WWUTT 619 Solomon's Prayer of Dedication?

Solomon built the Temple of God and dedicated it to His name, and in his prayer of dedication we are reminded that God is a

God of judgment, but He is also a God who is merciful and gracious when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

Word. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky. Well, in our

Old Testament Study, we're starting a new book today, sort of. It's 2

Chronicles, which is really picking up right at the end of 1 Chronicles. You could pretend that break isn't even in there.

The themes that were central to 1 Chronicles still apply in 2 Chronicles.

So we had three main themes. 1. The Davidic Covenant, God's covenant with David and how that also applied to His people

Israel. 2. The Temple, the House of God, which David was preparing to build at the end of 1

Chronicles and then Solomon is going to build here at the beginning of 2 Chronicles. 3.

The three most central theme to these two books is the people of God. While the kings were more the emphasis in 1 and 2

Kings, the people are more the emphasis in 1 and 2 Chronicles. Now the

Davidic Covenant was center stage in 1 Chronicles, of course, because we had the covenant given there.

The Temple is going to be more thematic in 2 Chronicles because this is how we start, with Solomon building the

Temple of God. So 2 Chronicles 1 .1. Solomon, the son of David, established himself in his kingdom, and the

Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great. Solomon spoke to all

Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all

Israel, the heads of fathers' houses. And Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place that was at Gibeon for the

Tent of Meeting of God, which Moses the servant of God had made in the wilderness was there.

But David had brought up the Ark of God from Cariath Jerim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the

Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out. And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the

Lord, which was at the Tent of Meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. In that night

God appeared to Solomon and said to him, Ask what I shall give you.

And Solomon said to God, You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place.

O Lord God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?

God answered Solomon, Because this was in your heart and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may govern my people over whom

I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings who were ever before you, and none after you shall have the like.

So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel."

Now there's a little bit of dramatic irony in this request that Solomon has made before God.

And it's a little bit different than the way Solomon made this request of God in the book of 1

Kings. Remember that 1 and 2 Chronicles is written after the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem following their exile, and they have rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, they have reconstructed the temple.

So they are looking back over history to remember how great they were and how far they had fallen when

God had turned them over to their enemies because they worshiped false gods. The covenant that God made with David was that on his throne, he would establish his kingdom forever.

Now we know that's foreshadowing to Christ, but at the time, not even

Solomon understood that, because consider what it is that he said here in his request to God.

He says, O Lord God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

What Solomon is saying is, I'm the fulfillment of that covenant that you made with David that you would establish your kingdom forever on my throne.

But what the people of Israel understand as they're reading back over their history and are coming to, you know, 2

Chronicles 1, of course, there were not the chapter and verse markers when they would have been reading this, but you know, for the sake of explaining it, you know what

I'm talking about. Anyway, as they came back to 2 Chronicles 1 and they're reading this, they understand that Solomon is not the fulfillment of that covenant that God had made with David, because Solomon is going to fall far.

Though God gave him much wisdom and much knowledge, he did not love the Lord his

God with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength. Eventually his pagan wives turned him after false gods, and it was for this reason that God divided the kingdom between Israel and Judah in the kings that succeeded

Solomon. So there's kind of a dramatic irony here in what Solomon is requesting and understanding what is eventually going to happen, knowing that Solomon is not the fulfillment of the

Davidic covenant, but the people of Israel are waiting for yet another. So now verse 14,

Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1400 chariots and 12000 horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the

Shephelah. And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Q and the king's traders would buy them from Q for a price.

They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150.

Likewise, through them, these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

So here we get to chapter two, where Solomon is putting everything together in preparation for the construction of the temple.

It's a long list of things. And on your own time, you can go and read first or I'm sorry,

Second Chronicles, chapter two, if you like. Then in chapter three, we have the description of him building the temple very similar to the description that we saw in the book of First Kings.

And likewise, with chapter four, a description of the temple's furnishings. So I'm going to skip to chapter five, beginning in verse two, where the

Ark of God is brought into the completed temple. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the father's houses of the people of Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the

Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month.

And all the elders of Israel came and all the Levites took up the Ark and they brought up the

Ark, the tent of meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the tent. The Levitical priests brought them up and King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled before him were before the

Ark sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. Then the priests brought the

Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house in the most holy place underneath the wings of the cherubim.

The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the Ark so that the cherubim made a covering above the

Ark and its poles. And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside.

And they are there to this day. There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb where the

Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the holy place, for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves without regard to their divisions, and all the

Levitical singers, Asaph, Hammad, and Judathon, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters.

And it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the

Lord. And when the song was raised with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments in praise to the

Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

The house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the

Lord filled the house of God. And there's a couple of points I want to make about what we have described here.

In verse 10, it says there was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb.

And you probably know that there was a point where the Ark also contained Aaron's staff, the one that had budded into a tree, and then a jar that contained the manna that the people of Israel ate in the wilderness.

But likely these items that had previously been in the Ark were lost at a time when the

Philistines had seized the Ark and brought it into one of their cities. And so all that was left there inside the

Ark was just the tablets of the commandments that God had given to Moses. So that's all that was on the inside.

Another point is that this celebration that took place as the Ark was being brought into the temple was in unison.

It was organized. It was planned. It was not a lot of noise and chaos. It was a very specific song that everyone had practiced and sang in unison.

Why is it necessary for me to make that point? Well, because Old Testament celebrations are often what

Charismatics and Pentecostals will use to justify their crazy celebrations. And they will say that what they're doing in church is like what

Israel did in Israel or Israel did in their time in the Old Testament.

And that's simply not true. All of these worship services in the temple were as deliberate, specific, unified together as any traditional church service that you might have today.

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14, related to this

Charismatic style of worship, he said that God is not a God of disorder, but he is a

God of order. And you see that order being established even here in the temple as the

Ark of God is being brought in. All of the worship that we see being described for us in these chapters, all of it was very planned out and intentional and purposeful.

It was not chaotic noise like the Pentecostals and Charismatics would otherwise have you believe.

So we have the presence of the Lord filling the house of God in a cloud so that the priest could not stand or stand to minister because of this cloud.

Boy, so much for glory clouds that Bethel Church claims to be having in the middle of their church services, right?

The Holy Spirit just shows up in the form of this cloud right in the middle of their service. No, if that was happening, they would not stand to minister.

They would not even be able to enter the place because of the glory of God that was there. And we're going to see the glory of God fill the temple in another way coming up in the seventh chapter.

And once again, being stated there, the priest couldn't go anywhere near it. So where the glory of God fills a place, the people are not going to be able to stand to minister.

Do not be fooled by any of these charismatic places that claim to receive glory clouds from God.

Chapter six. So at the end of First Chronicles, David prayed a prayer to the Lord, asking him to bless all that he had gathered together and stored up for the building of God's house, and also that he would bless

Solomon, his son. Here in chapter six, Solomon is going to dedicate the temple of God with this prayer that he prays.

So first of all, he blesses the people at the start of chapter six. Solomon said, The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness, but I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.

Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel while the assembly of Israel stood.

And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David, my father, saying,

Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that my name might be there.

And I chose no man as prince over my people, Israel, but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there.

And I have chosen David to be over my people, Israel. Now, it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the

Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to David, my father, whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son shall who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.

Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made, for I have risen in the place of David, my father, and sit on the throne of Israel as the

Lord promised. And I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

And there I have set the ark in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.

And that covenant, of course, was what was inscribed on the stone tablets that are inside the ark.

Now, verse 12, then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it.

Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

And he said, O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, who have kept with your servant

David, my father, what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth and with your hand have fulfilled it this day.

Now, therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David, my father, what you have promised him, saying,

You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel if only your sons pay close attention to their way to walk in my law as you have walked before me.

Now, therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant

David. But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea.

O Lord, my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place and listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people

Israel when they pray toward this place and listen from heaven your dwelling place and when you hear forgive.

If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.

When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people

Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk and grant rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people

Israel, each knowing his own affliction and each his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know according to all his ways.

For you, you only know the hearts of the children of mankind that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

Likewise, when a foreigner who is not of your people Israel comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you as do your people

Israel and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

If your people go out to battle against their enemies by whatever way you shall send them and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea and maintain their cause.

If they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity saying we have sinned and we have acted perversely and wickedly, if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive and pray toward their land which you gave to their fathers the city that you have chosen in the house that I have built for your name, then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

Now oh my god let your eyes be opened and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place and now arise oh lord god and go to your resting place you and the ark of your might let your priests oh lord god be clothed with salvation and let your saints rejoice in your goodness oh lord god do not turn away the face of your anointed one remember your steadfast love for david your servant.

What a beautiful prayer of dedication and much to be spoken to us through this prayer as well if you've got a pen and you underline in your bible as I do one verse in particular that you could highlight is verse 36 where Solomon says if they sin against you for there is no one who does not sin and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near yet if they turn their heart in in the land to which they have been carried captive and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive and pray toward their land which you gave to their fathers the city that you have chosen in the house that I have built for your name then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you you will have some rotten theologians out there who will try to say that god does not cause disaster and so whenever there is a disaster that happens in the land it is wrong to say that god would afflict people with something like that like a storm or an earthquake or or whatever but here in chapter 6 it's very evident that god does cause destruction to come upon people because they have sinned against him

I don't think it's necessarily for us to decide which of those natural disasters have occurred because of people have sinned and which of those have occurred simply because it's nature taking its course because all things have been subjected to futility because of the sin of mankind whatever the case of the instance may be may it remind us of the power of god and the fallenness of this world that we may turn to him and seek his forgiveness if we ask for it with all of our soul and with all of our might for he knows and he searches the hearts of man he knows whether you are genuine or not what you are openly confessing to god and what you think you can hide from him so hide nothing for you stand completely vulnerable before god though he is indeed a god of judgment he is very much a god of mercy and grace and love be reminded of this seek forgiveness while you can and he will make you righteous in jesus name amen for more about our ministry visit us online at www .utt