I Kings Chapter 8 "THE
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE" This Bible
Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription is provided with written permission by http://www.theseason.org The Temple is completed and it is time for the dedication of the Temple of God. All the transfer and preparation is finished so Solomon is calling all the leader and elders of all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant [testimony] is being brought from the tabernacle into the new Temple, the house of the Lord and worship will no longer be held in a tent [tabernacle]. I Kings 8:1 "And Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion." I Kings 8:2 "And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month." This feast was for the sacrifice of a victim or lamb for sin. The word "Ethanim" in Strong's Hebrew dictionary is # 389, " `ak'; surely of a surety, truly, verily." God commanded that this feast take place annually, and here in Solomon's day the sin offering continued. I Kings 8:3 "And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark." I Kings 8:4 "And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up." I Kings 8:5 "And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude." We will see by the end of this chapter that the people came in from the borders of Hamath, at the far northern end, all the way to the river Nile in Egypt. Remember that Solomon's first wife was the Pharaoh of the northern kingdom of Egypt. I Kings 8:6 "And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place even under the wings of the cherubims." Remember that the "oracle of the house" is the room called the "holy of holies". These cherubims and their wings are talked about in I Kings 6:23-30. I Kings 8:7 "For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above." I Kings 8:8 "And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day." I Kings 8:9 "There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt." I Kings 8:10 "And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord," This "cloud" is # 6051 in Strong's Hebrew dictionary: "anon, aw-nown; from 6049, thunder cloud." In # 6049; "Anan, aw-nan'; a prime root, to cover, used only as an covert act, to practice magic, enchanter, soothsayer, sorcerer." Something was happening at this sacrifice feast that was just not right with God. God is stepping in to put a stop to it. I Kings 8:11 "So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord." I Kings 8:12 "Then spake Solomon, "the Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness." I Kings 8:13 "I have surely built Thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for Thee to abide in for ever." I Kings 8:14 "And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)" This is the start of Solomon's prayer of dedication, for the Temple of the Lord and for the People of Israel, all the tribes of Israel. I Kings 8:15 "And he said, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, Which spake with His mouth unto David my father, and hath with His hand fulfilled it, saying," I Kings 8:16 " `Since the day that I brought forth My People Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that My name might be therein; but I chose David to be over My People Israel.' " I Kings 8:17 "And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel." Though David wanted to built the Temple of the Lord, God would not allow it. I Kings 8:18 "And the Lord said unto David my father, `Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto My name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart." I Kings 8:19 "Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto My name.' " I Kings 8:20 "And the Lord hath performed His word that He spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel." I Kings 8:21 "And I have set there a place for the ark wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt." I Kings 8:22 "And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:" I Kings 8:23 "And he 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:" There is no other God like the God of Israel, for when He gives us a promise, you can count on it. The promises of the Bible, all of them are yours to claim if your abide in His love, and meet the conditions of each of the promises. When you seek to please the Lord, you can count on God's faithfulness to you. I Kings 8:24 "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." I Kings 8:25 "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 so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as thou hast walked before Me.' " This is a promise from God to David that as long as there is a flesh age, men and women living in these flesh bodies, Israel will exist and there will be a man of the lineage of David sitting on that throne. This promise that God made to David is true and at the end of this chapter is given a list of the lineage of David all the way to Queen Elizabeth II. I Kings 8:26 "And now, O God of Israel, let Thy word, I pray Thee, be verified, which Thous spakest unto Thy servant David my father." I Kings 8:27 "But 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 8:28 "Yet have Thou respect unto the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which Thy servant prayeth before Thee to day:" I Kings 8:29 "That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which Thou hast said, `My name shall be there:' that Thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant shall make toward this place." I Kings 8:30 "And hearken Thou to the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy People Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place: and when Thou hearest, forgive." I Kings 8:31 "If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before Thine altar in this house:" I Kings 8:32 "Then hear Thou in heaven, and do, and judge Thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness." I Kings 8:33 "When Thy People Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against Thee, and shall turn again to Thee, and confess Thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:" I Kings 8:34 "Then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which Thou gavest unto their fathers." I Kings 8:35 "When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against Thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin, when Thou afflictest them:" I Kings 8:36 "Then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy People Israel, that Thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy People for an inheritance." I Kings 8:37 "If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there by;" I Kings 8:38 "What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all Thy People Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hand toward this house:" I Kings 8:39 "Then hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart Thou knowest; (for Thou, even Thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)" I Kings 8:40 "That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers." I Kings 8:41 "Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of Thy People Israel, but cometh out of a far country for Thy name's sake;" I Kings 8:42 "(For they shall hear of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;" I Kings 8:43 "Hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for: that all people of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy People Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by Thy name." I Kings 8:44 "If Thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever Thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which Thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for Thy name:" I Kings 8:45 "Then hear Thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause." I Kings 8:46 "If they sin against Thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;" I Kings 8:47 "Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto Thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, `We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;' " I Kings 8:48 "And so return unto Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto Thee towards their land, which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for Thy name:" I Kings 8:49 "Then hear Thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven Thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause," I Kings 8:50 "And forgive Thy People that have sinned against Thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against Thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:" I Kings 8:51 "For they be Thy People, and Thine inheritance, which Thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:" I Kings 8:52 "That Thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of Thy servant, and unto the supplication of Thy People Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto Thee." " I Kings 8:53 "For Thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be Thine inheritance, as Thou spakest by the hand of Moses Thy servant, when Thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God." Thus ends the dedication prayer by Solomon; so now begins the sacrifices and prayer at the altar itself. I Kings 8:54 "And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven." I Kings 8:55 "And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying," Solomon is now blessing the people, and challenging them to keep the statutes, and commandments, the Judgments and the laws that God gave to our forefathers. I Kings 8:56 "Blessed be the Lord, That hath given rest unto His People Israel, according to all that He promised: there hath not failed on word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant." I Kings 8:57 "The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers: let Him not leave us, nor forsake us:" I Kings 8:58 "That He may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and His statutes, and His judgments, which the commanded our fathers." I Kings 8:59 "And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that the cause of His people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:" I Kings 8:60 "That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else." I Kings 8:61 "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day." I Kings 8:62 "And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord." I Kings 8:63 "And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the child of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord." When Solomon finished the dedication before the altar of God, he went to the middle court for another dedication of the middle court. I Kings 8:64 "The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings, and beat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings." I Kings 8:65 "And at the time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days even fourteen days." I Kings 8:66 "On the eighth day he sent the People away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David His servant, and for Israel His People." The full dedication ceremony of prayers, and blessings and sacrificing took one full week, and on the eighth day, Solomon sent the people back to their homes.
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