1 Kings 3:2-4 Except!

 ”And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.“ ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. People sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD: At this time, altars were allowed in Israel at various high places, as long as those altars were unto the LORD and not corrupted by idolatry (as commanded in Deuteronomy 16:21). When the temple was built, sacrifice was then centralized at the temple.

b. Solomon loved the LORD… except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places: There is good and bad in this assessment of Solomon. There is good in that generallyhe walked in the statutes of his father David. There is bad in the word “except.”

i. At the same time, it seems that God showed mercy to those who violated this law before the temple was built. “Could there be any sin in this, or was it unlawful till after the temple was built? For prophets, judges, the kings which preceded Solomon, and Solomon himself, sacrificed on high places, such as Gibeon, Gilgal, Shiloh, Hebron, Kirath-jearin, etc. But after the temple was erected, it was sinful to offer sacrifices in any other place” (Clarke).

ii. Solomon did love the LORD, yet he also loved foreign wives who eventually helped turn his heart away from the LORD (1 Kings 11:4-10). “The perils of mixed motives and a divided heart are terrible indeed” (Morgan).

c. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar: This almost grotesque amount of sacrifice demonstrated both Solomon’s great wealth and his heart to use it to glorify God.

i. This was an important event marking the ceremonial beginning of Solomon’s reign. According to 2 Chronicles 1:2-3, the entire leadership of the nation went with Solomon to Gibeon.

d. Now the king went to Gibeon: Solomon made these special sacrifices at Gibeon becausethat was the great high place. What made it different was that the tabernacle was there, even though the ark of the covenant was in Jerusalem.

i. The course of the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant in the Promised Land:

· Joshua brought both the ark and the tabernacle to Shiloh (Joshua 18).

· In the days of Eli the ark was captured and the tabernacle wrecked (1 Samuel 4, Psalm 78:60-64, Jeremiah 7:12 and 26:9).

· The ark came back to Kiriath-Jearim (1 Samuel 7:1-2).

· Saul restored the tabernacle at Nob (1 Samuel 21).

· Saul moved the tabernacle to Gibeon (1 Chronicles 16:39-40).

· David brought the ark to Jerusalem and built a temporary tent for it (2 Samuel 6:17, 2 Chronicles 1:4).

ii. There were several reasons to explain why David did not bring the tabernacle from Gibeon to Jerusalem:

· He may have believed if the tabernacle was there, the people would be satisfied with that and they would lose the passion and vision for the temple God wanted built.

· It may be that the tabernacle was only moved when it was absolutely necessary - as when disaster came upon it at Shiloh or Nob.

· David simply focused on building the temple, not continuing the tabernacle. (Guzik)

Except!

Don’t miss this! Solomon loved the LORD… except!

Can you insert our name in place of Solomon’s, is there an exception in your life?

Blessings