SCRIPTURE: 1 KINGS 8
THE ARK BROUGHT TO THE TEMPLE (vs. 1-21)
King Solomon summoned all the elders of the Israel, all the heads of the tribes and all the chiefs of the Israel families in Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the city of David. They came together during the festival in the month of Ethanim, the 7th month.
All the elders of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord and the Tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings. The priests and Levites carried them up. King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel offer sacrifices of sheep before the ark. Then the priest brought the ark to the Most Holy Place and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The contents of the ark were two stone tablets that Moses had it at Horeb. The cloud and the glory of God filled His temple.
SOLOMON’S PRAYER OF DEDICATION (vs. 22-61)
Solomon asked God to hear his prayer under the following circumstances:
- When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on his head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty, and so establish his innocence. (vs. 31-32)
- When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers. (vs. 33-34)
- When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. (vs. 35-36)
- When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight of mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer of plea is made by any of your people Israel – each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple – then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers. (vs. 37-40)
- As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name – for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm – when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth my know your name and fear you, as do your down people Israel, and may know that his house I have build bears you Name. (vs. 41-43)
- When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city your have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. (vs. 44-45)
- When they sin against you – for there is no one who does not sin- and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near, and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, “We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly”, and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for you Name, then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy’ for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelling furnace (vs. 46-51)
- May your eyes be opened to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, O Sovereign Lord, brought our fathers out of Egypt. (vs. 52-53)
THOUGHTS:
Solomon gathered the people not just to dedicate the temple but to rededicate themselves to God’s service. He reminded them of God’s faithfulness in keeping His promise if they obey His laws and command. He prayed to God for His mercy and exhorted the Israelites to have their hearts right with God.
There were five basic requests of Solomon in his prayer to God:
- God’s presence (v. 57)
- Desire to do God’s will in everything. (v. 58)
- Desire and ability to obey God’s decrees and commands (v. 58)
- Help with each others needs (v. 59)
- Spread of God’s kingdom to the entire world. (v. 60)
The temple that Solomon built was a place of glory because the glory of God filled the temple. It was a place of testimony as it bore witness of God’s promise. It was a place of prayer as people came to talk to God in worship. It was a place of blessings and sacrifices as people made their offerings there. Today, the church must have the presence of the Holy Spirit. It must be a place of devotion as believers come to communicate with God. It is also a place where we give our tithes to God for the blessings He had bestowed on us. Finally, it is a place of witness to the world and to win the lost to Him.