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Texts -- 1 Kings 8:1-25 (NET)

Context
Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple
8:1 Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel’s elders , all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families , so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion ). 8:2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month Ethanim (the seventh month ). 8:3 When all Israel’s elders had arrived , the priests lifted the ark . 8:4 The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord , the tent of meeting , and all the holy items in the tent . 8:5 Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered . 8:6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple , in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs . 8:7 The cherubs ’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat ; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles . 8:8 The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary , but they could not be seen from beyond that point . They have remained there to this very day . 8:9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb . It was there that the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt . 8:10 Once the priests left the holy place , a cloud filled the Lord’s temple . 8:11 The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud ; the Lord’s glory filled his temple . 8:12 Then Solomon said , “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness . 8:13 O Lord, truly I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently .” 8:14 Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. 8:15 He said , “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David . 8:16 He told David, ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt , I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live . But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel .’ 8:17 Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel . 8:18 The Lord told my father David , ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. 8:19 But you will not build the temple ; your very own son will build the temple for my honor .’ 8:20 The Lord has kept the promise he made . I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel , as the Lord promised . I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel 8:21 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt .”
Solomon Prays for Israel
8:22 Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky . 8:23 He prayed : “O Lord , God of Israel , there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below ! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity . 8:24 You have kept your word to your servant , my father David ; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised . 8:25 Now , O Lord , God of Israel , keep the promise you made to your servant , my father David , when you said , ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel , provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done .’

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  • Tuhan Allah Hadir [KJ.17]
  • [1Ki 8:23] O Thou, Who Gav’st Thy Servant Grace

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • "The way of the land of the Philistines"refers to the most northern of three routes travelers took from Egypt to Canaan (v. 17). The others lay farther south. The Egyptians had heavily fortified this caravan route, also calle...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • Nob stood one and one-half miles northeast of Jerusalem and two and one-half miles southeast of Gibeah. There Ahimelech served as high priest. Priestly activity and evidently the tabernacle were now there (cf. 17:54). It is s...
  • I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
  • The Holy Spirit led the writer of Kings to give an interpretation of history, not just a chronologically sequential record of events. This is true of all the writers of the Old Testament historical books. Some of the events i...
  • The flowing narrative of chapters 1-2 now gives way to reports and lists that catalogue facts about Solomon's reign.The writer constructed the Solomon narrative (chs. 3-11), like so many others in the Old Testament, to draw a...
  • The Israelites regarded the ark as the throne of Yahweh. It was the place where He manifested His presence in a localized way and where He received the blood that atoned for the Israelites' sins on the day of Atonement. The a...
  • God previously said He would dwell in the cloudy pillar (Lev. 16:2). Solomon hoped God would now dwell in the temple forever (i.e., from then on).Solomon emphasized the desire of David's heart to build the temple (vv. 17-18)....
  • This great prayer centers on the Mosaic Covenant. That is its heart. Solomon introduced seven petitions with a backward look emphasizing God's faithfulness (vv. 23-26). He concluded with a forward look stressing God's mercy (...
  • God responded to Solomon's dedication of himself and his nation as He had responded to David (2 Sam. 7) and to Solomon earlier (ch. 3). He offered Solomon continued blessing for continued dedication.First, God promised He wou...
  • The writer of Kings referred to other ancient records (v. 41; cf. 14:19, 29). The Acts of Solomon was the first of these.120It is no longer extant.Solomon's long reign of 40 years (971-931 B.C.) ended with the king in decline...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan. "The Building Activities of David and Solomon."Israel Exploration Journal24:1(1974):13-16.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonahl. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed., New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.,...
  • Hezekiah's response to this crisis was to turn to Yahweh in prayer and to His prophet for an answer. He sensed his position under Yahweh's authority, humbled himself, and sought God's help (cf. 2 Sam. 7; 1 Kings 8). God rewar...
  • The Chronicler's main interest in David's reign, as we have seen, focused on the Davidic Covenant with its promises to David and his descendants. In recounting the events of Solomon's reign he proceeded to emphasize the templ...
  • Solomon dedicated the temple during the feast of Tabernacles (v. 3). The priests brought the ark and the other utensils that had been in the tent David had pitched for the ark into the temple. The temple site was north of and...
  • Isaiah next tried to move Ahaz to faith (vv. 10-12), then denounced the king for his failure to trust Yahweh (vv. 13-15), and finally forecast a calamity worse than the division of Israel's united kingdom (vv. 16-17).7:10 Evi...
  • This section consists of a small collection of messianic prophecies.33:14 Future days would come, the Lord promised, when He would fulfill His promises concerning the restoration of all Israel."The predicted restoration (the ...
  • 10:1 Ezekiel next saw in his vision the cherubim that he had seen by the river Chebar (1:22, 26).163Over their heads he again saw the throne-chariot that resembled a sapphire in its color and beauty.16410:2 Ezekiel saw the Lo...
  • 43:1-2 Ezekiel's guide next led him to the east gate in the outer wall. This was the wall of the millennial temple that he had been seeing and continued to see, not the wall of the Solomonic temple. There the prophet saw the ...
  • 43:6 The prophet heard someone speaking to him from the temple, and there was a man, probably Ezekiel's guide, standing beside him (cf. 1:16).43:7-8 The one speaking from the temple, undoubtedly the Lord, told Ezekiel that th...
  • 7:13 Daniel again saw something happening in heaven. One like a son of man was brought before the Ancient of Days. The angelic attendants in heaven's court probably ushered Him forward. This description glorifies the Ancient ...
  • 2:1 The Lord revealed another message to Haggai almost one month later, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Tishri, modern October 17) of the same year, 520 B.C. This was the last day of the feast of Tabernacles (Bo...
  • 2:20 The Lord gave Haggai a second message on the same day as the previous message (v. 10), the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (Kislev 24, December 18).2:21 Haggai was to tell Zerubbabel that Yahweh was going to shake t...
  • 9:1 The apostle opened his discussion of God's relations with Israel very personally by sharing his heart for his own people. Some might have thought that Paul hated the Jews since he had departed from Judaism and now preache...
  • "In this paragraph Paul continues his instructions on prayers' begun in verse 1. But now the concern is for proper demeanor on the part of the pray-ers.' But whythese concerns, and why in this way? And why the inordinate amou...
  • The writer proceeded to explain the superiority of the New Covenant by comparing it with the Old Covenant using the figure of two mountains: Sinai and Zion.12:18-21 These verses describe the giving of the Old Covenant at Mt. ...
  • 15:5 "After these things I looked"(Gr. meta tauta eidon) indicates a transition to a new vision and a new subject: the bowl judgments. These are in a category of their own. John saw the heavenly temple opened. This gave the s...
  • 21:11 This city obviously appeared extremely impressive to John. The first and most important characteristic that John noted was its radiant glow. It shone with the splendor of God Himself because He was in it (cf. Exod. 40:3...
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