1 Kings 9:1

THE CONCLUSION OF SOLOMON'S BUILDING PROGRAM

Both this and 1 Kings 10 magnify the splendor and glory of the reign of Solomon, but even in these chapters we find startling evidences of the failures that dissolved his kingdom.

GOD WARNED SOLOMON AGAINST APOSTASY

"And it came to pass when Solomon had finished building the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, that Jehovah appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. And Jehovah said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there forever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances; then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel forever, according as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall turn away from following me, ye or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And though this house is so high, yet shall every one that passeth by it be astonished, and they shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath Jehovah done this unto this land, and to this house? and they shall answer, Because they forsook Jehovah their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath Jehovah brought all this evil upon them."

The first difficulty here is the matter of dating this Divine appearance to Solomon. Both Keil and Hammond place this event in the 24th year of Solomon's reign,[1] but there is no certainty that the Temple remained undedicated for the thirteen years between its completion and the completion of the king's palaces.

Yes, God here told Solomon that he had heard his prayer and hallowed the Temple, etc., but it seems unlikely that God would have waited thirteen years to answer Solomon's prayer, which, according to its place in this narrative, took place upon the completion of the Temple. We find it very difficult to suppose that Solomon had to wait thirteen years for this assurance that God had answered his prayer at the dedication. As a matter of fact, the cloud, symbolizing the Divine presence, was an assurance then and there that God had heard and answered his supplication.

"I have heard thy prayer ... and have hallowed this house" (1 Kings 9:3). These words should be understood as God's reference to what he had already done thirteen years prior to this special warning of Solomon against apostasy.

"I will cut off Israel out of the land ... Israel shall become a proverb and a byword ... this house ... so high ... yet everyone that passeth by shall be astonished" (1 Kings 9:7-8). These dreadful consequences were promised to ensue following Israel's rejection of God and falling into idolatry. This warning was not, "Added by some postexilic editor,"[2] as suggested by Matheney. This writer has no patience with scholars who feel compelled to get rid of every predictive prophecy which they encounter in the Word of God. If the Bible is not literally filled with predictive prophecy of the most circumstantial and exact kind, then there's not a line of it worth reading. The passage before us is an example. Not only did God reveal to Solomon in the vision here that the shameful apostasy of Israel would result in their deportation to a foreign land, and the demolition of their vaunted Temple; but Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:18) and Micah (Micah 3:12) prophesied the same thing. The Biblical critics, determined, if possible, to negate every predictive prophecy in the Holy Bible have here employed the services of their mythical `Deuteronomist' to put these prophecies in Solomon's vision centuries after their fulfillment! True believers cannot be deceived by that type of fembu.

"Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people" (1 Kings 9:7). We agree with Gates that, "This prophetic warning looks even beyond the captivity, and envisions the later rejection of Israel for their repudiation of Jesus Christ the Messiah."[3]

"And though this house is so high" (1 Kings 9:8). Solomon's Temple was built upon the highest eminence in Jerusalem; and this reference to the Temple's highness stresses the fact that it would be, "Just as conspicuous in its ruin as it was in it its glory."[4]