1 Kings 8:62-66 Amount of Sacrifice!

 “Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. At that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven more days—fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people.” I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭62‬-‭66‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. He offered to the LORD, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep: This was a staggering - almost grotesque - amount of sacrifice. Each animal was ritually sacrificed and a portion was dedicated to the LORD, and the remainder was given to the priests and the people. It was enough to feed a vast multitude for two weeks.

i. It was such a great amount of sacrifice that they specially consecrated the area in front of the temple to receive sacrifices, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offerings.

b. At that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him: From the time of year and the length of this feast, we understand that this was the Feast of Tabernacles, extended beyond its normal seven days on this special occasion.

i. “The Feast of Booths was in itself a grand occasion for rejoicing and for an enhanced spirit of community among all Israelites. The dedication of the temple made this occasion all the more joyful and memorable, and the time of the celebration was suitably extended.” (Patterson and Austel)

c. For all the good that the LORD had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people: This account of the dedication of the temple ends where the story of the temple began – with David, not Solomon. The writer remembers that it was David’s heart and vision that started the work of the temple (2 Samuel 7:1-3 and following).

i. “How happy must these people have been, and how prosperous, had their king continued to walk uprightly before God! But alas! the king fell, and the nation followed his example.” (Clarke)

(Guzik)

Amount of Sacrifice!

Solomon’s sacrifice “This was a staggering - almost grotesque - amount of sacrifice.”

But what is it in comparison to God’s sacrifice of His Son, Jesus the Christ?

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” ‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The next time we sin we should remember the “amount of sacrifice” of Jesus Christ. Sin isn’t cheap, it cost Jesus dearly. For it is written: 

“if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Blessings 

1 Kings 8:54-61 Prayer On The Knees?

 “And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. Then he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”” I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭54‬-‭61‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. He arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven: 1 Kings 8:22 tells us that Solomon began this prayer standing, but some time before he finished, he fell to his knees in reverence to God.

i. Ezra prayed on his knees (Ezra 9:5), the Psalmist called us to kneel (Psalm 95:6), Daniel prayed on his knees (Daniel 6:10), people came to Jesus kneeling (Matthew 17:14, Matthew 20:20, Mark 1:40), Stephen prayed on his knees (Acts 7:60), Peter prayed on his knees (Acts 9:40), Paul prayed on his knees (Acts 20:36, Ephesians 3:14), and other early Christians prayed on their knees (Acts 21:5). Most importantly, Jesus prayed on His knees (Luke 22:41). The Bible has enough prayer not on the knees to show us that it isn’t required, but it also has enough prayer on the knees to show us that it is good.

b. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses: Since Solomon prayed often appealing to God’s promises, it makes sense that he praised God for the past fulfillment of His promises. Knowing this gave Solomon confidence in prayer.

c. May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers: God promised to be with Israel, but Solomon knew it was important to ask God to fulfill His promise. He comes pleading the promises of God.

d. That all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God: Solomon again shows the often-neglected missionary impulse God wanted in Israel. Blessing to Israel wasn’t meant to end with Israel; God wanted to bless the world through Israel. (Guzik)

Prayer On The Knees?

I have often wondered which way to pray, on the knees or not on the knees? Raised in Catholicism we were forced to pray on our knees which has given me at times an adverse feeling towards it. But in times of heavy suffering I have gone to my knees in prayer.

We see that Ezra, the Palmist, Daniel, Stephen, Peter, Paul, early Christians and Jesus prayed on their knees. 

Could it possibly be, a reluctance to pray on our knees is due to not fully surrendering to God?

What about you, do you pray on your knees or not on your knees?

Blessings 

1 Kings 8:44-53 All Have Sinned!

 ““When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. “When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near; yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’; and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace), that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”” I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭44‬-‭53‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them: Solomon prayed with the idea that God should answer the prayers for victory made in foreign lands towards the temple, but only when they battle as God sent them. This was not a blanket request for blessing on every military adventure.

b. When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin): This is a succinct Old Testament statement of the principle most clearly stated in Romans 3:23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

c. When they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive: Solomon also asked God to hear Israel’s prayer from captivity in a foreign land. This recognized that the God of the Temple could answer prayers made away from the temple. (Guzik)

All Have Sinned!

Pastor Robert has said that if say you haven’t sinned, you just lied 🤥 so you sinned! Everyone has fallen short of the glory of God which is the reason for Christ-mas. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Self examination is good, how have you sinned and fallen short of the glory of God today?

Blessings 

1 Kings 8:41-43 House of Prayer!

 ““Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭41‬-‭43‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Moreover, concerning a foreigner: The temple was in Israel, but it was always intended to be a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). God wanted the court of the Gentiles to be a place where the nations could come and pray.

i. The violation of this principle made Jesus angry. When He came to the temple and found the outer courts – the only place where the Gentile nations could come and pray – more like a swap meet than a house of prayer, He drove out the money changers and the merchants (Matthew 21:13).

b. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You: Solomon asked God to hear the prayer of the foreigner out of a missionaryimpulse. He knew that when God mercifully answered the prayers of foreigners, it drew those from other nations to the God of all nations. (Guzik)

House of Prayer!

Some churches seem to forget this concept of being a house of prayer! Our home church has a prayer meeting before the church service and afterwards reminds the congregation that prayer partners are up front if you need prayer. Our previous church had a private prayer room you could go to for prayer.

Is your church a house of prayer?

Blessings 

1 Kings 8:35-40 Plague of His Own Heart!

 ““When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance. “When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men), that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.” ‭‭

I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭35‬-‭40‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain: Drought was a constant threat for the agriculturally-based economy of Israel. If there was no rain, there was no food.

b. When they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, then hear in heaven: Solomon doesn’t take it for granted that God would forgive and hear His repentant people. God’s good response to our repentance comes from His grace, not from justice.

c. When each one knows the plague of his own heart: Solomon recognized that some plagues are easily seen, but other plagues come from our own heart. Many are cursed by a plague that no one else can see, but lives in their own heart. Solomon asks God to answer such a plague-stricken man when he humbly pleads at the temple.

i. A man did not have to be sinless or righteous to have his prayer answered at the temple. He could be a guilty man, stricken by the plague of his own heart, and still find a gracious God when He came in humble repentance. (Guzik)

ii. “A great many men think they know the plague of other people’s hearts, and there is a great deal of talk in the world about this family, and that person, and the other. I pray you let the scandals of the hour alone, and think of your own evils.” (Spurgeon)

Plague of His Own Heart!

We need to take Spurgeon’s comment to heart and leave our comments to ourselves and not of other people’s hearts for it is written:

“Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.” Titus‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Have you contributed to the talk in the world and become a judge?

Blessings 

1 Kings 8:33-34 Humble Repentance!

 ““When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy: Many times in their history, Israel suffered defeat and could only cry out to God. It was even worse when the defeat was because they had sinned against the LORD Himself.

b. When they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in the temple, then hear in heaven: Solomon asked God to hear the prayers of a defeated, yet humble and penitent Israel. God answered this prayer of Solomon, and He forgives and restores His defeated people when they come in humble repentance. (Guzik)

Humble Repentance!

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” ‭‭I John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The truth of the matter is we sin daily for it is written:

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ‭‭I John‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Pastor Robert says if you say you don’t sin, you just lied so you just sinned!

Do you come before Him daily with humble repentance?

Blessings 

1 Kings 8:31-32 Oaths

 ““When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭31‬-‭32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. And comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple: The temple grounds were used as a place to verify and authorize oaths. When a dispute came down to one word against another, Solomon asked that the temple would be a place to properly swear by.

b. Hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants: Solomon asked the God who can see what man can’t – who knows the hidden heart of man – to enforce from heaven the oaths made at the temple.

i. The old Puritan commentator John Trapp could not resist mentioning a fulfillment of this principle in his own day: “Anne Averies, who, forswearing herself, a.d. 1575, February 11, at a shop of Wood Street in London, praying God she might sink where she stood if she had not paid for the wares she took, fell down presently speechless, and with horrible stink died.” (Guzik)

Oaths

“But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.” ‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We’ve all had people that made promises and never fulfilled them. Maybe you are one of those? I have always tried to be a man of my word but I am still human with a sin nature.

It’s good advice from James 5:12, “let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,”.

If your inbox is full and someone asks you to do something it’s better to tell them you’re too busy than to say yes and not show up.

Have you ever made a promise and not kept it?

Blessings 

1 Kings 8:27-30 Forgiveness!

 ““But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.” I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭27‬-‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. How much less this temple which I have built: We are glad that Solomon said this. From his statement in 1 Kings 8:12-13, we might have thought that he drifted towards a superstitious idea that God actually lived in the temple to the exclusion of other places. It was important to recognize that though God had a special presence in the temple, He was far too great to be restricted to the temple.

b. May You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place: Solomon asked God to incline His ear towards the king and the people when they prayed toward the temple. For this reason, many observant Jews still pray facing the direction of the site of the temple in Jerusalem.

c. When You hear, forgive: Solomon knew that the most important thing Israel needed was forgiveness. This was the greatest answer to prayer Israel could expect from God. (Guzik)

Forgiveness!

We all need forgiveness of sin on a daily basis. 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

‭‭I John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus said,

““Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” Luke‬ ‭18‬:‭10‬-‭11‬, ‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

This bears repeating, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’

When we approach God in this manner He is more inclined to forgive us.

Do you believe that?