7:1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord’s splendor filled the temple.
After Moses completed the tabernacle and offered the sacrifice, fire came down and consumed the sacrifice. The same thing happened at Solomon’s temple dedication ceremony. The sacrifice represented the Lord Jesus Christ. The fire from heaven was a symbol of the consuming sin which was placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
7:2 The priests were unable to enter the Lord’s temple because the Lord’s splendor filled the Lord’s temple.
The priests were not able to enter the temple, because the Shechinah Glory filled the temple.
7:3 When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”
Only God is good. Man is totally depraved and evil. Jesus confirmed this doctrine when He was speaking to the young ruler, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone.” The point was that Jesus is good, because He is God.
The Hebrew word for “loyal love” is חָ֫סֶד (chesed), meaning a loyal love which endures forever. God loves His children with a חָ֫סֶד (chesed) kind of love. When God’s children sin, then He corrects them just as they are His own children, but He does not cast them away. He does not give up on His children. If the child continues in sin, then God will bring him home.
7:4 The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord.
All of these sacrifices pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ.
7:5 King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple.
Many liberals and skeptics condemn the Bible for the amount of sacrifices made at the dedication of this temple. They claim that God is greedy and He should never have required this type of offering.
What these skeptics do not understand is that this temple dedication happened at the Feast of Tabernacles. All of the males of Israel were required to attend. Most of the males brought their entire family to the festival. The 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep were offered one-by-one by each family. After the offering was made, the family feasted on the food for the next fifteen days. This was basically a big barbecue celebration where all of the families and believers in the Lord could join together, worship the Lord, and visit old family members and friends. It was a giant vacation with all of everyone’s favorite people located in the same place.
It is interesting to note that skeptics will not complain when meat packing industries butcher thousands of animals a day. However, when a feast is dedicated for God’s work, skeptics complain about animal rights.
7:6 The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord. (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, “Certainly his loyal love endures.”) Opposite the Levites, the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there.
There was a big music concert at the temple dedication. The music was messianic, not satanic. All of the music glorified God and not sin. This assembly was similar to the Woodstock music festivals of the 1960's, but the purpose was to glorify God and not the sin of the satanic world system.
7:7 Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings.
There were so many people at the Feast of Tabernacles, that Solomon had to open up the middle of the courtyard to offer all of the sacrifices.
7:8 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south.
The Feast of Tabernacles lasted for seven days. “From Lebo Hamath to the Brook of Egypt” was a metaphor for the northern and southern boundaries of England. In other words, this was a gigantic celebration with a huge Levitical orchestra and the biggest barbecue in history. All of Israel was invited. This would be similar to all of America celebrating a 15 day feast to the Lord all at one place. Everyone would worship God, sing, and eat barbecue for 15 days.
7:9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had dedicated the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for seven more days.
The Feast of Tabernacles lasted eight more days, so this was basically a fifteen-day celebration.
7:10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home. They left happy and contented because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.
After fifteen days of celebration, Solomon had to send everyone home. They had been living temporarily in tents for the Tabernacle celebration. Everyone enjoyed the vacation and did not want to return home. There is no godly celebration equal to this in world history.
7:11 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, 7:12 the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answered your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made.
Before the Old Testament was completed, God sometimes appeared to prophets, kings, or individuals. Since the New Testament was completed, God now speaks through the written Word of God. Since there was not a dream or vision mentioned, the visitation must have been a theophany of Christ.
Charismatics will make a doctrine out of this historical event and claim that God still appears and speaks to them. The doctrine for the church is found in Paul’s epistles, not Old Testament history. When a charismatic claims that God spoke to them, then either they are lying, mentally ill, a demon spoke to them and claimed to be God, or they are deceiving themselves. If God did talk to them, then they should add their teaching to the last Book of Revelation.
Beware of people claiming to hear from God. Satan can easily give out misinformation through these false mediums. The only divine revelation that can be trusted is the written Word of God. The words of charismatics are not equal to the Word of God.
7:13 When I close up the sky so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation, or send a plague among my people, 7:14 if my people, who belong to me, humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, and repudiate their sinful practices, then I will respond from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
In the future, God had already predicted to Moses that Israel would turn against God and worship false idols. To get rebellious Israel’s attention, God will send drought, locust invasions, and plague among the people. The people could have escaped these judgments by humbling themselves and praying to God. If the people of Israel would have followed this command, then God would have responded from heaven and blessed the people once again.
Many modern churches use this verse today in order to raise support for their ministry. This verse is for ancient Israel who was living under the Mosaic Law. They were living under the conditional promises of the Mosaic Covenant. They were blessed for obedience and cursed for disobedience to the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law is not in effect for the church today. Christ ended the Mosaic Law. There are some good principles in the Mosaic Law, as they reveal the mind of God. However, there is Christian liberty whenever there is New Testament silence.
The land is not the church, but that of Israel. This is not a verse for prosperity preachers to use so that they can fill their collection plates. This is not a verse for amillennialists and postmillennialists to spiritualize and make it fit into the church.
7:15 Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.
God would listen to the prayers that are offered at the Jewish temple.
7:16 Now I have chosen and consecrated this temple by making it my permanent home; I will be constantly present there.
God is omnipresent. He lives everywhere at once. He will also be present inside of the Jewish Temple. It will be His permanent home. He will leave the Temple during the days of Ezekiel because of Israel’s sin, but He will return to the Millennial Kingdom Temple and live there for the entire 1,000 years of the Millennial Kingdom.
7:17 You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.
David would become the human standard in which God judged all kings.
7:18 Then I will establish your dynasty, just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’
The Lord Jesus Christ would come from the line of Solomon and set up an eternal dynasty.
7:19 “But if you people ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods, 7:20 then I will remove you from my land I have given you, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, and I will make you an object of mockery and ridicule among all the nations.
Solomon himself would fall into idolatry. The nation of Israel would divide into a northern and southern kingdom. The north would raise up 19 evil kings who would lead their nation into idolatry. The south would raise up 20 kings, with only 8 of them considered as good kings. Both nations would eventually go into idolatry. Israel would be taken captive by the Assyrians. Judah would be taken captive by the Babylonians. The temple in which Solomon just dedicated would be destroyed by the Babylonians. Today, the Dome of the Rock is sitting on the temple location. The Jews rejected their own Messiah. They have been ridiculed and persecuted since this rejection. Jewish jokes are found in every culture. Persecuted Jews are found in every culture.
7:21 As for this temple, which was once majestic, everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’
Visitors today pass by the temple grounds and make comments about the Dome of the Rock being placed on the ancient site of the Temple. God has only allowed the wailing wall to stand as notice that He is not yet quite finished with the Jewish people. He will keep His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
7:22 Others will then answer, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’ ”
God vomited the Canaanites out of the land for their idolatry, sexual sins, and murders. By the time of Jeremiah, Israel was just as evil as Sodom or Gomorrah. God vomited Israel out of their own land as well. However, God will still keep His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, even if Israel does not keep her promises to God.