The glorious Temple that Solomon had built would be cast away as something utterly worthless if Israel should forsake the Lord. Earthly glory rapidly fades. Israel failed, and the once-magnificent Temple was sacked and thrown down (2 Kings 25:9).

 Compare Lev. 26:14, 24-33; Deut. 28:15, 36, 37, 64. The writer of Kings says, “Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them” (1 Kings 9:7). When Israel disobeyed the Lord, they brought desolation and woe upon themselves, and were taken away as captives to Assyria (2 Kings 17:20-23) and to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:17-20).

 The parallel passage reads: “And Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all people” (1 Kings 9:7). These prophecies concerning the house and the people have had a remarkable fulfillment. Solomon’s Temple has disappeared and is only a proverb today, and the sad fate suffered by the nation of Israel is striking testimony to the tragic effects of sin.