Fire from Heaven
Study note
When Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and burned up the offerings on the altar. The glory of the Lord filled the temple so powerfully that the priests could not enter. When the people saw the fire fall and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the stone pavement and worshipped, saying, 'He is good; his faithful love lasts forever.'
1 The moment Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and sacrifices. The glory of the Lord filled the entire temple. Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.
2 The priests could not even go inside the Lord's temple because the Lord's glory filled it completely. And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house.
3 All the Israelites watched the fire fall from heaven and saw the Lord's glory resting on the temple. They dropped to their knees on the stone pavement, pressing their faces to the ground. They worshipped and praised the Lord: 'He is good! His faithful love goes on forever!' And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
The Great Dedication Festival
Study note
Solomon and the people offered an enormous number of sacrifices — 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. The celebration lasted fourteen days total: seven days for the dedication and seven days for the Festival of Shelters. People came from across the whole nation, from as far north as Hamath to the border of Egypt. On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent everyone home, happy and grateful.
4 Then the king and all the people presented their sacrifices to the Lord. Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.
5 King Solomon offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep as sacrifices. This is how the king and the people dedicated God's temple. And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
6 The priests stood in their places. The Levites played the instruments David had made for praising the Lord. They sang, 'His faithful love goes on forever.' The priests stood across from them, blowing trumpets, while all Israel stood watching. And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.
7 Solomon also set apart the center of the courtyard in front of the Lord's temple as holy ground. There he offered the burnt offerings and the fat parts of the friendship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar he had built was not big enough for everything. Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.
8 Solomon held the festival for seven days, and all Israel joined him. It was a great gathering. People came from as far north as the entrance of Hamath and as far south as the border of Egypt. Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt.
9 On the eighth day, they held a closing ceremony. They had spent seven days dedicating the altar and seven more days celebrating the festival. And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent everyone home. The people felt happy and thankful for all the wonderful things the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and Israel. And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
God Appears to Solomon at Night
Study note
After Solomon finished the temple and his palace, God appeared to him at night. God told Solomon he had heard his prayer and chosen this temple as his house of sacrifice. He then spoke one of the most famous verses in the Bible (verse 14): 'If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.' God also promised to establish Solomon's throne forever if Solomon obeyed him.
11 Solomon completed the Lord's temple and the royal palace. He successfully finished everything he had planned for the temple and for his own home. Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and told him, 'I have heard your prayer. I have chosen this place for myself as a temple where sacrifices will be offered.' And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
13 'When I hold back the rain, or when I send locusts to devour the crops, or when I send a plague among my people,' 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;
14 "If my people, who 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." 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.
15 'From now on, my eyes will be open and my ears will be attentive to every prayer offered in this place.' Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
16 'I have chosen this temple and made it holy so that my name will be here forever. My eyes and my heart will always be here.' For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
17 'If you live before me as your father David did, and do all I command, and keep my laws and rules --' And as for thee, 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;
18 'Then I will keep your royal throne secure. I promised your father David: "You will always have a descendant ruling over Israel."' Then will I stablish 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.
God's Warning
Study note
God gave a serious warning: if the people turned away and worshipped other gods, he would uproot them from the land and reject the temple. The magnificent building would become a ruin, and everyone who passed by would ask why the Lord did such a thing. The answer would be: because they abandoned the God who brought them out of Egypt.
19 'But if you turn from me and leave the laws and commands I gave you, and go worship other gods --' But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 'then I will uproot my people from the land I gave them. I will reject this temple that I made holy for my name. I will turn it into an object of mockery and ridicule among all the nations.' Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
21 'Everyone who passes by this once-magnificent temple will be shocked. They will ask, "Why did the Lord do such a thing to this land and this temple?"' And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?
22 'And the answer will be, "Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who rescued them from Egypt. They chose to follow other gods, worshipping and serving them. Therefore he brought all this disaster on them."' And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.