Day 161 – Solomon & the Temple #2

1 Kings 8 is a lot of verses, I know, but don’t skip over Solomon’s prayer. It’s full of wisdom.

• Today we’re continuing our time with Solomon, who still seems to be working hard at keeping God central to his rule. 1 Kings 8 is pretty meaty, isn’t it! Let’s break it down.
• What happens in the first 11 verses of 1 Kings 8? Who goes into the temply initially, and what do they take in? When they leave, what happens within the temple?
• In verses 12-21, God is giving an indication of physically dwelling in the temple. What does Solomon say about this?
• 1 Kings 8:22-61 record Solomon’s prayer where he dedicates the temple to God and speaks of His glory. What does Solomon repeatedly ask God for in this passage?
• 1 Kings 8:27 is very interesting. Solomon, understandably, is questioning in wonder whether a temple built by human hands could ever contain God, or why God should ever really “dwell on earth”. Is this what you were thinking? What is the wonderful answer to Solomon’s question that even he couldn’t have foreseen?
• Verses 54-61 talk of God’s promises to the Israelite nation, and Solomon reminds the people listening to praise Him for keeping those promises. What is Solomon’s prayer for the future, both in regards to God’s care of Israel, as well as the way the people should behave?
• Consider the scene, the scale and the celebrations that verses 1 Kings 8:62-65 portray. What must it have been like to be there? How many lambs were sacrificed?
• In chapter 9, the Lord appears to Solomon, answering the prayers of 1 Kings 8 and promising many future blessings beyond. What were God’s blessings dependent on what? Focus on verses 1 Kings 9:4-9.
• What troubling words do we read in 1 Kings 11:9-10? What does this snippet from Solomon’s later life show about whether he truly followed the command of God given to him in chapter 9? We’ll read more about what distracts Solomon from God over the coming days.

Solomon saw the “glory of the Lord” enter the temple after spending years building it. This is a great moment for the king and for the nation. Along with the dedication, Solomon rightly prays that the people will never turn away from God’s Word, and the Lord promises many more blessings for those that walk uprightly in His ways. It’s awesome.

Despite this wonderfully intimate moment with God, however, we’ve been given a sneak peak at Solomon’s heart later in life. Even Solomon, the wisest man in history, a man who literally saw God’s goodness and wrote extensively of God’s blessings, would go on to ignore his own advice.

There is little doubt that Solomon loved God – at least much much of his life – but the world’s temptations would later cloud his eyes and lead him along the murky path of sin. What about us? I’ve no doubt of your trust in God, and increased understanding of His Word through this reading plan, but how’s it changing you in daily sanctification? It’s a question we should all be asking ourselves, myself included.

In the face of our clear limitations and failings when it comes to living for God, we should be ever more thankful that God did indeed come to “dwell on earth” for us. There’s no need for 120,000 lambs to die this time, because the one sacrificial Lamb has done everything that will ever need to be done to bring us back into God’s family. That, of course, is Jesus.

What joyful that news is. I hope your heart jumps in excitement every time you think about it.