1 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 2 All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.
After the tempel was constructed in the seventh month of Ethanim (1 Kings 6:38), Solomon gave Israel a time of rest before the dedication. Nearly a year later he dedicated the temple, knowing that true worship couldn’t commence until the ark was in its place. This was a momentous event, bringing all of Israel’s tribes to the Jerusalem for the dedication.
3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, 4 and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, 5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. 6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. 8 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
In Exodus,God gave very precise instructions on how to carry the ark. Solomon took these instructions to heart, making sure that the proper process of caring for the ark was adhered to. In 2Samuel 6:1-8, David did not adhere to God’s procedure on transportation which resulted in the tragic death of Uzzah.
All of the furnishings were brought from the tent of meeting. The tent of meeting was the temporary place for the temple. When the Israelites were in the desert, they were instructed by God to build a moveable temple by His specifications. The tent of meeting served as the proper temple of worship until Solomon began the permanent one. This permanent temple was to stand as the Jews proper place of worship for millennia. In Solomon’s zealousness for God, he sacrificed innumerable amounts of sheep and oxen for the dedication.
In Exodus 16:33, Numbers 17:6-11 and Exodus 25:16, it is noted that there were three items in the Ark of the Covenant. One was a golden pot filled with Manna, the substance that fell from heaven to feed the Israelites. The second was Aarons staff that budded, that showed whose God’s favor fell on during the rise of Korah. The Ten Commandments, or tablets of the covenant, was the third item inside, but by the time of Solomon is the only item remaining. The bible does not give us any information as to what happened to the first two.
10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple. 12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 13 I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”
The temple was a place of special dwelling and connection with God, so much so that the priests could not conduct their ceremonies because of the overwhelming presence. Solomon is correct: this place, which he has built, is special and a place where God can dwell amongst man forever.
14 While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. 15 Then he said: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, 16 ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.’ 17 “My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 19 Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’ 20 “The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
Solomon recognizes that the promise of God has been fulfilled. It began long before his generation a good 500 years before, but the promise is fulfilled in the completion of the temple and the communion of God with his people. He recognizes David, who yearned to build a temple but was not allowed to. The responsibility fell to his son.
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.
In the tradition of his time, Solomon spread his hands and prayed. His prayer begins with remembering that God kept His promise to His people.
25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.
Solomon first prayed in remembrance of what God had done. He now prays that God will continue his promise into the future, asking Him to fulfill the promise he made to David that there would always be a successor in the bloodline to the throne ( 2 Samuel 7).
27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
Solomon’s humility is displayed in these verses. He has built a beautiful temple, and understands the presence of God dwells in it, but also knows that God is much bigger than this temple. He asks for mercy toward all the people who pray toward the temple. Inside the mercy s a plea for forgiveness. He knows this is what Israel needs most of all.
31 “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 32 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.
The temple was a proper place to take an oath, but Solomon asks God that the temple be a place that people could swear an oath by with all the eternal implications therein. If people were to swear before the temple, the God of the universe, who sees into a man’s hearts and motivations, could be the true judge of the matter.
33 “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.
Solomon fights for Israel’s sinful nature. The nature of sin, inherent in man, is something that cannot be ever fully conquered in the flesh. But his plea is for God, as the merciful God, hear the honest cries of anguish and forgive the sin of those truly repentant.
35 “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 give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 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. 37 “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— 39 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), 40 so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
Solomon first addresses outright sin against God. When people sin willingly, but come to a point when they turn back to God authentically and turn from their sin, Solomon asks that God forgive them. This is different from glibly saying you’re sorry and continuing in sin. This is a full life change, a putting on of a new self (Colossians 3:1-17). Only then is Solomon asking for God to forgive.
The second part (v.37) is when circumstance rolls into one’s life. When circumstance overrides the relationship and sin occurs, Solomon asks for forgiveness in those moments too. God is the only one who knows the heart, the motivations, and the weaknesses of his creations. The forgiveness is not a free pass but a learning experience, the understanding of God’s mercy and a new respect they can bring into their lives and the lives of others.
41 “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
In Isaiah 56:7, the temples were considered a place of worship for all people. It was meant as a place to draw foreigners and gentiles in order to bring God into their hearts as well. In that, Solomon prays that those foreigners will enter into the mystery and majesty of God’s grace.
44 “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 46 “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 their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 47 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 captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48 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 ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; 51 for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace. 52 “May your eyes be open 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. 53 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, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
Battles fought in the name of God were one thing, but battles fought in which God sent them were quite another. All military operations weren’t to be sanctified. The key in the blessing for battles was to seek God first, turn toward the holy temple as a way to connect to God before one plan of war was ever drafted.
Second, Solomon acknowledges that every human being is born of original sin. We all fall short (Romans 3:23). But in that weakness we go to God’s strength. His plea is that all people realize this and use the temple as a way to move toward repentance and forgiveness.
Third, he asked for prayers that when Israel cries out to Him, He hears their cries. After all, they were singled out as a people for God, provided for throughout the ages. God has been patient and merciful and Solomon asks that He continue his care for Israel.
54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: 56 “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. 61 And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”
Solomon recognizes that God has never defaulted on a promise. But he still asks God to fulfill His promises. It isn’t a lack of faith but a recognition that the promises given will not be rescinded if the people continue on the path of righteousness. As in the story of Ahab, it was predicted by Elijah that Ahab would die in the place where Naboth died (1 Kings 21:19). But Ahab later repented to God in 1 Kings 21, rendering the prophecy null. But, the repentance was phony and the prophecy was eventually fulfilled, but in a different setting (1 Kings 22:38). It will take another route to fulfillment, and will ultimately be fulfilled, based on the time it takes for the people to respond to God.
62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the Lord. 64 On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. 65 So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66 On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.
Solomon sacrifices a gigantic amount of animals to the temple and gives every type of offering he can. The gesture is huge and Solomon, as his story continues, is a grand figure. For two full weeks there is a festival (the festival of Tabernacles) and the people are sent away. The dedication ends with a call to David, who was responsible for the initial construction fo the temple. Not by his hands by by his heart. He alone was passionate about the building of the temple a place for the Ark of the Covenant and a loving place for his people to worship (2 Samuel 7:1-3).