For seven years Jerusalem was filled with busy workers leveling the chosen site of the temple, building vast retaining walls, laying broad foundations, shaping timbers brought from the Lebanon forests, and erecting the magnificent sanctuary. See 1 Kings 5:17. Simultaneously the manufacture of the furnishings was progressing under the leadership of Hiram of Tyre, “a cunning man, ... skillful to work in gold and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson.” 2 Chronicles 2:13, 14.
(SS 18.1)
The building on Mount Moriah was noiselessly upreared with “stone prepared at the quarry; so that neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron was heard in the temple, while it was being built.” 1 Kings 6:7, RSV. The beautiful fittings included the altar of incense, the table of showbread, the candlestick and lamps, with the vessels and instruments connected with the holy place, all of “perfect gold.” 2 Chronicles 4:21. The brazen altar of burnt offering, the laver supported by twelve oxen, with many other vessels—“in the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground.” 2 Chronicles 4:17.
(SS 18.2)
Of unrivaled splendor was the palatial building Solomon erected for God and His worship. Garnished with precious stones and lined with carved cedar and burnished gold, the temple with its rich furnishings was a fit emblem of the living church of God on earth, which through the ages has been building with materials that have been likened to “gold, silver, [and] precious stones,”“polished after the similitude of a palace.” 1 Corinthians 3:12; Psalm 144:12. Christ is “the chief Cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.” Ephesians 2:20, 21.
(SS 18.3)
At last the temple was completed. “All that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the Lord,” he had “prosperously effected.” 2 Chronicles 7:11. Now, in order that the palace crowning Mount Moriah might indeed be a dwelling place “not for man, but for the Lord God” (1 Chronicles 29:1), there remained the solemn ceremony of dedicating it.
(SS 19.1)
The spot on which the temple was built had long been regarded as consecrated. Here Abraham had revealed his willingness to sacrifice his only son in obedience to the command of Jehovah, who renewed the glorious Messianic promise of deliverance through the sacrifice of the Son of the Most High. See Genesis 22:9, 16-18. Here, when David offered offerings to stay the avenging sword of the destroying angel, God had answered him by fire. See 1 Chronicles 21:26. And now once more worshipers were here to meet their God and renew their vows of allegiance to Him.
(SS 19.2)
The time chosen for the dedication was the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast was preeminently an occasion of rejoicing. The labors of the harvest being ended, the people were free from care and could give themselves up to the joyous influences of the hour.
(SS 19.3)
The hosts of Israel, with richly clad representatives from many foreign nations, assembled in the temple courts. The scene was one of unusual splendor. Solomon, with the elders and influential men, had brought the ark of the testament from another part of the city. From Gibeon had been transferred the ancient “tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels” in it. 2 Chronicles 5:5. These cherished reminders of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness now found a permanent home in the splendid building.
(SS 19.4)
With singing, music, and great ceremony “the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place.” 2 Chronicles 5:7. The singers, arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and harps, stood at the east end of the altar with 120 priests sounding with trumpets. See 2 Chronicles 5:12.
(SS 20.1)
As “the trumpeters and singers” made “themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, ... the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” 2 Chronicles 5:13, 14 RSV.
(SS 20.2)
In the midst of the court of the temple had been erected a brass platform. On this Solomon stood and with uplifted hands blessed the vast multitude before him. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with His hands fulfilled that which He spake with His mouth to my father David, saying, ... I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name might be there.” 2 Chronicles 6:4-6.
(SS 20.3)
Solomon then knelt upon the platform and lifting his hands toward heaven, prayed: “Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built!... Hearken Thou to the supplications of Thy servant and of Thy people Israel, when they pray toward this place; yea, hear Thou from heaven Thy dwelling place; and when Thou hearest, forgive ... .”
(SS 20.4)
“If Thy people Israel ... have sinned against Thee, when they turn again and acknowledge Thy name, and pray and make supplication to Thee in this house, then hear Thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy people Israel ... .”
(SS 20.5)
“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against Thee, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge Thy name, and turn from their sin, when Thou dost afflict them, then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants ... .”
(SS 21.1)
“If their enemies besiege them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all Thy people Israel, each knowing his own affliction, and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house; then hear Thou from heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive, ... that they may fear Thee and walk in Thy ways all the days that they live in the land which Thou gavest to our fathers.”
(SS 21.2)
“Likewise when a foreigner, who ... comes from a far country for the sake of Thy great name, ... when he comes and prays toward this house, hear Thou from heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to Thee; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name and fear Thee ... .”
(SS 21.3)
“If Thy people ... sin against Thee—for there is no man who does not sin—and Thou art angry with them, and dost give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near; yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to Thee in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly’; if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity, ... then hear Thou from heaven Thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Thy people who have sinned against Thee. Now, O my God, let Thy eyes be open and Thy ears attentive to a prayer of this place.”
(SS 21.4)
And now arise, O Lord God, and go to Thy resting place, Thou and the ark of Thy might. Let Thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in Thy goodness. Verses 18-41, RSV
(SS 22)
As Solomon ended his prayer, “fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices.” The priests could not enter the temple because “the glory of the Lord had filled” it. 2 Chronicles 7:1, 2. Then king and people offered sacrifices. “So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.” Verse 5. For seven days the multitudes kept a joyous feast. The week following was spent in observing the Feast of Tabernacles. At the close of the season the people returned to their homes “glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the Lord had showed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel His people.” 2 Chronicles 7:10.
(SS 22.1)
Now once more, as at Gibeon early in his reign, Israel’s ruler was given evidence of divine acceptance. In a night vision the Lord appeared to him with the message: “I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people; if My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land ... . For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever: and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually.” Verses 12-16.
(SS 22.2)
Had Israel remained true to God, this glorious building would have stood forever, a perpetual sign of God’s special favor. “The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath, from polluting it, ... them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer: ... for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” Isaiah 56:6, 7.
(SS 22.3)
The Lord made very plain the path of duty before the king: “If thou wilt walk before Me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe My statutes and My judgments; then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.” 2 Chronicles 7:17, 18.
(SS 23.1)
Had Solomon continued to serve the Lord, his entire reign would have exerted a powerful influence over the surrounding nations. Foreseeing the terrible temptations that attend prosperity and worldly honor, God warned Solomon against apostasy. The beautiful temple that had just been dedicated, He declared, would become “a proverb and a byword among all nations” should the Israelites forsake “the Lord God of their fathers” and persist in idolatry. Verses 20, 22.
(SS 23.2)
Strengthened and cheered by the message from heaven, Solomon now entered the most glorious period of his reign. “All the kings of the earth” began to seek his presence, “to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.” 2 Chronicles 9:23. Solomon taught them of God as the Creator, and they returned with clearer conceptions of the God of Israel and of His love for the human race. In nature they now beheld a revelation of His character, and many were led to worship Him as their God.
(SS 23.3)
The humility of Solomon when he acknowledged before God, “I am but a little child” (1 Kings 3:7), his reverence for things divine, his distrust of self, and his exaltation of the infinite Creator—all these traits of character were revealed when during his dedicatory prayer he knelt as a humble petitioner. Christ’s followers today should guard against the tendency to lose the spirit of reverence and godly fear. They should approach their Maker with awe, through a divine Mediator. The psalmist has declared:
(SS 23.4)
O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. Psalm 95:6
(SS 24)
Both in public and in private worship it is our privilege to bow on our knees when we offer our petitions to God. Jesus, our example, “kneeled down, and prayed.” Luke 22:41. His disciples, too, “kneeled down, and prayed.” Acts 9:40. Paul declared, “I bow my knees unto the Father.” Ephesians 3:14. Daniel “kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God.” Daniel 6:10.
(SS 24.1)
True reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite greatness and a realization of His presence. The hour and place of prayer are sacred, because God is there. “Holy and reverend is His name.” Psalm 111:9. Angels, when they speak that name, veil their faces. With what reverence, then, should we take it upon our lips!
(SS 24.2)
Jacob, after beholding the vision of the angel, exclaimed, “The Lord is in this place; and I knew it not ... . This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:16, 17.
(SS 24.3)
In that which was said during the dedicatory services, Solomon sought to remove the superstition in regard to the Creator that had beclouded the minds of the heathen. The God of heaven is not confined to temples made with hands, yet He would meet with His people by His Spirit when they assembled at the house dedicated to His worship.
(SS 24.4)
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.
(SS 25)
Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: ... Thou art the God that doest wonders: Thou hast declared Thy strength among the people. Psalm 33:12; 77:13, 14
(SS 25)
God honors with His presence the assemblies of His people. He has promised that when they come together to acknowledge their sins and to pray for one another, He will meet with them by His Spirit. But unless those who assemble to worship put away every evil thing, their coming together will be of no avail. Those who worship God must worship Him “in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” John 4:23.
(SS 25.1)