April
26th 1
Kings 6
Solomon builds the Temple
1:
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the
children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth
year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the
second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 2:
And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length
thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits,
and the height thereof thirty cubits. 3:
And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the
length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits
was the breadth thereof before the house. 4:
And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. 5:
And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about,
against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of
the oracle: and he made chambers round about: 6:
The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six
cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in
the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the
beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. 7:
And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready
before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor
axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in
building. 8:
The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house:
and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out
of the middle into the third. 9:
So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with
beams and boards of cedar. 10:
And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high:
and they rested on the house with timber of cedar. 11:
And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, 12:
Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk
in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my
commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee,
which I spake unto David thy father: 13:
And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake
my people Israel. 14:
So Solomon built the house, and finished it. 15:
And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both
the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered
them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with
planks of fir. 16:
And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor
and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within,
even for the oracle, even for the most holy place. 17:
And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.
18:
And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open
flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 19:
And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark
of the covenant of the LORD. 20:
And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and
twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof:
and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was
of cedar. 21:
So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a
partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it
with gold. 22:
And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all
the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid
with gold. 23:
And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten
cubits high. 24:
And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the
other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing
unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. 25:
And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one
measure and one size. 26:
The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the
other cherub. 27:
And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched
forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched
the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other
wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.
28:
And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 29:
And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved
figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and
without. 30:
And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31:
And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the
lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall. 32:
The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them
carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid
them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm
trees. 33:
So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a
fourth part of the wall. 34:
And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door
were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35:
And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and
covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work. 36:
And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a
row of cedar beams. 37:
In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid,
in the month Zif: 38:
And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth
month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and
according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven
years in building it.
1 Kings 7 Solomon’s
other projects
1:
But Solomon
was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his
house. 2:
He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof
was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the
height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with
cedar beams upon the pillars. 3:
And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty
five pillars, fifteen in a row. 4:
And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in
three ranks. 5:
And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light
was against light in three ranks. 6:
And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits,
and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them:
and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them. 7:
Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the
porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the
floor to the other. 8:
And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch,
which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's
daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch. 9:
All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed
stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation
unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court. 10:
And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of
ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. 11:
And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and
cedars. 12:
And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones,
and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of
the LORD, and for the porch of the house. 13:
And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. 14:
He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a
man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and
understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to
king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
Solomon
builds the Temple porch
15:
For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and
a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about. 16:
And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of
the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the
height of the other chapiter was five cubits: 17:
And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the
chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one
chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter. 18:
And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one
network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with
pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter. 19:
And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily
work in the porch, four cubits. 20:
And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above,
over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates
were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter. 21:
And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up
the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up
the left pillar, and he called the name thereof Boaz. 22:
And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the
pillars finished.
Furnishing
for the Temple
23:
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other:
it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of
thirty cubits did compass it round about. 24:
And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it,
ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast
in two rows, when it was cast. 25:
It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three
looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and
three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them,
and all their hinder parts were inward. 26:
And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought
like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two
thousand baths. 27:
And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one
base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the
height of it. 28:
And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and
the borders were between the ledges: 29:
And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and
cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath
the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. 30:
And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the
four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were
undersetters molten, at the side of every addition. 31:
And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but
the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and
an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their
borders, foursquare, not round. 32:
And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the
wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit
and a half a cubit. 33:
And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel:
their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their
spokes, were all molten. 34:
And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and
the undersetters were of the very base itself. 35:
And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit
high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders
thereof were of the same. 36:
For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof,
he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the
proportion of every one, and additions round about. 37:
After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting,
one measure, and one size. 38:
Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths:
and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases
one laver. 39:
And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the
left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the
house eastward over against the south. 40:
And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram
made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the
house of the LORD: 41:
The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the
top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls
of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; 42:
And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of
pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters
that were upon the pillars; 43:
And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases; 44:
And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea; 45:
And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels,
which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD, were of
bright brass. 46:
In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground
between Succoth and Zarthan. 47:
And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were
exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out. 48:
And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the
LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the
shewbread was, 49:
And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five
on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and
the tongs of gold, 50:
And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and
the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors
of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the
house, to wit, of the temple. 51:
So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the
LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had
dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put
among the treasures of the house of the LORD.
1
Kings 8 The Ark brought into the Temple
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. 2:
And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at
the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3:
And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4:
And they brought up the ark of the LORD, 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. 5:
And 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. 6:
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto
his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even
under the wings of the cherubims. 7:
For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the
ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
8:
And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen
out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen
without: and there they are unto this day. 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. 10:
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy
place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 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.
Solomon
speaks to the people
12:
Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in thick
darkness. 13:
I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for
thee to abide in for ever. 14:
And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation
of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;) 15:
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his
mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it,
saying, 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 an house, that
my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people
Israel. 17:
And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the
name of the LORD God of Israel. 18:
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. 19:
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.
20:
And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up
in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as
the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD
God of Israel. 21:
And 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.
Solomon’s
prayer
22:
And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all
the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
23:
And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven
above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy
servants that walk before thee with all their heart: 24:
Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst
him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with
thine hand, as it is this day. 25:
Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my
father that thou promisedst 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 thou hast walked
before me. 26:
And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified,
which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. 27:
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? 28:
Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his
supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the
prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: 29:
That 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. 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 thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. 31:
If 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: 32:
Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning
the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the
righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. 33:
When 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:
34:
Then 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. 35:
When 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: 36:
Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of
thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they
should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to
thy people for an inheritance. 37:
If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting,
mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege
them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever
sickness there be; 38:
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, and spread forth his hands toward this house: 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;) 40:
That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which
thou gavest unto our fathers. 41:
Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but
cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; 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; 43:
Hear 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. 44:
If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever
thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city
which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for
thy name: 45:
Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and
maintain their cause. 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, so that they
carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; 47:
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, we have committed wickedness; 48:
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: 49:
Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy
dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50:
And 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
have compassion on them: 51:
For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest
forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: 52:
That thine eyes may be open 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. 53:
For 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 GOD.
Solomon’s
charge to the people
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 the altar
of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to
heaven. 55:
And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud
voice, saying, 56:
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
all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his
servant. 57:
The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not
leave us, nor forsake us: 58:
That 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. 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 his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all
times, as the matter shall require: 60:
That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and
that there is none else. 61:
Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in
his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
Sacrifices
and Celebrations
62:
And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the
LORD. 63:
And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered
unto the LORD, 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. 64:
The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was
before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings,
and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the
brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the
burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace
offerings. 65:
And 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 our God, seven days and seven days, even
fourteen days. 66:
On 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 had done for David his servant, and for Israel
his people.
In Chapters 6, 7 &
8 we read of the building of the temple by King Solomon. First he
builds the temple and then the porch. And then he furnishes the
temple and the Ark of the Covenant is brought to the temple. Then we
have the dedication of the temple which begins with a speech by
Solomon and a prayer of dedication and then he gives a solemn charge
to the people. Then he offers the sacrifices and lastly the
celebrations begin. It was 480 years after the children of Israel
came out of the land of Egypt before the temple was begun. It took
seven years to build it and three years to furnish it. That makes 490
years from the Exodus or 70 weeks of years 70x7=490 years. The period
from Abraham to the Exodus was also 490 years or seventy weeks of
years. What Solomon didn’t know was that another 490 years later it
would be destroyed by the Babylonians when Nebuchadnezzar took Judah
captive. Solomon began building in the 4th
year of his reign. The dimensions of the temple were as follows.
Length
60 cubits 80 ft
Breadth
20 cubits 15 ft
Height
30 cubits 22½ ft
The
Porch was
Length
20 cubits 15 ft
Breadth
10 cubits 7½ ft
In the house he
made narrow windows. And leaning into the wall all around he made
rooms on three stories. A winding stair led up to the upper floors.
The entire temple was made of stone and the stones were cut and
worked off site. No sound of a hammer was heard in all its
construction. Then the Lord spoke to Solomon saying that if he lived
according to the statutes, judgments and commandments then the LORD
would keep his promises to him. (Under law the promises were
conditional on obedience) The Lord promised to be with Israel and not
forsake them. Inside the house the walls were panelled in cedar, no
stone was seen anywhere. The whole of the inside panelling was
overlaid with gold. Inside the most holy place Solomon made two
angels in gold – 10 cubits or 7½ ft high. The wings of the
cherubim touch each other and they touched the walls each side. On
the walls all around he carved cherubim’s, palm trees and open
flowers. The floor was overlaid with gold. The door of the holy place
was made of Olive wood. The doors, door posts and lintel were all
Olive. They also had carvings of cherubim, palm trees and flowers and
they were covered in gold. The main doors of the temple were made of
pine they were bi-fold doors on both sides. They also had the same
carvings and gold covering. Then we digress to see what other
projects Solomon also built. First he built a house for himself which
took thirteen years to build. It was bigger than the Temple. It was
built of stone and cedar wood. He also built a house for his Egyptian
wife. Then we come back to the Temple. Solomon built a porch for the
temple. And he cast two pillars of brass 13½ ft high. And on top of
each pillar was a capitol of 3¾ ft high. The right pillar he called
Jachin and the left pillar he called Boaz. Then after seven years of
building he had to furnish it. The first thing he made was a large
bath made of molten brass, 7½ ft across from lip to lip and 3¾ ft
high. Underneath were twelve oxen three facing the four points of the
compass. The Bath was 4 inches thick and contained 12,000 gallons of
water or 45½ cubic metres. Then we get a lot of instructions for
things that are hard to understand. All of these things were made of
bright brass. They were cast in the clay near to Succoth and Zarthan.
When everything was completed Solomon sent for the Ark of the
Covenant and it was taken from the Tabernacle into the most holy
place and the slaves were removed. And then when everyone had left
the temple the glory of the LORD filled the place. No one could stand
there because of the glory of the LORD. Then Solomon told the Lord
what he had done and he turned and blessed the people. Then Solomon
prayed. This is perhaps the longest prayer in the Bible. He blessed
God because he is the covenant keeping God. Then he asked the Lord to
keep the promises that he made to his servant David. He said the
heaven of heavens cannot contain you much less this house which l
have built. He said when any man prays toward this house may his
prayer be heard and forgive him of his sin. He says (And this is pure
law) When your people are beaten by their enemy because they have
sinned and when they turn again to you (repentance) and confess your
name and pray and plead to you in this place – then hear in heaven
and forgive their sin and bring them again into the land which you
gave to their fathers. When the skies are shut up and there is no
rain because they have sinned if they pray toward this place and
confess your name and turn from their sin when you afflict them, then
hear and give rain in the land. And Solomon goes on to describe the
many disciplines of the Lord. He speaks of disease, blasting, mildew,
locust, caterpillar, enemies, plague and sickness. (When Christ came
he found the whole nation sick and dying and groaning under a Roman
yoke and called on Israel to turn back to the Lord their God) Then he
speaks over the next 490 years to a time when Judah will be
transported to another land he says when they return to you with all
their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies
then hear their prayer and bring them home. Then Solomon rose from
off his knees and stands before the people and brings a solemn charge
to the people. He blessed the LORD who had brought them out of Egypt
and brought them into the land. He said May the LORD be with us as he
was with our Fathers. He says may the LORD not leave us or forsake
us. (How very different to the New Covenant in which Jesus says I
will never leave you or forsake you) And may all the earth know that
the LORD is God and that there is no other God. So be perfect before
the Lord and live in his laws and keep his commandments. Then Solomon
offered sacrifices before the LORD - 22,000 oxen, 120,000 sheep. Then
Solomon held a feast which lasted for 14 days and all the kings of
the earth were invited.
- What remarkable things do you notice about the temple?
- What do you notice in Solomons prayer of dedication?
- What celebration goes into the dedication of the Temple?
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