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Texts -- 1 Kings 8:38-66 (NET)

Context
8:38 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help , as they acknowledge their pain and spread out their hands toward this temple , 8:39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place , forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives . (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people .) 8:40 Then they will obey you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors . 8:41 “Foreigners , who do not belong to your people Israel , will come from a distant land because of your reputation . 8:42 When they hear about your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds , they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple . 8:43 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners . Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation , obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. 8:44 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies , and they direct their prayers to the Lord toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor , 8:45 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them. 8:46 “The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless !) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies , who will take them as prisoners to their own land , whether far away or close by. 8:47 When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner , they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment , admitting , ‘We have sinned and gone astray ; we have done evil .’ 8:48 When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner , and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors , your chosen city , and the temple I built for your honor , 8:49 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help and vindicate them. 8:50 Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them. 8:51 After all , they are your people and your special possession whom you brought out of Egypt , from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace . 8:52 “May you be attentive to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you. 8:53 After all , you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession , just as you, O sovereign Lord , announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt .” 8:54 When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord , he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky . 8:55 When he stood up , he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel , saying in a loud voice : 8:56 “The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure just as he promised ! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled ! 8:57 May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors . May he not abandon us or leave us. 8:58 May he make us submissive , so we can follow all his instructions and obey the commandments , rules , and regulations he commanded our ancestors . 8:59 May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, so that he might vindicate his servant and his people Israel as the need arises . 8:60 Then all the nations of the earth will recognize that the Lord is the only genuine God . 8:61 May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God by following his rules and obeying his commandments , as you are presently doing.”
Solomon Dedicates the Temple
8:62 The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the Lord . 8:63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep . Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord’s temple . 8:64 That day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple . He offered there burnt sacrifices , grain offerings , and the fat from the peace offerings , because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold all these offerings . 8:65 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks . This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south. 8:66 On the fifteenth day after the festival started, he dismissed the people . They asked God to empower the king and then went to their homes , happy and content because of all the good the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel .

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  • [1Ki 8:42] O God Of Hosts, With Thy Strong Hand
  • [1Ki 8:57] God Be In My Head
  • [1Ki 8:57] Now God Be With Us

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Moses evidently wrote this book on the plains of Moab shortly before his death, which occurred about 1406 B.C.The Mosaic authorship of this book is quite easy to establish. The book claims to be the words of Moses (1:5, 9; 5:...
  • Having received his marching orders from Yahweh, Joshua prepared to mobilize the nation.1:10-11 Joshua expected to be able to cross the Jordan within three days."The Jordan River wanders about two hundred miles to cover the s...
  • 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...
  • These verses summarize Samuel's continuing ministry as a prophet in Israel. Samuel qualified for this privilege by his faithful obedience to God's will as he knew it. God sovereignly chose Samuel for this ministry, but his di...
  • David also observed that the ark's presence in Obed-edom's house resulted in blessing for its host. This made him more eager than ever to install the ark in Jerusalem.Verse 13 probably means after the priests had taken six st...
  • 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...
  • 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 (...
  • This benediction began with a review of God's past faithfulness (v. 56). Solomon then voiced three wishes (vv. 57-59) with an explanation concerning his motive (v. 60). He concluded with a challenge for the future (v. 61). Th...
  • As a royal priest Solomon led the nation of priests in making an immense sacrifice to Yahweh. The sacrifices were all offerings of worship. The burnt offering represented the dedication of the worshipper's person to God. The ...
  • 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...
  • Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar's commander-in-chief, returned to destroy Jerusalem more thoroughly and to preclude any successful national uprising in Judah.His burning of Yahweh's house (v. 9) was a statement that the Babylonia...
  • 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...
  • The writer cited four times when the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance and He saved them (vv. 6, 13, 19, 28; cf. Judg. 2:18; Joel 2:32; Acts. 2:21; Rom. 10:13). These situations were answers to the prayer Solomon pr...
  • As was true in the chapter 10-15 section, this one (16:1-22:16) also becomes more difficult to outline as it ends because there are fewer groupings of proverbs.19:7 The first part of this verse is hyperbole (overstatement to ...
  • Isaiah next described the remnant who will stream to Zion praising God at the beginning of Messiah's reign. Notice the many triadic formations in the structure of this chapter, creating a feeling of the completeness of joy. T...
  • This transitional pericope introduces the problem that the previous sections of the book posed, which I have tried to explain just above. It also begins the explanation of the solution by placing in stark contrast two opposin...
  • Isaiah next appealed to God, on behalf of the nation, to have pity on Israel. The prophet was speaking for the faithful remnant after the exile who found little evidence that God was among them then as He had been during the ...
  • This passage consists of five short parts (vv. 1-5, 6-8, 9-10, 11-14, and 15-17). Most scholars believe it dates from the reign of Josiah, perhaps after the discovery of the Law but before he initiated his reforms (about 621 ...
  • Jeremiah first viewed Jerusalem's destruction as an outsider looking in. Verses 1-7 describe the extent of the desolation and verses 8-11 its cause.1:1 Jeremiah bewailed the abandoned city of Jerusalem that had once been so g...
  • "There are two special areas of attention in this passage: (1) the concern that God's people occupy their full boundaries, and (2) the concern that Gentiles will have an inheritance."57447:13-14 The Lord instructed the future...
  • 1:8 Evidently Daniel took the initiative with this decision, and his three friends followed his lead. His decision was not to remain morally pure but to remain ceremonially pure. Ceremonial purity was something that concerned...
  • 6:10 The new decree did not deter Daniel from continuing to pray for the welfare of the city where God had sent them into exile and for the Jews' return from exile. That this was the subject of his praying, among other things...
  • In this pericope Micah responded to God's goodness, just reviewed, as the Israelites should have responded. His was the reasonable response in view of Yahweh's loyal love for His people (cf. Rom. 12:1-2).6:6 The prophet, for ...
  • This is the first of four oracles that appear within the visions that Zechariah saw. These were messages that the prophet was to deliver along with the revelation of the vision."The vision had lifted the veil which hides the ...
  • John included another summary of Jesus' activities (cf. v. 12). It enables the reader to gain a more balanced picture of popular reaction to Jesus than the preceding incident might suggest.2:23 Jesus did many signs (significa...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • How long the dedication was after the completion is not specified. The month Adar was the last of the Jewish year, and corresponded nearly with our March. Probably the ceremonial of dedication followed immediately on the comp...
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