The Temple Consecrated

MEMORY VERSE: “And the Lord 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; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.” —I Kings 9:3

I KINGS 9:1-9

THE account of the unspeakable glory and grandeur of Solomon’s Temple captivates the reader as he considers the lists of the kinds and quality of materials used in its construction. David h a d wanted to build this temple, and the Lord did permit him to assemble much of the material for it, but it remained for Solomon to construct it. Despite the grandeur of the temple, Solomon wondered if the Lord would deign to dwell in it. (I Kings 6:1,37,38; 7:1; 9:10) In part of his prayer of dedication he said to the Lord, “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?”—I Kings 8:27

The Lord’s response to Solomon concerning the temple was reassuring. He said, “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; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”—ch. 9:3

In Solomon’s prayer of dedication he also 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: 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. 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.”—8:23-25

To this the Lord replied: “If thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: and at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshiped them, and served them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.”—ch. 9:4-9

Biblical history records the shameful manner in which in his later life Solomon, and many of the kings of Israel and Judah that followed him, did turn away from worshiping the true God of Israel. Consequently, as forewarned by the Lord, the people were driven out of the land and scattered. The temple was also destroyed. It was in 606 B.C. that the kingdom was overthrown, Zedekiah being the last of the nation’s rulers in that typical kingdom of God. (Ezek. 21:25-27) It is in the antitypical kingdom of the Lord, with Jesus at its head, that the Israelites again come under his rulership.

Solomon’s temple served a useful purpose in God’s typical arrangements in that it pointed forward to a “spiritual house” which the Lord has been constructing throughout the Gospel age. (I Pet. 2:5; Heb. 3:5,6) True worship of God is not limited to locations, but is of the heart.

QUESTIONS

What were some of the circumstances in connection with the building of Solomon’s temple?

How did the Lord answer Solomon as to whether or not he would dwell in that temple?

How did the Lord answer Solomon as to maintaining the house of David?

What typical purpose did Solomon’s temple serve?

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