One Year Bible Reading and Commentary for Friday, June 10th "Solomon Dedicates the First Temple" "Stephen Continues His HIstory Lesson with the Jewish Leaders"
The Ark Brought to the Temple
Today Solomon brings in the most significant piece into the temple. The Ark of the Covenant, which contained the two tablets of the ten commandments given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. The Ark was a symbol of the covenant God had made with Israel and also was the place where he dwelt by His Spirit.
The Ark was so holy, it had to be carried with two long poles so that no one would touch it. If you remember Uzzah died, as he tried to steady the Ark when it wobbled and he touched it. This was a direct violation of the Law. The Ark and the Tent of the Meeting with all the holy objects, which were instructed to be in the Tabernacle, were brought into the temple Solomon had just built. The Ark was placed in the Most Holy Place with a curtain separating it from the Holy Place.
Here are some images of the first temple you can just click on them
With the whole assembly of the people Solomon offered this prayer,
“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.’ 1 King 8:15-16
I have surely built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever: Solomon rightly sensed that the presence of the cloud meant that God dwelt in the temple in a special way. As long as this did not slip into a superstitious misunderstanding, it was good to recognize a special place to come and meet with God. - Guzik
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
In his prayer of dedication Solomon remembers the promises God had made to His Father, David, and how the Lord had kept them. Then he puts into proper perspective how an infinte God cannot only dwell in a place on earth.
“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. 1 Kings 8:27-30
Solomon's prayer was very long but it also dealt with things like how the Israelites would approach the temple when they had committed a sin, how they turn back to the Lord after being defeated by an enemy, how to pray when there is a famine or no rain, how God will treat foreigners as they are led by the Lord to the temple, and finally how God can restore them when they have sinned so greatly the Lord gives them over to their enemies.
“It is worthy of remark concerning this prayer that it is as full and comprehensive as if it were meant to be the summary of all future prayers offered in the temple. One is struck, moreover, with the fact that the language is far from new, and is full of quotations from the Pentateuch, some of which are almost word for word, while the sense of the whole may be found in those memorable passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.” (Spurgeon)
The Dedication of the Temple
Finally, Solomon dedicates the temple with several fellowship, burnt, and grain offerings. This was another high point in the history of the nation of Israel. Solomon had done everything decently and in a way fitting to the greatness of their God!
This account of the dedication of the temple ends where the story of the temple began – with David, not Solomon. The writer remembers that it was David’s heart and vision that started the work of the temple (2 Samuel 7:1-3 and following). Guzik
“How happy must these people have been, and how prosperous, had their king continued to walk uprightly before God! But alas! the king fell, and the nation followed his example.” (Clarke)
As Stephen continues his history lesson about God's relationship with His chosen people, it is ironic that our Old Testament passage describes today Solomon's dedication of the temple.
Stephen also recounts Moses' hearing directly from God in the burning bush, and how they built the tabernacle according to the instructions the Lord had given them. God led Israel out of slavery from the Egyptians and perfomed many great signs through him, but the Israelites rejecteed Moses and preferred to serve foreign gods, despite all God had done for them. This will be pattern for years to come. The Israelites will refuse to listen to the men God sent to them to bring them back to Him, which will result in their exile to Babylon.
Although Solomon built a glorious temple for the Lord to dwell in, Stephen reminded them that the God of the universe, who created the heavens and the earth, cannot be contained by human hands.
Isaiah the prophet says this in 66:1-2,
"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the Lord ‘Could you build me such a resting place? Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?"
Stephen confronted their idolatry of the temple. In doing so, they tried to confine God within the temple. Yet God is too big to fit in any temple man could make. On a more subtle level, many Christians do the same thing. It may not be the worship of a church building (though certainly that does take place from time to time), but it is the confinement of God to one place. In other words, the only place they meet God is at the church. As far as they are concerned, God is absent from the rest of their lives. In the minds and lives of some today, God might as well only live at the church. - Guzik
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