GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 7:7-10
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7 Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions. 8 Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him– a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Stream of Egypt. 9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes. They were joyful. Their hearts were glad because of the good things the LORD had done for David and Solomon and for Israel– his people.
As Solomon offered and offered and offered, the people were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. “A vast assembly” was there. People came from as far north as Lebo Hamath. This was the northern extremity of Israel, on the Orontes river which flows into– forgive my simplistic words– the upper right-hand corner of the Mediterranean Sea. This place was lost when the kingdom was divided and Jeroboam I contented himself with guarding the border with Judah, but under Jeroboam II it was recovered once again (Amos 6:14) until the northern kingdom was lost. After this it disappears from Israelite history.
The Stream (or Wadi) of Egypt is not the Nile, but a stream in the Desert of Shur, the north stretch of the Sinai Peninsula. This stream would mark the “one third of the way” point from southern Israel to the border of Egypt’s inhabited regions. So Israelites came from the extreme limits of the Promised Land to celebrate the Festival and the consecration of the new Temple.
The Temple was welcome, but not necessary. They could have gotten along just fine with the old tabernacle. But the Lord approved of David’s dream for a permanent place of worship in the land promised by God. The temple itself was a statement of faith; a kind of creed that said, “We believe that God brought us here to live in the land promised to Abraham until the Messiah comes.” And this is exactly what it did, although it needed to be rebuilt once.
The reaction of the people after this dedication was joy. They returned home to the far north, to the far south, or an afternoon’s walk down to Bethlehem, happy that the Lord had blessed the new temple. They were happy that their new king was walking in step with the will of the Lord. They were filled with joy that the Lord was doing “good things” for Solomon, just as he had for David. The reader knows that things would take a turn for the worse right away after Solomon’s death, and therefore this happiness at the temple dedication serves to show the remarkable difference between the joys of being in God’s good favor as opposed to the horror of being rejected by God on account of sin and unbelief, when the sinner is “torn from the security of his tent and marched off to the king of terrors” (Job 18:14). There would come a time, not so long from this dedication, when the Pharaoh of Egypt would enter Jerusalem and plunder it, when “all the splendor departed from the Daughter of Zion, when her princes would be like deer that find no pasture, in weakness fleeing before the pursuer” (Lamentations 1:6). But even then, there was hope for the people who put their trust in the Lord.
Given the choice between facing such destruction and being thoroughly committed to the Lord, sinful man invariably chooses sin, personal pleasure, and debauchery. Sinful man would rather thumb his nose at the Lord, the true and Almighty God, and spew his false religion as if it were a badge of pride: “Let’s quit this ground, and smoke the (pagan) temple with our sacrifices” (Cymbeline V:5). The people of Israel chose to worship their idols “on every high hill and under every spreading tree and every leafy oak” (Ezekiel 6:13; Jeremiah 3:13) rather than to stride the beautiful paved flooring of Solomon’s masterpiece and ask forgiveness before the bronze altar of God. Peter and John found such a rebellious man during their travels. As if speaking to all of the Jews of their generation, Peter said to him: “Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart” (Acts 8:22). For knowing Christ, and knowing forgiveness that is absolute and complete, “since we have such a hope, we are very bold” (2 Corinthians 3:12). We find the courage, confidence, and competence to call men to repent and to put their trust in Christ alone.
Therefore, as you read these verses about Solomon’s dedication, O Christian, remember to value worship and the gospel of Jesus Christ as precious treasures. John was told in his vision, “Measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there” (Revelation 11:1). Delight in the fellowship of the church, in the sacrament, and the forgiveness we receive (Acts 2:42). Devote yourself to pursuing these things to the glory of God and toward the excellence of your faith and spirit. As Malachi says: “Guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith” (Malachi 2:16).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 7:7-10 Joy