spirit; but in order to receive the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise, “they continued, with one accord, in prayer and supplication.”

II. THE EFFECTS OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE. We do not refer to the special and immediate effects of the cloud, but to the moral and religious effect of the presence thus symbolized.

1. It restored significance to old symbols. The ark had lost much of its sanctity in the eyes of the people, as the conduct of Uzzah showed. This naturally arose from its frequent removals, its uncovering, its capture by the Philistines, and most of all from the absence of the Shechinah. Now the old veneration was restored to it, because its real significance was reestablished. Apply this thought to churches, to their organizations, to their sacraments, etc. How often these are like the cloudless ark. They want the realized presence of God to make them vivid with life.

2. It testified to God‘s acceptance of the new building. Reverence and awe fell on all the worshippers. True” consecration” arises from the signs of the Divine presence given to the faithful. The conversion of a sinner, the uplifting of a fallen disciple, etc; these are the evidences we look for that worship and work, place and people, are accepted of God.

3. It confirmed the faith of some, and inspired faith in others. From childhood they had been told of the appearance of the glory of the Lord in olden days. Now, for the first time, they saw it, and doubt vanished before the light. A great turning to God on the part of the unrighteous, or some similar spiritual evidence of the Divine power amongst us, would do more than all controversy to destroy scepticism.

4. It proclaimed God‘s readiness to hear prayer. With what confidence Solomon could pray after this! The realization that God is near us is our highest encouragement to speak to Him. “Because he hath heard me in time past, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”

If such be the glory and bliss of God’s presence on earth, what will it be to stand before His throne in heaven?A.R.

HOMILIES BY J. WAITE

1Ki 8:10, 1Ki 8:11

The Glory cloud.

Never did Solomon appear so much “in all his glory” as on this memorial day of the dedication of the temple. The solemnities of the service, the procession of the sacred ark from the city of David into its resting place, the robed priests, the rapturous multitude, the unnumbered sacrifices, the music and the songs, must have formed altogether a marvellous spectacle. But of all the incidents of the day none could be compared with that of the sudden appearance of the Shechinahthe glory cloud. This introduced new supernatural element. The rest was humanman’s handiwork, man’s worship, man’s glory; this was Divinethe miraculous sign of the present and approving God. It raises the scene above comparison with any similar scene in the history of any other nation. Other peoples have reared their gorgeous temples, and kings and priests have gone in solemn pomp and circumstance to consecrate them. But what shrine has ever been honoured like this? Altars to false gods inmunerable have been reared, but where has been the fire from heaven to kindle their sacrifices? Idol temples dedicatedwhere the radiant cloud of the Divine presence? The priests were too much dazzled by the shining splendour to continue their ministrations. Solomon might well be filled with adoring wonder. “But will God indeed?” etc. (1Ki 8:27). Many Scripture examples of the way in which miraculous revelations of the presence of God overawe the spirits of men: Jacob at Bethel, Moses before the burning bush, Elijah at the mouth of the cave, the disciples of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, etc. Solomon’s, however, was not so much an emotion of fear, but of sacred reverence and glad surprise. The appearance of the cloud set the seal of Divine acceptance on the temple and its service, linking it with all the glorious associations of the pastthe climax and crown of a long series of miraculous Divine manifestations. But look on it now as prophetic of a more glorious future, as imaging forth to the men of that age higher forms of Divine manifestation that in the fulness of time should come to pass.

I. THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST. When the eternal Son of the Father laid aside the “form of God,” and took upon Him “the likeness of sinful flesh,” He filled the temple of a human body with the Divine glory. God came to dwell in very deed “amongst men upon the earth.” The Infinite Unseen submitted to the conditions of a finite visible personality. The Light insufferable, “which no man can approach unto,” veiled itself in a cloud of mortal flesh. “We beheld his glory,” etc. (Joh 1:14). When the second temple was being built, many of the people were troubled at the thought that it would be so inferior to the first. The old men who had “seen the first house” wept (Ezr 3:12; Hag 2:3). But the prophets of the time were commissioned to comfort them with the assurance that, though the old symbolic grandeur was gone, the glory of the latter house should be greater than that of the former. It would contain no ark, no mercy seat, no Shechinah, no heaven-kindled fire, no Urim and Thummim, no prophetic spirit; “Ichabod” would be written on its walls. But a nobler Presence than had ever been seen on earth before would irradiate it in the coming time: “Behold I will send my messenger,” etc. (Mal 3:1); “Yet once, it is a while, and I will shake the heavens,” etc. (Hag 2:6, Hag 2:7). Every time the Lord Jesus, “the brightness of the Father’s glory,” entered the templeas a babe in His mother’s arms, as a boy girding Himself for His “Father’s business,” as a man in the fulness of His Divine authority, purging it from defilement, expounding in it the law of acceptable worship, making it the centre of His beneficent healing ministryHe verified in some new form these prophetic words. The manifestations of the present Deity in the olden times “have no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth,” even “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Do we ask, “Will God in very deed dwell?” etc; the answer comes back to us, “Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest,” etc. (1Ti 3:16), “Immanuel, God with us” (Mat 1:23). That outshining radiance in the temple was dazzling, almost repellent, deepening the sense of distance, creating fear; this Divine apocalypse is infinitely active, gives unmistakable proof of sympathetic personal nearness, awakens grateful, trustful, and adoring love.

II. THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT. The manifestation of God in the person of His Son was preparatory to the richer gracethe actual impartation of Himself by His Spirit to the individual souls of men (see Eph 4:8 sqq.; 2Co 6:16). The dispensation of the Spirit is the ultimate fact. In this God communicates Himself in the highest form of revelation, and the most intimate fellowship of which man is capable. The “dwelling” of the Holy Ghost in every new-born soul, in every assembly of true spiritual worshippers, in the “one body” of the universal Church, is prefigured in the scene before us. The day of the dedication of the temple finds its antitype in the “day of Pentecost.” Place these manifestations side by side. As you trace the lines of comparison between them, how glorious does the Christian fact appear! The one was material in its naturea bright and beautiful vision for the eye, appealing indirectly through the senses to the soul; the other intensely spirituala blessed overpowering influence, seizing at once on the minds and hearts of the people, the flowing in of a Divine life. And though there was something for the eye and ear, its form was such as to suggest most strikingly that living word of truth and holy fire of love which the heart alone can know. The one was diffuse, general, indiscriminatea bright, scattered cloud filling the place;the other was distinct and personal. The Spirit of God deals not with companies of men, but with isolated souls. There was a separate tongue of flame on the head of each. Not the place merely, but the men, each according to his own individuality, was “filled with the Holy Ghost.” The one manifestation concealed more than it revealed. It was the sign of God’s presence, but it made the people feel that He is indeed a “God that hideth himself.” They could not really “behold his glory.” They “saw through a glass”a cloud”darkly.” The “dispensation of the Spirit,” though it did not remove fleshly restrictions, brought in that blessed condition of things in which the soul has such a thrilling sense of Divine communion as scarcely to need any material help to the apprehension of it, and almost to forget the intervening veil. The one manifestation was local and exclusive, confined to the central shrine of Jewish worship, distinguishing the Jewish people from all the world besides; “to them belonged the glory.” The grace of the Spirit is God’s free gift to all mankind, “shed on us abundantly” (Joe 2:28; Act 10:45; Tit 3:5). The Spirit is the exclusive possession of none of the churches, owns no human creed, or ritual, or ecclesiastical boundary rather than another, dwells with all who call upon the same redeeming Lord. The one manifestation was transitory, served a temporary purpose. The “glory” soon departed again, and returned to the heaven from whence it came. The other is an enduring reality. The Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, “abides with us forever.” the spring of an imperishable life, the pledge and pro. phecy of the unfading glory of God’s unveiled presence.W.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND

1Ki 8:17-19

The Unfulfilled Purposes of Life.

Men often take credit to themselves for the designs of others. An inventor is forgotten, having died in obscurity, while others make fortunes from that secret which he won by the sacrifices of ease, strength, and time. [Give other examples of the non-recognition by men of purposes and schemes which were unfulfilled by their originators.] Solomon showed himself to be truthful and magnanimous when, in the presence of his people, he ascribed to his father the inception of the building which now stood before them in its splendour. How much more ready is God, who knows the hearts of all men, to recognize and reward the unfulfilled longings of men to serve Him! Briefly indicate the reasons which made it unsuitable that David should personally do this special service (compare 2Sa 7:1-29. with 1Ch 22:8). He stood not alone in his disappointment, therefore the following thoughts which arise from considering it may help others to bear the unfilfilled purposes of their lives.

I. DAVID PROPOSED TO DO SOME GREAT THING FOR HIS GOD. We too often seek to effect great things for ourselves, or for our children, rather than for God. David wished to erect the temple. It was to be

(1) an expression of his own gratitude for his election, protection, and exaltation.

(2) A memorial to the people of the Divine goodness which had so wondrously constituted them as a nation.

(3) A recognition that God was the centre of the nationality, as His temple was of the city. As to it all the tribes should repair, so to Him should all their hearts be turned. Suggest some of the tendencies which hinder men from indulging and accomplishing great purposes for God; e.g; the love of money, self-indulgence, materialism, scepticism.

II. DAVID HAD IT IN HIS HEART TO DO MUCH FOR THE BENEFIT OF OTHERS. He lived for his people. He shrunk neither from the perils of war nor the anxieties of rule that they might become a strong and noble nation. He did not wish to build the temple for himself, but for them and their children. Had he been allowed to begin it (when alone he was able to do so) in extreme old age, he would probably never have seen its completion; but he was content that generations yet to come should have that as their place of worship. Rebuke the tendency of men to ignore their responsibility to posterity. Sometimes in national finance, in ecclesiastical arrangements, etc; the fact that the benefit would only lie in the future and not in the present, is enough to check effort and sacrifice. Who has not heard the question, “What has posterity done for us?” Show the fallacy of this reasoning, and its sinfulness, because of the selfishness and ingratitude it reveals. Indicate some of the blessings we enjoy as a nation, and as churches, from the labours and sacrifices of our predecessors who did not count even life dear to them.

III. DAVID WAS PREVENTED BY CIRCUMSTANCES FROM FULFILLING HIS PURPOSE. Wars, unsettlement, infirmities of age, etc; were some of these. They were beyond his control, but not beyond God’s. Still the purpose was, as we have said, a right one. Give examples from modern life: e.g.,

(1) The young man who longs to become a minister of God’s truth, but is compelled to labour for the support of himself and others.

(2) The Christian whose heart goes out with yearning over the lost, who lies a helpless invalid in some solitary room.

(3) The child disciple, stirred with noble enthusiasm, with splendid promise of future power in the Lord’s kingdom, taken away in youth from the home and the world which seemed so sorely to want him, etc.

IV. DAVID MADE IT POSSIBLE FOE OTHERS TO DO WHAT HE COULD NOT DO. See an account given of the treasures he accumulated for the house of the Lord, the musical service he prepared, the plans for the building, etc. How unlike those who say, “if I cannot do this no one else shall;” or, with less selfishness, “I cannot do it, let others take all the burden if they are to have all the honour.” Show how we can help others in doing their work, and so indirectly serve our God. It may not be possible for you to go abroad amongst the heathen; but you can support those to whom it is possible. Perhaps you cannot, from want of time, or suitability, teach the children or visit the sick; but you can invite others to do this, or encourage and sustain them in it.

V. DAVID‘S NOBLE PURPOSE WAS FULFILLED BY HIS SON. This was God’s design and promise (1Ki 8:19).

(1) Encouragement to parents. We live again in our children. “Instead of the fathers shall be the children,” etc. By training a child for God, we may carry out, through him, the wish we could not execute. Parents multiply thus the possibilities of their own lives. Special encouragement here for weak and overburdened mothers. They cannot do public work for Christ, but through their children they can, e.g; Eunice and Monica moved the world through Timothy and Augustine.

(2) Lesson to children. What your parents used to do for God, you are to continue; what they could not do, you are to fulfil.

VI. DAVID‘S UNACCOMPLISHED PURPOSE WAS RECOGNIZED AND RECOMPENSED BY THE LORD. “Thou didst well that it was in thine heart.” God knows what is in us of good as well as of evil. He approves the motive even when the effort fails. He sees the issue of every right purpose in all its width and depth. When Mary anointed her Lord she did more than she imagined; for she was the high priest anointing the Priest and King of Israel. In the day of judgment the righteous will be amazed at the issues and the rewards of their humble services, and with astonishment will ask, “Lord, when saw we thee?” etc. “And the king shall answer, and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”A.R.

1Ki 8:28

The Prayer of Dedication.

Describe the scene at the dedication of the temple. Note the fact that it is a king who leads his people to God’s footstool. Show the influence of earthly rulers, who not only affect surrounding nations by their policy, but degrade or exalt the moral life of their people by their personal character, and by the tone of their court. Our reasons for thankfulness in the present reign. Contrast the influence of Victoria with that of Charles II. or George IV. Apply the same principle to other kings of men, i.e; to rulers of thought in literature and science. How heavy the responsibility of those who use their kingliness to lead men from God into the dreariness of scepticism; how glorious the powers they may employ to exalt the Lord our God. Solomon is a proof that wisdom is better than knowledge. On this occasion he prayed as the representative and leader of others. A prayer so prominent in Scripture, so remarkable in circumstances, so acceptable to God, deserves consideration, that we may see its elements. It presents the following characteristics:

I. GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE PAST. “In everything give thanks” (1Th 5:18). “By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known” (Php 4:6). “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord” (Psa 92:1). “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psa 103:2.) Notice the causes of Solomon’s thanksgiving:

(1) God‘s goodness to his father (1Ki 8:24). Home blessings so wholly unmerited, so richly beneficial.

(2) Divine deliverance from bondage (1Ki 8:51). Egypt a type of sorrow, slavery to evil habit, etc.

(3) Separation and consecration for God‘s purposes (1Ki 8:53). The honor of this. Its responsibilities. Its signs.

(4) Rest and quietude (1Ki 8:56). “He hath given rest unto his people Israel.” The blessedness of peace to a country, exemplified by the contrast between Solomon’s and David’s reigns. The freedom from harassing anxieties experienced by many is from God. The rest of heart, which may be ours amidst the distresses of life, is from Him. “Peace I leave with you” (Joh 14:27). “Heart quiet from the fear of evil” (Pro 1:1-33 :83). See also 2Co 4:8. For all such blessings we should give God thanks.

II. CONFIDENCE IN THE PROMISES. Show how the patriarchs ever reminded God of His promises. Illustrate also from the pleadings of Moses and the prophets. Prove from Christ’s own words that the promises are renewed and enlarged for us, and that only on them cat. our expectancy of blessing be founded. The utility of prayer cannot be demonstrated by reason, but by revelation. In the spiritual realm we know Divine laws by Divine declaration, the truth of which is confirmed by the experience of those who fulfilling the required conditions, test them. “Ask and it shall be given you” (Mat 7:7) is a promise. But appended to it is the requirement of faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). “According to your faith, so be it unto you.” See also Jas 1:5-7; Mat 21:22, etc.

III. ENLARGEMENT OF HEART (Mat 21:41, “moreover concerning a stranger,” etc.) The prayer is remarkable on the part of a Jewish king. Give evidences of the narrowness and selfishness of the nation. We might expect this feeling in all its intensity on such an occasion as the consecration of this temple. But Solomon’s sympathies overflowed national prejudices. The tendency of prayer is to enlarge the heart. Christians pray together who never work together. They who are nearest to God’s throne are nearest to each other. As we pray, our yearnings go further afield, and we think kindly of the erring, pitifully of the lost, forgivingly of the wrong doers.

IV. LONGING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. Solomon’s chief wish in regard to the temple is expressed in verse 60, “that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.” Our Lord’s prayer is like Solomon’s in this, that it ends in an ascription of “the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,” to God. So with all true prayer. It ends in praise. See how David, in the Psalms, prayed himself out of sadness into joy; out of confession into thankfulness and praise. If we ask something for ourselves, or for others, it should be with the implied wish that it may be granted or withheld, as may be, for our welfare and God’s glory. The yearning of each Christian should be that of the Lord Jesus, “Father, glorify thy name.”A.R.

HOMILIES BY J. WAITE

1Ki 8:38, 1Ki 8:39

The Praying King.

One of the most remarkable features of this scene of the dedication of the temple is the place occupied, the part performed, in it by Solomon himself. He is the central figure, the chief actor. Both priest and prophet give place to him. The dedicatory prayer is a spontaneous effusion of his own devout feeling, and it is he who pronounces afterwards the benediction on the people. He stands before us here as a true type of that greater “Son of David,” who is our Prophet, Priest, and King. There is a great deal in the tone of this prayer that betokens a soul fully alive to the solemn and momentous meaning of what was taking place in Jerusalem that day. It is not, indeed, to the service of the ancient Jewish temple that we should look for the most perfect models of devotion. New Testament revelations multiply and strengthen immeasurably our motives to prayer, enlarge its scope, open to us new grounds of assurance in it. “One greater than Solomon” has taught us how to pray, and revealed to us the path to acceptance in the merit of His own mediation. But as the life of religion in the soul of man is essentially the same in all ages, so the principles involved in prayer as the expression of it are the same. Two such rudimentary principles appear in this passage, viz; the sense of need prompting the suppliant to look heavenwards, and the recognition of something out of himself as the ground of hope for acceptance.

I. THE SENSE OF NEED, etc. It is the “plague of the heart”the burden resting heavy there, the haunting sense of want or sadness in the secret soul, coupled with some kind of faith in Divine powerthat moves men to pray. All true prayer is the utterance of these inward impressions. If much of our so called praying were subjected to this test, it is to be feared that it would be found very hollow and unreal, mere “words,” a mere formal homage to customno deep, earnest, irrepressible longing of the soul inspiring it. Solomon begins to enumerate different calamities that may impel the people to pray, and then, as if overpowered by the mere vague, distant imagination of these possibilities, he says, “Whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness,” etc. How soon are we lost in the attempt to realize the manifold troubles of human life. We can understand and sympathize with individual griefs, but who can comprehend at all adequately the general sum of human woe, and take the weight of it sympathetically upon himself? Every man, however, knows where the universal evil specially touches himself. “Every heart knows its own bitterness.” And with God there is both an infinite acquaintance with the whole and a special sympathy with each. There are some griefs that you lock up in your own bosom as secrets that none else must look upon.

“Not e’en the dearest heart, and next our own,
Knows half the reasons why we smile or sigh.”

But there is no grief you can conceal from Him. He became in the person of His Son “the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” that we might feel how He follows us, or rather, goes before us, in every path of suffering. There is room in the great fatherly heart of God for us all, with all our burdens, and we can never measure the uplifting and sustaining power that comes to us by casting ourselves and them upon it”In everything by prayer and supplication,” etc. (Php 4:6, Php 4:7); “Cast thy burden upon the Lord,” etc. (Psa 55:22). But this expression, “to plague of his own heart,” has a deeper meaning. It opens to us all the dark sad mystery of personal sinfulness, the moral disease that lurks within. There are times when the most careless, reckless spirit has glimpses of the unwelcome truth that this, after all, is the deepest cause of its disquietude. The multiform, mysterious evil of the world has its central root in the world’s heart. Something of that “root of all bitterness” is in every human heart. Here lies the fatal mischief. It is not the tribulations of outward life, it is yourself you have most reason to mourn over. Not so much from them, but from something in yourself you have need to pray to be delivered. Christ always taught, By word and deed, the vital connection between the external calamities and the internal “plague.” He took upon Him our sicknesses and sorrows, not only to show us how they may be nobly borne, but that He might bring His power as the Great Physician of souls to Bear upon the seat of our deadly disease, and by the efficacy of His blood might heal and save us all. Go penitently in His name to the mercy seat with the “plague of your heart,” and you shall be redeemed from it.

II. THE RECOGNITION OF SOMETHING OUT OF ONE‘S SELF AS THE GROUND OF HOPE. This essential element in true prayer is suggested by the words, “And shall stretch forth his hands towards this place.” An interesting view is here given us of the relation of the temple to the individual religious life of the people. It was intended to be a witness to the unseen, a help to faith, an incentive to all holy thought and feeling. It stood through all the changes of time, the shifting lights and shadows of the world around it, as an impressive symbol of the “everlasting covenant.” It enshrined the “sure mercies of David.” Within its hallowed enclosure were gathered the sacred historic records and relies, and the types and shadows of “better things to come.” It told both of what God had done and what He had promisedthe monument of the glorious past, the prophecy of the brighter future. There was deep meaning, then, in the suppliant “stretching forth his hands towards that house,” as expressive of the attitude of his soul towards that which it symbolized. When some lonely worshipper in a distant corner of the land, some patient sufferer, some soldier in his agony on the field of battle, some captive, like Daniel, in a strange country, directed his eyes towards the holy place, it was a sort of pathetic appeal to God s own faithfulness, a silent but eloquent plea that He would not forget His covenant, would fulfil the hopes that He Himself had awakened, and not for their sakes alone, but for His own truth and mercy’s sake, would hear and save. In all this the temple was a type of something nobler, diviner than itself. The temple was the shadow, the substance is in Christ. “In him are hid all the treasures,” etc. The cross of Christ, in which all the promises are confirmed and sealed; the cross, which is both the altar of the Redeemer’s sacrifice and the throne of His sovereignty, is the shrine of “truth and grace” to men. The glory alike of the past and of the future is centred, focussed there.

“All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime,”

and from it there streams forth an ever-brightening radiance into the otherwise dark futurity. It stands the connecting link between heaven and earth, the meeting place of God and man, the key to all human history, the basis of our immortal hope. Here, then, on this central object alike of Divine and human interest, must the eye of the suppliant be fixed. It is that pledge of Divine love and faithfulness, external to ourselves, embodied in the cross of Christ, that we must plead if we would find acceptance in our prayer. When God has thoroughly taught us what the “plague of our own heart” means, and has unveiled to us the blessed mystery of His mode of curing it, it will be the sustained habit of our life to stand as suppliants before Him “in the name of Jesus.” Thus alone can we so link ourselves with the sanctities of a higher world as to make our common life Divine.W.

HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE

1Ki 8:38

The consecration of the temple was the grandest religious ceremony of the old covenant. It is important

I. BECAUSE IT CENTRALIZES THE WORSHIP OF THE THEOCRACY.

II. BECAUSE IT SUPPLIES A TYPE OF THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE which is to be reared in the Church and in every Christian soul. Solomon, as the king chosen of God, represents in this service of consecration the entire theocracy. The temple is essentially a house of prayer, as is manifest from the words of the consecration. “What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart hear thou in heaven.” It is the sanctuary of the invisible God, and its gates stand open to the multitude, who come to worship and to offer sacrifice. Instead of a statue, such as was found in the idol temples, the priests of the true God place in their sanctuary the ark of the covenant, containing the law, the Divine expression of the holy will of God. The altar of sacrifice, placed in front of the sanctuary, reminds the people of their transgressions, while at the same time the sacrifice of the victims is prophetic of the future redemption. The consecrating prayer opens and closes with adoration. It spreads before God all the wants of the people, and asks from Him deliverance in every time of need (1Ki 9:8). It enumerates first temporal distresses, but the whole petition culminates in the ever-recurring pleading for forgiveness. This is the burden of the whole temple service, and this character is reproduced in Christian worship. In the time of its highest spirituality there were no properly consecrated Christian temples. Aras non habemus said Minutius Felix. A temple is nevertheless a necessity of worship; and we are free to recognize this apart from any superstitious notion, and remembering that while the heaven of heavens cannot contain the Most High, He yet condescends to dwell in the humble and contrite heart. There has been no longer a sanctuary in the old exclusive sense, since the blood was shed which has redeemed the whole earth to God. Our houses of prayer are not now more holy in themselves than our homes. Let us consecrate them by consecrating ourselves to God, and rendering to Him the worship which is His duethe sacrifice of our whole being. Let our prayers, like that of Solomon, begin and end with adoration, and let the burden of them be the expression of our repentance for sin. Let them have, like the prayer of the theocratic king, s breadth of intercession for the whole people of God, and let them lay at the foot of the cross the burden of the woes of humanity and the needs of the Church.E. de P.

HOMILIES BY J. WAITE

1Ki 8:41-43

The Stranger’s Interest in the Temple.

Kindly human sympathy is one of the most marked characteristics of this prayer of Solomon. This is seen in the way in which he enters into various supposed conditions of need and suffering among his people; takes the burden and the “plague” upon himself as if it were his own; a true intercessor on their behalf. His royalty assumes here the aspect of fatherhood. The model king is one in heart and interest with those over whom he rules. We are reminded, too, that before the “mercy seat” of God all human distinctions are lost. All suppliants stand on one common level, subject to the same dangers and necessities. All true prayer, therefore, is thus broad in its sympathies. But in this passage the king’s supplications take a wider range than the needs of his own people. He pleads for the “stranger,” the foreigner from a “far country.” This is strictly in harmony with the Divine economy of the time, however much it may seem to be otherwise. It is remarkable how much there was in the Mosaic law that was expressly intended to enforce on the people a generous regard for those who were beyond their pale. They were commanded not to “vex a stranger” (Exo 22:21), to relieve his poverty (Le 25:85), even to “love” him as “God loveth him in giving him iced and raiment” (Deu 10:18, Deu 10:19), and all this in memory of the fact that they themselves were once “strangers in the land of Egypt.” Strangers, moreover were to be permitted to hear the solemn reading of the law in the “year of release” (Deu 31:12), and to offer sacrifices on the same conditions as themselves. “One law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you” (Num 15:16). So that Solomon gave expression to the spirit of the dispensation to which he belonged when he thus prayed. Certain broad truths underlie this prayer

I. JEHOVAH‘S UNIVERSAL SOVEREIGNTY. He is the “God of the whole earth,” and not merely of any particular portion of it (Isa 54:5). “Is he the God of the Jews only and not of the Gentries?” (Rom 3:29.) “The God of the spirits of all flesh” (Num 16:22). The whole Mosaic economy was built on the grand truth of the unity and absolute worldwide supremacy of Jehovah. The heathen according to their principle of local deities, might acknowledge the God of the Hebrews as having authority over his own, but a Hebrew who should in any way recognize the gods of other nations and think of Jehovah merely as a national deity could be a traitor to the commonwealth. The only living and true God can have no rival. The gods of the nations are idols, and “an idol is nothing in the world””a lying vanity,” a vile “abomination.” “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God” (1Co 8:4, 1Co 8:5; 1Co 10:20). To “know God,” to have “him whom they ignorantly worship” declared to them, is “eternal life” to men. The absence of this knowledge is death. The curse and misery of the world is that it “knows not its God.” Solomon here dimly recognizes this truth; and the case he contemplates is that of some child of the Universal Father in whom the sense of need has been awakened, “coming from a far country” to “seek the Lord, if haply he may feel after him and find him” (Act 17:27, Act 17:28).

II. THE REPRESENTATIVE CHARACTER OF ISRAEL. They were a representative people in two respects.

(1) Inasmuch as they were called to bear witness to the glory of the “great name” of Jehovah. His name is the symbol of His personality, the attributes of His being and characterspirituality, purity, righteousness, love, etc. Their mission was to make known to mankind the God who had revealed Himself in wondrous forms to them. How they failed to rise to the height of this mission their national history only too sadly tells. The utterances of the psalmists and prophets are full of the spirit of it, but all this was far above the comprehension of the great mass of the people. They utterly mistook the meaning of the distinction conferred upon them, and God taught them by the discipline of subjection and captivity the lesson that in the day of their national glory they failed to learn. In this mission as a witness Israel was a type of the Christian Church. Christ declared the Father’s name to His disciples and He sent them forth on an errand like His own (Joh 17:18-26). How grand a vocation, to reflect the glory of His “great name” on the world’s darkness, to say to the nations, “Behold your God!”

(2) They were a representative people also in the sense that in their history God illustrated the general method and the uniform laws of His moral government. The “strong hand and the stretched out arm” here suggests the marvellous manifestation of Divine power that marked the career of the people from the beginning, the whole course of providential training and moral discipline through which they passed. But the principles on which God deals with one nation are the principles on which He deals with all. He is no “respecter of persons.” The history of the “chosen people” unfolds His universal purpose and plan, illustrates unvarying laws, the conditions of all personal, social, and national life. And so it comes to pass that after every review of Israel’s experiences we may say, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples,” etc. (1Co 10:11).

III. THE ATTRACTION OF THE TEMPLE FOR ALL LONGING HUMAN HEARTS AS THE SCENE OF GRACIOUS DIVINE MANIFESTATION. That which made it the centre of interest to pious Jews made it so also to earnest souls of other lands. The truth and mercy symbolized and enshrined therepromises, atoning sacrifices, benedictionsanswered to universal needs of humanity. Solomon supposes a case in which the vague sense of this should lead the “stranger in a far off land” to look with longing eyes, or to bend his steps, towards “the house over which God’s name is called.” We have no historical record of strangers actually worshipping in the first temple as they did in that built after the captivity; but God said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people”; and there may have been many who, with a far reaching hand of faith, “took hold of His covenant” as established there.

IV. THE RESPONSE GOD GAVE TO EVERY TRUE SUPPLIANT, WHOEVER HE MIGHT BE. “Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,” etc. This intercessory prayer, we may be sure, was answered. God does not awaken holy yearnings in any soul that He will not satisfy. “In every nation, he that feareth him,” etc. The sovereignty that reigns over all lands is that of Almighty Love. There is room in the infinite Father’s heart for all, even the far. off “stranger,” and “the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”W.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND

1Ki 8:49

Occasions for Prayer.

In the prayer of dedication Solomon suggests occasions on which it would be natural for men to turn to their God. The Divine Presence is constant, but our realization of it is not. Many require the shock of some unexpected or lamentable occurrence to rouse them to prayer. This effect, however, will only be seen in those who have, underlying their forgetfulness and sensuousness, an abiding (though sometimes inoperative) belief in God. This Israel for the most part had. Hence Solomon’s belief that in their future times of distress and difficulty they would turn to Him who dwelt between the cherubims. Analyze the prayer, and see the following occasions suggested as those in which supplication would be natural.

I. WHEN MEN MAKE VOWS AND PROMISES. Compare 1Ki 8:31 with the ordinances of Moses (Exo 22:7-9). The oath was taken in the presence of God, because the thought of Him as the Searcher of hearts would induce serious consideration and careful exactitude, and because He was tacitly invited by His providence to confirm or to punish the spoken word. Show how the principle, right in itself, became abused and vitiated, so that Christ condemned the practices of His day (Mat 5:33-37). Learn from the ancient practice

(1) that our utterances should be made as by men conscious of the nearness of the God of truth. Apply this to the immoralities of some business transactions, to the prevalence of slander in society, etc.

(2) That our resolutions should be formed in a spirit of prayer. How vain the pledge and promise of amendment, unless there be added to the human resolve the help of God’s providence in circumstances, and the grace of His Spirit in the heart! Give examples of each.

II. WHEN MEN ARE INJURED OR DEFEATED BY THEIR ADVERSARIES. “When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy” (1Ki 8:33). National defeat in war should lead to self examination on the part of those smitten. Too often the investigation is applied only to material resources: incompetent officials are dismissed, weakened regiments are strengthened, new alliances are formed, etc. The mischief may lie deeper. Sometimes God is calling the people not to redeem national honour, but to seek national righteousness. The teaching of the verse may be applied figuratively to defeats suffered by Christian controversialists or by philanthropic workers, etc. Every check in onward progress is a summons to thought and prayer. “In the day of adversity consider.” Illustrate by examples in Scripture, e.g; by the defeat of Israel at Ai, and its issues.

III. WHEN MEN ARE TREMBLING UNDER NATURAL CALAMITIES. Reference is made in 1Ki 8:35 to the withholding of rain; in 1Ki 8:37 to “famine, pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, and caterpillar.” Such troubles were sent in vain to bring the Egyptians to repentance. Compare those plagues with Elijah’s message to Ahab, and with the threats of other prophets. Such statements as Deu 11:17 enshrine an abiding truth. In the long run the violation of God’s laws do bring disasters of the very kind specified here. If the law of industry be violated, the harvests fail; if the law of mutual dependence be ignored by nations, commerce is crippled, and impoverishment comes; if the laws against self indulgence, pride, ambition, etc; be defied, the spendthrift has the result in poverty, the proud nation in the miseries of war, etc. Even the disasters which are accounted “natural phenomena,” then, should lead the wise hearted to prayer, the sinful to penitence; and God will hear in heaven His dwelling place, and answer and forgive. Show how, during the ministry of our Lord, the cripples, the blind, the diseased came to Him. Their misery made them feel their need of what He alone could give, and many of them became conscious of their spiritual wants from considering first the want that was physical. As they were thus led, so the Church has been which in the Old Testament was oppressed most by the earthly wants, and in the New by the spiritual. Those in the far country learn, by beginning to “be in want,” that God is calling them to arise and return to Him.

IV. WHEN MEN ARE CONSCIOUS OF THEIR SIN. All through this prayer reference is made to sin and to the consequent necessity for pardon (verses 38, 46-50). Point out the climax in verse 47:

(1) “We have sinned”have not kept in the ways of Godsin in its negative aspect;

(2) “have done perversely”Ac of perversity;

(3) “have committed wickedness”the overwhelming passion which drives into corruption. The necessity of humble confession as an integral part of prayer from the lips of fallen man can readily be shown from Scripture. Examples of conscience of sin impelling to prayer seen in David (Psa 51:1-19.), the publican (Luk 18:18). “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9).

V. WHEN MEN ARE GOING FORTH TO CONFLICT IN GOD‘S NAME. “If thy people shall go out to battle against their enemy whithersoever thou shalt send them,” etc. (verse 44). We must not forget that Israel was a theocracy. David, for example, spoke of his foes as being God’s foes. So had it been with Moses, Joshua, etc. The consciousness of that gives almost superhuman power. “Man, being linked with Omnipotency, is a kind of omnipotent creature,” says Bacon. Even when the belief that one is on God’s side is false, the belief itself is an inspiration. Examples from history of such belief well or ill foundedJoan of Are, the Puritans, etc. In actual war no nation can fairly put up this prayer unless the cause of war is that of which we can say, “whithersoever thou shalt send.” No mistake need exist in reference to foes whom Christ came to destroy. The promise, “Lo! I am with you,” was the inspiration of the apostles as they confronted false philosophies, crass ignorance, brutal customs, degrading superstitions. Hence, if they were going forth to battle with such evils, the prayers of the Church went up on their behalf. Men were set apart for their Christian mission by prayer (give examples), and in their work they often turned to their intercessors, saying, “Brethren, pray for us!” Feeling our insufficiency to overcome the adversaries of the gospel, let us, like the apostles, “continue in prayer and supplication” till we are “endued with power from on high.”A.R.

HOMILIES BY J. WAITE

1Ki 8:61

A Royal Benediction.

The prayer of Solomon is followed by a benediction. “He stood and blessed all the congregation,” etc. (1Ki 8:54, 1Ki 8:55). But though he assumed for the time the priestly function, his utterance was not cast into the usual form of priestly benediction. It was rather an ascription of praise to the God who had fulfilled His promises and given rest to His people, and an exhortation to them that they on their part should follow that path of life in which alone they could hope to realize the further fulfilment of those promises, and enjoy the heritage of blessing that was theirs. Lessons are suggested here that are of force and value for all time.

I. THE RELATION BETWEEN TRUE PRAYER AND PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. Solomon felt that all the impassioned supplications that he had been pouring out before the Lord, and all the sympathetic enthusiasm of the people in these temple services, would be but a mockery unless he and they were prepared to walk with all fidelity in the way of God’s commandments. They would soon be leaving the sacred shrine of worship. They could not always be amid the ecstatic and rapturous associations of the temple. They must go back to the matter of fact, prosaic world, to their posts of honour and responsibility, to the privacy of their homes, to their haunts of busy life, to their paths of commerce and of labour. Let them worship there. Let them dwell with God there. Let them embody there, in all the forms of practical virtue, the spirit of devotion that has inspired them amid these hallowed scenes. The “statutes and commandments” of the Lord had reference in great part to the due observance of the ritual of temple worship, but they also claimed, as much then as now, to control the whole spirit and conduct of human life in all its aspects. The relation between prayer and conduct is of a twofold character. They act and react the one on the other. True prayer sheds a hallowing influence over the entire field of a man’s daffy activity. When his soul has been face to face with God, absorbed in Divine communion, the inspiration of holy thought and feeling of which he has been conscious will inevitably betray itself in the way in which he acts when he mingles with the things and the beings of earth. The glory of heaven that has shone upon him cannot fail to be reflected in the beauty of his character and deed. A prayerful spirit is an earnest, pure, upright, loving spirit, and such a spirit will govern the whole form and method and aim of a man’s life. Prayer solves difficulties, clears one’s vision of the path of duty, draws strength from Divine sources for all toil and suffering, raises the tone and level of moral action, fortifies the spirit for any emergency, fills the heart with the peaceful joy of a better world. On the other hand, the conduct of life necessarily affects for good or ill the spirit and efficacy of prayer. If it is needful to pray in order that we may live as Christians, it is equally needful that we should live as Christians in order rightly to pray. The importance of prayer as one chief function of spiritual life doubles the importance of all our actions, because our prayers are so much as our doings are. According as we stand towards the world, with all the social relationships and duties that belong to our place in it, so do we stand before the mercy seat. Think, for instance, how the beneficial effect of family prayer may be nullified by the prevailing spirit of family life. By the discord that may be allowed to reign in it, by its lack of the graces of mutual respect and loving self sacrifice, by the worldliness of its associations, the meanness of its ambitions, the frivolity of its pleasures, the vanity of its cherished societieshow completely may the soul of domestic devotion be destroyed. Let a man be morally reckless in the intercourse and transactions of daily life, and all freedom, “boldness,” gladness in prayer is at an end. Anything like loving, confiding converse with the “Father who seeth in secret” is impossible to him. If he cannot look without fear and shame in the face of his fellow man, how shall he dare to look in the face of God? The “heavens become as brass” above his head which no voice of prayer can penetrate. When Saul’s heart is thoroughly set in him to do evil it is vain for him to inquire of the Lord. “The Lord answers him no more, neither by Urim, nor by prophet, nor by dream.” Let there be a Divine unity and harmony in our life. Let our conduct in all human relationships show us to be what, in our hours of devotion, we seem to ourselves to be. Let it be our ambition every day” to live more nearly as we pray.”

II. THE RELATION BETWEEN PRACTICAL VIRTUE AND THE STATE OF THE SECRET HEART. A man’s heart must be “perfect with the Lord” before he can walk acceptably in the path of His commandments. The old legal economy was not after all so superficial as it seemed to be. God’s commandment was “exceeding broad.” Literal as the moral laws were, and formal as the ceremonial precepts, they touched at every point the life of the spirit within. “Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man who doeth these things shall live by them” (Rom 10:5), but the righteousness was not in the mere doing. David, the noblest representative of the spirit of the law, well knew that as it is from the fountain of the evil heart that all transgression proceeds, so from the purified heart springs all practical righteousness. “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” etc. (Psa 51:10). The glory of Christianity is that it not only recognizes this principle, but actually brings to bear on the heart the renewing, healing power. It cleanses the fountain of life within. The law could disclose the secret evil, convince of sin, rebuke, restrain, but it could not make men righteous. The gospel does. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness,” etc. (Rom 10:4). “What the law could not do,” etc. (Rom 8:8, Rom 8:4). Keep your heart in habitual contact with the highest sources of spiritual inspirationin familiar converse with Him who is the fountain of truth and purity and love. Watch over its most secret thoughts and impulses. Guard its sensibilities from the contaminations of the world and the hardening influences of life. Seek to preserve the freshness of its Divine affections and the integrity of its allegiance to Christ, if you would walk as He did, “in loveliness of perfect deeds.”

III. THE BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE OF A SACRED MEMORY. “As it is this day.” Solomon would have that day to dwell in their memories and hallow all their days. Times of special Divine manifestation and highest religious consciousness show us what we may be, what God would have us to be, what is the true level of our spirit’s life.W.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

B.The Consecration of the Temple

1Ki 8:1-66

11Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief2 of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] out of the city of David, which is Zion. 2And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4And they brought up the ark of the Lord [Jehovah], and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. 5And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. 6And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. 7For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves3 thereof above. 8And they drew out4 the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen 9without: and there they are unto this day. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord [Jehovah] made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord [Jehovah], 11so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord [Jehovah] had [omit had5] filled the house of the Lord [Jehovah]. Then spake 12Solomon, The Lord [Jehovah] said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 13I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.6

14And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood; 15and he said, Blessed be the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel,7 which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, 16Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein;8 but I chose David to be over my people Israel. 17And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel. 18And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto David my father, Whereas it was9 in thine heart to 19build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was9 in thine heart. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name. 20And the Lord [Jehovah] hath performed [established10] his word that he spake, and I am risen up [established10] in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord [Jehovah] promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord 21[Jehovah] God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah], which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

22And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord [Jehovah] in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: 23And he said, Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants11 that walk before thee with all their heart: 24who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst [spakest to11] him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 25Therefore now, Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst [spakest to12] him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children [sons] take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. 26And now, O13 God of Israel, let thy word,14 I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. 27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? 28Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord [Jehovah] my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to-day: 29that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. 30And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in15 heaven thy dwelling-place: and when thou hearest, forgive. 31If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house: 32then hear thou in16 heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring17 his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give17 him according to his righteousness. 33When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: 34then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. 35When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: 36then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them [when thou teachest them (by affliction)] the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. 37If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew,18 locust, or if there be caterpillar [if there be consuming locust19]; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; 38what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart,20 and spread forth his hands toward this house: 39then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) 40that they may fear thee all the days that 41they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy names sake;21 42(for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched-out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;22 43hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name. 44If thy people go out to battle against their enemy,23 whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord [Jehovah] toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: 45then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.24 46If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, 47far or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, 48we have committed wickedness; and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name: 49then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, 50and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may 51have compassion on them: for they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: 52that thine eyes may be open25 unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. 53For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord [Jehovah] God.26

54And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord [Jehovah], he arose from before the altar of the Lord [Jehovah], from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. 55And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud 56voice, saying, Blessed be the Lord [Jehovah], that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. 57The Lord [Jehovah] our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: 58that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 59And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord [Jehovah], be nigh unto the Lord [Jehovah] our God day and night, that he maintain the cause27 of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:28 60that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord [Jehovah] is God, and that there is none else. 61Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord [Jehovah] our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

62And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord [Jehovah]. 63And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord [Jehovah], two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord [Jehovah]. 64The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord [Jehovah]: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord [Jehovah] was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. 65And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord [Jehovah] our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. 66On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord [Jehovah] had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

Exegetical and Critical

1Ki 8:1-7. Then Solomon assembled, &c. The section 2Ch 5:2 to 2Ch 6:42, which is for the most part like it, may be compared with this whole chapter. The little word time denotes, like 1Ki 8:12 (comp. Jos 10:12; Exo 15:1), the point of time which immediately follows what is above related, and means, what indeed the context infers, namely, that as soon as all the vessels were finished (1Ki 7:51), Solomon proceeded to dedicate the temple. In accordance with the great importance of the temple-building to the whole theocracy, he called together the elders, i.e., the presiding officers of communities, and also the heads of the tribes and the families, that the entire people might thereby be represented. The solemnity took place at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. The usual interpretation of , month of the flowing rivers (rainy season), is more acceptable than that of Thenius, gift (fruit) month, or that of Bttcher, suspension of the equinox. This month was called Tisri in our writers time and later; upon this account he expressly says that Ethanim was the seventh. The feast of tabernacles occurred on the 15th of this month (Lev 23:34); it was the greatest and best observed of all the three yearly festivals, and was especially called the feast by the Jews (Symb. des Mos. Kult. ii. s. 656). Solomon therefore very fitly solemnized the dedication of the temple at the time of this feast. Although the text gives here only the month and the day, and not the year, it is of course to be understood that it was the first feast of tabernacles that occurred after the completion of the temple in the eighth month (1Ki 6:38); consequently it fell in the following year. The opinion that the dedication took place in the seventh month of the same year, in the eighth month of which the temple was finished (Ewald), needs no refutation. The assertion of Thenius, with which Keil also now agrees, appears more probable. He thinks that the temple was not dedicated until twenty years from the commencement of the building, i.e., thirteen years after its completion; because the divine answer to the dedication prayer, according to 1Ki 9:1-10, did not come till the temple of Jehovah and the kings house were both finished (1Ki 6:38; 1Ki 7:1), and in the Sept. chap. 9 begins with these words: And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the kings house (after twenty years), he assembled, &c.; but the passage, 1Ki 9:1, certainly does not say that the dedication did not take place for twenty years, or that Jehovah immediately thereafter appeared to Solomon; it speaks not only of the completion of both those buildings, but of all the others besides, which Solomon had begun (1Ki 9:19), so that we must in that case place the dedication much later than twenty years (see below, on 1Ki 9:1). As to the words of the Sept., they are unmistakably a gloss from 1Ki 9:1; 1Ki 9:10, inserted here, and such as is found nowhere else, either in a MS. or in any other ancient translation, and therefore can never be regarded as the original text. When we consider how very desirous David was to build an house unto the Lord, that when he was not permitted to do so, he pressed the task as a solemn duty upon his son, that Solomon then, as soon as he had established his throne, began the building and continued it with great zeal; it seems utterly incredible that he should have left the finished building thirteen years unused, and delayed its dedication until the twenty-fourth year of his reign. The weightiest reasons alone could have induced him to do so, but we hear nothing of any such. Even if we suppose the vessels not to have been finished as soon as the building, but to have been commenced after its completion, still it could not have taken thirteen years to make them; and there was no reason why the dedication of the temple should have been put off until the palace was finished, the latter requiring no solemn dedication, while the speedy dedication of the central sanctuary was an urgent necessity if the restoration of the unity of worship, commanded by the law, was to be established.

To bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord. In the march through the wilderness, the ark was covered with some cloths, and carried by the levites (Num 4:5; Num 4:15), but on special occasions, the priests themselves carried it, as here and in Jos 3:6; Jos 6:6. Not only the ark, but the tabernacle, which had hitherto stood at Gibeon (2Ch 1:3-4), with all its vessels, was brought out from Zion into the temple. While the priests carried the ark, the levites (1Ki 8:4) carried the other things pertaining to the tent, all of which were doubtless preserved in the rooms of the side-structure. When the procession reached the temple (1Ki 8:5), the ark was laid down in the outer court before the entrance to the holy place, and a great and solemn sacrifice offered; then the priests bore the ark to its appointed place. For 1Ki 8:6-7 see above, on 1Ki 6:23 sq.

1Ki 8:8-9. And they drew out the staves, that the ends, &c. 1Ki 8:8, which has had the most various interpretations put upon it, is nothing but a parenthesis following the concluding words of the preceding verse, explaining how it happened that the great cherubim-statues, with their wings stretched across the entire width of the sanctuary (1Ki 6:27), not only overshadowed the ark itself, but even its staves. As it says in Exo 25:15, the staves were never to be removed, but were to belong inseparably to the ark. If the cherubim-statues then were to overshadow the ark, they should also cover the staves inseparably united to it. Now as the ark lay lengthwise north and south in the holy of holies, and the wings of the cherubim-statues stretched from the southern to the northern wall of the holy of holies, the staves which they overshadowed with their wings must have been placed north and south, i.e., on the longer sides of the ark, as Josephus (Ant.iii. 6, 5) expressly states. Therefore, their heads or ends could be seen from the sanctuary (great space) only close before the holy of holies (Debir). The reason why the staves were so long ( is to be understood as intransitive, as Keil remarks; as in Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16; Deu 25:15, and not to be translated: they made the staves long, as Kimchi and Thenius make it, for thus should stand before ) was in consequence of the weight of the ark, which must have been considerable, because the stone tables of the law were inside of the ark; and it was carried by more than four, perhaps by eight priests, who did not touch it, as was commanded in Num 4:15. And as the holy of holies was only intended for the ark of the covenant (1Ki 6:19), and the latter was only two and a half cubits long, with its long staves inseparable from it, it took up nearly the whole space. The oldest interpretation of our verse was borrowed from the Rabbins; it says that the staves were drawn so far forward that their ends touched the veil of the most holy place, and caused visible protrusions on the outside; but this is disproved by the fact that the staves were placed on the longest side of the ark, and pointed south and north, not east and west, consequently could not have touched the curtain. Thenius, with whom Merz and Bertheau agree, explains the simple sentence in 1Ki 8:8 by optical laws: when a person at the entrance of the holy place (he makes mean that) could have seen through the open door the ends of the staves of the ark which was in the middle of the holy of holies, these staves must have been, according to the laws of perspective, seven cubits long. This highly ingenious explanation rests, as Keil justly remarks, on ill-founded suppositions, comp. Bttcher Aehrenl. ii. s. 69. The words cannot be translated: from the great space before the debir, but mean, from the sanctuary, when a person stood close before the dark holy of holies (Ewald), or near the most holy (Merz). It is certain that the writer of these books had not the remotest thought about the laws of optics and perspective. The addition, and there they are unto this day, means: though the ark now had its fixed resting-place, the staves were left, according to the command Exo 25:15, in order to signify that it was the same ark, which dated from the time when Israel was chosen to be a covenant people. The expression unto this day, also occurring, 1Ki 9:21; 1Ki 12:19; 2Ki 8:22, shows that the writer drew from a manuscript written before the destruction of the temple, and did not deem it necessary to deviate from its words.

1Ki 8:9. There was nothing in the ark, &c. 1Ki 8:9 returns to the ark itself, and emphasizes the fact that it was brought into the holy of holies (1Ki 8:6) because it preserved the original document of the covenant which God made with Israel, which consisted of the ten commandments that the Lord spake unto them (Deu 10:4). By virtue of this document, the ark was the pledge of the covenant relation; and at the same time was the fundamental condition of the religious and political life of Israel; it naturally formed the heart and central point of the sanctuary or dwelling-place of Jehovah in the midst of His chosen people (compare Symb. des Mos. Kult., i. s. 383 sq.); there would have been no temple without the ark of the covenant, that alone made it a sanctuary (Hengstenberg). According to Heb 9:4, the ark contained, besides the tables of the law, the golden pot with manna (Exo 16:33), and Aarons rod (Numb. 17:25). The endeavor has been made to reconcile this passage with the one under consideration, by the supposition that those two additional objects were no longer in the ark in Solomons time, having only been there when Moses lived, the latter period being the one in the mind of the writer to the Hebrews (Ebrard, Moll, and others). But the passages quoted only say they were laid before Jehovah or before the testimony; not in the ark. The Jewish tradition alone renders it in (Schttgen, hor. Hebr. p. 973), and this tradition, with which the reader of this epistle may have been familiar, was probably in the writers mind, for he was not desirous of giving an exact archological description (comp. Tholuck and Bleek on Heb 9:4). V. Meyers opinion, which Lisco also adopts, that the manna and rod were not in the ark any longer because the direct theocracy, with its spiritual sceptre, and its blessings, had departed, and the people had an earthly king who was now to guide and watch over them, is in the highest degree erroneous. Horeb is not the highest summit of the mountains of Sinai, but a general name for the mountain-range of which Sinai is only a part: comp. Thenius on the place.

1Ki 8:10-13. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, &c. Exo 40:34-35, is almost the same as 1Ki 8:10-11; then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon () and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. It is plain that the author meant, what once happened at the dedication of the tabernacle took place again at the dedication of the house. The cloud, not a cloud (Luther), but that, in and with which, as once at the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord came down, though naturally not the same cloud as at that time. What 1Ki 8:10 says of the cloud, 1Ki 8:11 says of the glory of the Lord; it filled the house, not only the most holy place, but the whole dwelling, so that the priests were prevented for a moment from performing their functions in the sanctuary. We cannot possibly conceive this to have been the cloud of smoke which, rising from the burning offerings on the altar, veiled the glory of the Lord (Bertheau on 2Ch 5:14); for in this case the priests themselves would have been prevented from officiating. Nor can we, on account of the , think as Thenius, of the bright and streaming cloud which the Rabbins name , for Solomon could not have said, on beholding it: Jehovah dwells ; this word denoting, as Thenius himself rightly says, exactly the black darkness; and he takes an unwarrantable liberty when, as the Chaldee, he reads for it. It is admitted that the darkness must refer to the cloud just also as that which in Exo 19:9 is named is called in Exo 20:21; and in Deu 4:11; Deu 5:9; Psa 97:2, both words are conjoined as synonymies. Keil, too, thinks the is the shekinah, for he says: the glory of the Lord, which is like a consuming fire, manifested itself in the cloud. But this also is contradicted by the words of Solomon, that the Lord dwells in the (thick) darkness; the text has not a syllable about a fiery appearance; and certainly a consuming fire cannot be thought of here, where the subject is the gracious presence of the Lord. Abar-banel indeed thinks that the fire of the cloud burst forth from it, after Solomons prayer, and consumed the burnt-offering, 2Ch 7:1; but it expressly says in this passage, that fire came from heaven (and therefore not out of the cloud). Keil further remarks: This wonderful manifestation of the divine glory only took place at the dedication; afterwards, the cloud was visible in the holy of holies only on the great day of atonement, when the high-priest entered there (Lev 16:2). This, however, is quite contrary to the rabbinical belief, which was that the shekinah hung constantly above the ark of the covenant; and it also presupposes that the wonderful manifestation was regularly repeated on that solemnity of atonement, although neither the text nor the Jewish tradition mentions such a thing; and this would have no analogy with Gods miracles, which never recur regularly on a particular day. Our text only mentions a dark cloud, which, as it filled the whole house, must necessarily have only been a passing phenomenon; it served to show that the Lord, as once in the tent, would now henceforth dwell in the house built for Him. stands, as Solomons phrase in 1Ki 8:12 shows, for Jehovah himself, and is the standing Old Testament designation of the being (majesty) of God [like the of the New Testament.E. H.], raised absolutely above all that is creaturely, yet stooping (, Exo 40:35), i.e., concentrating himself, in order to manifest and assert himself, either blessing and saving as here, or punishing and destroying, as for instance, in Psalms 18. The Lord said. Because there is no passage showing that the Lord spoke those words, Thenius translates the Lord proposeth to dwell in the thick darkness: or, He has made known that He will dwell in the thick darkness; but just because the Lord had said so, Solomon beheld in the cloud a sign that he had come down to dwell in the temple (); he remembered the plain declaration Exo 19:9; Lev 16:2. Overpowered by that sublime moment, and filled with joy that he was counted worthy of the favor of being allowed to build a house for the Lord, he utters the joyful words (Bertheau): , surely! I have built; for which Chron. gives ; I, yea, I have built. For the words in 1Ki 8:13, an house to dwell in, a settled place, see on 1Ki 6:2, a, Historical and Ethical. is similar to Jos 4:7; Job 19:24; 1Ki 1:31 (comp. Hengstenberg, Christol. ii. s. 432 sq.). According to 2Ch 5:12 sq., songs of praise, accompanied by harps and psalteries, burst forth, as the priests came out of the sanctuary.

1Ki 8:14-21. And the king turned his face, &c. Solomon had spoken the words of 1Ki 8:12-13 with his face turned to the temple; but he now turned towards the people who were in the outer court, and who listened standing, i.e., with proper reverence, to the following discourse. This is a solemn declaration (1Ki 8:15-21) that the temple was undertaken and finished according to Jehovahs word and will. The course of thought is, compared with 2Ch 6:4-11, as follows: so long as Israel, after the departure from Egypt, wandered about, and had not come into possession of the promised land, Jehovah had chosen no abiding dwelling-place, His habitation was movablea tent. But after He had chosen David to be king, and brought His people by him to the full and quiet possession of the promised land, it was fitting that He, as well as the nation, should have an abiding dwelling-place. Jerusalem being the city of David, and the central point of the kingdom promised to him for ever, Jehovah had chosen this very city for His everlasting habitation. It was, however, forbidden to my father, David, to execute His purpose, namely, to build an house to the name of the Lord, instead of the tent; according to divine direction, He deputed this work to me, whom Jehovah had already confirmed as his successor. I then, specially commissioned and empowered to do so, have built this house, and brought into it the ark of the covenant, the pledge of the divine gracious presence; and the cloud that has just now filled the house, as once it did the tent, is the sign that Jehovah will dwell here. The promise, the fulfilment of which Solomon refers to in this discourse, is that of 2Sa 7:4-16, comp. with 1Ch 22:6-11; 1Ch 28:2-7. For the expression: that my name shall be there, the pregnant meaning of which we may gather from its constant repetition (1Ki 8:16-19, comp. 29, 43, 44), see above, on chap. 6 Histor. and Ethical, 2, 6. It is worthy of notice that at the beginning and the conclusion of the address (1Ki 8:16; 1Ki 8:21), the building of the temple is placed in relation to the deliverance from Egypt. Comp. above on 1Ki 6:1.

1Ki 8:22-26. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord.2Ch 6:13 mentions that Solomon had a brazen scaffold () made, which he mounted, and then knelt down to pray (comp. v. 54); as the text says nothing of its form, we will not decide whether it had, as Thenius thinks, a square support, and a rounded edge. Certainly it was a species of pulpit, not behind, but before the altar of burnt-offering. It does not follow from , that Solomon again turned his face to the temple (Thenius): it means before, opposite; the people therefore could not have stood behind him, which must have happened, had he turned his back to them. The spreading out the hands is a sign of praying, just as our folding of the hands is (Exo 9:29; Exo 9:31; Psa 44:21; Psa 143:6; Isa 1:15; Isa 65:2, &c.). Modern criticism has pronounced the dedication prayer in its given form, 1Ki 8:23-61, to be unauthentic. De Wette and Sthelin place the time of its composition in the period of the exile. Ewald admits that it is, notwithstanding its length, a very fine discourse; but belonging, in the style of thought, rather to the seventh than the eleventh or tenth century, and thinks that it was most probably composed by the first of the so-called elaborators of Deuteronomy. According to Thenius, there is a sketch in the prayer to be held as historical, though it be brief; but it contains considerable interpolations, as 1Ki 8:44-51; and the frequent coincidence with passages in Deut. and Josh., as well as the style, which is so often diffuse, verbose, and watery (!), denote a more recent working up. We remark, on the other hand: that the text containing the prayer, in Chron., perfectly coincides with that in Kings, except in a few particulars; but this proves that it was not taken from the latter, but that both accounts were derived from a common source. So much then is certain, that our writer did not invent the prayer, but found it in the original which he drew from, and gave it againas the similar text of Chron. showsunaltered. The only question then is, of what date was the common original? 1Ki 11:41 names as such the book of the acts of Solomon, and the chronicler, the book of Nathan the prophet (2Ch 9:29). The latter, however, cannot certainly belong to the seventh century, still less to the time of the captivity; it evidently was written, as Bleek justly remarks, in view of the state of things, when the temple, the city of Jerusalem, and Davids kingdom still existed. As to the thoughts, Thenius admits that the verses 27, 28, 4143, 58, 60, are fully worthy of a Solomon, and this without being able to prove that the others are unworthy of them; they are, on the contrary, in fit connection and perfect harmony with them (for the so-called interpolations of the 1Ki 8:44-51, see below, on the place). We can only conclude that this prayer was of later composition, because of its harmony with some passages of Deut. and Lev., if these books also belong to a later period; and this is unproved. But with equal propriety, inversely, we may conclude from the prayer, that these books were in existence in the time of Solomon, and were known to him as the pupil of a prophet. Finally, if the style and composition of the prayer, because they are verbose and watery, prove later working up, this objection rests on purely subjective taste; and we have just as good a right to hold, as Ewald does, that it is, in spite of its length, a very fine discourse. It is incredible besides, that a discourse, holding so important a place in Old Testament history, should have been composed later, and falsely put into the mouth of the great king; we must believe, on the contrary, that if ever a speech were written down and preserved carefully, it was that one.

1Ki 8:23-26. Lord God of Israel, &c. 1Ki 8:23-26, form the introduction to the prayer which is united to the speech, 1Ki 8:15-21, and gives praise and thanks to God for having already fulfilled the promise made to David (1Ki 8:23-24) in so far as the house (2Sa 7:5-16) was concerned, uniting with it the request that the Lord would further fulfil it, with regard to the house, i.e., the rape of David, and their sitting upon the throne of Israel (1Ki 8:25-26). The address, there is no God like Thee, &c., means: not that there is no god among all those in heaven and earth like Thee: but, nothing is like to Thee, who art in heaven above and on earth below. Jehovah, the God of Israel, is not compared here with other gods, but on the contrary, is described as the only true God (comp. Deu 4:39; Jos 2:11; 2Sa 7:22; 2Sa 22:32). He had shown himself such especially by His keeping of the covenant, by His mercy (Deu 7:9; Dan 9:4), and by the fulfilment of His gracious promise. 1Ki 8:24 as in 1Ki 3:6. The house, as it now stands, is a witness to His faithfulness to the covenant. Thenius remarks on 1Ki 8:26 : The urgency of the petition is shown by its concise repetition.

1Ki 8:27-30. But will God indeed, &c. The prayer passes, at 1Ki 8:27, to its chief object, the temple, with which all the rest of it is occupied. at the beginning is used here as in 1Sa 29:8; 1Ki 11:22; 2Ki 8:13; Jer 23:18, merely as an impressive introduction to the interrogatory sentence that leads to the real prayer (Thenius), and is not, therefore, a mere confirming particle, as Keil, who connects our verse with 1Ki 8:26 instead of with 1Ki 8:28-30, repeatedly asserts. The petition in 1Ki 8:26 : that God would indeed keep the house (dynasty) of David on the throne, was not founded on the fact that the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, still less that temple. On the contrary, the entire contents of the following prayer are, that God would hear all the prayers that should be offered in this place; hence Solomon very naturally begins with the thought, can the infinite, unconfined Deity really have His dwelling here? The expression, the heaven and heaven of heavens, can have nothing to do with the different heavens taught by Jewish theology (Schttgen, hor. hebr. p. 719), but is the description of the heavens in their all-embracing extent, as Deu 10:14; Psa 115:16. This is the connection of 1Ki 8:27-28 : Thou art the infinite God whom no house built by man can contain, but I beseech Thee to show thyself here, as a God who answers prayer. In 1Ki 8:28 Solomon prays that God would hear his present prayer, and in 1Ki 8:29-30 that He would also in the future always hear the prayers of the king and people in this place. The different expressions for prayer in the verses 2830 are not very different in their meaning, and are placed near together here, to describe every kind of prayer. The words, that thine eyes may be open (1Ki 8:29), do not mean that God was besought to watch over the building, and take it under His almighty protection, but always to see, when any one prayed there, and to hear his prayer, to turn His eyes and ears toward the house (comp. Psa 34:16). For the placing of the temple and heaven (1Ki 8:30) in antithesis, which is done indeed through the entire prayer, see above, on chap. 6 Histor. and Ethic. 2 c. The prayer for forgiveness is joined to the prayer for hearing, at the conclusion, as also in 1Ki 8:34; 1Ki 8:36; 1Ki 8:39; 1Ki 8:50, because man, who is full of sin and guilt, can only hope for the acceptance of his prayer when his sins are forgiven; every answer to prayer rests on the sinpardoning grace of God.

1Ki 8:31-32. If any man trespass against, &c. The prayer that God may hear in general is now followed, from 1Ki 8:31 on, by prayers for particular cases, of which there are seven altogether; which is no more remarkable than that the Lords prayer, Mat 6:9 sq., also contains the sacred number seven, the number of the covenant (Symb. des Mos. Kult. i. s. 193). The first of the seven prayers (1Ki 8:31-32) concerns the observation of the oath as sacred, namely, in cases like those of Exo 22:7-10 and Lev. 5:2124. For it is in 2Ch 6:22; it means: the case happening, that=when (Keil). cannot be translated; and the oath comes, as the article is wanting to ; all the old translations give: comes and swears. Before the altar, i.e., the place of divine witness and presence (Exo 20:24). Thou bringest his deed upon his head, i.e., thou punishest him for his false oath (Eze 9:10). We receive no answer from the commentators to the question, why is the prayer with respect to the oath placed foremost in the seven petitions? Perhaps the reason is as follows: The temple, which is constantly and impressively exalted in the chapter we are considering, was built to the name of Jehovah, which should be deemed holy; but the oath was nothing more than the calling upon the sacred name; i.e., the name of that God who had made himself known as a holy God, and who does not allow the misuse of his name to go unpunished (according to Sir 23:9, is equivalent to , comp. 1Ki 8:11 : ); they swore by the name of God, is an oath-form in Lev 19:12; Deu 6:13; Deu 10:20; Isa 48:1; Jer 12:16; Jer 44:26. The false oath was a contemptuous use of the name to which the house was built; but it was the chief requirement from him who stood in the holy place, that he should not swear falsely, Psa 24:3-4. The command to keep the name of God holy, stands also first among the commandments of the fundamental law (Exo 20:7), and it is the first of the seven petitions in the Lords prayer: hallowed be Thy name (Mat 6:9).

1Ki 8:33-34. When thy people Israel be smitten down, &c. The second petition concerns the case of captives, who had, through their guilt, merited overthrow, and were led away by their conquerors; and beseeches Jehovah for the return of the people to their native land. To be taken away from the land of promise, to be separated from communion with the covenant people, in whose midst Jehovah dwelt, and to live among heathens, was the greatest of all misfortunes to an Israelite, and it was very natural to pray against it. And confess thy name must be connected with ; if they, feeling their guilt, acknowledge Thee God, dwelling and manifesting thyself here; it is not then the same as: praise Jehovah (Gesenius, Winer). It is unnecessary to seek a direct association of ideas between this second and the first petition. Thenius says: The internal welfare of the state was secured by fidelity and faith arising from fear of God, but that welfare could be in peril from without. Nor is there here a direct reference to Lev 26:17 and Deu 28:25, as Keil asserts.

1Ki 8:35-40. When heaven is shut up, &c. The third petition (1Ki 8:35-36), and the fourth (1Ki 8:37-40), concern divine judgments by means of long-continued drought and land-plagues. As the rain, on which the fertility of the soil, and therefore all outward prosperity, depended in the East, was a sign of divine blessing (Eze 34:26 sq.), so drought was a sign of curse and punishment (Lev 26:3; Lev 26:19; Deu 28:15; Deu 28:23; Deu 11:17; Amo 4:7; Hag 1:11). The meaning of 1Ki 8:36 is: when the people were brought into the right way again, by the merited chastisement, then he beseeches God to hear their supplication, and to forgive their sin and to send rain again. In 1Ki 8:37 there are coincidences with Lev 26:25; Deu 28:22; but hunger, plague, blasting, and mildew are elsewhere mentioned as divine chastisements (Amo 4:9-10; Jer 14:12; Jer 24:10; Eze 6:12; Eze 14:21). is in apposition (according to Keil), to describe the plague of locusts (Deu 28:38); Thenius thinks the copula before it, which the chronicler and the old translations give, is wanting, and that a worse kind of locust is meant (Joe 1:4; Psa 78:46). is literally: in the land of his gates, which, however, gives no sense; it is clear that must be read (as Bertheau has it), and be supplied with , as is clear from Deu 28:52 : thou shalt be besieged in all thy gates, in thy whole land. Thenius unnecessarily reads, according to the Sept. ( ) instead of . The words saywhen the enemy is in his land, yea, even besieging his well-protected towns. The wasting of the land by locusts was similar to the wasting by hostile armies, that invaded the land like locusts (Jdg 6:5). Which shall know every man, &c. (1Ki 8:38), i.e., when each one should see the connection between his sin and the plague inflicted on him by God, and allow it to work out his chastisement (Bertheau). According to his ways (1Ki 8:39), i.e., by the repentant heart, shown in all his conduct. Whether this repentance is really felt, He alone, who searches the hearts of the children of men, can know (Jer 17:10). The reason of the hearing of prayer is given in 1Ki 8:40 : continuance in godly fear (comp. Deu 4:10).

1Ki 8:41-43. Moreover concerning a stranger, &c. The fifth petition (1Ki 8:41-43) ranks with the former ones: but not only those belonging to thy people Israel, who may call upon Thee here, hear also every stranger who does so; that all people of the earth, &c. In the law (Deu 15:14-16) it was provided that a stranger, sojourning among the Israelites, might sacrifice with them; Solomon goes further, and declares that the great deeds of God in Israel, the seal and crown of which was the temple as a fixed dwelling-place of Jehovah, were to work out the salvation not only of Israel, but the conversion of all the nations of the earth. To reach that end may God hear every stranger who comes to this house and calls upon Him for His names sake (i.e., because he had heard of the might and greatness displayed on Israel, 1Ki 8:42). The expressions in 1Ki 8:42 refer essentially to the wonderful exodus from Egypt (Deu 4:34; Deu 5:15; Exo 6:6), which had reached its climax in the building of the temple (see above, on 1Ki 6:1). The words in 1Ki 8:43 : that they may know that this house is called by thy name ( ), are a formula that occurs as here and in Jer 7:10-11; Jer 7:14; Jer 25:29, about the temple, and about the people Israel in Deu 28:10; Isa 4:1; Isa 63:19; Jer 14:9; Jer 15:16; 2Ch 7:14; and is intimately related to the expression, to lay the name of Jehovah upon () a thing or person (Num 6:27; Deu 12:5; Deu 16:6; 1Ki 11:36, &c). The latter was thus marked as one to whom God reveals himself (names himself), i.e., manifests and communicates himself, so that he stands in union and communion with Him (Amo 9:12, comp. Hengstenberg, Christologie, iii. s. 231 sq.). Through the hearing of the prayers which the heathen offered here to Israels God, they as well as Israel were to experience that His name was there (1Ki 8:16), i.e., that He manifested and proved himself there to be God. The usual translation of the expression, that this house is called by Thy name, or bears Thy name, is therefore quite wrong. What good would it have done the heathen to know that the house Solomon built was called by Jehovahs name? But the following is equally erroneous: that Thy name has been invoked upon this temple (at its dedication), i.e., that this temple has been dedicated under effective invocation of Thy continued help (Thenius); it was not that the heathens were to know that the temple had been solemnly consecrated, but that the God who dwelt there would hear their as well as Israels prayer, and that hence He is the only true God (1Ki 18:37; Psa 65:3).

1Ki 8:44-50. If thy people go out, &c. The sixth petition (1Ki 8:44-45), and the seventh (1Ki 8:46-50), relate to the conceivable cases, in which the people cannot pray at Jehovahs house, because they are far from it. The first case is, when the people should be whithersoever Jehovah should send them, i.e., in war, according to Jehovahs appointment and approbation; they were then to pray towards the city in which the temple was. The other case is, if having grievously sinned against Jehovah, and in consequence, being vanquished and led away captive to another land, they were then to repent, and direct their prayers towards the country, the city, and the house where Jehovah dwelt. The outward turning was the sign of the inward turning to the God of Israel, who as such has His dwelling-place in the temple, and is a real confession to this God, who never leaves His people, if they do not forsake Him. Maintain their cause, 1Ki 8:45 (comp. Psa 9:5; Deu 10:18). This presupposes that the war is a just one. The three expressions for sinning are scarcely to be distinguished with precision from each other, as Keil thinks, but are only meant to include every conceivable kind of sin. Thenius asserts that the verses 4451 are a section added later, perhaps by the elaborator, for such a petition, which belongs properly to 1Ki 8:33-34, cannot follow 1Ki 8:43; the custom of turning towards Jerusalem is first mentioned in writings subsequent to the exile (Dan 6:11; Ezra 4:58), and the last petition, 1Ki 8:46-51, was occasioned by the Babylonian captivity, just also as the formula of the confession of sin, 1Ki 8:47, belonged to a later period (Dan 9:5; Psa 106:6). On the other hand, both petitions are exactly in the right place; the five previous ones refer to cases in which prayer is offered at the temple itself; the last two to cases where the praying people cannot come to the temple. They therefore follow quite naturally; besides this, the case in 1Ki 8:44 is evidently quite different from that in 1Ki 8:33 sq., for in the latter there is an armed invasion by the enemy, in which some are taken prisoners; and in the former (1Ki 8:44) the people go out to battle under the divine order. Turning towards the temple was a very natural custom, and mentioned not only in 1Ki 8:44; 1Ki 8:48, but in 1Ki 8:38, before, and also in Psa 5:8; Psa 28:2. As the temple, being Jehovahs dwelling, was a pattern of the heavens, His real dwelling-place, it followed that as men stretched out their hands to heaven, so they stretched them towards the temple in prayer; it is, at any rate, impossible to prove that this custom came in first after the captivity. The carrying away conquered nations was a fundamental maxim of despots which prevailed in the ancient orient (Winer, R.-W.-B., i. s. 357, and the writings quoted there); when therefore Solomon, in counting up the misfortunes and straits in which Israel could fall, thinks lastly of this most grievous case, it is less surprising that he should rather than that he should not have mentioned it, especially since it was repeatedly threatened in the law (Lev 26:33; Deu 28:25; Deu 28:36; Deu 28:64; Deu 4:27). The petition is quite general, and there is not the slightest allusion to any particular captivity. The confession in 1Ki 8:47 is by no means of a kind that could have only been made in exile (comp. Num 14:40; 1Sa 7:6; Psa 51:6; Psa 32:5), and we might, inversely, with more justice maintain that the Jews in exile appropriated this most expressive word for the deepest guilt, from the royal prayer (Keil). There are exactly seven petitions, thus giving the prayer the seal of this significant number; and the last two cannot have been added later, for they contain nothing foreign to the other ones, but on the contrary are very suitable to the former petitions, and in perfect harmony with the immediately preceding one (comp. Bertheau on 2Ch 6:39).

1Ki 8:51-54. For they be thy people, &c. 1Ki 8:51-52 form the conclusion of the prayer, as 1Ki 8:23-26, the beginning, to which this conclusion points back. He confidently gives his reason for hoping for the acceptance of the whole prayer; which reason is the election of Israel out of all nations, to be a peculiar and covenant people. With 1Ki 8:51 comp. Deu 4:20. The iron furnace is not = a furnace of iron, but the furnace in which the iron is melted, which requires the greatest heat, therefore = glowing furnace. The deliverance from Egypt is here also looked on as a pledge for deliverance from every future distress, how great soever. The beginning of the prayer, 1Ki 8:28-29, is taken up again in 1Ki 8:52; its close connection with 1Ki 8:51 through has this sense; that it follows from their election to be a peculiar people, that Jehovah would also listen, in future, to their prayers. 1Ki 8:53 (comp. Lev 20:24; Lev 20:26) is no mere repetition of 1Ki 8:51 (Thenius), but rests upon a broader ground, derived from the destiny of the nation itself. The peculiar people is that which was set apart for Jehovahs service from among all nations (Num 8:14; Num 16:9), the holy people, the royal priesthood (Exo 19:5-6). The prayer has quite a different ending in 2Ch 6:41-42; this, Thenius thinks the original one, which was not discovered by our author. That ending, however, must not be preferred to that in our books, and put in place of the latter; because it agrees word for word with Psa 132:8-10, referring to a period after the captivity, and is evidently taken from that psalm, not the latter from Chronicles, or from some source common to both. Peculiarities of the language also point to a relatively late period of composition (see Bertheau on the place). This ending in Chron. appears to have been chosen to form a connecting link with what is related immediately afterwards (2Ch 7:1-3), but which is not in our text.

1Ki 8:54-61. And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer, &c. As the dedication-prayer was preceded by an address of greeting to the people (1Ki 8:14-21), so also it was followed by a concluding speech and blessing, which Solomon gave, again standing (). He next praises God for having given rest to His people Israel (1Ki 8:56); for the consecrated temple, that had been filled with the glory of the Lord (1Ki 8:10-11), was a firm, immovable habitation, and therefore the practical evidence that the people had now fully come into their promised rest (Deu 12:9-10), (see above, on 1Ki 6:1); Solomon, the builder of the temple, was for this reason named the man of rest (1Ch 22:9). The good word is that which promises blessing (Jer 33:14), as pronounced in Lev. 36:3 sq., and Deu 28:1 sq. The expression there hath not failed as = fulfilled, often occurs (Jos 21:45; Jos 23:14; 2Ki 10:10). The praise of Jehovah, 1Ki 8:56, forms the introduction to 1Ki 8:57-61, which are also blessings and exhortations. In 1Ki 8:58, Solomon wishes for the people, that God might, as heretofore, continue to be with them; in 1Ki 8:59, that He would, in answer to the prayer just spoken, grant them continued help against their enemies. The object of the first wish is stated in 1Ki 8:58, that of the second in 1Ki 8:60. Nigh, meaning that He should always remember these words, and fulfil them. Day and night, i. e., as each day should require, Exo 5:13; Exo 16:4. With 1Ki 8:60 comp. 1Ki 8:43. The , 1Ki 8:61, does not mean: in friendship with God (Gesenius), nor submissive (de Wette), nor uprightly (Luther), but: entirely, undividedly (comp. 1Ki 11:4; 1Ki 11:6). The entire concluding discourse (1Ki 8:54-61) is missing in Chronicles, as we remarked; and this concluding portion being an integral part of the dedication-solemnity, the fact is by no means satisfactorily accounted for by saying: that it is only a recapitulation of the preceding lengthy prayer (Keil). On the other hand, Chron. informs us that immediately after the prayer was ended, fire fell from heaven, which consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and that the glory of the Lord filled the house (2Ch 7:1 sq.). There is no apparent reason why our author, who is otherwise so minute in his account, should quite pass over this remarkable and wonderful occurrence, if it had been related in his original. Chronicles contradicts itself, inasmuch as it makes the filling of the house with the glory of the Lord follow upon the prayer, while 1Ki 5:14, as in our account, 1Ki 8:10 sq., makes it precede the prayer, which indeed the entire contents of the prayer presuppose. No one will believe that the glory of the Lord left the house during the prayer, and afterwards filled it again. If therefore the chronicler has in any place borrowed from later tradition founded on Lev 9:24, it must have been here.

1Ki 8:62-66. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice, &c. In accordance with the design of the festival, by far the greater number of sacrifices were thanksgiving, or peace-offerings, of which the fat only was burnt, and the rest used for food (Lev 7:11 sq.;Deu 12:7). The number of animals, in which the Chron. and all the old translations agree, was very large, so that some have tried to prove that it was exaggerated. Thenius reckons that as it took seven days to offer these sacrifices (allowing twelve complete hours to the sacrificial day), about five oxen and twenty-four sheep must have been slaughtered and offered every minute. This calculation, plausible as it seems, is disproved when we consider what the exact circumstances were here; as Keil on the place has thoroughly done. It was not the king alone who sacrificed, but all Israel with him; there were sacrificial feasts, during fourteen days, for the great assemblage of all the people from Hamoth (the northern boundary of Palestine, Num 13:21; Num 34:8) to the river of Egypt (the present el Arisch on the southern frontier, Jos 15:4), and whom we may compute at 100,000 men. Certainly the priests could not possibly have killed so many animals for sacrifice in the time stated, but according to the law it was the business of those offering the sacrifices themselves; the priests only had to sprinkle the blood on the altar. This they could easily do, for their number then amounted to at least some thousands, as we can judge from the number of levites (1Ch 23:3). With regard to the great number of the sacrifices, it is also expressly remarked in 1Ki 8:64, that as they could not all be offered on the brazen altar, Solomon (for this purpose) hallowed the middle of the court, i.e., consecrated it as a place of sacrifice by erecting subsidiary altars. How extraordinarily great the number of sacrifices at that kind of festival was, even in later times, we learn from an account of Josephus (Bell. Jud.vi. 9, 3), namely, that at a passover-feast at Jerusalem, in Neros time, the priests counted no less than 256,000 sacrifices that were slaughtered and consumed. We are to understand besides the thank-offerings, by the burnt-offerings and meat-offerings (1Ki 8:64), the daily morning and evening sacrifices of the law (Num 28:3). The time and length of the festivity given in 1Ki 8:65-66 are more plainly expressed in the parallel passage in 2Ch 7:8-10 : Solomon kept the feast (, i.e., the feast of the tabernacles, see on 1Ki 8:2) at the same time as temple-dedication, seven days, and on the eighth day they made (as the law commanded, Lev 23:36); for they kept the dedication of the altar (in which that of the temple was included) seven days, and the feast (of tabernacles) seven days. And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away. This places the feast of the tabernacles, which according to the law began on the 15th of the seventh month, after the dedication; and when our text says therefore seven days and seven days, even fourteen days (1Ki 8:65), it can only mean that the dedication and the feast lasted altogether fourteen days; consequently the first immediately preceded the latter, and did not occupy from the 1st to the 7th day (Thenius), but from the eighth to the fourteenth. That the dedication lasted fourteen days is still more out of the question (v. Gerlach). The two narratives do not, however, perfectly agree, for 1Ki 8:66 says that Solomon sent the people away on the eighth day (of the feast), i.e., on the 22d of the month, while 2Ch 7:10 makes it the 23d. Yet this is no real contradiction, but only a vague form of speech about a known thing. Solomon sent the people away on the 8th day, i.e., in the afternoon or evening, of the Azereth of the feast of tabernacles; so that they began their journey home on the following morning, i.e., on the 23d of the month (Keil). Whether the feast of atonement (Lev 23:27), which fell on the 10th of the seventh month, was kept, and how, remains uncertain. Old commentators say that the dedication rendered it unusually solemn; others that, as it was a fast day, its observance was for that time omitted. Tents (1Ki 8:66) is here like 2Sa 20:1; Jdg 7:8 used for home, and David is named instead of Solomon (which the chronicler adds), because he was the originator of the temple-building, and through him Solomon was enabled to undertake it.

Historical and Ethical

1. The dedication of the temple is one of the most important of the facts of the Old Testament history, inasmuch as with it and through it, the house which Solomon built, first became what it was destined forthe dwelling-place of Jehovah, and all that the idea of dwelling comprises in it (see above, on chap. 6). The theocratic kingdom, and that of Solomon in particular, then reached its highest glory. For this reason the feast did not last only one day, but, like the great feasts that were devoted to the remembrance of the equally important facts in the theocratic history (the passover and tabernacles), continued seven days. This is why both narratives give such minute accounts of it, and show, by their agreement, that the common source from which they drew had treated the subject with the same minuteness. V. Gerlach justly remarks that: the solemn event recounted here crowned the work of the establishment of Gods kingdom in Israel, which was begun by Samuel and continued by David.

2. In respect of the act of dedication, it next strikes us that the king stands at the head of the whole ceremony, though it was an essentially religious one. He ordains a special festival, calls all the people to it, and conducts the whole solemnity. He is the author of everything from beginning to endspeech, prayer, and blessing. The priests and levites indeed are also busied in it, but they only perform their usual services, and the high-priest is not even named, still less mentioned as the chief actor on the occasion, performing the dedication. It has been said in explanation, that Solomon stood at this moment, like Moses, Samuel, and David, as a direct and divine ambassador, as king, priest, and prophet (von Gerlach), or that he had taken on himself, as an absolute temporal ruler, the functions of a priest and prophet (Ewald, Eisenlohr, Menzel, and others). Both suppositions are, to say the least, unnecessary. The position Solomon took here is thoroughly justified by the nature of the theocratic kingdom, which was not designed to remove or displace the divine rule, but rather to exalt and execute it. The theocratic king did not take the place of the God-king, Jehovah, but was his servant, and as such, Solomon repeatedly designates himself here (1Ki 8:25; 1Ki 8:28-29; 1Ki 8:52; 1Ki 8:59). What the whole people were to Jehovah, by virtue of the covenant (Exo 19:6), was summed up in their king, and true of him as an individual. The priesthood was not at the head of the kingdom, which was not an hierarchy, but a theocracy; theirs was a separate institution, which it was the duty of the king to maintain, as well as all other institutions of the law (covenant). He would therefore have acted contrary to Jehovahs law, and have sinned (comp. 2Ch 26:16 sq.), had he taken on himself the offices which belonged by law to the priests. Solomon therefore let the priests perform their services at the dedication, as the law prescribed, and he was not guilty of the shadow of usurpation of the priestly office. But the act of dedication of the house of Jehovah built by him through divine commission, which act bore such high importance to the realm and people, and began a new epoch in theocratic history, belonged rightly to his mission as a theocratic king. No one else had the right, because no one else had the same theocratic position and duties. And as the theocratic kingdom reached its culminating point with Solomon, the theocratic kingdom also attained in him its full significance. It would be quite perverse to attempt to ground or to defend the modern imperial papalism (Csaro-papismus), or the so-called liturgical rights of the sovereign, by the precedent of Solomons conduct. The Old Testament theocratic kingdom was essentially different from the monarchy of these of modern times.

3. The act of dedication began by carrying the ark of the covenant in solemn procession, with the king at the head, into the temple, and depositing it in its place, the holy of holies, while numerous sacrifices were offered. The ark of the covenant was the root and kernel of the whole sanctuary; it contained the moral law, at once the original document and pledge of the covenant, through which, and in consequence of which, Jehovah was willing to dwell in the midst of his chosen people; the Kaporeth upon which Jehovah was enthroned was therefore inseparably united with it (Exo 25:22), so that the entire sanctuary only became through this throne what it was intended to bethe dwelling-place of Jehovah. On this subject Witsius says (Miscell. sacr. p. 439) of the arca fderis: Qu sanctissimum fuit totius tabernaculi , quque veluti cor totius religionis Israelitic primum omnium formata est Exo 25:10, et cui ne deesset habitationis locus, ipsum tabernaculum dein et superbum illud templum conditum fuit. Exo 26:33 et Exo 40:21; 1Ch 28:2. By the placing of the ark of the covenant in the temple, it first became the house of Jehovah, and hence its solemn introduction into it. While everything else within it was made new (chap. 7), the same ark of the covenant was kept, and only changed its place. It could never grow old, for it was the witness of the past victorious divine guidance, as well as the pledge of Jehovahs faithfulness and might. With it, all the historical facts bound up with it became associated with the temple; it was the historical tie between the old and new sanctuary, between the two periods of the tent and the house (see Introd. 3), making the latter the immediate sequel to the former.

4. The filling of the house with Jehovahs glory, made manifest to the senses by the cloud, is in harmony with the spirit of the Old Testament economy, inasmuch as it bore, compared with the New Testament economy, a bodily form, and in it the entire human-divine relation, as it comes to its expression in a cultus, assumed shapes perceptible to the senses. As Jehovah, in the old covenant, chose a visible dwelling amongst his people, in token of their election, so also He verified His presence in this dwelling in a way cognizant to the senses, that is, through the cloud, which is the medium and sign of His manifestation, not only here, but all through the Old Testament (Exo 16:10; Exo 20:21; Exo 24:15-16; Exo 34:5; Exo 40:34; Lev 16:2; Num 11:25; Num 12:5; Isa 6:3-4; Eze 1:4; Eze 1:28; Eze 10:3-4; Psa 18:10-12). But the cloud is not so well suited for this purpose, because it exists far above, in heaven, which is Jehovahs peculiar dwelling (Pro 8:28; Psa 89:7; Job 35:5), and is also, as it were, His chariot (Psa 104:3); but rather because, as its name shows, its nature is to conceal and veil, so that cloud and darkness are synonymous words, , cloud, named from the covering of the heavens (Gesenius); , thick darkness, comes from , drop down dew (Deu 33:28), and means literally cloud-night; from , to darken, sometimes means thick darkness, sometimes cloud (Exo 19:9; Psa 18:12; Job 36:29; Job 37:11; Job 37:16). The cloud is, on account of its darkness, the mode of manifestation of Jehovah and of His glory, and the throne on which His presence was concentrated within the dwelling stood in the back part, which was perfectly dark. Even the high-priest, when he entered once a year into this dark place, covered the throne besides with a cloud of incense, that he died not (Lev 16:2; Lev 16:13). When Moses prayed, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory! he received the answer: Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live; but Jehovah then came down in the cloud to manifest himself to him (Exo 33:18; Exo 33:20; Exo 34:5 sq.). Nebul, says an old commentator, deus se et reprsentabat et velabat. The cloud is then, on one hand, the heaven-descended sign of the presence of the self-manifesting God; on the other hand, it declares that God in His being, spiritually and ethically, is so far above, and different from all other beings, that man, in his sinful and mortal nature, cannot comprehend Him nor endure the sight of Him. Grres rightly says (Mythengeschichte II. s. 507): It is the distinguishing characteristic of the genius of the Mosaic fundamental view, that it veils the Deity far off from the temerity of the exploring reason, just as it chastely and abstemiously forbids polluting Him with the sensuous dreams of the imagination. The God of the Old Testament manifests Himself to man through word and deed, yet ever remains at infinite distance above him, so that when he strives to overstep the creature-limits of his nature he must perish. Quemadmodum, says Abarbanel (in Buxtorf, hist. arc fd., cap. 11), lucem solis propter summum ejus splendorem et claritatem oculus humanus non potest videre, quamvis causa sit, ut res videantur; et si homo proprius et fixe eum intueri velit, oculis ejus percutiuntur et hebetantur, ut nec illud amplius videre queat, quod alias videre potuit: sic non potest intellectus humanus apprehendere deum secundum veritatem suam, et si terminum suum egrediatur, apprehensio ejus confunditur aut moritur (cf. 1Ti 6:16).

5. The dedication prayer, which belongs to the finest pieces of the Old Testament, received a high significance through the fact that the person who offered it, did so in his highest official character and rank, as king and head of the theocracy, and in view of the whole people, on an occasion (see above on 1Ki 6:1) which formed an epoch in the theocracy. This, then, is not the prayer of a private person, upon a private matter, but one offered in the name of the whole nation, and about a subject which formed the central point of its worship, and therefore touched its highest interests. It did not spring from individual religious views, but from the religious consciousness of the whole community, and may therefore be regarded as a public and solemn confession of faith, inasmuch as it brings to light the chief and fundamental truths of the Old Testament religion which peculiarly distinguished it from all others. There is not a prayer to be compared with this in all pre-Christian antiquity. Had we nothing belonging to Jewish antiquity but this prayer, it would alone suffice to attest the depth, the purity, and the truth of the Israelitish knowledge of God and of salvation, over against the religious ideas of all other peoples.

6. Prominent beyond all else in this prayer are the expressions respecting the being of God, especially in His relations to the temple. At the beginning (1Ki 8:23) God is addressed as He with whom nothing can be compared, whether in heaven or on earth; as the Being who is above and beyond the world, and therefore the only God; and it is emphatically confessed (1Ki 8:27) that no house built by man can contain Him in His infinitude and omnipresence. This was the most decisive refutation of all anthropomorphistic representations of God, such as heathenism made in its temples (see above), and which it might seek to associate with Jehovahs dwelling, now no longer a movable tent, but an abiding house. At the same time, this infinite, only God is most explicitly praised as Israels God, i.e., as the God who had chosen Israel out of all peoples to be His inheritance, had shown Himself to them in word and deed, and entered into a covenant with them, as a pledge of which He took up His dwelling in their midst. This confession of a personal, living God presents the strongest contrast to every pantheistic representation of the being of God, such as the higher wisdom of heathendom, identifying God and the world, imagined, and of which, most unjustly, the effort has been made to discover a soupcon in Solomons words in 1Ki 8:27. The Israelitish idea of God knows nothing of a contradiction between the supernal, infinite, and absolute being of God, and His entering into creaturely, finite, and limited being. Just because He is infinite and unsearchable, He can communicate with the finite; and because He is everywhere, He can be peculiarly present in one place, centring His presence, and displaying His glory (absolute sublimity). Heaven is His throne, and earth His footstool, therefore no house built by man can be His permanent place of rest (Isa 66:1); but as He dwells in heaven, so He can dwell on earth; for thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him [also] that is of a contrite and humble spirit (Isa 57:15). Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lords, the earth also, with all that therein is. Only the Lord had a delight of thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all people (Deu 10:14 sq.). For Him nothing is too great and nothing too small, nothing is too high and nothing too low, that He cannot set His name there (1Ki 8:16; 1Ki 8:29 : 1Ki 11:36; 1Ki 14:11), i.e., manifest Himself at and through it, without ceasing to fill heaven and earth. To confess and pray to Him as such a God means to confess His name (1Ki 8:35; 1Ki 8:41; 1Ki 8:43). His covenant relation to Israel, and the consequent; dwelling in the midst of that people, are not at all inconsistent with his infinitude and unsearchableness, but rather were the means by which He could be known as the one, true, and living God. The expression touching the infinite grandeur of Gods being is followed by this: who keepest covenant and mercy with Thy servants that, &c. The God, with whom nothing in heaven or earth could be compared, has manifested and revealed Himself to Israel as a moral being; the covenant which He has made with them is of a purely ethical nature, for it is the law (Exo 34:28; Deu 4:13), the revealed will of God, and rests on the grace of election; it is a covenant of grace. He who gave the law, and will have it kept, is also merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth (Exo 34:6). The knowledge of this gives the key-tone to the whole prayer; all trust and hope of an answer is rooted in it. But heathenism, which in its deepest grounds is nature-religion, knows nothing of this; the God of Israel is the only absolute holy one, and therefore the alone true.

7. The general substance of the prayer is that Jehovah might hear all those who should call on Him here for help or deliverance from any need. But the answer is not expected by any mere outward coming or turning to the place of His presence, but by the knowledge, that all distress is caused by the turning away from Jehovah and His laws, that is, by sin. Answer, with regard to deliverance, must rest therefore upon forgiveness of sins, which has again as its prerequisite repentance and return, i.e., conversion to Jehovah. This is why the petition: forgive the sin! (1Ki 8:30; 1Ki 8:34; 1Ki 8:36; 1Ki 8:39; 1Ki 8:50) is repeated in the several prayers for deliverance from a state of suffering. Universal sinfulness is not only expressly asserted (1Ki 8:46), but the living consciousness of it is interwoven with the whole prayer. This is the more characteristic, as it was not a penitential ceremony at which the prayer was offered, but a joyful thanksgiving-festival, and it was offered by a king who was the wisest of his time, and had reached the summit of power and prosperity (1Ki 5:1; 1Ki 5:11). From this we see how firmly that consciousness was rooted in the people Israel, and how inseparably it was united with all their religious views. Such a thing is found in; no other nation of the ancient world, because none of them knew the God whose name is Holy (Isa 57:15), i.e., who had revealed Himself to His people as the Holy one, and whose covenant with them bore this inscription: Ye shall be holy for I am holy (Lev 11:44). When God is known as the absolutely Holy, and the sanctifier, man appears in contrast as a sinner, and the more living the knowledge, the more living is the consciousness of sinfulness. No man can confess the name of God, which is the name of holiness, who does not know himself to be a sinner: acknowledging his sin he gives God, the Holy One, glory. Hence (1Ki 8:33) means just as much, to confess his sin to Jehovah, as to give him praise (Ps. 32:5; 54:8).

8. Much as it is insisted on through the whole prayer, and its acceptance grounded in the fact, that Jehovah is the God of Israel, and has chosen that people from all nations of the earth (1Ki 8:51-53), yet the purpose of this election, namely that all people of the earth may know Jehovahs name, and fear Him as do His people Israel (1Ki 8:43), is also very clearly set forth. The prayer that Jehovah may ever hear the strangers also, who come from distant lands and do not belong to His people, when they call upon Him here; this prayer, we say, receives peculiar importance when Solomon, in his blessing at the end of the whole festivity, alludes once more to the grand end designed: that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else (1Ki 8:60). It is therefore hoped of the Temple, the central sanctuary of the one true God, that the knowledge and worship of this God should spread forth from it among all nations of the earth; and it is very remarkable, that what the prophets declared no less distinctly afterwards, was pronounced here so explicitly, at the dedication of the Temple (cf. Isa 2:3; Isa 56:7; Isa 60:2 sq.; Jer 3:17; Mic 4:2 sq.; Zec 8:20 sq.). Thus the prophetical element, that element which formed so essential and important a part of Old-Testament religion, is not absent from the prayer. The common talk of vulgar rationalism, about Jehovah being only a God of the Jews and of their land, appears in all its emptiness and folly when contrasted with the official (to a certain degree) acknowledgment of Israels world-wide mission, and which acknowledgment was made on a most solemn occasion.

9. In its form and breadth, the prayer of Solomon is a genuine public or common prayer; it wears a completely objective character; the views, wishes, and wants of individuals, as expressed, for instance, in the prayer of 1Ki 3:6-9, are here left quite in the back-ground, while the common wants of the whole people occupy the foreground. Solomon, as the head and representative of the whole nation, does not pray from his own faith and consciousness, but from those of the collected nation. First, praise and thanksgiving; then follow the various petitions and intercessory prayers; lastly, an appeal to the grace hitherto vouchsafed, for a pledge of acceptance and the promised succor. Both the language and modes of expression have the genuine ring of prayer. God is not preached to nor addressed nor taught, but prayed to. A firm trusting faith, a holy moral earnestness, unfeigned humility, and great simplicity breathe through the whole, while with these there is united a fervor which shows the deepest emotion; in short we feel that this prayer was not composed among the soft cushions of the palace, but on the knees. In this respect it may be regarded, at the present day, as a model of a general church-prayer. This seems to have been more or less the case in earlier times; as for example, the so-called Litany, with its intercessions and responses,Hear us, O Lord God! has the ring of our dedication prayer (1Ki 8:32; 1Ki 8:34; 1Ki 8:36; 1Ki 8:39; 1Ki 8:43; 1Ki 8:45; 1Ki 8:49).

10. In the concluding speech following the prayer Solomon desires for the people the help of God, that they may accomplish the world-wide design of their missionthe spreading of the knowledge of the one true God among all nations. He founds the hope that Jehovah will assist him, on the fulfilment of all the promises, already experienced, made to the people, of which the building of the Temple as a firm dwelling of Jehovah had given practical witness; he therefore begins the benediction with praise of the divine faithfulness; but he limits the attainment of their mission to the condition that they should persevere in keeping Gods laws. Thenius remarks forcibly on this subject: How seemly and truly edifying it is that Gods help is specially implored for the purposes of ordinary life (1Ki 8:58), and that the wish that men may find an answer to prayers for temporal aid (1Ki 8:59), has for its end increased knowledge of the one true God (1Ki 8:60).

11. The great seven days feast of the sacrifices connected with the dedication of the Temple is not to be looked on as a mere thanksgiving feast. The which were brought in such unusual numbers, and formed the principal sacrifices, were by no means only thank and praise offerings, but also vow-offerings. The peculiar and characteristic mark of this kind of sacrifice, which distinguished it from the others, and in which their ritual culminated, was the sacrificial meals, in which the whole family of the sacrificers, even man-servants and maid-servantsthe whole house, took part (Lev 7:15 sq.; Deu 12:17 sq.); it was a common meal. As eating at one table is a sign of communion and united feeling (Mat 8:11; Gal 2:12; Gen 43:32), so the sacrificial meal was the sign of religious unity of those who eat, among each other as well as with the Deity, to whom the sacrifice belonged, and at whose table it was eaten in common (cf. 1Co 10:18 sq., and in general Symbolik des Mos. Kultus, xi. s. 373 sq.). When therefore the king, and with him the whole people, held sacrificial meals during seven days, at the Temple-dedication, they celebrated and sealed, in doing so, both their union with Jehovah and with each other; thus the dedication of the Temple, the central point of all religious life in Israel, became also a covenant-festival.

Homiletical and Practical

The dedication of the Temple. (a) The bringing in the Ark of the Covenant to the Holy of Holies, 1Ki 8:1-13. (b) The speech, prayer, and benediction of the King, 1Ki 8:14-61. (c) Great sacrificial solemnity of the entire people, 1Ki 8:62-66.

1Ki 8:1-9. The solemn procession to the new Temple. (a) Its aim and signification (it was the Ark of the Covenant, because in it was the Lawi.e., the covenant, the very Soul of the Sanctuary, vide Historical and Critical, 3). We have in the new covenant not only the Law but the Gospel, which is everlasting, 1Pe 1:25. Where His Word is, there the Lord dwells and is enthroned; it is the soul of every house of God, and indeed gives it its consecration; without it, every church is dead and empty, whatsoever may be the prayers and praises offered therein; hence at the consecration of a church it is customary to bring it in in solemn procession. (b) The members of the procession (the King at its head, the heads of tribes, the princes, the priests and Levites, the entire people; all gathered round the ark, in which was the Law, i.e., the covenant, and by this march, solemnly and significantly recognizes the word of the Lord; no one, be his position high or low, is ashamed of this public acknowledgment. Nothing can be nobler than to see a whole nation, from the highest to the lowest, gathered in unity round its holiest possession).What, from an evangelical standpoint, must we think of public processions, with a religious object (Prozessionen)?Wrt. Bib.: The consecration of a church is a praiseworthy custom. But it should not be done with holy water, but with the word of God, with prayer, and with thanksgiving.Pfaff. Bib.: All men, especially those of highest rank, ought to show themselves zealous in Gods service, and enlighten others by their example.The priests bear the ark, and bring it to its place. To be bearers of the Divine word, and to set up the mercy-seat in the House of God, as Paul points out, Rom 3:24 sq., is truly the office and the glory of Gods servants, Mal 2:7.Cramer: Christ, the true Ark of the Covenant, is the end and fulfilling of the Law. My God! may I, as in an ark, preserve and guard thy law! Psa 40:9.

1Ki 8:6 sq. The word of the Lord is under divine protection, the angels are its guardians and watchers; it can neither be destroyed by human power, nor is it aided or protected by men.

1Ki 8:10-13. The glory of the Lord filled the House. (a) What this means; (b) in what manner it befell (v. Historical and Critical, 4).It is impossible that mortal, sinful man should see or comprehend the Holy and Infinite One (1Ti 6:16). We see through a glass, darkly (1Co 13:12). I can experience his merciful Presence; but presumption and folly it is to wish to sound the depths of His Being, Job 38; Ex. 2:33, 20.Starke: O soul, who finding thyself tempted, and as if in darkness and gloom, mournest that God is far from thee: ah! mark this for thy comfort, God abides with thee in darkness, and is thy light, Psa 23:4; Psa 27:1; Isa 57:15.The eye of faith beholds in the darkness the glory of the Lord, in the night of the Cross the Light of the World, through the dim veil of the flesh the Only begotten Son of God, full of mercy and grace.

1Ki 8:14-21. The Speech of Solomon to the assembled people. He solemnly announces, (a) that the building of the temple was of the gracious will and counsel of God, 1Ki 8:15-16 (with it the leading of Israel out of Egypt is come to its end, reached its final aim; the House in place of the tent is the crowning act of God to Israel, a clear spoken testimony to his might and truth; therefore Solomon begins his speech: Blessed be, &c.); (b) that God had called him to the performance of his decrees, 1Ki 8:17-21. (He announces the mercy of God, in that he allows him to undertake the work whose completion was denied to his father. He who understands a great, holy work must be assured of thisthat he is not actuated by ambition, by passion for glory, or by vanity, but that he is called thereto by God, and that it is his sacred duty.) 1Ki 8:14. After every completed work permitted thee by the Lord, be it great or small, let it be thy first care to give Him the honor, and to declare His praise.

1Ki 8:15. I have spoken it and performed it, said the Lord (Eze 37:14). What man speaks and promises, now he cannot perform, again he will not perform. Hence Psa 118:8.

1Ki 8:16. The choice of God is no blind preference of one and prejudice against another, but aims at the salvation of both. As from amongst all nations he chose Israel for its salvation, so out of all the tribes of Israel he chose the City of David for the blessing of the whole kingdom.

1Ki 8:17-18. How many individuals as well as whole congregations have the means and the power wherewith to build a church, to repair a ruinous one, or to enlarge one which has become too small; but nothing can be further from their mind.He who purposes to do a good work, but is hindered therein, not by his own fault but by divine decree, he has yet well done, God regards his intention as the deed itself.V. 19. God sometimes, in His inscrutable but all-wise councils, denies to His own people the fulfilment of their dearest wishes, whose object may even be the glory of His name, in order to try their faith, and exercise their submission and self-denial.V. 20 The fairest prerogative of him whom God has placed upon a throne is, that he has power to work for the glory of Gods name, and to watch over the extension of the divine kingdom amongst his people. Every son who succeeds to the inheritance of his father should feel obliged, first of all, to take up the good work whose completion was denied to his father, and perfect it with love and zeal.

1Ki 8:22-53. The dedicatory prayer of Solomon. (a) the exordium, 1Ki 8:23-26; (b) the prayer, 1Ki 8:27-50; (c) the conclusion, 1Ki 8:51-53.The prayer of Solomon a witness to his faith (he confesses the living, holy, and one God, before all the people); to his love (he bears His people upon His heart, and makes intercession for them); to his hope (he hopes that all nations will come to a knowledge of the true God). From Solomon we may learn how we ought to pray: in true reverence and humiliation before God, with earnestness and zeal, with un-doubting confidence that we shall be heard.What an elevating spectacle, a king upon his knees, praying aloud, in the presence of his whole people, and in their behalf! Although the highest of them all, he is not ashamed to declare himself a servant of God, and to fall down upon his knees; although the wisest of them all (1Ki 5:11), he prays as a testimony that a wisdom which can no longer pray is folly; although the mightiest of all (1Ki 5:1), he confesses that nothing is done by his power alone, but that the Lord is the King Eternal; therefore it is, that he does not merely rule over his subjects, but as an upright king supplicates and prays for them likewise.

1Ki 8:22 (cf. 1Ki 8:54). Solomon stands before the altar, bows the knee, stretches out his hands, the people stand around, the worshippers turn their faces towards the sanctuary (1Ki 8:38; 1Ki 8:44; 1Ki 8:48). Outward forms, for the worship and service of God, are not to be rejected when they are the natural unbidden outflow of inward feeling. (The Lord himself and his apostles prayed upon their knees, Luk 22:41; Eph 3:14. No one is so exalted that he ought not to bow his knee and clasp his hands.) They (outward forms) are worthless when they are regarded as meritorious, and man puts his trust in them (Luk 18:11, sq.). They are sinful and blameworthy if they are performed merely for appearances sake, or to deceive men (Mat 6:5; Mat 6:16). The Lord knows the hearts of all men (1Ki 8:39); one cannot serve the living God with dead works (Heb 9:14).

1Ki 8:23-26. The introductory prayer, (a) The invocation, 1Ki 8:23-24. (Solomon calls upon the infinite God of heaven and of earth as the God of Israel, not because he was only the God of that nation, but because he had revealed himself to it, had spoken to it, and with it had made a covenant of mercy and grace, and had kept this covenant. In the new covenant we no longer call upon God as the God of Israel, but as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3), because he has revealed himself to us through Christ, and through Christ alone do we find in Him the true God, the God of grace and mercy. Thus He wills that we should call upon Him.) (b) The supplication joined to this, 1Ki 8:25-26. (Let thy promise be fulfilled. It is fulfilled, for God has sent that son of David whose kingdom shall have no end, Luk 1:32 sq.; Isa 9:7. In the new covenant we pray that God will prove true the word which He has spoken to us, through this Son of David.

1Ki 8:25. Covenant and mercy are no couch of repose for old men, but the working energy which keeps the path of God, and walks in His way.

1Ki 8:24. Starke: Word and deed, promise and fulfilment, with God go hand in hand.)

1Ki 8:27-30. What does Solomon declare concerning the destination of the house which he had built unto the Lord? (a) But will God indeed, &c., 1Ki 8:27. God dwells not, &c., Act 17:24; Isa 66:1. He is everywhere, in the heaven above as in the earth beneath, in lonely, secret chambers as in grandest temples, Psa 139:7 sq.; Jer 23:23 sq. But he has said: (b) My name shall be, 1Ki 8:29. Where His people dwells there will He also dwell, and will declare Himself to them as the God who is holy, and will be sanctified; not for His own sake, but for that of His people, has He a temple in their midst, Ex. 2:20, 24; 27:43. Here is His word of revelation, here His mercy-seat. Therefore, (c) He wills that here prayer shall be made unto him, and here He will listen to those who pray. 1Ki 8:30. Every prayer offered to Him here is a confession of Him, of His name.

1Ki 8:27. Although the heaven of heavens cannot contain the Unmeasurable and Infinite One, and no building, how great and noble soever, can suffice for Him, yet, in His mercy, He will make his dwelling-place (Joh 14:23) in the heart of that man who loves him and keeps his word, and it will truly become a temple of God (1Co 3:16); He will dwell with those who are of an humble spirit (Isa 57:15; Psa 113:5-6).

1Ki 8:29. The eye of God looks upon every house where His name is honored, where all with one mind raise heart and hand to Him, and call upon His name (Psa 121:4). To every church the saying is applicable: My name shall be there: the object of every church is to be a dwelling-place of divine revelation, i. e., if the revealed Word of God, in which, upon the strength of that Word, worship, praise, and prayer shall be offered to the name of the Lord.

1Ki 8:30. The houses of God, above all else, must be houses of prayer (Isa 56:7); they are desecrated if devoted merely to worldly purposes of any kind whatsoever instead of being used for prayer and supplication.The hearing of prayer does not indeed depend upon the place where it is offered (Joh 4:20 sq.), but prayer should have an appointed place, where we can present ourselves, even as God wills that together with one voice we humbly exalt His name (Rom 15:6; Psa 34:4). Where two or three are gathered together in His name He is in their midst; how much more will He be where a whole congregation is assembled to call upon Him.

1Ki 8:31-50. The seven petitions of the prayer teach us, (a) in all necessity of body and soul to turn to the Lord who alone can help, and call upon Him with earnestness and zeal (Ps. 1:15; 91:14, 15); (b) in all our straits to recognize the wholesome discipline of an holy and just God, who will show us the good way in which we must walk (Psa 94:12; Heb 12:5 sq.); (c) to confess our sins and to implore forgiveness, in order that we may be heard (Psa 32:1; Psa 32:5; Psa 32:7); (d) not only for ourselves but also for others, in their time of need, should we pray and supplicate, even as the king does here for all individual men and for his entire people.

1Ki 8:31-32. First Petition. We may and must call upon God to help the innocent man to his rights (Psa 26:1), and, even here in this world, to reward the evil man according to his deserts.Starke: It is allowable for a pious man to entreat God to administer his just cause; yet must he not wish evil to his neighbor in mere human vindictiveness (Psa 109:1 sq.). The oath is a prayer, a solemn invocation of God in testimony of the truth; the false oath is not merely a lie but an insolent mockery of God, and God will not be mocked (Gal 6:7; Exo 20:7).Bear in mind when thou swearest that thou art standing before the altar, i.e., before the judgment-seat of the Holy and Just God, who can condemn body and soul to hell.Where the oath is no longer held sacred there the nation and the State go to ruin (Zec 8:16 sq.).

1Ki 8:33-34. Second Petition. A victorious enemy is the whip and scourge with which the Lord chastises a nation, so that it may awake out of sleep, confess its sins, turn unto Him, and learn anew its forgotten prayers and supplications.To those who are taken captive in war, and far from fatherland must dwell beneath a foreign yoke, applies the word of the Lord, Luk 13:2. Therefore they who are prospering in their native country must pray for them, believing in the words of Psa 146:7.

1Ki 8:35-36. Third Petition.Inasmuch as fruitful seasons, instead of leading to repentance, as being proofs of Gods goodness, so often tend to create pride, haughtiness, and light-mindedness, therefore the Lord sometimes shuts up His heavens. But then we should murmur not against him, but against our own sins (Lam 3:39), and confess that all human care and toil for obtaining food out of the earth is in vain if He give not rain out of heaven, and fruitful seasons.Starke: Fine weather is not brought about by the means of processions, but by true repentance and heartfelt prayer, Lev 26:3-4.When God humbles us, He thus directs us to the good way (Psa 119:67; Deu 5:8; Deu 2:3).

1Ki 8:37-40. Fourth Petition. Divine judgments and means of discipline are very various in their kind, their degree, and their duration. God in his wisdom and justice metes out to a whole people, as to each individual man, such measure of suffering as is needed for its salvation, for He knows the hearts of all the children of men, and He tries no man beyond his power of endurance; He hearkens to him who calls upon Him in distress (2Sa 22:7; Psa 34:18; Isa 26:16).Distress teaches us how to pray, but often only so long as it is present with us. God looks upon our heart, and knows whether our prayer is a mere passing emotion, or whether we have truly turned to Him. How entirely different would our prayers often sound if we reflected that we are addressing Him who knows our heart, with its most secret and mysterious thoughts, expectations, and wishes. The effect of an answer to our prayers must be that we fear the Lord, and walk in His ways, not only in the time of need and trouble, but at all times, as long as we live. It is a priceless thing that the heart remains constant.

1Ki 8:41-43. Fifth Petition. Even as Solomon bore witness that the house which he had built could not encompass Him whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, so likewise he testified that the covenant made by God with Israel did not exclude all other nations from salvation, but rather aimed at leading all men to a knowledge of the truth. If a Solomon prayed for the attainment of this object, how much more does it become us to pray for the conversion of the heathen, and do our utmost that the people who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death may come to Him, a light set by God before all nations to lighten the heathen (Luk 2:31, sq.). He who desires to know nothing of missions to the heathen fails to know the God who wills that help should be given to all men, and that all should come to a knowledge of the truth (1Ti 2:4).Solomon hoped that the heathen, when they heard the great deeds which the Lord did in Israel, would turn to that God; how much stronger becomes this hope when the infinitely greater scheme of salvation in Christ Jesus is declared to them! But how shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach if they are not sent? (Rom 10:14 sq.).The acknowledgment of the name of God necessarily causes the fear of God. If an individual, or an entire nation, be wanting in the latter, they will also lack a true knowledge of God, let them boast as they will of enlightenment and enlightened religious ideas.

1Ki 8:44-45. Sixth Petition. A people who undertake war should, above all, be sure that it is under the guidance of God. That alone is a just war which is undertaken with Gods help, and in the cause of God, of truth, and of justice.A host going forth to battle should remember this: Nothing can be done in our own strength, we are soon quite ruined! (Psa 33:16 sq.) and thereupon we should pray and entreat the Lord, from whom alone proceeds victory (Proverbs 21, 31; Psa 147:10 sq.).

1Ki 8:46-50. Seventh Petition. Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Pro 14:34). Thus the people Israel is a living example for all times, as a warning and as an admonition (1Co 10:11).The Lord has patience with each person, as also with whole peoples and governments, for He knows there is no man who is not sinful. But when the riches of his goodness, patience, and long-suffering are despised, and a nation given over to hardness of heart and impenitence (Rom 2:4 sq.), He casts it away from before His face, and wipes it out as a man wipeth a dish (2Ki 21:13), so that it ceases to be a people and a kingdom. The worlds history is the worlds final doom. The wrath of God towards all ungodly conduct of men is not a mere biblical form of speech, but a fearful truth, which he who hearkens not will learn by experience.The saying: There is no man who sinneth not, must not be misused to apologize for sin as a natural weakness; it should rather warn and exhort us that we must not give the reins to that will which lieth even at the door, but rule over it (Gen 1:4; Gen 1:7); for he who committeth sin is the slave of sin (Joh 8:34).The confession: We have sinned, &c., must come from the depths of the heart, and must be in connection with the conversion of the whole soul to the Lord; for he alone can obtain forgiveness of all his sins in whose spirit there is no guile (Psa 32:2). But how often, in days of fasting and humiliation, is this confession made only with the lips! How, then, can a man hope for mercy and forgiveness through the hearing of prayer?The Lord who guides the hearts of men as water-courses can bestow upon our enemies a forgiving and merciful heart, even as Israel experienced. For this, and not for the destruction of our enemies, we ought to pray.

1Ki 8:51-53. In the midst of our cries and prayers we should remember how dearly the Lord has purchased us for His own, by the blood of His son (Rom 8:32; 1Co 6:20; Rev 5:9). The grace of God in Christ is the foundation of our assurance that the Lord will deliver us from all tribulation and sorrow, and will lead us to his heavenly kingdom. For this do we close our prayers with the words: For the sake of thine eternal love.Starke: God does not leave his people in the furnace of misery, but always guides them forth from it (Job 3:22).Our prayers, from beginning to end, must be grounded on the divine promises (2Sa 7:25).

1Ki 8:54-61. Solomons final address to the people contains a psalm of praise (1Ki 8:56), a wish for a blessing (1Ki 8:57-60), and a warning (1Ki 8:61).

1Ki 8:56. It is a gift of God, for which we must thank and praise him, if we can lead a quiet and peaceful life, in all godliness and honesty (1Ti 2:2).The rest which God promises to his people and has granted unto them, under Solomon the peaceful prince, was merely a temporal one. But we have this good saying: There remaineth a rest for the people of God (Heb 4:9). This word will not fail if we do not harden our hearts, if we hear his voice, and strive assiduously to attain to that rest, where God shall wipe away, &c. (Rev 21:4).

1Ki 8:57-58. The aid and blessing of God have no other object than to turn thy heart to Him, that thou mayest walk in His way. He only forsakes those who have forsaken Him (Psa 9:11).All keeping of the commandments, all mere morality, without submission of the heart to God, is worthlessa mere shell without the kernel.

1Ki 8:59-60. The words which rise out of the depths of the heart to God reach Him and abide with Him; He forgets them not (Rev 8:3-4).That the Lord is God, and none other, seems nowhere more conspicuous than in the choosing and leading of the people Israel, in which He has revealed Himself in His might and glory, in His holiness and justice, His faithfulness and mercy (Psa 145:3-12). No better proof of the existence of a one living God than the history of Israel.

1Ki 8:61. The best and greatest wish which a king can form for his people, a father for his children, a pastor for his flock, is: May your heart be righteous, i.e., whole and undivided before the Lord our God. He who elects to side with Him must do so wholly and entirely; all halting between two opinions is an abomination to Him: the lukewarm He will spue out of His mouth. Be thou on the Lords side, and He will be with thee.

1Ki 8:62-66. The temple-dedication, a thanksgiving feast (1Ki 8:62), a covenant feast (1Ki 8:65, vide Historical and Ethical, 11), a feast of great gladness (1Ki 8:66).Wrt. Summ.: For great benefits men should offer great thanksgivings, and indeed should prove their gratitude by promoting the true service of God, and by benevolence to the poor and needy (Psa 50:14).At public thanksgiving-feasts there should be not only banquets, but prince and people, high and low, rich and poor should bow unto the Lord, to serve him with one accord and steadfastly.

1Ki 8:63. So they dedicated, &c. Pfaff: This was indeed a holy temple-consecration. O! how entirely otherwise are those of to-day constituted in general, which should be abolished or reformed rather than praised, on account of the sinful abuse which has gained the upper hand. 1Ki 8:66. Even as Solomon blessed his people, even so his people blessed their king. The prince alone who prays for his people can expect them to pray for him. Well for that land where prince and people wish well to each other, and make supplication for each other, for there mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace shall kiss each other (Psa 85:10). When a man has rendered unto God what is of God, he can go forth to his daily labor with joy and gladness. To praise and thank God makes the heart glad and willing to work.

Footnotes:

[1]1Ki 8:1.[On the apocopated future in connection with , see Ewald, Krit. Gramm., 233 b., p. 593 in 7th ed. The Vat. Sept. prefaces this chapter with the statement and it came to pass when Solomon had made an end of building the house of the Lord and his own house, after twenty years, then, &c.; and omits the middle part of this verse and nearly all of 1Ki 8:2, etc. The Alex. Sept. follows the Heb.

[2]1Ki 8:1.[The renderings of the Heb. in the A. V. are various. Besides a few irrelevant translations, it is rendered by captain, chief, governor, prince, and rulerprince being the most common. There is also some variation in the Sept. translation of the word, but it is usually rendered .

[3]1Ki 8:7.[For staves the Sept. substitute holy things.

[4]1Ki 8:8.[Luther, followed by our author, here translates And the staves were so long that, etc., thus leaving out the evidence of design in the arrangement; they adopt the intransitive sense of the verb , as has also been done by the Vulg. and Syr. The sense of prolonging, extending, which is given by Keil, and adopted by the A. V., is at least as usual, and seems better suited to the connection. The staves, at the utmost, could have been but 10 cubits long, the depth of the holy of holies in the tabernacle. The author however assumes that the length of the ark, and consequently the direction of the staves, was north and south, in which case the staves could not in any way have been seen from outside the vail.

[5]1Ki 8:11.[There is no occasion here for the pluperfect, nor is it expressed in any of those VV. which admit of the distinction.

[6]1Ki 8:13.[The Vat. Sept. omits 1Ki 8:12-13, the Alex. following the Heb.

[7]1Ki 8:15.[The Sept. here add , and instead of unto read concerning David.

[8]1Ki 8:16.[The Vat. (not Alex.) Sept. here supplies from 2Ch 6:6 the clause . Our author omits the name Israel at the end of the verse.

[9]1Ki 8:18.[Luther, followed by the author, uses here the present tense; the VV., following the Heb., have, like the A. V., the past.

[10]1Ki 8:19-20.[It seems better, if possible, to render the Heb. verb in both these clauses by the same English word, though with differing shades of meaning. The Sept. has … ; the author has bin bestdtigt. Luther, like the A. V., varies the word.

[11]1Ki 8:23.[The Sept. put this in the singular.

[12]1Ki 8:24-25.[The Heb. , being the verb in all these clauses, there is no occasion to change the English word.

[13]1Ki 8:26.[Many MSS., followed by the Sept., Vulg., Syr., and Arab., prefix .

[14]1Ki 8:26.Even allowing that the ktib points to 2Sa 7:28, yet nevertheless the kri appears according to 2Ch 6:17; 2Ch 1:9 to be the true reading.Bhr. [It is also the reading of many MSS., followed by the Sept., Syr., and Arab.

[15]1Ki 8:30.[ the proposition is the same as in the previous clause, toward this place. The expression is a pregnant one=hear thou the prayer which is offered toward heaven, &c.

[16]1Ki 8:32.[One MS., followed by the Sept., Chald., Syr., and Arab., reads from heaven, and so in 1Ki 8:34; 1Ki 8:36; 1Ki 8:39; 1Ki 8:43; 1Ki 8:45; 1Ki 8:49, according to 2Ch 6:22-23; 2Ch 6:25. But see last remark.

[17]1Ki 8:32.[The Heb. is the same in both clauses, and is rendered alike by the Chald. and Sept., which the English idiom scarcely admits.

[18]1Ki 8:37.Withering of the grain through a hot wind.Bhr. [Such is the sense of wherever it occurs, as here, in connection with , viz., Deu 28:22; 2Ch 6:28; Amo 6:9; Hag 2:17.

[19]1Ki 8:37.[ appears to be merely an epithet of . Cf. Deu 28:38.

[20]1Ki 8:38.[ . Cf. 2Ch 6:29, .

[21]1Ki 8:41.[The Vat. Sept. omits the latter half of 1Ki 8:41 and the parenthesis of 1Ki 8:42.

[22]1Ki 8:43.[Many MSS. and editions, followed by the Sept., prefix the conjunction here as in 1Ki 8:36; 1Ki 8:39; 1Ki 8:45, &c.

[23]1Ki 8:44.[Some MSS. and the VV. read in the plural.

[24]1Ki 8:45.[The phrase always means the support of the righteous cause; with the suffix of the personal pronoun here and 1Ki 8:49 it assumes that the warfare to which they had been sent was righteous.

[25]1Ki 8:52.[The Sept. supplement this frequent expression by adding and thine ears.

[26]1Ki 8:53.[The Chald., Vulg., and Syr. here follow the masoretic punctuation of and, like the A. V., translate Lord God. The Sept. have, according to the Vat., , which is followed by Luther, while the Alex. omits the expression altogether. Our author translates Herr Jehovah. The Sept. make a considerable addition at the end of the verse.

[27]1Ki 8:59.[See note on 1Ki 8:45.

[28]1Ki 8:59.[The words as the matter shall require not being in the Heb. are better omitted.F. G.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

This is a most beautiful chapter. It contains the dedication of the temple. Solomon’s blessing of it: his prayer: his sacrifice of peace offering: his dismission of the people with joyful hearts.

1Ki 8:1

(1) Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

The temple being finished, preparations are made for the solemn service of bringing up the ark of God into it, as its fixed place of residence. Sweetly are we taught here, that it is the presence of the Lord in the assemblies of his people, which gives glory to all services. If Jesus be not with us, the ordinance is nothing worth. If the ark be not in the temple, all Solomon’s labour is lost. His gold is nothing. Reader! let this very opening of the chapter, teach you the infinite importance of exercising an holy jealousy over your heart in all seasons of worship. Where is Jesus? should be the great inquiry, like those Greeks which came up to the temple, whenever we draw nigh the sanctuary or the closet, for prayer or meditation. Joh 12:20-21 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Solomon’s Temple

1Ki 8:11

The whole of this chapter is taken up with the account of the consummation of Solomon’s magnum opus. The great work of his life, for the accomplishment of which he had been called to the throne, was the building of the temple. It was the sacred task bequeathed to him by his father David the cherished dream of David’s later years, for which he had prepared with all his might.

I. I read the account of the elaborate and magnificent preparations for the temple and its building with mixed feelings. Its opening seems to have been the water-shed in Solomon’s career and to have exhausted him. I picture to myself the vast crowd of poorly paid or unpaid workers chipping at stones, shaping the planks of cedar to cover them, beating out the gold to cover the planks, and the king’s whole thoughts being taken up with it, and then I thought of Solomon’s after career his decline and fall; the rending of the kingdom, the setting up of the calves at Dan and Bethel, the very little use that the temple was for so many years, and I found myself asking, ‘Was it really worth while?’ Would not something far simpler have sufficed? Was it the best policy to draw off the thoughts and labours of the people from other channels to this for so long, and to pour out wealth in such reckless expenditure on this elaborate scheme? And then other questions occurred. Is it in the most elaborate buildings that vital religion thrives? Take your stately English cathedral, which you delight to visit, and which is simply crammed with historical interest. You think of its wondrous arches, its pealing organ and sweet-voiced choir, of its prebendaries and canons, its dean and bishop, etc., would you, who know what vital religion means, contend that these places had played a supremely important part in conserving and spreading the cause of vital religion in our land, and that the society clustering about a cathedral close is preeminently spiritual? Is there not a subtle danger lurking in all these, a danger of which Solomon, with all his wisdom, seemed scarcely aware, namely, that men shall be enslaved by mere form, that they shall come to worship the work of their own hands or of other men’s hands? To see and admire a building is one thing, to worship God and cry to Him for mercy and guidance is another.

II. On the other side there is much to be said. This, for example, that so far as we can see, the motive of Solomon was absolutely pure, and because of the purity of his motive the house was accepted, and the glory of the Lord filled it. And there is this to be said; that if God did not need a house Israel needed it, and that Solomon perceived, something to remind man, and that in a striking way, of the existence of God, of His holiness, of the fact that men needed Him and needed to pray to Him.

III. There are two further things that impressed me about the dedication of Solomon’s temple. The first of these is the part he himself plays in the opening service. He sets aside conventionality and custom if not ecclesiastical law. It is not priest nor prophet that offers the dedicatory prayer but the king, and it is the king that blesses the people in the name of the Lord; the highest act of sacerdotal benediction. The chief thing, the vital thing in connexion with the proceedings of that great day, was the Cloud which indicated the Presence and Glory of the Lord.

C. Brown, The Baptist Times and Freeman, 26 July, 1907.

Reference. VIII. 12. R. E. Hutton, The Grown of Christ, p. 91.

Solomon’s Prayer

1Ki 8:13

The prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple is the supreme prayer, it is all prayer; there is not one little petition or supplication anywhere that cannot nest in this grand adoration and entreaty. It is a Bible in itself, it is the total revelation of God; a man spake it no man ever composed it. It is a recitation from the tablets of the heart; it is the wording and, so to say, the incarnation of a great movement of the Holy Ghost upon the whole nature of man; it stands alone; the stars pale before this diamond.

I. The prayer of Solomon was offered by a layman. All the great prayers of the Bible came from lay lips. There were priests enough at the dedication of the temple; they were present, they were silent; it was the layman, the man that prayed: and it is only the man that can pray. We cannot have official prayers, mechanized and scheduled prayers. Men can only pray now and then in great heart-cries and in great heart-breaking misery. Aaron was born dumb. It was Moses, the layman, the man, the great representative of human nature in its deepest need and sharpest pain. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended: was the son of Jesse an official priest? He was a man, a great man, a man with God in his heart. He offered the great poetic, ideal prayer; he struck the harp unto supplication and startled music into a new voice.

II. There is nothing in human nature or human need that is not to be found in Solomon’s prayer when he dedicated the temple to the service of God. I find that prayer to be intensely evangelical. How can we show that the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple was intensely evangelical? By the frequent use of one of the greatest words in evangelical terminology. ‘When Thou hearest, Lord, forgive.’ That is the evangelical faith; that is the evangelical conception of the universe: that God can go back upon human history, and cleanse it; God can go into the human heart, and rid it of every stain and taint of guilt.

III. It was also a most experimental prayer: ‘If they sin against Thee (for there is no man that sinneth not)’. That is human history; that is the right conception of human nature. And ‘sinneth’ is the right word to apply to the history of human life. We cannot conceal ourselves within the shadow of some perfect respectability. It must come to penitence, to brokenheartedness, to making a clean breast of it in the sanctuary when we are alone with God. After that will come forgiveness, restoration, adoption, steps on the road to sanctification.

IV. And what a pathetic prayer it is! At one point the great pleader says, Forgive the people, have pity upon them, save them, ‘for they be Thy people’ (v. 51). That is the fundamental fact. They are bad. Yes, but they are still Thine. They have gone astray. Truly, but they still bear Thine image and likeness, in Thine image didst Thou create them; Thou wilt not forsake the work of Thine own hands. Thus human nature is read in its deepest mystery, and thus the Divine clemency is interpreted in its most essential pathos.

V. You like a practical prayer? You will find the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple one of the most practical prayers in all history. For he says, ‘When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain’ he is going now to pray for the fields, the crops; he is now going to anticipate hunger, and anticipate God in its prevention ‘If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar, plague, and sickness’. If you wanted a practical prayer it is here; your story is told by this man in words that are tears; he knows and interprets you to God. There is a theology of providence; there is a theology of domestic life; there is a theology of national circumstances.

VI. Ah! but it was all Israel, Israel, Israel; it was a Jew’s prayer; it was patriotic, but not philanthropic. You have not read the prayer. Hear verse 41. ‘Moreover concerning the stranger, that is not of Thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for Thy name’s sake; (for they shall hear of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched out arm;) when the stranger shall come and pray toward this house; hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for’. How the Bible widens; how it takes in nation after nation; how sometimes quite suddenly it claims the whole earth, and promises to One fairer than the fairest of men the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for His possession. It was, therefore, not a patriotic prayer only, but a philanthropic prayer. It is right to pray for our own family if we make that a starting-point of a still larger prayer; it is right to pray for our own monarch or our own republican president if we make that the starting-point of a grand cosmopolitan prayer, in which we bathe the whole earth, asking for the total globe the forgiveness and the pity and the sovereignty of God.

Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. VII. p. 146.

Unrealized Purposes

1Ki 8:18-19

Here is an incident which supplies abundant material for reflection; a man with a dear and cherished ambition, believing it to come from God. He has brooded over it long. On many a night as he lay awake, he has woven his plans and painted his picture of what he meant to do. He sends for his confidant in all such matters, and imparts to him the plan which has formed in his mind. Instantly Nathan blesses it, ‘Go and do all that is in thine heart’. He has reckoned up his resources, and means to pour them all out at the feet of God for this end. Suddenly there comes a message through the very man who has approved his plan a message from God. And this is the burden of it; your plan is good, but you are not the man to carry it out. It was well to think of it and plan for it. It is right, and it will come to pass. ‘Nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house.’ So the fond plans were shattered, and lay in a heap at David’s feet by God’s denial and forbidding. And it must for he was intensely human have caused him a momentary pang of disappointment and dismay.

We ought to be able to learn some lessons from such an incident. It is recorded for our instruction.

I. Think first of the purpose which was denied. It was pure and beautiful, and it was evidently in accord with the will of God. That makes its denial perplexing. We can understand the defeat of a desire that is unworthy, of an ambition that has mixed with it the desire for self glorification. To be rich or famous, to set men talking of your exploits, is an ambition which you can understand the breath of God blowing on and withering for the health of a man’s soul. But this was there ever anything more beautiful? Here is what the historian tells us about it: ‘It came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies’.

As soon as he came to a clear space in life, and after all the tumult and conflict, he had time to think; he said to Nathan: ‘See, now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God remaineth within curtains’. And he had ever the conviction that if a man served God at all, it must not be with the margins and dregs left over when everything else had been lavishly provided for. He simply refused to serve God with that which cost him nothing. And it was out of this pure and pious sentiment that this ambition and desire grew. He had earned the right to repose and ease, to enjoy the fruit of his labour, and we could well have understood it if he had said, ‘Let my son build the temple; I have struggled hard in my time, let me rest’. But it was not in him to say it. He wanted to crown a life’s work by devoting the whole of his days of leisure and his gathered gold to the building of a house for the Lord. That became the dear desire of his heart, and it was that desire that was vetoed. So then I draw the inference from the incident that some of the purest and highest and best purposes of our lives may be unrealized. I do not mean that they may be thwarted by human opposition or demoniacal obstruction, or by your own hindering weakness, but they may be defeated by the will of God.

II. I draw another inference from this denial, viz. that every man has his limitations even in spiritual service. The reason given to David for this denial of his dear purpose was, ‘Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and made great wars’. This was not work that David had sought, or that he loved. It had been thrust upon him for the defence and rescue of Israel, but apparently it was the work for which God had designed him, and the other which he had the means and which he had thought he had the ability to do was not for him. One of the lessons to be gathered from this is that spiritual work is a matter of such high importance, that God has regard to the fitness of men to perform it.

III. Thirdly, observe David’s behaviour under this disappointment. I am not aware that David ever acts more nobly than when this dear wish is denied.

1. There is no murmuring, no soreness, there is no surprise expressed, but a ready and adoring acquiescence in the will of God.

2. He does all he can to provide for another to carry the work through. That is the crowning grace of the incident. I attach more importance to that than to the fact that after this forbidding David went in and sat before the Lord and worshipped. The temple would never be called by his name, he would never see it, but he went on accumulating materials for it as generously and lavishly as if he had known that he would stand in the centre of its splendour on the day of its opening, and be recognized as the originator of the whole glorious plan.

The last lesson of all is that it is a good thing to have high desires and aims, though they should never be realized. ‘Thou didst well that it was in thine heart.’

Charles Brown, God and Man, p. 5.

King Solomon The Temple-builder

1Ki 8:27

I. The actual history of the building of the temple is rooted in the life of King David. David after an act of sinful presumption, which was terribly and speedily punished, wished as a thankoffering, for the removal of the pestilence which followed on his numbering of the people, to build this house on the site of the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. But it was speedily revealed to him that, though he. might design and prepare, this honour was not reserved for him. God revealed to him, ‘Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto My name…. Behold a son shall be born unto thee who shall be a man of rest; he shall build an house for My name.’ And at last Solomon entered on the achievement of his great purpose, and the temple was built as the House of God, and God in the emphatic words of the Bible came to dwell there. In the long-drawn out description of Solomon’s temple, in which God willed to interest Himself, and to inspire the designers, the builders, and the offerers, we recognize a great principle: That God, who is pure beauty, wills to be worshipped with all that is reverend, costly, and beautiful, in that humanity which he has so richly endowed.

II. We should miserably fall short of what God designed to teach us, if we saw in Solomon’s temple only a consecration of religious sentiment and an apotheosis of the beautiful. God has said again and again that He wishes to dwell with man, to have a House in the midst of us, and definite modes of approach, and we can see how potent this feeling is where men have accepted and welcomed it. Not only here have we a presence of God nearer and more intimate than that which was vouchsafed to any few, but we may feel that these churches of ours are not large empty tombs, architectural monuments, or meeting-places for instruction, but that they are the dwelling-place of God.

III. But if the House of God appeals to us by an influence mysterious yet real, where the mind sweeps across from the very heights of the higher heaven, it is to us, or at least it may be, even more than this it may be a sanctuary. The Church is still the place where the pursued may flee before the talons of an overmastering temptation and find rest for the soul. We cannot scold people into being good, we cannot persuade them into seriousness, but we may elevate and attract them by God’s exceeding beauty, and His tender gentleness. It is not only the sick body that needs to be taken out of its deadly environment: it is the sick soul which, when perishing from the dead monotony of unrelieved evil, passes in here into the presence of beauty, health, and goodness, and is saved by the sweetness and peace which breathe forth their fragrance from the sanctuary of God.

IV. But Solomon’s temple meant more than this to a few: our own churches mean much more to a Christian. They are charged with definite grace. Here is the complete and unflinching declaration that a progress without God is a progress downwards, that nature, left to itself only leads us away, and that ‘ye must be born again’ is no ecclesiastical misreading of a symbolical saying, but a solemn fact and the foundation of all spiritual life.

W. C. E. Newbolt, Words of Exhortation, p. 1.

References. VIII. 27. P. McAdam Muir, Modern Substitutes for Christianity, p. 65. VIII. 38. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Master’s Message, p. 45. VIII. 38, 39. J. Keble, Miscellaneous Sermons, p. 245. VIII. 44, 45. E. J. Boyce, Parochial Sermons, p. 293. VIII. 57-60. C. A. Berry, Vision and Duty, p. 79. X. 1. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Lessons for Daily Life, p. 112. X. 2. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, p. 173. X. 8. J. M. Neale, Sermons for Some Feast Days, p. 362. X. 12. G. W. M’Cree, Christian World Pulpit, 1890, vol. xx. A. Gray, Faith and Diligence, p. 133.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

The Dedication of the Temple

1Ki 8

IT is remarkable in connection with the dedication of the temple how the leading part was taken throughout by king Solomon. One would have thought that in the dedication of a sanctuary the leading men would have been the priests, Levites, scribes, and other persons distinctively identified with religious functions and responsibilities. We find, however, that exactly the contrary is the case. The priest occupied a second and tributary position, but it is the king who consecrates the sanctuary, and it is the king who offers the great prayer at its dedication. The question arises, Was not Solomon in reality more than king? Or, being a king, was he not, according to the divine ideal of Israel, a priest unto God? Did he not indeed occupy a kind of typical position as being in anticipation none other than the great high priest Jesus Christ himself? The kingship and the priesthood are combined in the Christian character of the later dispensation: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation.” This is precisely what Solomon was, namely, a “royal priest!” We are not, therefore, to look upon Solomon as merely in some official capacity superseding all the officers, and dignitaries of the nation, but as in a mysterious way overshadowing the system of things that was to be under the reign of the true Melchisedek. This is further illustrated by the circumstance that “king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude” ( 1Ki 8:5 ). The counterpart of this we find in the epistle to the Hebrews, where we read that “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;” and again, “by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” We take it, therefore, that in the instance before us there is no authority for kings merely as such, that is to say, in their strictly official capacity, to take a leading part in religious ceremonials. Bright indeed will be the day when every king as a man, a Christian, a loyal servant of Christ, shall take part in everything that concerns the sanctuary; but this is a very different thing from calling upon a royal personage simply on the ground of his royalty to sanctify a religious occasion by the exercise of royal prerogatives.

Solomon and his associates having done all in their power to bring the temple to a completion, we read, as in the case of the tabernacle erected by Moses, that “it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord” ( 1Ki 8:10 ). So intense was the manifestation of the divine presence, “that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord” ( 1Ki 8:11 ). It was precisely the same in the case of Moses, concerning whom we read, “And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” The conclusion of man’s work would seem to be the beginning of God’s; in other words, when man can go no further, God takes up the line of revelation, and continues it to the limit of human capacity. As we saw in the case of Moses, so in the case of Solomon we see that we have no right to expect the divine presence until our human resources have been exhausted. This indeed is the condition upon which the Almighty has worked in all the dispensations of providence. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” We know, therefore, the way by which to secure the divine revelation amongst us: sighing, repining, moaning, rebuking one another, criticism of methods may all be dismissed as utterly futile; we can only rely upon the disclosure of the divine presence by doing all that within us lies to fulfil our own personal religious duty. We have seen how Solomon and his associates worked, how heartily and lovingly they laboured together in the construction of the temple; and now when we read that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord was dazzlingly shown, we feel as if we had concluded, not an ebullition of sentiment, but a process of logic. The glory of the Lord follows sequentially, as if by a gracious necessity, upon all the labour which Solomon and his colleagues had laboured to do.

Now we approach the great prayer by which the temple was dedicated. The house itself was nothing. It was but a gilded sepulchre, an elaborate and costly vacancy. First of all, therefore, we stand convinced that however much we may do technically, it can only be regarded as in a preparatory or introductory capacity. We can build the house, but we cannot supply the tenant. Solomon and those united with him in this holy labour did not walk round about the temple saying, Behold how beautiful a thing we have created, how lavish has been the generosity of Hiram, and how skilful have been the men whose hands fashioned all this beauty! Not a word of praise do we hear concerning their own work; they seem rather to hasten into the house that they may behold some manifestation of the divine presence and rejoice that God was still king and ruler in Israel. It is beautiful to notice that even at this early period of religious development the spiritual ruled over the material, and the revelation of God even in the mystery of a cloud was considered an infinitely greater thing than all the architectural wonder which had been embodied by the genius and munificence of kings.

Solomon’s conception of the personality and dignity of God stands out quite conspicuously in the pages of history for its unrivalled sublimity. He speaks as one who was well instructed in the mysteries of the kingdom. In this prayer of Solomon’s there is what some persons often mistakenly call preaching even in the language of devotion. We are tempted to form too narrow a conception of prayer, and then to exclude from prayer much that in reality belongs to the very spirit and essence of communion. Solomon here tells God what he is, magnifies his attributes, adores his personality, as if giving God information regarding his own Deity; this would be the shallow criticism passed upon the prayer by those who do not understand what prayer is in all its scope and grandeur. Prayer is not request only, it is fellowship, communion, identification with God; it is the soul pouring itself out just as it will in all the tender compulsion of love, asking God for blessings, praising God for mercies, committing itself to God in view of all the mystery and peril of the future. When we enlarge our idea of prayer so as to take in all its meaning, we shall find that many a man has been praying who thought he was only preaching or discoursing upon the attributes of God. It is marvellous how in the Old Testament darkness is brought in as if it had been specially chosen for sacred purposes by the living God. Thus Solomon: “The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.” Thus the psalmist: “He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies;” and the psalmist again: “Clouds and darkness are round about him;” and Isaiah says, “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself.”

Solomon having thus addressed the God of Israel, turns to providence as revealed in the history of the chosen people, goes back even so far as the bringing-forth of Israel out of Egypt, and indicates point after point, at least suggestively, until David was elected to reign over the people Israel, and purposed as king to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. Solomon does not take the whole credit to himself for the origination of this idea of the temple. He connects his action with the purpose that was in the heart of David his father “And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord. God of Israel” ( 1Ki 8:17 ). Solomon could not but remember this, for David had made a special communication to him upon the subject “And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God.” In his prayer Solomon does not refer to the reason which had formerly been given by himself to Hiram for God rejecting the purposed temple on the part of David. Solomon puts the case with exquisite delicacy: “And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart”( 1Ki 8:18 ). Thus the purpose was commended as if itself had been a temple. We must not neglect the great principle which is suggested by this commendation. We shall be credited with doing many things which we only purposed to do. If we make a vow and indolently fail to fulfil it, then that vow shall be reckoned against us, and it shall be turned into an element increasing the severity of our judgment; but if for some reason, over which we have no control, we are unable to complete our wishes, or embody our intentions in actual fact, God will look upon those intentions as being themselves acceptable, and he will commend us as if we had brought them to maturity. “The Lord is very pitiful and kind.” The Lord is infinitely generous in all his construction of human motive and purpose. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he reading the heart; and knowing how human life is limited by uncontrollable circumstances, it shall be found at the last that many who were by no means conspicuous for Christian activity have really been amongst the leaders of the age in which they were unknown. A purpose will be regarded in heaven as equivalent to a prayer, and the answer to that prayer may come through others rather than to and through the suppliant himself. One man prays and another receives the answer, as one man sows and another reaps; thus the interblending of human interests and relations is again and again illustrated from a thousand various points.

The temple, so beautiful and so costly, is not to be associated with anything that is merely religiously mystic. This is not a tent of superstition, nor a habitation created for the purpose of indulging spiritual romances which can never have any bearing upon actual human life. Throughout his prayer we discover on the part of Solomon how thoroughly he identifies the house of God with all human interests. We have seen before that the house of God is really the house of man, and that being in the largest sense the house of man, it becomes through that very circumstance the house of God. The sanctuary should always be regarded as the home of the people. It is in the sanctuary that human life should be interpreted in all the meaning of its pain and tragedy. Men should be able to say, Now that we are baffled and perplexed by the things which are round about us in this world, and now that we find ourselves utterly unable to solve the problems which crowd upon our distracted minds, let us go unto the house of the Lord, for there we shall feel upon our souls the breath of eternity, and there we shall hear music which will quiet the tumult which carnal reason can neither explain nor control. Dark will be the day when men can hear nothing in the sanctuary but words which they cannot understand, references which have no bearing upon immediate agony, and discussions which simply titilate the intellect and the fancy but never reach the dark and mortal sorrows of the heart.

In the twenty-seventh verse Solomon raises the question of all-ages:

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” ( 1Ki 8:27 )

How natural it is that human imagination should be confounded by the impossibility of the infinite God locating himself within finite space. We do not consider that it is because God is infinite that he can so to say thus become finite. The finite never can become infinite, but it would seem to belong to infinite perfection to adapt itself to human limitation and necessity. God himself has addressed the ages in a tone precisely coincident with the language of Solomon: “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?” Solomon was therefore strictly within the line of revelation when he propounded the solemn inquiry. Everything depends upon our point of view in considering this great question of God’s condescension. Working from the point of our mere reverence, it would seem to delight us to put away the idea that God can trouble himself with any creature, how radiant and noble soever, which he has created: between the highest angel and himself there must always be the distance of infinity: so our very reverence may be turned into an instrument of temptation, or may be so perverted as to exclude from us all the blessings of heaven. This is a very subtle temptation, and is to be guarded against with no ordinary watchfulness. Strange as it may appear, man may think himself able to evade certain responsibilities by reducing his own dignity to a minimum and commenting in a tone of self-deprecation upon his littleness and worthlessness. On the other hand, the Christian teacher must insist that the very greatness of God constitutes no small part of his ability to accommodate himself to all the circumstances which mark the history of right. Let us therefore rather dwell upon the goodness of God than upon his majesty: upon his purpose in creating us, rather than upon his contempt for the things which he has created: whilst it is right to suppress anything like vanity concerning our own importance, it is also right to suppose that the purpose of God in our creation is his best warrant for coming to us in our insignificance and humiliation.

One might well think that the millennium had set in with the solemn dedication of the temple, and that all things would begin anew, and certainly that the time of tragedy, rebellion, and suffering had for ever passed away. We find however that Solomon orders his prayer in such a manner and tone as to recognise distinctly the fact that all things which had ever occurred which could try the faith, the patience, and the virtue of men would occur again and again to the end of the chapter. Thus we find in the prayer such words as these: “If any man trespass against his neighbour;” “When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy”; “When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain; “If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities;” “If thy people go out to battle against their enemy;” “If they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not)” ( 1Ki 8:31-46 ). These are remarkable words to have been used upon such an occasion as the dedication of the temple. They show a wonderful conception of human life on the part of the royal suppliant He does not say, Now that this temple is erected there will be no more plague, nor sin, nor war, nor difficulty in human life: God will now from this point of time so order things that there will be no more sin, nor crying, nor pain, nor death; this temple shall be as heaven upon the earth. No; on the contrary: though the temple stands as a monument of human piety and as a fulfilment of a divine promise, human life will go on in all the variety of its experience much as it had gone on from the beginning. What then, is there nothing in the point of history thus established by the building of this holy house? Henceforth it is to be understood that whatever happens admits of religious treatment, and is to be taken to the temple itself for consideration and adjustment God does not prevent many things which are even evil and distressing; but he overrules all things to high ends. We cannot enter into the reasons which limit what may be termed the preventive ministry of God: we wonder indeed that Satan is permitted to live: that he is not slain in the night-time and prevented from ever going about as a roaring lion: why this does not take place we cannot tell: to such enigmas there is no reply. Our satisfaction is to know that even Satan is in the hands of the living God, and that he may be used in some mysterious way for assisting the spiritual education of the world. It is something to know that our real necessities are named in prayer, and are regarded by wise and great men as subjects for divine treatment and blessing. It does the heart good to hear one’s own peculiar sorrow named in the prayer which is offered in the great congregation. A tender nearness is thus realised without the irritation of conscious personality. We feel that the pastor who thus prays understands human nature, looks upon human history with wise eyes, and knows exactly what blessings to ask for when he pleads with the king of heaven. Prayers that consist exclusively of adoration may exalt our sense of reverence; but prayers that descend into the details of personal suffering and loss come most healingly to the heart with all the gracious comfort of heaven. Such was the prayer of Solomon. The people who heard it heard their own history treated from a religious point of view; and they must have been conscious that judgment did not lie far from the language of entreaty.

Solomon recognises God as the ruler of providence and the controller of all nature. He is not afraid to trace the absence of rain to an ordinance of the Most High. A perusal of the history of his own people would make it clear that from early times God had been recognised as ruling over the elements of nature “I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass.” “Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.” “Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.” Not only is God regarded as ruling over providence and nature, but as penetrating human hearts and reading human motives “Give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men).” If there is one truth in the holy record presented more consistently than another it is this power of God to read the human soul. “The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.” “The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.” “O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.” Nor is this a discovery on the part of man, it is a distinct revelation on the part of God himself “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” “All the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” Thus is the dominion of God enlarged by the religious imagination of Solomon; and thus, from the other point of view, is the revelation of God confirmed by the testimony of those who have most profoundly studied his ways and purposes in the earth.

Let us rejoice in view of all this historical detail, and in view of all the ceremonialism embodied in the temple of Solomon, that we “are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest;” we “are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” The great mystery of sacrifice for sin has been accomplished once for all. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. We are not to rest in this assurance as in an abstract doctrine, but are to apply it to practical uses “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” We have also come to greater simplicity in prayer. Compare the prayer which Jesus Christ offered as an example unto his disciples with the prayer which Solomon offered at the dedication of the temple, and mark in the contrast the development in spiritual thought and religious feeling which is thus indicated. But every man must pray in his own tongue wherein he was born; it is natural for some men to use the language of highest adoration, almost to sing psalms in the midst of their religious exercises before the throne, to dwell with minuteness of detail upon all the care and love of God as shown in the providence of life; in all these matters each man must be faithful to his own constitution and temperament. In this, as in all other things, the fear of man bringeth a snare; so when we pray we must forget human criticism, and in our own way come to the throne of the heavenly grace, telling God all that is in our hearts, and asking from him such things as we think we have need of.

Solomon, having ended his prayer, “arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice,” and in that blessing he made one declaration which cannot but be quoted from age to age with increasing emphasis and joy, “there hath not failed one word of all his good promise.” This is the continual testimony of the Church. “There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” “Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you and not one thing hath failed thereof.” Thus with hardly any variation of language is the continuance of the divine goodness reaffirmed. This is matter of personal experience. Every man can examine his own life, and see wherein he has been faithful, and wherein he has been faithless, and say distinctly whether faithfulness has not been followed by benediction, and faithlessness by disapprobation. Many promises remain yet to be fulfilled. Specially there remains the promise to be fulfilled that God will be with his people in the valley of the shadow of death. There is no discharge in that war! Every man must fight that tremendous battle alone; there comes a moment when human friendship and human love can do nothing for him but pray and watch and hope: let us so live that when we come to the hour and the article of death we may be surprised by the gentleness of God in his way of taking up his people unto himself, and may the only question which we have to ask of death be, Where is thy sting? and of the grave, Where is thy victory? These triumphant conditions can only be realised by continual and growing faith in him who is the resurrection and the life. Let us be thankful for temples and sanctuaries of every name whilst we are upon the earth, and so live, and think, and grow in grace that all these things shall appear to us as small compared with the revelation which is yet to be made of the infinite spaces, the radiant heavens, the everlasting liberties of celestial citizenship.

Selected Note

After seven years and a half the work was completed, and the day came to which all Israelites looked back as the culminating glory of their nation. Their worship was now established on a scale as stately as that of other nations, while it yet retained its freedom from all worship that could possibly become idolatrous. Instead of two rival sanctuaries, as before, there was to be one only. The ark from Zion, the tabernacle from Gibeon, were both removed ( 2Ch 5:5 ) and brought to the new temple. The choirs of the priests and Levites met in their fullest force, arrayed in white linen. Then, it may be, for the first time, was heard the noble hymn, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.” The trumpeters and singers were “as one” in their mighty Hallelujah “O praise the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever” ( 2Ch 5:13 ). Throughout the whole scene the person of king Solomon is the one central object, compared with whom even priests and prophets are for the time subordinate. Abstaining, doubtless, from distinctively priestly acts, such as slaying the victims and offering incense, he yet appears, even more than David did in the bringing up of the ark, in a liturgical character. He, and not Zadok, blesses the congregation, offers up the solemn prayer, dedicates the temple. The solemn day was followed by a week of festival, synchronising with the Feast of Tabernacles, the time of the completed vintage. Representatives of all the tribes, elders, fathers, captains, proselytes, it may be, from the newly-acquired territories in Northern Syria (2Ch 6:32 ; 2Ch 7:8 ) all were assembled, rejoicing in the actual glory and the bright hopes of Israel. For the king himself then, or at a later period (the narrative of 1Ki 9 and 2Ch 7 leaves it doubtful) there was a strange contrast to the glory of that day. There was a danger near at hand.

Prayer

Almighty God, we bless thee that thy tabernacle is with men upon the earth. Thou hast a house even here, in the very world which has been spoiled and darkened by sin. Thou hast not forsaken the prodigal earth; still there remain upon it proofs of thy daily care, thy continual and abounding love; still, therefore, may we say, The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, and the fulness of the sea is also thine. We thank thee for the house which is as a strong tower to which we may continually resort. When thou dost shut the door, no man can open it; when thou hast enclosed us within the rock of thy protection, no enemy can come nigh unto us. Have us ever in thy holy keeping; give us to feel that thou dost so value us, through Jesus Christ thy Son, that no hair of our head shall be hurt, nor shall the smell of fire pass upon us in the furnace of trial. If thou wilt thus comfort us, thy comfort will become our strength; we shall be inspired by it, and repay all the tender solace by fuller obedience and more urgent industry; so shalt thou have answer to thine own reply: we pray unto thee, and thou dost answer us, and we return our reply in life well spent because of the inspiration and sustenance of the Holy Ghost. Our whole life is thine: the shape and purpose thereof thou knowest, and the end of it, soon or late, stands clearly before thee. Thou dost see the end from the beginning. There is no beginning to thee, nor is there any end. Thou sittest upon the circle of eternity. All things are set before thee now and evermore. Enable us, therefore, without urgency and impatience, to await the will of God, and to do that will with all love, simplicity, and earnestness; knowing that whether the Son of man come early or late, at midday or at midnight, we shall be ready, by the grace which he has given, to begin the eternal feast at his bidding. We commend one another to thy loving care. Thou knowest what a trial life is to many: how heavy its burdens, how entangled its perplexities, how stinging its disappointments, and how its fairest buds are often blighted and withered ere they be fully shaped. Thou knowest all these things. Thou knowest what medicine we have need of to heal our diseases, what comforts we specially need to overcome the severest distresses, and nothing wilt thou withhold from us that is good for the upholding and strengthening of our frail life. The Lord’s own morning shine upon us; the light that is above the brightness of the sun make day for us, and that day shall be as the summer of heaven. We pray now and always in the sweet name of Jesus, the great name Jesus Christ, the glorious name: Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Herein we know not the meaning of all we say, but the saying of it, under the inspiration of thy Spirit, makes our hearts warm, and makes life worth living. Amen.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXIX

DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE

1Ki 8:1-10:29 ; 2Ch 5:2-9:28

This discussion begins on page 178 of the Harmony, and relates to the dedication of the Temple. We have already shown that the building of the Temple was the greatest work of Solomon; that it made the greatest impression upon the world’s mind of any structure that had ever been erected in human history. The importance of the Temple was to insure a central place of worship, or of sacrifice, rather. The object of it was to bring about unity of faith, and national unity among the people. The idea comes from the following legislation by Moses: “When you shall obtain possession of the land and have become established, then you shall have one place in which to appear before the Lord.” In brief, the purposes of the Temple were these:

1. To provide a fixed habitation for Jehovah.

2. To provide a central place of worship where the tribes might assemble at the three great annual festivals and thus preserve the unity of the nation, Jehovah being the center of unity. In other words, as we explained on Leviticus, there must be: (a) A place to meet Jehovah on the throne of grace. (b) Sacrifices, or means of propitiation, (c) Priests, or Intermediaries between Jehovah and the people, (d) Times in which to approach him, that is, with daily, weekly, monthly, and annual offerings, (e) A ritual, telling how to approach him.

3. To prefigure the more glorious building, the church of our Lord. A magnificent building, with an imposing ritual, and with fixed times of gathering the whole nation together, would bring about this unity of faith and unity of national life. The building having been completed, Solomon now proposes publicly and formally to dedicate it to the service of God. God had told him when he commenced the building that he would inhabit the house built for him, and now Solomon proposes, by a very solemn national service, to consecrate this house to the Lord. I do not suppose that from any other one source, indeed from all other sources put together, we get the idea of dedication services so much as from this. The house could not be dedicated as soon as it was finished. It was several months from the time it was finished until it was dedicated. There had to be an appropriate time. It must be on the occasion of one of the great national feasts; so it was probably several months after the house was completed before the dedication services took place.

The first thing was to secure a great convocation of the people, and it is repeatedly stated that from Hamath on the north, or from the Euphrates River, unto the river of Egypt on the south, throughout the length and breadth of the land the princes, the rulers of the people, the representative men, were all commanded to be present. So it was a very great national convocation. The next step was to bring into this house all of the sacred things that survived from Moses’ time, and including those that had been prepared by David. So with great ceremony the old tent that Moses built, the brazen altar of burnt offerings, the table for the shewbread and the golden candlestick, were all brought and put in this Temple. Those of them no longer usable, for instance the tent, and a great many of the old-time utensils, were stored away and preserved as relics, including the brazen serpent Moses had made. We hear of that in a later reign and find out the last disposition of it. Then the ark itself was brought from the tent in which David had placed it, and it was put in its place in the most holy place. It was necessary to make a new lid for it, or mercy seat. A long time had elapsed, nearly 500 years, since it was made, and when they opened it there was found in it nothing but the two tables of stone upon which God had inscribed the decalogue. From the Pentateuch we know that other things had been put there. For instance, Aaron’s rod that budded, the pot of manna, and quite a number of things were put by the side of the ark, but when they brought that ark in that is all there was in it. Probably at the time it was captured by the Philistines come of these things were taken out.

The preliminary steps of the dedication were: (1) Placing in the treasury of the house all the things dedicated by David. (2) Placing all the sacred vessels and furniture in proper position. (3) The offering of multitudinous sacrifices. (4) The priests carrying into the most holy place the ark of the covenant. (5) As the priest issues from the most holy place, and the one hundred and twenty other priests standing east of the altar blow their trumpets, and the great Levite-choir bursts into a song of praise and thanksgiving, with cymbals and other instruments, saying, “For he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.” (6) Then the cloud, symbol of divine presence and glory, filled all the house.

So it had been when Moses finished the tabernacle, and so it was at Pentecost, after the Lord had built his church) that the Holy Spirit came down in consecrating, attesting power.

Now, having all the sacred things in place, Solomon had a platform of brass erected, about seven feet square, for himself, a kind of pulpit, so that he would be sufficiently lifted up above the people to be seen as well as heard, and we now note a singular fact, viz.: that Solomon acted as both king and high priest, a royal priest, a priest on a throne, and all through his life, he seems not only to perform the functions of the high priest, but he keeps the entire priesthood subject to his immediate control. Nothing is more evident in the study of his life than that the throne, in this case the civil power, kept the priesthood, the religious power, in subservience.

Solomon’s posture in this dedication was standing at the introduction, standing when he goes to pronounce the benediction, but in offering prayer, he kneels, and that is the first place in the Bible where kneeling for prayer is mentioned. You read in the Bible about standing to pray and sitting to pray, and here we have kneeling to pray, showing that the posture is not essential to the act. One can pray lying down, but kneeling is very reverential, and congregations should observe one form.

Standing up before the people, his opening address reverts to the fact of God’s promise to David that a son should succeed him, and that this son should build him a house, and God’s promise to live in the house when it was built. He then commences his prayer, and it is a very remarkable one. His first petition is that the Lord would accept and continually look toward this structure, really inhabit and be present in it. The other elements of the petition are clearly set forth in the text here. Look on page 180 of the Harmony. First, the position with reference to the making of an oath where there is an issue between neighbors, and the difficulty cannot be settled by outside testimony, then all oaths shall be made before God. A man, as in the presence of God, shall solemnly swear that what he says is the correct version of the case. That is called an appeal to the judgment of God. It was a favorite method of settling matters throughout the middle ages. For instance, a nobleman might testify about a case, another challenge his testimony, and they would agree to refer it to the arbitrament of God, as decided in battle, and the two knights would come out and fight in the presence of many witnesses with judges governing all the forms of it, and trusting to God that the right should triumph in that fight.

In Ivanhoe , you have an account of an appeal to the judgment of God in the fight between Ivanhoe and Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert in order to settle a charge against the Jewess, Rebecca. She appealed to the trial by combat and said let God say if she was a witch, as they charged, and so the case was fought out. Hundreds of instances are noticed in history, romance, and poetry of this appeal to God. Another method of appeal, mentioned also by Sir Walter Scott, is that when one was found to have died by violence, all of those whose circumstances made it possible that they might have participated in that murder were required to come up before the judge and with the murdered man’s body shrouded in a white sheet, put their finger on the dead man and swear that they had nothing to do with that murder, and the legend taught that if the real murderer did come and put his hand on the man, then blood would flow out from the wound and thus convict him. Now Solomon prayed that in any case of issue between two neighbors, where there were no means of settling it by outside testimony, and they come before God, that God would decide the case so as to justify the innocent and condemn the guilty.

His second petition is with reference to defeat in battle. This people is a glorious people. War will doubtless arise, and they that go out may be defeated. If they be defeated, he says it will be on account of their sins, and, convicted of sin by public defeat, if they there on that battlefield turn toward the Temple and pray God to forgive the sin, then Solomon asks that their national sin be forgiven.

He next considers the case of droughts. That whole country is subject to drought, and it is easy for all the sources of life to be dried up in severe drought. Drought in the Bible is represented as serving Jehovah; that it comes from him. Elijah prayed that it might not rain for three years and six months, and it didn’t rain, and he prayed that it might rain, and it rained. Now he says, “when a time of drought comes on this land on account of sin, if this people pray toward this Temple, asking God to open the windows of heaven and send rain upon the land, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin and send rain.” You notice how he is connecting the Temple with all the great vicissitudes of life.

Following that come famines and pestilences. Famines may result from wars, in destroying the products of the land, or they may result from plagues, as of locusts. Now, when a famine or a pestilence, or a contagious or epidemic disease, comes and the whole country was subject to them, as we would have here in this country, if there should come the Asiatic cholera, or the yellow fever then let the people pray, and his petition is that when these displays of divine wrath against the sins of men are made, that they will remember that here at Jerusalem in the Temple is a throne of grace unto which any man may come boldly in time of need and ask divine interposition and pardon. We will find numerous examples of all these in the history as we go on.

He then takes the case of a stranger. This is a beautiful thought. Some stranger from a foreign country, not one of the chosen people of Israel, may be in exile, banished from his own land, no light from heaven, seemingly, by the selection of Israel barred from the commonwealth of God, yet if this stranger comes to that Temple and lifts up his heart to God, then Solomon prays that the Lord will hear that stranger. That gets to be a very big item of the New Testament gospel. You remember Paul says to the Ephesians, “Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God.” In this prayer of Solomon is a forecast of the abrogation of the middle wall of partition between the Jew and the Gentile. All peoples, all races, tribes, tongues, and kindreds may come before the Lord. Paul enunciated it in Mars’ Hill when he said, “God made of one blood all nations of men that inhabit the face of the earth, and appointed their seasons and their boundaries with a view that they might seek after him and find him.” Now if a stranger comes to this house of God and honestly seeks a blessing from God, he may find it. That is a good thought. While our houses of worship are not temples, yet they ought to be places attractive to strangers. “Here the people of God are meeting and I am an outsider. Will I be welcome? Is there anything here for me? Will anyone speak a word of comfort or peace to my soul?”

When I was pastor of the First Church in Waco, two deacons had a special duty. Every Sunday morning, as soon as the bell tapped to call the Sunday school together for its final exercises, these two deacons arose and went down on the streets of Waco and spent the time till the opening song of the church service inviting strangers on the streets to come to church. One notable incident occurred. They brought a man in that way one day and he was converted. I think I never heard anything more touching than his relation of the fact that a very gentlemanly old man saw him on the street where he was wandering without money, no place to go, without a friend in the world, and asked him to come to church, which led to his salvation.

Solomon then takes up the case of battle. This is before the battle is joined. Is there such a thing as the decision of battle by the Almighty? Infidels adopt the theory of the French Marshal that God favors the heaviest battalions in the fight. But the battle is not always to the strong. Patrick Henry insisted upon that in his speech before the House of Burgesses. Solomon wanted that thought fixed in the very hearts of his people, that before they fought they should pray. At the great battle of Agincourt, when a very small English army was surrounded by an enormous French army, say 25,000 against 100,000, just before the fight the English army prayed that the French king says, “Are they prostrating themselves in homage to us already? Do they acknowledge their defeat?” One who knew them replied to the king, “No, sire. They are taking their case to their God, and they will fight the better for it when they get up off their knees.” One of the soldiers, in the English civil war, remarked to Prince Rupert that he feared Cromwell’s Ironsides when they knelt and prayed just before a fight and rose singing, “Let God arise and his enemies be scattered.” In the book of the Maccabees there is a marvelous illustration of this, when Judas Maccabaeus with 10,000 men defeated 100,000, having made a solemn appeal to the God of battles before the issue was joined.

It is related as an incident of colonial history that in the war between France and England, with the battlefield over in this country, that the French at a serious crisis dispatched a great fleet with 3,000 soldiers and 40,000 stands of arms to turn the scale, and as that armament approached this continent, the colonists felt that if it arrived safely they were lost, and so the preachers gathered the people for prayer that God might save them from this armament, and even as they prayed a storm came and scattered the fleet, wrecking many of the vessels, drowning most of the soldiers, and sinking most of their munitions of war.

The climax of Solomon’s prayer anticipates a time when his people, on account of very grievous sin, shall be carried into captivity, their city taken, and over there in a land of exile they should become slaves of a foreign power. In this dire disaster, if they should repent and remember and look back toward Jerusalem and to this house, then might the Lord forgive them there and restore them to their land. We see Daniel carrying out this thought, as every day he would open his window and look toward Jerusalem and pray, doing just what this prayer suggests. Against the royal edict he would turn toward the Temple and pray. In Dan 9:19 we find a famous prayer confessing the sins of the people and repeating the promise in the prophecy of Jeremiah that the seventy years of captivity is nearly out, and crying out, “Oh Lord, hear! Oh Lord, forgive,” and even while he is praying an angel comes, touches him and tells him that his prayer is heard and shows him that not only will they be restored at that time, but unveils the prophecy concerning the restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem and the length of time to elapse between that event and the birth of the long-looked-for Messiah, as you will find in the conclusion of Dan 9 .

Having offered this great prayer, Solomon arose and pronounced the benediction. As soon as this prayer ended, confirmation came in a very remarkable way. Fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices that had been placed upon the altar, and not only that, but God appears to Solomon as he had appeared to him at Gibeon, and uses this language, which Spurgeon makes the text of one of his great sermons: “And Jehovah said unto him) I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me! I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built to put my name there forever.” On the next page it says, “Now I have chosen and hallowed this house, that my name may be there forever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.” In another place he says, “My hands shall be there.” Now Spurgeon takes for a text: “My name shall be there, my eyes shall be there, my heart shall be there, my hands shall be there.” “Whoever comes to that place of worship, I see him. Whoever prays, I hear him. Whoever pleads, I love him and I save him by my hand.” Spurgeon makes a great sermon out of it, and I suggest it as a good text.

We note the permanent use of the Temple: “Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the porch even as the duty of every day required.” That is the daily sacrifice, offering according to the commandment of Moses on the sabbaths, then there are the weekly sacrifices, and on the new moons, which are the monthly sacrifices; and then on the great feast days three times in the year. There you have the whole cycle of the sacrifices to be offered in the Temple. Moses provided for morning and evening sacrifices in the tabernacle. Perhaps you have read The Prince of the House of David by Ingraham, an Episcopalian preacher. He represents the young Jewish lady that came from Alexandria on a visit to Jerusalem as being waked up just as the dawn flushed the eastern sky; the silver trumpets began to blow, and as those trumpets were blown everybody rushed to the housetops, and while they were looking at the Temple a great white cloud of incense rose up over the Temple and ascended to heaven, representing the morning prayers of the people, and they on the housetops prostrated themselves at the time of the incense and offered their morning prayers. That occurred every evening also, and it could be seen by everybody in the city, the going up of that great cloud of incense. They could hear the sound of those trumpets calling to prayer morning and evening. Solomon provided according to the ritual of Moses and David that these daily sacrifices should never be neglected in that Temple, nor the sabbatical, or weekly, nor the monthly, nor the annual sacrifices in the times of the great feasts.

I will devote the rest of the chapter to the glory of Solomon. You will note these words: “And the King made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland for abundance. So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart, and they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.” Again, “And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought him presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.”

As a sample of the glory of Solomon, we have the visit of the Queen of Sheba, who came, as our Lord said, from the uttermost parts of the earth. Commentators are divided as to whether she was a queen over, that best watered and most fertile part of southern Arabia, or whether she was the Queen of Abyssinia just across the dividing water in Africa. Most modern commentators make her the queen of what is called “Arabia Felix,” but my own judgment is that she was the queen of Abyssinia. The tradition of her reign lingers there where recently King Menelik defeated the Italian armies, and where they still keep up certain forms of the Christian religion, whence also in New Testament times came the Ethiopian eunuch whom Philip led to Christ. By combining 1Ki 10:1-13 with Mat 12:42 you may make a great sermon with these heads: (1) She heard a rumor that there was a wise man who could answer any question. (2) She had hard questions knocking at the door of her heart, as every woman has. She determined, at any cost, to have these problems solved, so she makes this great journey, and when she gets there and he answers all of her questions and she sees his glory, his Temple, the way by which he went up into the Temple, the apparel of his servants, there was no more breath in her, that is, she fainted. You know some people are so finely strung that they will faint when looking at a great picture, or on being stirred by great music. From her words, “The half was not told me,” we get our hymn, “The half has never yet been told.”

My own sermon on Mat 12:42 had these heads: (1) There shall be a resurrection of the dead. (2) It will be a general resurrection, (3) followed by a general judgment, (4) whose determining principle shall be: Men are judged according to their light. We may close this discussion with a brief account of Solomon’s relations with other governments.

1. Phoenicia. He inherited from his father a most valuable alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, whose fleets controlled the Mediterranean Sea.

2. Egypt. His marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter held the friendship of the ruling dynasty in Egypt.

3. Friendly alliance with the Queen of Sheba.

4. In David’s time the Hittite nation at Hamath paid tribute. Solomon conquered the country.

5. By intermarriage he secured friendly relations with many countries, as most of his marriages were political.

6. By commerce through the Mediterranean he held friendly relations with the nations on its shores as far as Spain.

7. By commerce with the archipelagoes of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, he held friendly relations with the Orient, and Africa.

8. By land-traffic he held friendly relations with Arabia, Mesopotamia, and the nations around the Caspian Sea.

QUESTIONS

1. What promise of Jehovah was made to Solomon when he commenced to build the Temple?

2. What command of Jehovah, through Moses, was fulfilled in the building of the Temple?

3. When then, in brief, were the purposes of the Temple?

4. What effect has this dedication on all subsequent dedications of buildings?

5. At what annual festival was the Temple dedicated?

6. What are the steps of offering the house, and how the divine acceptance signified?

7. What similar event occurred in Moses’ day, and what greater event in the New Testament day?

8. Describe the platform occupied by Solomon, and his posture in the several parts of the dedication.

9. In what double capacity does he act?

10. What were the salient points of his opening address?

11. The salient points of his prayer?

12. What evidence in later days that in accord with Solomon’s petition his people prayed toward Jerusalem?

13. In what signal way did confirmation come from heaven, that his prayer was answered?

14. Distinguish between the two manifestations of the glory of the Cloud, 2Ch 5:13 ; 2Ch 7:1-3 .

15. What says the text of the glory of Solomon, and the extent of his kingdom? (See 1Ki 4:20-25 ; 1Ki 10:18-25 .)

16. What our Lord’s reference to Solomon’s glory?

17. Recite the story of the Queen of Sheba. Where her country? What our Lord’s reference to it, and what the sermon outline on Mat 12:42 ?

18. What was Solomon’s relations to foreign nations?

19. When and why Jehovah’s second appearance to Solomon?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1Ki 8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which [is] Zion.

Ver. 1. Then Solomon assembled, &c. ] “Then,” when he had finished all the work for the house of the Lord. 1Ki 7:51 Solomon decked and garnished his temple before he prayed in it: so, saith one, before thou prayest prepare thy heart, which is the true temple of him who is greater than Solomon. And as that woman that sought her groat, swept over all the whole house, so when thou seekest anything of God, sweep over the whole house of thy heart; sweep it by repentance, wash the pavement of it with tears, beautify it with holiness, perfume it with prayers, deck it with humility, hang it with sincerity.

Out of the city of David, which is Zion. ] Into Mount Moriah: for there stood the temple. 2Ch 3:1

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

the elders. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “all the elders”.

and. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, and Septuagint, omit “and”.

fathers = fathers’ houses = families.

children = sons.

out of the city of David: i.e. up out of Zion (the former Jebus, 2Sa 5:6-9) to Moriah, where the Temple had been built (1Ch 21:28, 1Ch 22:1). Compare 2Sa 6. App-68

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 8

Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, and they brought the ark of the covenant into the temple, and as they did, the glory of the Lord came and filled the temple and there was just this glorious presence of God even as did take place at the time of the dedication of the tabernacle in the wilderness. Now again God’s presence, the Shekinah glory of God, filling the temple.

And Solomon there offered his prayer of dedication unto God. And this dedicatory prayer of Solomon’s is, of course, a classic as he speaks, first of all, of his building of the temple. And verse seventeen he said,

It was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house unto my name, you did well that it was in your heart ( 1Ki 8:17-18 ).

Now God accounted it to David as having done it because it was in his heart to do, though David was not allowed to do it. God takes your motives many times above your actions. It is possible to have the right actions with the wrong motives. That is not acceptable by God. You may have the right motives, but not carry through an action. The fact that the motive, the desire is there is acceptable by God. Man looks on the outward appearance; God looks on the heart. God looks upon that which motivates you. And that which is in your heart to do and that’s what God counts. What is in your heart to do. Not always am I able to do what’s in my heart. You know, it may be that a person is a very generous person but has nothing to give. God sees the heart. He sees the desire of the heart to give. Even though there is nothing to give, God counts the desire of the heart even more than the wealthy person that gives God a pittance of their wealth.

Remember Jesus talking about the little widow. She gave more than the rest. Though it was just a mite, she gave of her substance. The rest of all tossed in out of their abundance. That doesn’t count. God sees the heart. He knows the motive of the heart. It’s in David’s heart to build a temple and inasmuch as it’s in his heart, God said that’s good. It was in your heart to do. But you can’t do it because you’ve got too much blood on your hands, a man of war.

but your son that shall come out of your own loins, he will build the house in my name. So the LORD hath performed his word that he spoke ( 1Ki 8:19-20 ),

Now this affirmation of God’s faithfulness to perform His word is something that we need to take note of, verse twenty. For you can be sure that God will perform His word that He declares. And Solomon has now affirmed the fact that God has performed.

and I am risen up in the place of my father David, to sit upon the throne of Israel, and as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt ( 1Ki 8:20-21 ).

And now Solomon’s prayer.

So he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation, he spread forth his hands toward heaven ( 1Ki 8:22 ):

So you see Solomon now standing there. And all of the congregation of Israel having assembled. And Solomon lifts his hands unto God and there he begins this prayer of dedication.

O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with your servants that walk before you with all your heart ( 1Ki 8:23 ):

God, there’s no God like You anywhere.

And you have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him: for you spoke also with your mouth, and you have fulfilled it with your hand, as we see it today ( 1Ki 8:24 ).

It’s always glorious to stand and see the fulfillment of God’s work, God’s promise. Lord, You said it and there it is. Always exciting to stand in the fulfillment of God’s work.

Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which you promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as you have walked before me. And now, O God of Israel, let your word, I pray thee, be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on earth? behold, the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built? ( 1Ki 8:25-27 )

So Solomon’s recognition of sort of the ludicrous situation. “God, the heaven of heavens can’t contain You. How much less this house I have built.”

But have respect, Lord, toward this place and towards the prayers that are offered here, and hearken to the cries when your servants pray before you: That your eyes may be open on this house day and night, even towards this place where you have said, My name shall be there: and that you’ll hearken unto the prayer which your servant shall make toward this place. And hearken to the supplication of your servant, and your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: hear from heaven thy dwelling place: when you hear, forgive ( 1Ki 8:28-30 ).

Beautiful. “Lord, when they pray towards this place, hear from Your dwelling place in heaven. We know You don’t really dwell here. You dwell in heaven. But hear and when You hear, O God, forgive.”

And now he foresees various situations that may arise.

If any man trespasses against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath comes before your altar in this house: Then hear from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous. When Israel is smitten before their enemies, because they have sinned against thee, and they turn again to thee, and they confess your name, and they pray, and they make their prayers in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive. When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because we have sinned ( 1Ki 8:31-35 );

Now notice that he attributes the national calamities to the sins of the people. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” ( Pro 14:34 ). And the national calamities are the result of the sins of the people. What’s that make the United States? You know.

that thou should [verse thirty-six] teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon the land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. And if there’s a famine, or a pestilence, a blasting, mildew, or the locust, or caterpillar; if the enemy besieges them; whatsoever plague, or sickness there might be; and prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all the people. Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even you only, know the hearts of all of the children of men) ( 1Ki 8:36-39 );

As we said earlier, God looks on the heart.

Now if your people go out to battle against the enemies, wherever you send them, and they shall pray unto the LORD towards this city which you have chosen, then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause ( 1Ki 8:44-45 ).

Now you remember, of course, it goes on here to say,

And if they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and you be angry with them, deliver them into their enemy, so that they are carried away captives to the land of the enemies, either far or near; And if they bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and they repent, and they make supplication unto thee in the land where you have carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and done perversely, we have committed wickedness; And so return unto thee with all their heart, with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which you’ve led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: Then hear thou their prayer ( 1Ki 8:46-49 )

Now you remember later on when Daniel was a captive in the land of Babylon. And after the Medo-Persian Empire had overcome the Babylonian Empire, and Darius was tricked into signing the decree that if any man should make a petition or request of anybody else outside of King Darius for a period of thirty years, thirty days, he should be cast into the den of lions. And you remember that Daniel went to his house as was his custom and opened his windows towards Jerusalem and prayed unto the Lord. He was remembering what Solomon had prayed. “Lord, if they’re captives in the land and they turn towards this place and pray, hear.”

Now earlier on, the prayer of Daniel in the ninth chapter is a beautiful thing indeed, because again, Daniel was thinking of this very passage. For Daniel when he prayed, his prayer was actually a confession of sin. “Lord, we have sinned against Thee. We’ve done wickedly.” And he is confessing the sin, even as Solomon said, “Lord, if they’re in captivity and they confess their sin and all… ” And Daniel was following the pattern that Solomon had set forth in this prayer of dedication. Turning towards Jerusalem, confessing the sins and asking God’s forgiveness and God’s help. So Daniel, a very beautiful man because he was a man of the Word. He knew the Word of God. He knew the prophecies of Jeremiah. He knew the time of captivity was about up and following the pattern that Solomon had set in this prayer. Daniel thus prayed unto the Lord out of the captivity in Babylon, and God heard. And they were released from that captivity.

Now when Solomon prayed this prayer, God answered Solomon. And the answer of Solomon is oftentimes quoted by itself and not in context. Second Chronicles 1Ki 7:14 ,the Lord’s answer to Solomon was, “For if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will heal their nation” ( 2Ch 7:14 ). That was God’s answer to this prayer of dedication. We’ll get that more when we get to Second Chronicles.

Now after he had finished his prayer and supplications,

he arose from before the altar of the LORD ( 1Ki 8:54 ),

So it said that he was standing, but now he evidently went to his knees because he is rising.

from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread from heaven ( 1Ki 8:54 ).

He began by standing, went down to his knees, his hands lifted to heaven.

And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant ( 1Ki 8:55-56 ).

Isn’t that a great testimony to God? Not one word of His promises have failed.

The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, or forsake us: that we might incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, and statutes, and judgments. And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else. And let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, to keep his commandments, as this day ( 1Ki 8:57-61 ).

So he’s charged the people, “Be perfect with God. Walk in His ways.” And so they offered sacrifices before the LORD of peace offerings.

twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep ( 1Ki 8:63 ).

Probably the biggest barbecue on record. Great time of feasting and rejoicing then before the Lord as they have now completed the house and dedicated the house unto the Lord.

So the same day the king hallowed the middle part of the ground ( 1Ki 8:64 ):

He declared it holy because they didn’t have enough room to barbecue all of the beef in the area of the sacrifices and all. So they made the whole area holy and they offered up the burned offerings and all, all over the place there.

And at that time Solomon held a feast, all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and then another seven days ( 1Ki 8:65 ).

They went out for fourteen days celebrating.

And the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went up unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all of the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people ( 1Ki 8:66 ).

That’s the way people should always leave the presence of God. Joyful and glad of heart. That’s the proper attitude. Having been with God, fellowship with God should always create that joyfulness and the happiness within us.

Shall we pray.

Father, we thank You again for the privilege of studying Your word and may Your Spirit bless it now that we might hide it away in our heart that we might learn from the lessons of history. Lord, help us that we might walk in Thy ways; we might keep Thy word and that we might, O God, experience and know Thy faithfulness and Your keeping Your word to us. We thank You, Father, for the many blessings and the glorious promises that have been given to us and we rest in Thee. In Jesus our Lord. Amen. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

The Temple being finished, the great ceremony of dedication commenced. The permanent link between Tabernacle and Temple was the Ark of the Covenant. With great care and impressive ceremony, they had carried the Ark over Jordan into the land. For a long time it had remained at Gilgal, and then was taken to Shiloh. Captured by the Philistines, it had brought discomfiture and defeat. For twenty years it had found a resting place at Kirjathjearim, then for three months in the house of Obed-edom, and at length was brought into the city by David. At last it found its way into a House built by one who desired to be loyal to God, but who nevertheless was in many respects already falling short of the true ideal of submission. That the glory of the Lord filled the House was an evidence of the grace of Jehovah.

When Solomon saw the glory, he uttered a cry of exultation, and then blessed the congregation. Then standing by the altar of burnt-offering, he offered the dedicatory prayer. In its opening he recognized the proved faithfulness of God, and appealed to Him to continue it toward His people. Rising from prayer, the king again pronounced blessing on the people, and expressed an earnest desire for the continued presence of Jehovah. Whereas it is true that the presence of Jehovah was dependent on the obedience of the people, Solomon recognized that it was also true that their obedience was dependent on His presence, as he said, “Let Him not leave us, nor forsake us; that He may incline our hearts unto Him.”

Following the blessing came the offerings. At the close of the ceremonies the joyful people returned to their tents. It was the most perfect moment of national realization in the land. The Temple was erected, and the presence of God visibly manifested.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

the Temple Filled with Glory

1Ki 8:1-11

When the Temple was finished it was dedicated in connection with the Feast of Tabernacles. All Israel in its most festive attire welcomed the Ark to its resting-place, with sacrifices and offerings that defied calculation. The budding rod and manna had gone from the Ark, because they belonged to a stage of experience which had passed away, just as we have to put away the things of our childhood; but the holy Law was there, 1Ki 8:9, because, in our most ripened experience, we need to build and meditate on the eternal righteousness which is the foundation of Gods throne. The staves of the Ark were drawn out, because this was Gods resting-place forever. See Psa 132:1-18.

How comforted Solomon was when he saw the glory cloud settle down, like a bird on its nest! It was the sign of the divine approval and acceptance, Exo 40:34. May that Presence fill the throne-room of our nature, that there may be no part dark, Luk 11:36, but that soul, mind, and strength may be full of love and light.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

1Ki 8:27

I. Every one will recall the scene of Solomon, the mastermind stored with all the learning of the day, dedicating the Temple to God. He was speaking to a nation naturally given to idolatry and to the localisation of worship, to a nation exclusive in their religion and almost incurable in their low, semi-materialistic ideas of God, speaking, too, at the moment of dedicating their most magnificent temple to their national God; and yet he rises far above-nay, he cuts clean across-all their national prejudices, and in these sublime words reveals that God is infinite, not to be comprehended in temple or shrine. It was a stage in the revelation of God given to the world through Solomon, the great student of His works, a further revelation of the immensity, the inconceivability, of God. And yet Solomon dedicated the Temple to become the centre of the passionate religious fervour of the nation, to be deemed for a thousand years the most sacred spot in all the earth. How shall we regard this? Was it in Solomon a hypocritical condescension to popular superstition, and in the people an unconscious or forced inconsistency, or was it not rather in both a flash of anticipation of the great truth that every form of worship is inadequate and even misleading until we see its inadequacy?

II. We also have to learn this lesson, that all opinions about God, all systems of theology, are provisional, temporary, educational, like the Temple. They are not the essence of truth. It is the deepest conviction, not of philosophers only, but of the pious congregations of our land also, that the harmony, and co-operation, and brotherhood of Christians is the will of God concerning us, and that it is not to be sought for in unity of opinion, and can never be obtained as long as opinion is held to be of primary importance in religion. It is to be sought for in some far deeper unity of faith in Christ and service to Him. In the ideal Christianity which Christ taught opinion is nothing, and purity of life, charity, and the love of God are everything. Let us, each in our own little circles, try to assist in this glorious transformation of Christianity by the steady subordination of opinion to the practical service of Jesus Christ.

J. M. Wilson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 161.

References: 1Ki 8:27, 1Ki 8:28.-A. Watson, Christ’s Authority, and Other Sermons, p. 187. 1Ki 8:29.-E. Paxton Hood, Sermons, p. 1. 1Ki 8:38.-H. Hayman, Sermons Preached in Rugby School Chapel, p. 193. 1Ki 8:38-40.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1489.

1Ki 8:44-45

There is something very observable in its being “in heaven” that we ask that our prayers may be heard.

I. Heaven is supposed to be the place in which, in some extraordinary and by us unimaginable mode, God is pleased to disclose His magnificent perfections to the higher orders of created intelligence. It is not that God can be more present in heaven than on earth; it is only that His presence is made more manifest, His glory more displayed or rendered more apparent. The representation of heaven as our place of audience lifts us from our degradation and places us at once on a level with loftier orders of being.

II. Whatever else may be supposed to give fixedness to heaven, or to make it, according to our common ideas, a definite place, there can be no doubt that it is the residence of Christ’s glorified humanity, and that this humanity, like our own, can only be in one spot at once. To desire that our prayers may be heard in heaven is to desire that they may be heard where alone they can be heard with acceptance. We can obtain nothing from God except for Christ’s sake and through Christ’s intercession. Tell the humble suppliant that heaven is the abode of the “Man Christ Jesus,” that in heaven this Mediator carries on the work which He began on earth, and he will quickly realise that heaven, and heaven alone, is the place where human petitions may be expected to prevail.

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2326.

References: 1Ki 8:46.-Bishop How, Plain Words to Children, p. 102. 1Ki 8:53.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1232. 1Ki 8:57.-C. Garrett, Loving Counsels, p. 69; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 265. 1Ki 8:62.-E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. i., p. 46. 1Ki 8-Parker, vol. vii., p. 305. 1Ki 9:3.-C. Wordsworth, Sermons Preached at Harrow School, p. 10. 1Ki 9-Parker, vol. vii., p. 316.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 8The Dedication of the Temple

1. The great assembly (1Ki 8:1-2)

2. The transportation of the ark (1Ki 8:3-9)

3. The glory of the LORD filling the house (1Ki 8:10-11)

4. Solomons opening words (1Ki 8:12-21)

5. Solomons great prayer (1Ki 8:22-53)

6. Solomons benediction (1Ki 8:54-61)

7. The sacrifices and the feast (1Ki 8:62-66)

The ark of the covenant is now to be transported out of Davids city to be put into the most holy place, under the wings of the great cherubim. The ark was carried, according to the instructions in the law, by the priests. A great sacrificial ceremony also took place; so many sheep and oxen were sacrificed that they could not be numbered for multitude. The ark now had found a resting place (Psa 132:8). The staves by which the ark had been carried were now drawn out. They were not to be removed (Exo 25:15); but now they were pulled out, but remained there as a memorial of their journeys and the Lords faithfulness in bringing them into the promised rest. But in the ark nothing was found but the two tables of stone; Aarons rod and the pot of manna were missing. (Heb 9:4 has reference to the ark in the Tabernacle). The rod of Aaron was the emblem of the priestly grace which had accompanied them on their journey and the manna was their food in the wilderness. Both Aarons rod and the pot of manna were provisions for the wilderness; they would not have been in keeping with the reign of glory and peace, as well as the rest they now enjoyed. Thus when we are brought into glory we have no more need of priestly intercession and help, nor do we need the manna any longer. But the law was not missing, for as regards that earthly kingdom over which our Lord will yet reign, its foundation and administration will be the law of righteousness.

When the ark had been placed the glory-cloud filled the house. Jehovah had appeared in His glory to dwell in the house. And when that future temple will be on the earth as seen by Ezekiel in his great temple-vision, the glory will return and fill the house, and more than that, the whole earth will be filled with His glory (Eze 43:1-5; Num 14:21).

Then Solomon spoke. A great and marvellous dedicatory and intercessory prayer follows. It must be noticed that in all, especially in the bringing of the sacrifices, Solomon assumes the full character of priest. He acts as the king-priest, another Melchizedek, King of Salem. And this he was, king of righteousness in his judgments and king of peace. In all this he foreshadows Him, who is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He shall be a priest upon His throne (Zec 6:13) is the still unfulfilled prediction. Now He is upon the Fathers throne as the priest and advocate of His people. When He comes again He will have His own throne and be also a priest. We have therefore in Solomons functions in dedicating the temple and in the bringing of the sacrifices a prophetic type of our Lord in His future royal priesthood. First, Solomon turned towards the Most Holy filled with the glory of the Lord and said: I have surely built Thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for Thee to abide in forever. Then he blessed the congregation. He mentions once more David, his illustrious father, and the covenant-promise. And the LORD hath performed His word that He spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel (verse 20). And yet the covenant-promise had not seen its accomplishment; the failure of Solomon and the passing of the glory witnesses to that. Yet Solomon, his reign of peace and prosperity and especially his great work in the building of the temple foreshadows the great coming fulfillment of the Davidic covenant in the enthroned Christ upon the throne of his father David. A closer study of the great prayer we must leave with the reader. The different petitions are of deep interest and the kingdom characteristics are prominent. The prayer sets the people under the form of a righteous government, abounding indeed in kindness and forgiveness, yet one which will not hold the guilty innocent; and it presents God as the peoples resource, when the consequences of their sin fall upon them according to the principles laid down by Moses in Deuteronomy and elsewhere (Synopsis of the Bible). And in the prayer mention is made that all people of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by Thy name (verse 43). This looks forward to the ingathering of the nations into the kingdom, when nations will be joined to a God-fearing Israel. (See Zec 2:11; Zec 8:23.) The feast mentioned which followed the dedication feast is the feast of tabernacles. And this is again highly typical, for the feast of tabernacles is as a type unfulfilled. While it pointed back to the time when they were in the wilderness, living in tents and journeying towards the land of promise, it also pointed to the future, when the name of Jehovah was to be known among all the nations of the earth, when the nations would come to worship the Lord of Hosts (Zech. 14). The conjunction of the dedication of the temple with the feast of tabernacles was more than significant, it was prophetic. It is only when the Lord Jesus Christ occupies the throne and He builds the Temple of glory, that the nations will seek after Him and be converted. (See our annotations on Leviticus 23.) And while the king prayed and blessed the people, the people full of happiness and joy blessed the king. Heaven and earth rejoiced. It is the climax of Israels history in the land.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Then Solomon

The consecration of the temple illustrates all consecration. The temple, like the believer 1Th 5:23 was threefold: the court, that which was outward, visible, answered to the body; the holy place, where everything appealed to the sacred emotions, answered to the soul; the holy of holies, the place of communion with God Exo 25:22 answered to the spirit of man. The ark was the most all- inclusive type of Christ of any one of the vessels of the tabernacle. (See Scofield “Exo 25:9”). When, therefore, the priests brought the ark into the court, the holy place, and the holy of holies, they were, in type, enthroning Christ over the body, with its powers and appetites; the soul, seat of the emotions and desires; and the mind, seat of the capacity to know and commune with God. See Scofield “Gen 1:26” note 3. In Christian experience this answers to; Rom 12:1-3; Eph 5:18.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

am 3000, bc 1004

Solomon: This did not take place, according to Abp. Usher, till the year after the temple was finished, because that year was a jubilee. “The 8th day of the 7th month, viz. the 30th of our October, being Friday, was the first of the seven days of dedication; the 10th day, Saturday, November 1, the fast of expiation or atonement was held; whereon, according to the Levitical law, the jubilee was proclaimed by sound of trumpet. The 15th day, Friday, was the feast of tabernacles, which was always very solemnly kept; and the day following, Nov.14, being our Saturday, when the Sabbath was ended, the people returned home.” 2Ch 5:2-10

assembled: Jos 23:2, Jos 24:1, 1Ch 28:1, 2Ch 30:1, Ezr 3:1

chief of the fathers: Heb. princes, Num 7:3

that they might bring: 2Sa 6:1, 2Sa 6:2, 2Sa 6:6, 2Sa 6:12, 1Ch 13:1-5, 1Ch 15:3, 1Ch 15:25

out of the city: 1Ki 3:15, 2Sa 5:7-9, 2Sa 6:12-17, 1Ch 11:7, 1Ch 15:29, 1Ch 16:1, Psa 9:11, Psa 102:21, Isa 28:16, Isa 46:13, 1Pe 2:6

Reciprocal: 1Ki 8:66 – the eighth day 1Ki 20:7 – all the elders 1Ch 11:5 – the castle

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE

THE TIME (1Ki 8:1-2)

Since the temple was completed in the eighth month of the previous year (1Ki 6:38) and not dedicated until the seventh of the following, how shall we explain the interval? The reason usually assigned is that the king waited for the feast of tabernacles in the fall when one of the greatest assemblies took place, and for this purpose the most appropriate.

THE GRAND PROCESSION (1Ki 8:3-9)

Observe who were the leading actors (1Ki 8:3). Also what articles they carried (1Ki 8:4). The tabernacle means the old tabernacle of the wilderness, which had been located at Gibeon and was now to be preserved in the temple at Jerusalem.

Notice the sacrificing on the march (1Ki 8:5). Notice that it was the original ark of the covenant that was placed in the most holy place of the temple (1Ki 8:6). The wings of the cherubim mean those that Solomon caused to be placed there, and larger than those of Moses time which were firmly attached to the ark itself (Exo 37:7-8). The staves at the end of the ark were drawn out to be seen in the holy place, but not beyond it (1Ki 8:8). This was to guide the high priest on the day of atonement, that he might be able to enter the most holy place in the thick darkness (Exo 25:15).

Note what the ark contained (1Ki 8:9), and compare Heb 9:4. This last Scripture should be understood as teaching that the things it names were placed by and not in the ark (see Exo 16:33; Num 17:10).

THE DIVINE ACCEPTANCE OF THE WORK (1Ki 8:10-11)

It is only necessary to compare these verses with Exo 40:34, to see the significance of this act of Jehovah. He thus established Himself in Israel and took His seat on the throne of His glory. What satisfaction it must have brought to Solomon, and indeed all the faithful in Israel. What a reward for their endeavors! Oh, if they had only been faithful thereafter, that the Lord might never have departed from them! What a different story this world would have had to tell.

But how glad we should be that that glory is coming back to Israel, and the world is at length to be blessed thereby. Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love her (Psa 122:6).

SOLOMONS BLESSING (1Ki 8:12-21)

Just what is meant by the thick darkness (1Ki 8:12) is not easy to determine unless it is the cloud and pillar of fire of earlier days which indicated

.Jehovahs presence. The rest of the words of Solomons blessing, however, are plain.

THE PRAYER AND BENEDICTION (1Ki 8:22-61)

For the place where the king stood and knelt see 2Ch 6:13. How strange that the king should have thus ministered and not the high priest? But it was lawful for him to minister about holy things though he might not minister in them.

After the ascription of praise to Jehovah (1Ki 8:22-30), the prayer contains seven petitions or references to as many occasions when His interposing mercy might be required. Let the student discover them (1Ki 8:31-53).

The chapter closes with an account of the surpassing number of sacrifices presented and the rejoicing of the people for the goodness of God.

JEHOVAHS RESPONSE (1Ki 9:1-9)

If the words of this vision are studied carefully they will be found to contain an answer to all Solomons petitions.

1Ki 9:7-9, however, are a prophecy finding a sad fulfillment in our time because of Israels unfaithfulness. Their location in the record at this point leads up to the story of the kings worldly ambitions which were the beginning of the nations decline.

THE COMPENSATION OF THE KING OF TYRE (1Ki 9:10-14)

For the twenty years that Hiram the king aided Solomon (1Ki 9:10), Solomon gave him twenty cities, a city a year. Doubtless they were adjacent to his territory and were those which never had been conquered by Israel and were still inhabited by Canaanites.

These cities being unacceptable to him (1Ki 9:12-13), he was recompensed in some other way, and Solomon took control of them in his own hands and peopled them with Israelites (2Ch 8:2).

THE LEVY (1Ki 9:15-25)

The dedication of the temple seems to close at verse 25, which is why the preceding verses about the levy are included in this lesson, though their exact bearing upon it may not appear at first sight. Perhaps the connection is discovered by going back to 1Ki 5:13 and the following verses.

However, the reason for the levy of both men and money is clear from the many great works Solomon undertook as indicated in this chapter. Observe that the people levied upon (1Ki 9:20-22) were the Canaanites who had not been subdued or exterminated at the conquest. (See 2Ch 2:18.) As prisoners of war they did the drudgery, while the men of Israel had the more honorable employment.

QUESTIONS

1. At what period of the year did this ceremony occur?

2. What evidence have we that the Mosaic tabernacle had been preserved all this time?

3. Have you read Heb 9:4, and if so, how would you explain it?

4. How did God indicate His acceptance of the work?

5. Memorize Psalms 122.

6. How would you explain the ministering of the king on this occasion?

7. Name the subjects of the seven petitions of Solomons prayer.

8. Why did Solomon make levies of men and money at this time?

9. Who were especially levied upon and why?

10. With what general statement of Solomons religious spirit does the lesson close?

Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary

1Ki 8:1. Solomon assembled the elders of Israel The senators, and judges, and rulers. And all the heads of the tribes For each tribe had a peculiar head or governor. The chief of the fathers The principal person of every great Family in each tribe. Unto King Solomon, in Jerusalem Where the temple was built, and now finished. That they might bring up the ark With solemn pomp to the top of Moriah, (upon which mountain the temple stood,) in order that by this their attendance they might make a public profession of the respect, obedience, and service which they owed unto that God, who had been graciously and gloriously present with the ark. Out of the city of David, which is Zion That is, called Zion. Thither David had brought the ark from the house of Obed-Edom, and had made a tabernacle for it, (2Sa 6:12; 2Sa 6:17,) until a fixed house should be prepared.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1Ki 8:1. Solomon assembled the elders, after twenty years labour. That is, in the fourth year of his reign he began to build the temple; in seven years and a half more he finished and dedicated it; and in thirteen years more he finished his palace. Hence he devoted twenty years to architecture and fortifications.

1Ki 8:9. Nothing in the ark, save the two tables of stone. The copy of the law written by Moses was, it is supposed from Deu 31:26, preserved in a safe, by or in the side of the ark; and that Hilkiah discovered it in the concealed place, when the good Josiah reformed his people. 2Ki 22:8.

1Ki 8:10. The cloud filled the house. This designates the sanctity of the place, and the faithfulness of God to his promise. Lev 16:2. On this account holy men often looked toward the temple in the act of prayer.

1Ki 8:12. The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. He said that he would come down in a cloud on the mercy seat. Lev 16:2. The Egyptians said that he dwelt in impenetrable darkness; in opposition to which St. Paul affirms that he dwelleth in light. This prayer is a piece of admirable composition; it is a prayer ecclesiastic proper to be read at the opening of every christian temple.

1Ki 8:27. The heaven, and heaven of heavens, better, the whole expanse of heaven.

1Ki 8:44. Pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen. Daniel opened his window which looked towards the temple, and prayed three times a day, feasting his soul as often as he refreshed the body.

1Ki 8:46. There is no man that sinneth not. Hebrews , yichta. The LXX, , which all the Latin versions render peccet, no man that may not sin. This reading coincides better with the subjunctive form of the prayer, If they sin against thee; and there is no man that may not sin.

REFLECTIONS.

The glorious temple of JEHOVAH being at length completed, adequate means of shelter, with every luxurious comfort provided in the interior courts for Israel, and in the outward court for the strangers of all nations; the sacred mysteries were adjourned from Gibeon to be deposited in this temple as antique treasures, and to be preserved as memorials of the divine origin of the Hebrew religion. The ark of the Lord, so terrible to the heathen, so glorious to Israel, and ever a stranger on earth, now enjoyed a repose for more than four hundred years; but it was not designed to abide for ever in any place on earth. The hallowing tokens of the divine presence rest most with that soul, and with that people where they are most invited.

The next grand scene, the crown and glory of all, is the manner in which the Lord accepted the work of man. No sooner was the sanctuary prepared and cleansed, no sooner did the high altar smoke with victims for the sins of the people, than God came down in glory, veiled with clouds; for so has he been wont to dwell with men. No sooner did the King of glory descend, than ten thousand times ten thousands of angels accompanied him in the cloud; for it is great in the eyes of heaven, when a nation renews its covenant with God. So Isaiah saw Messiah the king, on a throne high and lifted up; his train filling the temple, while the adoring seraphim occupied the higher circles of the throng. With what reverence then should we enter the house of God. With what humility should we bow in his presence; and with what fervour offer up the devotion of our hearts to the Eternal Majesty of heaven.

The nation being assembled on this august occasion, all ages and ranks of men exhibited a scene of joy and devotion far superior to our conceptions. The aged men in particular, who had witnessed the calamities of their country, during the long oppression of the Philistines, were now scarcely able to believe the transition to glory, riches, and power. The priests forgot the sorrows they had sustained in the bloody reign of Saul; and all the levites, with trumpets and psalms, were ready to make a joyful noise to God. But Solomon more than all exulted that the Lord who had called him to the throne, had enabled him to complete the sacred superstructure, and that he had this day assembled the whole nation to participate in his joy. He therefore stretched forth his hands with blessings on the crowds. But on seeing the priests come forth, unable farther to proceed with the sacred services by reason of the cloud, his soul was awed and humbled before the majesty of his fathers God. Deeply impressed with the perfections of JEHOVAH, who dwelleth not in temples made with hands, he stood as a sinful man near the altar, and emboldened by the covenant and all its mercies, he prayed him to regard that temple, and to record his name there. Solomon next cast his eye on the national covenant, and on all the mercies vouchsafed to Israel, since the emancipation from Egypt; and past mercies are strong pledges of future hopes. Then with a piety truly filial he adverts to the wishes and preparations of David his father, to build a temple to the Lord. Happy is it when a son can glory in the piety of a parent, and when it is the first object of his life to imitate it. His heart being now warmed with sacred recollections, he proceeds to invoke a perpetuity of the covenant presence of the Lord, that in all times of famine, of war or of drought, the penitent nation might look towards the holy place, and be delivered from their calamities. Nor wishing to confine the divine goodness to Israel, he prays that the stranger hearing of the name of the Lord, who should come to make his supplications unto the Most High, might be heard and accepted. Here was a liberality far above the narrow spirit of the jews, soliciting equal favour for the gentile worshipper. While filled with those tender and grateful sentiments, Solomon appeared as if he had seen the fading glory of his own temple, the apostasy of Israel, and their consequent captivity; for he prays in the tenderest manner that they might be heard in the land of their exile, and be delivered, as formerly from the land of Egypt. Surely a more enlightened prayer concerning the being and perfections of God, or a prayer more appropriate to the case of Israel, was never offered to the Lord. The king having risen from his knees, most affectionately blessed the people, and exhorted them to serve the Lord with a perfect heart, to walk in his statutes and keep his ways. Nor did he merely bless them in words: he made them a royal and liberal banquet for seven days. Happy was Israel in their king, happy in their religion, happy in their God. Hence we have a farther instance of the divine authority of public worship, and of the good that results from a nation most solemnly devoting itself to God. Think of this, thou infidel, and of the glory that followed; thou who loungest away the hallowed sabbaths in taverns, with newspapers in thy hand, and profanest that day with private games.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1Ki 8:1-66. Solomons Dedication of the Temple, Prayer and Address.This chapter is mainly Deuteronomic, being clearly written from the standpoint of one who has seen the Temple as the one national sanctuary of Israel, and has either witnessed its downfall or perceived that it was imminent. 1Ki 8:1-11 is, however, probably from the early record of how the house of Yahweh was dedicated by Solomon, of which 1Ki 8:62-66 is the continuation, the prayer of Solomon being Deuteronomic. In 1Ki 8:12 f. we may have preserved an authentic poetic utterance of Solomon himself in the words of the dedication of the Temple. As they are given in the LXX they read as follows:

Yahweh set the sun in heaven,

He said he (himself) would dwell in thick darkness;

Build thou my house, a house suitable for thyself

To dwell (for ever).

Behold, is it not written in the book of the song?

It has been suggested that the book of the song should be the book of Jashar (p. 45, Jos 10:13, 2Sa 1:18).

The Ark was brought to the Temple (1Ki 8:1-11). The LXX has some very striking omissions in 1Ki 8:1-5, most of which is from a Priestly source. It is interesting to observe the differences between our account and that in 2Ch 5:2-14, which is obviously copied from it. In the latter the Levites, who are not mentioned in Kings, are introduced as bearers of the Ark. The Ark was brought from the city of David, which is Zion. Here Zion is clearly distinguished from the Temple mountain, though not unfrequently in the OT the Temple is described as Zion. In the days of Josephus Zion was on the western or northern hill (Conder, City of Jerusalem, p. 39). It is, however, now generally assumed that by Zion at this time is meant the lower part of the eastern hill on which the Temple stood. Hence the phrase to bring up. The Zion of Josephus was higher than the Temple hill.

The orations of Solomon consist (Skinner. Cent.B) of three parts: (1) Solomons address to the people, 1Ki 8:15-21; (2) dedicatory prayer, 1Ki 8:22-53; (3) the benediction, 1Ki 8:54-61. Because these speeches are, after the fashion of ancient writings, put into the mouth of Solomon, though composed at a later date, their value is considerable as showing the idea of the Jews concerning past history. The Temple, for example, was the one sanctuary which Yahweh had promised (Deu 12:11) to provide for Israel when He had given them rest from their enemies (1Ki 8:16). The prayer (1Ki 8:22 ff.) consists first of a petition that God will fulfil his promise to David (1Ki 8:22-26). But though God cannot be contained by any house, Solomon prays that He may hearken when prayers are addressed to this Temple (1Ki 8:27-30). Next he gives instances of how he prays that God will hear: in case of disputes (1Ki 8:31 f.), in defeat (1Ki 8:33 f), when rain is needed (1Ki 8:35 f.), in time of plague or famine (1Ki 8:37 ff.), in case of strangers (1Ki 8:41 f.), in time of battle and captivity (1Ki 8:44 ff.). The chapter concludes with the blessing of the people by Solomon, and an account of the sacrifices offered.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

THE ARK AND TABERNACLE FURNITURE

(vs.1-13)

The temple being completed, there was one matter of importance remaining. Thus, for the bringing of the ark to the temple Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and the heads of tribes (v.1). The ark is the symbol of Christ as the Sustainer of the throne of God (the mercy seat), and it had dwelt in tents for many years, speaking of Christ being a Sojourner with His people until the day when He will take His rightful throne in the millennial kingdom.

It was at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month that the ark was carried by the priests into the temple (vs.2-3). This feast itself pictures the peace of the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Together with the ark, all the tabernacle furnishings were brought to the temple (v.4). This teaches us that all the lessons of the tabernacle are incorporated into the advanced teachings of the temple. Nothing was to be lost. The veil is not mentioned here, but 2Ch 3:14 speaks of the veil being made of the same materials as the veil in the tabernacle, though of course the veil in the temple would be larger.

The occasion of the ark being brought into the temple is the last we read of the ark in the Old Testament except in Jer 3:16, “They will say no more, ‘the ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall it be made any more.” Thus, the ark, though it was of greatest significance in Israel when it was made, was only symbolical of Christ, and the symbol must vanish away while the One of whom it speaks remains eternally in all the excellence of His beauty and glory.

At this time Solomon, together with the people, offered sheep and oxen in such great numbers that they could not be counted (v.5). This seems amazing, but it is typical of the great work of grace that God will accomplish among His redeemed people when the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus is established, for it pictures the appreciation of the people in remembering the one great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus at Calvary Their praise will be virtually unceasing.

The priests then brought the ark into the holiest of all, placing it under the wings of the cherubim that were engraved on the wall (v.6). Thus the cherubim, with their wings, overshadowed the ark and its poles (v.7). The poles were permanently placed so as to be seen in the holy place as a permanent reminder of the Lord Jesus having been a Sojourner with His people until the day of His reigning in glory (v.8).

At this time only the two tablets of stone were in the ark (v.9). The Lord Jesus has said, “Your law is within My heart” (Psa 40:8). In His heart the law was safely kept. The golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded were put in the ark as a provision of grace when Israel failed to keep the law. But the New Covenant (Jer 31:31; Jer 31:34) will have nothing to do with Israel’s obedience or disobedience, for it will be God’s sovereign work in blessing to Israel. Thus the provision for cases of disobedience will 110 longer be emphasized, but the sovereign work of God in grace. In Christ Israel will see the covenant perfectly kept.

Having placed the ark in the holiest of all, the priests came out, and immediately the cloud of God’s glory filled the house of the Lord (v.10). Thus God was indicating His presence in approving of the temple as His dwelling place among Israel. At that time the priests could not minister in the temple (v.11). The glory of the Lord was paramount, and man’s work must then cease.

Solomon’s words, however confirmed the truth of God’s dwelling. He said “The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud. I have surely built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever” (vs.12-13). How good for us to learn well the lesson that since Israel was still under law, God dwelt in thick darkness. Though in very nature “God is light,” yet Israel did not see Him revealed in light. In the New Testament we are told that “He is in the light” (1Jn 1:7), for He is now revealed in the person of His Son. How wonderful is the difference for us!

SOLOMON’S ADDRESS TO ISRAEL

(vs.14-21)

In dedicating the temple Solomon addressed the people briefly before praying publicly at length to God. He blessed the people (v.14) and ascribed to God the blessedness of fulfilling His word to David in giving David’s son the wisdom and ability to accomplish the work of building the temple (v.15). Solomon realized that it was God who put into David’s heart a desire to build the temple, but though God approved of David’s desire, He did not allow him to do this (vs.15-19), but told him his son would do the building.

Solomon took pleasure in recognizing that God had both promised and carried out His promise in having Solomon build the temple. Solomon had not conceived this project, but God had, and Solomon simply obeyed the Word of the Lord in building the temple and thus providing a place for the ark which contained the covenant the Lord had made with Israel when He brought them out of Egypt (vs.20-21).

SOLOMON’S PRAYER

(vs.22-53)

Solomon’s prayer at this time is fully quoted, for it was to be kept always in Israel’s memory. He spoke in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and addressed God as “the Lord God of Israel.” How much more full and precious are the prayers of the New Testament epistles, such as Eph 1:17, addressed to “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.” Such a prayer goes far beyond the scope of the one nation, Israel, so that it centers our thoughts, not on the blessing of a nation, but on the one great source of blessing, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“But,” Solomon adds, “will God indeed dwell on the earth?” David realized that God’s dwelling in the darkness of the holy place did not by any means infer that God was confined there. In fact, “heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You” (v.27). God is infinite (unlimited) and omnipresent (present everywhere), yet in pure grace He specially signified the temple as the place of His dwelling in order to concentrate Israel’s thoughts on Him as the Center of all Israel’s interests.

Solomon pleads with God to regard his prayer and supplication, which is voiced particularly on behalf of Israel whose interests were centered in the temple in Jerusalem (v.28), the place in which God had said He would place His name (v.29).

The first thing he prays for, both as to himself and the people, is forgiveness (v.30). He knew they were not worthy of God’s consideration and unless God forgave them for their sin they would be left desolate. If one sinned against his neighbor and there was any question about the matter, so that the accused offender was put on oath as regards this guilt or innocence, then Solomon asks that God would hear and intervene, absolving the innocent and condemning the guilty (vs.31-32). Because people may be guilty of swearing falsely, Solomon prayed that God would intervene to settle such cases.

Solomon entertained no false hopes that Israel would never be defeated by enemies. He does not say “If,” but “When Your people are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they burn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple” (v.33). Many times it was true that Israel was defeated by their enemies because they had sinned against God, so that Solomon’s prayer is really prophetic. He asked that God would hear Israel’s repentant prayer and restore them by His grace (v.34).

Withholding rain would be another infliction sent by God because of Israel’s sin. Again, if this discipline resulted in the repentance of Israel, Solomon prayed that God would hear their prayer, forgive their sin and send rain (vs.35-36).

There would also be occasions of famine, pestilence, blight or mildew, infestations of locusts or grasshoppers. God would send these to draw attention to the plague of sin in the hearts of individuals (vs.37-38), and if this produced self-judgment so that people would pray toward the temple, recognizing God’s glory, then Solomon would expect the Lord to hear in heaven and forgive and act in grace toward each individual as He discerned their need (v.39). This forgiveness would instill in hearts a wholesome fear of God (v.40).

Solomon considers also a foreigner in his prayer. If the foreigner had come to Israel because of hearing of the greatness of the God of Israel, then Solomon considered him entitled to be heard when he prayed toward the temple, and asked that God would answer the foreigner’s prayer (vs.41-43).

In cases where Israel went out to battle and they prayed to the Lord toward Jerusalem and the temple, then Solomon also asks the Lord to hear their prayer and maintain their cause (vs.44-45).

Again, in verse 46, Solomon says, “When they sin against You,” not “If” and God in anger delivers them into an enemy’s hand, so that they are carried captive, then they repent and supplicate the Lord, he asked that God may hear in heaven and forgive them. This section (vs.46-53) has direct bearing on Israel’s condition at the present time, having grievously sinned against God in rejecting His beloved Son, and therefore carried away into other lands. Solomon likely did not realize that a dispersion would last for centuries, as it has.

One captivity of Judah lasted for 70 years, but in answer to prayer when many were brought down to repentance, God restored them to their land (2Ch 36:20-23). But their present dispersion has lasted for nearly 2000 years, which shows the stubbornness of the human heart, but God will yet work in the hearts of at least a remnant of Israel to cause them to be broken down in repentance and pray earnestly for His restoring mercy. Then He will answer according to the goodness of His heart.

God will indeed then grant them compassion before their enemies who will show compassion to those they have previously persecuted. Solomon pled with God on the basis that the children of Israel were God’s people, God’s inheritance, whom He had brought out of Egypt (v.51). Though Israel’s failures were great, yet Solomon had confidence that God would not give them up. He had in fact separated them from all the peoples of the earth as His inheritance, and this sanctification would not be allowed to come to nothing (v.53). God had spoken of this to Moses, and God’s Word will certainly be fulfilled.

SOLOMON BLESSES ISRAEL

(vs.54-61)

After interceding with God, Solomon is free to bless the people, for their blessing is dependent on the pure grace of God for which Solomon had prayed. He spoke with a loud voice so the people would hear (vs.54-55). But he begins by blessing the Lord who had given rest to Israel from all their wars, acknowledging that “There has not failed one word of all His great promise which He promised through His servant Moses” (v.56). How good that the people were reminded of the perfect faithfulness of God to His word, and if we too remember that He has proven Himself true to us in all our history on earth.

In verses 57-58 Solomon expresses the desire the Lord would be with Israel as He had been with their fathers, inclining their hearts to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments. He desired too that the Lord might well remember the words of Solomon’s prayer, that Israel might be blessed and that all nations on earth might have this witness that the Lord is God, the only God (vs.59-60).

He concludes his blessing by pleading with Israel to be loyal to the Lord God, walking in His statutes and keeping His commandments. Such exhortations are multiplied throughout the Old Testament, but these did not keep Israel from disobedience. They needed what is revealed in the New Testament – a true knowledge of Christ and the value of His sacrifice.

THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE

(vs.62-66)

The dedication of the temple required sacrifice, just as anything dedicated to the Lord must be accompanied by sacrifice, as was true even in the case of the Lord Jesus when consecrated to God soon after His birth (Luk 2:22-24). The sacrifice then spoke of His own sacrifice, which is infinitely more valuable than 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. These were peace offerings, speaking of the fellowship between God and the people accomplished by the sacrifice of Christ, making the way clear for God to dwell with mankind, as the temple illustrates. When these were offered, the house was dedicated (v.63). At the same tune Solomon consecrated the middle of the court for the offering of these sacrifices, because they were too many to offer on the copper altar.

Following the dedication Solomon held a feast for the blessing of Israel, apparently announced for seven days, but increased to fourteen days. Thus their joy at this time was remarkably sustained, and when the people were sent away, they blessed the king and returned home with joyful hearts, thankful for the goodness of the Lord to Israel. This was the high point of Israel’s splendor and glory, for that glory soon deteriorated and will never be regained until the Lord Jesus takes His place as King Of Israel, then the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former (Hag 2:9).

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might {a} bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which [is] Zion.

(a) For David brought it from Obed-edom, and placed it in the tabernacle which he made for it in 2Sa 6:17.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

5. The temple dedication ch. 8

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.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The entrance of the ark 8:1-11

The Israelites regarded the ark 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 since David had brought it from the house of Obed-edom (2Sa 6:17). It was the only item in the temple that was not new. Perhaps God did not change it to help the people realize that He, symbolized by the ark, had not changed. His person and methods of dealing with them at the mercy seat were the same as they had been.

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 that all Israelite males had to attend (Lev 23:33-36). This 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. [Note: Gray, p. 193.]

What 1Ki 8:3-8 picture is the symbolic enthronement of Yahweh as Israel’s King. Israel’s God now entered into His house. As mentioned above, 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" (1Ki 8:8) shows that the writer wrote this part of Kings before 586 B.C. when the Babylonian army destroyed this temple.

The ark housed the tablets of the Decalogue (Ten Commandments; Heb 9:4). The sole presence of the Law in the ark reemphasized the importance of the Israelites submitting to the Mosaic Covenant, which these tablets represented. That obedience would be the key to Israel’s success (Jos 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 (Exo 19:9; Exo 24:15-16), symbolic of Yahweh’s presence, filled the temple. It had also filled the tabernacle at its dedication (Exo 40:34-35). [Note: See George R. Berry, "The Glory of Yahweh and the Temple," Journal of Biblical Literature 56 (1937):115-17.] The Israelites perceived 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.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

THE TEMPLE WORSHIP

1Ki 8:1-11

“Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these. Behold, ye trust m lying words, that cannot profit.”

– Jer 7:4; Jer 7:8

THE actual Temple building, apart from its spacious courts, was neither for worshippers nor for priests, neither for sacrifice nor for prayer. It existed only for symbolism and, at least: in later days, for expiation. No prayer was offered in the sanctuary. The propitiatory was the symbol of expiation, but even after the introduction of the Day of Atonement the atoning blood was only carried into it once a year.

All the worship was in the outer court, and consisted mainly,

(1) of praise and

(2) of offerings. Both were prominent in the Dedication Festival.

“It is written,” said our Lord, “My house shall be called a House, of Prayer, but ye have made it a den of robbers.” The quotation is from the later Isaiah, and represents a happy advance in spiritual religion. Among the details of the Levitic Tabernacle no mention is made of prayer, though it was symbolized both in the incense and in the sacrifices which have been called “unspoken prayers.” “Let my prayer be set forth as incense,” says the Psalmist, “and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” In the New Testament we read that “the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.” But during the whole history of the first Temple we only hear-and that very incidentally-of private prayer in the Temple. Solomons prayer was public, and combined prayer with praises and benedictions. But no fragments of Jewish liturgies have come down to us which we can with any probability refer to the days of the kings. The Psalms which most clearly belong to the Temple service are mainly services of praise.

In the mind of the people the sacrifices were undoubtedly the main part of the Temple ritual. This fact was specially emphasized by the scene which marked the Festival of the Dedication.

It is difficult to imagine a scene which to our unaccustomed senses would have been more revolting than the holocausts of a great Jewish Festival like that of Solomons Dedication. As a rule the daily sacrifices, exclusively of such as might be brought by private worshippers, were the lambs slain at morning and evening. Yet Maimonides gives us the very material and unpoetic suggestion that the incense used was to obviate the effluvium of animal sacrifice. The suggestion is unworthy of the great Rabbis ability, and is wholly incorrect; but it reminds us of the almost terrible fact that, often and often, the Temple must have been converted into one huge and abhorrent abattoir, swimming with the blood of slaughtered victims, and rendered intolerably repulsive by heaps of bloody skins and masses of offal. The smell of burning flesh, the swift putrescence caused by the tropic heat, the unlovely accompaniments of swarms of flies, and ministers with blood-drenched robes would have been inconceivably disagreeable to our Western training-for no one will believe the continuous miracle invented by the Rabbis, who declare that no fly was ever seen in the Temple, and no flesh ever grew corrupt. No doubt the brazen sea and the movable caldrons were in incessant requisition, and there were provisions for vast storages of water. These could have produced a very small mitigation of the accompanying pollutions during a festival which transformed the great court of the Temple into the reeking shambles and the charnel-house of sheep and oxen “which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.”

Had such spectacles been frequent, we should surely have had to say of the people of Jerusalem as Sir Monier Williams says of the ancient Hindus, “The land was saturated with blood, and people became wearied and disgusted with slaughtered sacrifices and sacrificing priests.” What infinite, and what revolting labor, must have been involved in the right burning of “the two kidneys and the fat,” and the due disposition of the “inwards” of all these holocausts! The groaning brazen altar, vast as it was, failed to meet the requirements of the service, and apparently a multitude of other altars were extemporized for the occasion.

When the festival was over God appeared to Solomon in vision, as He had done at Gibeon. So far Solomon had not gravely or consciously deflected from the ideal of a theocratic king. Anything which had been worldly or mistaken in his policy-the oppression into which he had been led, the heathen alliances which he had formed, his crowded harem, his evident fondness for material splendor which carried with it the peril of selfish pride-were only signs of partial knowledge and human frailty. His heart was still, on the whole, right with God. He was once more assured in nightly vision that his prayer and supplication were accepted. The promise was renewed that if he would walk m integrity and uprightness his throne should be established for ever; but that if he or his children swerved into apostasy Israel should be driven into exile, and as a warning to all lands, “this house, which have hallowed for My name, will I cast out of My sight, and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people.” Here, then we are brought face to face with problems which arise from the whole system of worship in the Old Dispensation. Whatever it was, to whatever extent it was really carried out and was not merely theoretical, at whatever date its separate elements originated, and however clear it is that it, has utterly passed away, there must have been certain ideas underlying it which are worthy of our study.

1. Of the element of praise supported by music, we need say but little. It is a natural mode of expressing the joy and gratitude which fill the heart of man in contemplating the manifold mercies of God. For this reason the pages of Scripture ring with religious music from the earliest to the latest age. We are told in the Chronicles that triumphant praise was largely introduced into the great festival services, and that the Temple possessed a great organization for vocal and orchestral music. David was not only a poet, but an inventor of musical instruments. {Amo 6:5, 1Ch 23:5} Fifteen musical instruments are mentioned in the Bible, and five of them in the Pentateuch. Most important among them are cymbals, flutes, silver trumpets, rams horns, the harp (Kinnor) and the ten-stringed lute (Nevel). The remark of Josephus that Solomon provided 40, 000 harps and lutes and 200, 000 silver trumpets is marked by that disease of exaggeration which seems to infect the mind of all later Jewish writers when they look back with yearning to the vanished glories of their past. There can, however, be no doubt that the orchestra was amply supplied, and that there was a very numerous and well-trained choir. We read in the Psalms and elsewhere of tunes which they were trained to sing. Such tunes were “The Well,” and “The Bow,” and “The Gazelle of the morning,” and “All my fresh springs shall be in Thee,” and “Die for the son” (Muth-labben). In the second Temple female singers were admitted; {Ezr 2:65 Neh 7:67 Psa 87:7} in Herods Temple Levite choir-boys took their place. The singing was often antiphonal. Some of the music still used in the synagogue must date from these times, and there is no reason to doubt that in the so-called Gregorian tones we have preserved to us a close approximation to the ancient hymnody of the Temple. This element of ancient worship calls for no remark. It is a religious instinct to use music in the service of God; and perhaps the imagination of St. John in the Revelation, when he describes the rapture of the heavenly host pouring forth the chant “Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,” was colored by reminiscences of gorgeous functions in which he had taken part on the “Mountain of the House.”

2. When we proceed to speak of the Priesthood we are met by difficulties, to which we have already alluded, as to the date of the varying regulations respecting it. “It would be difficult,” says Dr. Edersheim, “to conceive arrangements more thoroughly or consistently opposed to what are commonly called priestly pretensions than those of the Old Testament.” According to the true ideal, Israel was to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”; {Exo 19:5-6} but the institution of ministering priests was of course a necessity, and the Jewish Priesthood, which is now utterly abrogated, was or gradually became, representative. Representatively they had to mediate between God and Israel, and typically to symbolize the “holiness,” i.e., the consecration of the Chosen People. Hence they were required to be free from every bodily blemish. It was regarded as a deadly offence for any one of them to officiate without scrupulous safeguard against every ceremonial defilement, and they were specially adorned and anointed for their office. They were an extremely numerous body, and from the days of David are said to have been divided into twenty-four courses. They were assisted by an army of attendant Levites, also divided into twenty-four courses, who acted as the cleansers and keepers of the Temple. But the distinction of priests and Levites does not seem to be older than “the Priestly Code,” and criticism has all but demonstrated that the sections of the Pentateuch known by that name belong, in their present form, not to the age of Moses, but to the age of the successors of Ezekiel. The elaborate priestly and Levitic arrangements ascribed to the days of Aaron by the chronicler, who wrote six hundred years after Davids day, are unknown to the writers of the Book of Kings.

In daily life they wore no distinctive dress. In the Temple service, all the year round, their vestments were of the simplest. They were of white byssus to typify innocence, {Rev 15:6} and four in number to indicate completeness. They consisted of a turban, breeches, and seamless coat of white linen, together with a girdle, symbolic of zeal and activity, which was assumed during actual ministrations. {Comp. Rev 1:13; Rev 15:6} The only magnificent vestments were those worn for a few hours by the high priest once a year on the Great Day of Atonement. These “golden vestments” were eight in number. To the ordinary robes were added the robe of the ephod (Meil) of dark blue, with seventy-two golden bells, and pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet; a jeweled pectoral containing the Urim and Thummim; the miter; and the golden frontlet (Ziz), with its inscription of “Holiness to the Lord.” The ideal type was fulfilled, and the poor shadows abolished forever, by Him of whom it is said, “Such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.”

The priests were poor; they were very often entirely unlettered; they seem to have had for many centuries but little influence on the moral and spiritual life of the people. Hardly any good is recorded of them as a body throughout the four hundred and ten years during which the first Temple stood, as very little good had been recorded of them in the earlier ages, and not much in the ages which were to follow. We read of scarcely a single moral protest or spiritual awakenment which had its origin in the priestly body. Their temptation was to be absorbed in their elaborate ceremonials. As these differed but little from the ritual functions of surrounding heathendom they seem to have relapsed into apostasy with shameful readiness, and to have submitted without opposition to the idolatrous aberrations of king after king, even to the extent of admitting the most monstrous idols and the most abhorrent pollutions into the sacred precincts of the Temple, which it was their work to guard. When a prophet arose out of their own supine and torpid ranks he invariably counted his brethren amongst his deadliest antagonists. They ridiculed him as they ridiculed Isaiah; they smote him on the cheek as they smote Jeremiah. The only thing which roused them was the spirit of revolt against their vapid ceremonialism, and their abject obedience to kings. The Presbyterate could have no worse ideal, and could follow no more pernicious example, than that of the Jewish priesthood. The days of their most rigid ritualism were the days also of their most desperate moral blindness. The crimes of their order culminated when they combined, as one man: under their high priest Caiaphas and their sagan Annas to reject Christ for Barabbas, and to hand over to the Gentiles for crucifixion the Messiah of their nation, the Lord of Life.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary